First of three teachers' strikes at Southall primary school called off after 'agreement'

Teachers at Khalsa VA Primary School in Southall have called off the first of three proposed strikes, but the school is still refusing to comment on why its governors want to transform it into an academy.

Ealing National Union of Teachers (NUT) confirmed teachers had voted unanimously in favour of striking over the school governors' plans to turn it into an academy .

All 15 teachers at the Norwood Green Road school who voted were in favour, along with 17 out of 18 support staff.

They were set to strike on Thursday (October 13) followed by a two-day strike on October 19 and 20, meaning hundreds of pupils missing lessons.

But divisions secretary of Ealing NUT Stefan Simms said after "productive" talks with a small number of governors on Monday (October 10), Thursday's strike had been called off.

He added an agreement had been struck between the NUT and governors, and that if governors stick to this agreement then next week's two-day strike will be called off as well.

However, Mr Simms added he could not reveal the details of the agreement until all governors at the Sikh faith school had agreed to it.

He said: "We are hoping that the governing body will confirm the decision made on Monday.

"A tentative agreement was reached which needs to go back to the full governing body to deliberate. They need some approval from the governing body."

Mr Simms maintains he would like to see a public debate among teachers, parents and governors.

Getwestlondon has asked Khalsa VA Primary school for comment from its governors on several occasions, but the school has maintained it does not want to speak on the matter.

The vote to strike did not include the head teacher Parmjeet Kaur Sehmi.

Getwestlondon is not able to contact the teachers for comment before striking, according to Ealing NUT.

What is an academy?

An academy is overseen by individual charitable bodies, called academy trusts, and are independent, state-funded schools.

They receive their funding from central government, and control their own admission process.

Ballot papers were sent to members at Khalsa VA Primary School in the post last month (September 26), and the results were revealed on Thursday (October 6).

The school opened in 2009 and caters for pupils from nursery to Year 6, reaching full capacity in September last year.

Earlier this year (July 5), teachers rallied together in Haven Green during an NUT strike as thousands of children across the country missed lessons.