The National Education Union (NEU) announced today that members will walk out of Farrington’s School on March 28 and 31, as well as April 1, 2, and 3.
The union warns that further strikes could follow in the summer term if the issue remains unresolved.
Staff say they are being forced to accept either cuts to their salaries or a move to a less secure pension scheme and accuse school leaders of refusing to negotiate.
Despite six previous days of industrial action, unions claim Farringtons has ignored requests for talks through ACAS, an independent conciliation service.
At the heart of the dispute is the school’s decision to change pension arrangements in response to rising costs.
Farringtons says it cannot afford the rising cost of employer contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), which have more than doubled since 2015.
A spokesperson for the school said: “Since 2015, employer pension contribution rates to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) have more than doubled, reaching 28.68% by April 2024.
“Like many independent schools, we simply cannot sustain these escalating costs, particularly given recent changes to VAT, business rates, and employer national insurance contributions.
“As such, to ensure the school remains sustainable, the Governors agreed the need to cap the cost of pension provision to 23.68%.
“To effect this, the school initially planned to withdraw from the TPS but, following feedback from staff, they have been offered a choice: to move to a Defined Contribution (DC) scheme, with an employer contribution of 23.68 per cent, or to remain in the TPS, with a small salary adjustment to maintain equivalence with those moving to the DC scheme.
“To address concerns about a resulting reduction in benefits, teachers have been offered a 3.5 per cent pay increase, with a commitment to an additional salary review in September 2025.
“We value our staff greatly and, throughout this process, have engaged regularly with employee representatives and the wider teaching staff to understand their concerns.
“Further proposals to amend our salary structure have been offered to address parity of pay scales with the state sector and we have further agreed to ballot teachers on the question of union recognition.
“We regret any disruption the industrial action has caused and we are hopeful that staff will recognise the value of the updated offer”.
The school also says it has put forward proposals to align pay more closely with the state sector and has agreed to ballot teachers on union recognition.
However, the unions argue the changes amount to a pay cut for teachers who wish to remain in the TPS.
An NEU Officer said: “Despite six days of strike action the school is still refusing to listen to teachers who have said from the start: they don’t want cuts to their pay or pensions.
“Governors seem to think teachers will give up and stop fighting for their pensions. But our members feel really strongly.
“This week the NEU and NASWUT made a good faith offer to pause the strikes if the school would sit down for ACAS negotiations to resolve the dispute.
“The school did not take the unions up on that offer, insisting that – while they are open to discussion about trade union recognition – the pensions review is over.”
“From the very start, teachers have made it clear they wish to remain fully in the teacher pension scheme (TPS) without further cuts to their – already very low – pay. However, governors continue to refuse this.”
Farringtons, which charges up to £50,000 per year in fees, currently pays newly qualified teachers £33,757—almost £3,000 less than a state school teacher in the same area, according to the NEU.
The highest-paid teachers at the school receive £50,534, compared to £53,994 for their state sector counterparts.
Chloe Tomlinson an NEU Officer said: “Teachers have been given a grim choice: to accept a poorer pension scheme, or to pay a penalty of 5% of their salary to stay in TPS.
“This offer has now been softened with a 3.5% pay increase but this does not even cover the 5% TPS penalty. Governors are giving with one hand, while taking away with the other.”
“In effect members – who are already some of the worst paid teachers in London – have to accept a pay cut in order to keep the same pensions they had last year.
“Teachers are not willing to step out of a secure pension scheme with life-long benefits for a one-off meagre pay increase that will still see them paid less than state counterparts
“What our members are asking for is simple: they want to keep the same pay and pensions this year that they had last.”
