Union shares 'major concerns' over Sheffield school's plans to join Mercia Learning Trust

Talbot Specialist School, which teaches over 200 children with SEND requirements, could soon join Sheffield’s Mercia Learning Trust, after a consultation period with staff ended in late February.

However, the city’s branch of the National Education Union has now stated it feels the SEND school is “not right” for the Trust and is calling for talks to be put on hold.

Speaking to The Star, branch secretary Simon Murch criticized Mercia after claiming unions were not given the chance to speak to members about the proposed takeover until the consultation was less than a day from concluding. He also said he had “major concerns” about working conditions for staff.

He told The Star: “Right at the start of the process, we as trade unions said we wanted to speak to our members about the implications for them… We have been asking to be involved and they [Mercia] have given us nothing at all.

“After much gnashing of teeth, there was a meeting [on February 21] with all teaching unions [NASUWT, NEU, Unison, GMB] and many members of staff, but not all. No one was available from the Trust to speak with us either."

When asked to give the union’s stance on academisation, Mr Murch said: “In general, we don’t think it’s right for staff, pupils or the community.”

By the new academic year, it is expected there will no secondary schools in Sheffield that are not part of an academic Trust.

Mr Murch also cited a highly publicised and much criticised job advert by Mercia that went viral online in February as cause for concern. The job listing for an assistant headteacher at the Trust’s flagship academy, Mercia School, asked that applicants be “wedded to the job”, be prepared to work 7am through 6pm in necessary and allow the role “to dominate your life”.

Mr Murch called the advert “unhealthy”, saying: “We have major concerns about Mercia. Mercia School is their flagship school and it's a very strange breed. That advert was just appalling in so many different ways, particularly asking staff to work on occasion from 7am through 6pm. It goes against the national teaching pay scale.

“We don't think Talbot, as a specialist school, is right for a Trust whose flagship school doesn't follow teaching pay conditions.”

Now, Mr Murch says the union is planning to discuss industrial action with members if they are not given a meeting with the Trust to discuss concerns.

He said: “There is not a negotiating framework for us as a union to discuss things with the Trust. They have given us nothing.

“This is a further indication to us that claims to take staff and staff concerns seriously is a bit of an empty phrase because the best way they could do this is to engage with the union.”

When contacted for comment, interim headteacher at Talbot Specialist School Tricia Bennett shared the school has now “paused” its application to “undertake further due diligence”.

A spokesperson for Mercia Learning Trust said: “By invitation, the Trust has attended every aspect of an agreed and comprehensive consultation process led by the school.”