Union warns of possible strike action over free school trust’s non-release of independent report into its management

National Education Union members at a controversial chain of free schools in East London are warning of the possible re-instigation of strike action, over the non-release of an investigation report into its leadership.

Teachers and management at Canary Wharf College brokered an agreement earlier in the year, via the conciliation service ACAS, not to continue with industrial action, on conditions including the compiling of an independent report into “management style” at the trust.

The NEU said the report, which was carried out by the company Eximia, was finished and sent to CWC’s board back in mid-July. The ACAS agreement said it should have been with the union as of July 5^th , said the union. But, more than three months later, the NEU has still not been given sight of it.  

CWC consists of one secondary and two primary schools. Since January 2023 it has been led as chief executive by the former Harris Federation headteacher Joanne Taylor. Last year, the union set out a 37-point list of concerns affecting its members at the trust, including worries about workload and staff allegedly having been left in tears by its management. The union had also highlighted issues such as, it said, no provision for maternity pay within staff contracts. Earlier that year, more than 300 parents signed a petition voicing their own concerns.