TEACHERS have pledged further walkouts at a secondary school amid claims the 'wellbeing of pupils is being put at risk'.

The on-going action at Pleckgate High School in Blackburn has already seen teachers walk out for seven days since the end of January over performance-related pay.

It comes as a union has claimed students are being taught in large groups and sitting exams as a 'means of control' while non-teaching staff, including a school bursar, have been brought in to cover lessons.

MORE TOP STORIES:

However the school has insisted the timetable was running as normal, all lessons are being covered and planned mock exams were taking place in the sports hall.

The action is the longest held since the NASUWT union started to ballot its members in 2011 over possible strikes.

The union has 36 members at the school while 20 had walked out, according to school bosses. 

The union said the school, which has around 150 staff, was failing to implement its own policies and its members were being denied a legitimate pay rise.

But school bosses said performance measures had been agreed with staff and the vast majority had achieved their objectives which are aimed at improving attainment.

They said it was sad the union was continuing with strike action which was not in the best interest of the students.

In an open letter sent to headteacher Mark Cocker, the teachers involved said he had 'chosen to ignore' the solutions.

It said: "Pupils are given targets to achieve and so are we - we have no problem with that.

"But when us passing our targets depends on things which are out of our hands e.g. whether children choose to work to their highest standard all the time, whether they choose to revise, whether they choose to attend school on a regular basis to name but a few, we have no control over whether we pass or fail. This is unfair.

"You do not trust our professional abilities and capabilities to be assured that we want the best for every last pupil at Pleckgate.

"We have always gone above and beyond to help our children achieve.

"We have put on extra revision classes, extra intervention sessions, Saturday and holiday classes but, in your eyes, this is not good enough."

The walk-out involves those who teach across all year groups including heads of departments.

Claire Ward, NASUWT negotiating secretary, said: "It is devastating for the staff. Those on that picket line have more than 300 years of teaching experience.

"Quite a few members are actively looking for new jobs. If they are not treated with professional respect it is an untenable situation.

"It's having a massive impact on the kids' education. You can't have people who are not professional teachers teaching them. They do not have the staff to look after the children.

"The risk to the wellbeing of the children, never mind the staff, is potentially huge."

Union chiefs said they will be on the picket lines on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the next two weeks and on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for the week after.

John Girdley, Lancashire's NASUWT national executive member, said action could be stopped if the numerical targets that were 'setting members up to fail' were dropped.

He said: "It is the longest strike since we started balloting members for action in 2011 and it has all been totally avoidable.

"They have been putting the children in halls to do exams as a means of control. Our members are not going to be marking exams they did not set."

A spokesman for the school, which is run by the Education Partnership Trust, said: "The absolute priority of our headteacher and his fantastic staff is providing a first-class education to every single student.

"These performance measures had already been agreed with staff, and the vast majority of teachers have achieved their objectives.

"Improving attainment at the school demonstrates how this policy is benefitting students’ education, and we simply want to be able to reward our teachers for their great work.

"In response to the minority of objections which have now arisen, we have openly engaged in meaningful talks with the union, and have further meetings planned to seek to resolve the issue.

"It is saddening that the union is continuing with this strike action, and so clearly not acting in the best interests of our students and their education.

"However, the trust’s board of governors cannot agree to anything that may compromise on educational standards and impact our ability to deliver for the young people and community we serve.

"We remain grateful for parents’ support and will continue to seek a resolution.

"We have measures in place to enable the school to remain open as usual."