Teachers could strike at Worksop schools over proposed hours and workload increases

OGAT, which runs both Outwood Portland Academy and Outwood Valley Academy in Worksop, is planning to increase the length of the school day and teaching contact by 30 minutes per day from September 2025 onwards – something trade unions representing the OGAT workforce are strongly opposed to.

Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT general secretary, said: “NASUWT has made it very clear that, to avoid industrial action, OGAT must withdraw its plans and agree to work with us on any proposals affecting the delivery of the curriculum and length of the school day.

“We have made it clear to OGAT that its plans to substantially increase teacher contact time amounts to one of the worst attacks on teachers’ terms and conditions that risks moving OGAT from being a relatively successful trust to one that will experience significant employee turnover and industrial relations problems.

“NASUWT remains willing to discuss with OGAT how it can achieve its educational objectives, but only if it withdraws the threat of measures that will increase teacher workload and working time and damage morale.

“Until then, the NASUWT will be considering industrial action in OGAT schools.”

A spokesperson for the trust said: “We have been engaged in constructive dialogue with our trade union partners and our colleagues since October regarding our proposal to re-shape the secondary school day so that more of our teachers’ time is spent with students, helping them achieve even better outcomes.

"We have approached this as a genuine consultation which has already resulted in significant changes to our original proposal.

"We have ensured that our proposals will not require teachers to work beyond their contracted hours.

"Our secondary school day currently ends at 2.30pm, which we have to recognise, currently falls short of the Government's 32.5-hour-a-week minimum expectation.

"Given this and the benefits students will get from the proposal, we are disappointed that union partners are balloting for industrial action before the consultation ends.

"We continue to have open dialogue with them and our workforce directly.

"We have also made a commitment to establish a workforce task force to further identify and remove unnecessary workload across our entire workforce.

"Our ultimate goal is to create a learning environment that benefits both our students and our staff.

"We believe that by working together collaboratively, we can achieve this goal and provide the best possible education for every child in our care.”