Parents slam 'prison-like conditions' at south Essex school as teachers locked out

Bosses at Gable Hall School, in Corringham, have been embroiled in a row with teachers since Wednesday and protesting staff are preparing to enter a second week of strikes today. The Ortu Federation, which manages the school, locked teachers out last week after declaring that staff must “work in full or stay away and not be paid”. Members of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers had voted in favour of industrial action on Tuesday in a dispute over hours and working conditions, but insisted they were keen to continue teaching.

According to parents, children have been forced to sit in silence reading or doing subject-specific worksheets, in groups of around 150 students monitored by only one or two teachers. Neither the Ortu Federation, or the Mossbourne Federation which is due to takeover the school from January, have responded to the Echo for comment on teaching during the stand-off. Mum, Gemma Celik, 40, has one son in year 11 and a daughter set to join Gable Hall in September, something “she regrets”.



She said: “When my son went into school on Wednesday, he was there in the school hall with around 150 students and two staff members. “In the end, he was marched from the hall to the canteen to then be told to sit in silence and read. “I went and picked him up as if there is an incident, it won’t be safe and other people are keeping their children off of school.

“There have been children who have had to sit on hall floors and do work on the floor. “The 150 student class sizes is a main concern though, children are not safe. “These are draconian measures and not far from shackling out children and shuffling them through the school.

” Leanne Smith has a daughter with ADHD in year eight who has struggled with the forced silent reading. She said: “She is having to be taken out really, she can’t sit in silence and she was put in a chair in the hall to read a book in silence and do written work. “Pupils are scared to turn and look at their peers, there are only a few teachers on site who the children actually know.

”.