NATIONAL Education Union members at Great Torrington Bluecoat Primary School are taking strike action on Monday, July 20.

The union says that proposed plans will see the number of classroom support staff halved, from one per class, to one per year group.

It says the school states it has had to take this drastic action because of a deficit in the budget.

However, it adds that Devon County Council should have been managing the budget.

“It should never have been allowed to get to this point,” it said.

It added: “Staff at the school are hugely concerned because a lack of support in the classroom will have a negative educational impact on children, particularly those with SEND and SEMH needs (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Social, Emotional, and Mental Health). There will be a huge impact on pupil wellbeing and on staff workload.

“No Health and Safety Risk Assessment has been carried out. Staff believe that a lack of support in the classroom will mean that staff and pupils will be less safe under these proposals.

“These cuts are a direct consequence of governments not protecting and prioritising school funding. The current government is effectively cutting school budgets again but expecting schools to partially fund the Teachers’ pay award. That is why the National Education Union is running a ‘Save Education’ campaign.

“Staff voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action. They see this as necessary action to protect the education of children in the school. Already there has been an outcry in the local community with 70 people attending a public meeting in the Town Hall in June.”

The school will be closed for the day to pupils but NEU members will be mounting a picket line at the school on the day and then leafletting the local community about this issue.