Staff at Essex special needs schools to strike next week

Teaching assistants, pastoral support workers and other specialist staff at Columbus School & College in Chelmsford, Pioneer School in Basildon and Lift Clacton’s The Key will walk out on Wednesday, 28 January, followed by seven further strike days between February 5 and 13.

UNISON says the staff, who all work at schools run by the Lift Schools multi-academy trust, should receive an additional allowance reflecting the specialist nature of their roles.

The union points out that SEN teachers at Lift schools can receive up to £5,500 a year extra for the additional skills and responsibilities involved.

According to UNISON, support staff often handle the majority of behaviour management, as well as personal and medical care for pupils. The union says difficulties in retaining staff have led to greater reliance on agency workers, which is more costly and can be disruptive for pupils who depend on routine and familiar faces.

The trust has previously argued that such an allowance is not permitted under academy rules.

However, UNISON disputes this, saying similar payments are made by other academies and are allowed under the local government “green book”, which covers the staff’s employment terms.

Unison will be striking (Image: Unison)

UNISON area organiser Bea Bartilucci said: “A SEN allowance is there to make sure staff are recognised and paid properly for the extra work and responsibilities that come with supporting children who need extra help.

“For Lift to dismiss this as a bung, after months of refusing to talk about it at all, is insulting. Managers urgently need to get their act together so that we can avoid these strikes.”

Staff say the action is ultimately about improving stability for pupils.

Leighanne Merchant, a learning support assistant at Pioneer School, said: “Staff are taking this action for the children's benefit. They deserve consistent, permanent staff who know them and their needs.”

Another learning support assistant, Katie Andrews, added:

“Staff never wanted to take strike action, but we’ve had months without any resolution. All it would take to prevent this is an offer that actually values staff’s hard work and dedication to students.”

Columbus School and College- part of Lift group (Image: Google Maps)

In response, a spokesperson for Lift Schools said: “We have been in discussion with UNISON about pay for our support staff at our two special schools in Essex and at Lift Clacton's The Key. While we have not been able to agree to the specific proposal they put forward, we have been able to offer a significant increase in pay to all of our teaching assistants at these schools, which means that the majority of support staff will receive a pay rise, backdated to September 2025.

“All of our support staff are incredibly valued and we want to take meaningful action to recognise their work.

“We are disappointed that the union has indicated its plans to take strike action, but are hopeful they will reconsider their position in light of our meaningful offer. Our priority is always the stability, wellbeing and continuity of education for our pupils and families.”

UNISON is the UK’s largest union, representing more than 1.3 million workers across public services including education, local government and the NHS.