Teachers at world-famous hospital school complain of “toxic” working environment which has seen them out on 14 days of strike

The Great Ormond Street Hospital school has had a stable workforce for years, with teachers testifying to “incredibly rewarding” work with extremely sick children. But the atmosphere has changed in recent months, a union states.

 

 

Teachers at a school linked to one of the world’s most famous children’s hospitals reached a 14th day of strike action this week – in a dispute with management which their union says has seen members suspended, it believes, for union activity.

Staff at the Hospital School at Great Ormond Street and University College Hospital in Camden, North London, have been operating in a “climate of fear,” says the National Education Union, despite the vitally important job they do working with children whose conditions in many cases mean they must be taught in their hospital beds.

Recent months have seen three of the five-person senior management team at the school suspended, with the union also concerned that children and staff safety is being put at risk by management practices and staff shortages.

The NEU’s general secretary, Daniel Kebede, attended the picket line this week and posted a video about the dispute, while former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who also attended, posted an early day motion in Parliament expressing “deep concern” about the situation.  

Camden council, which oversees the school though is not the staff’s employer, said it was having conversations with the school and union as it sought to find a resolution.