School teachers strikes 2023: Peterborough teachers speak out as some using foodbanks and working three jobs

“Underpaid” teachers at “short-staffed and under-funded” Peterborough schools have said the education system is heading towards “a crisis situation”.

It comes as some staff claim they have been using foodbanks and abandoning the profession in search of better-paid jobs.

Teachers across England and Wales went on strike on February 1 over pay and conditions – affecting 23,400 schools, according to the The National Education Union (NEU).

It is the first of four teachers’ strikes scheduled in the East of England, with further strikes set to take place on March 1 in the eastern region, followed by March 15 and 16 across the whole of England and Wales.

NEU teachers formed picket lines at 10 schools across Peterborough – including Jack Hunt School, where physics teacher John Cooper told the Peterborough Telegraph “teachers are struggling”.

"We’re running out of teachers,” John, who went on strike for the first time in 11 years of working as a teacher, said.

"We’ve got people leaving to work in supermarkets and finding better-paid work elsewhere.

"We know what we do is important to society and for the future, but we’re not being allowed to do our jobs because the government are not funding schools adequately.

"It cannot continue – if it does the education system will be in a crisis situation from which it won’t return.”

John said the lack of government funding has meant schools have been left with buildings and classrooms that are “in disrepair”, and less equipment – regularly running out of books and stationary.

"The backdrop to all of this is the poverty we’re seeing in society and the difficulties that our students and their families are having,” he said.

"We try to lift them up, but when the schools aren’t resourced properly it’s difficult for us to help them.

“We’ve got teachers who use foodbanks. One member of staff here has three jobs.

"The public services in Britain are struggling together. There seems to be a deafness in government to what’s going on.

"There’s no plan to move this forward and unable to come up with a solution. The only thing they say is ‘no’ – no money, no support.”

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: “I am very grateful to head teachers for all their work to keep our schools open and to minimise the impact of today's strike action.

“One school closure is too many, and it remains deeply disappointing that the NEU proceeded with this disruptive action – but many teachers, head teachers and support staff have shown that children’s education and wellbeing must always come first.

“Conversations with unions are ongoing and I will be continuing discussions around pay, workload, recruitment and retention, and more.”