Schools feel the greatest impact during strike action

Almost 60 percent of teachers at Bexhill High school joined in the national strike over pension cuts on Wednesday.

The town centre was teeming with teenagers clearly enjoying sunshine on what turned out to be a free day for them - Bexhill High was closed, and St Richard’s Catholic College open only to Year 11s sitting mock exams, and some Year 10s.

Other schools completely closed were St Peter and St Paul, Little Common, St Mary Magdalene, and Chantry community primary schools.

Partially closed as well as St Richard’s were All Saints primary school which ran three classes out of seven, and Glyne Gap school which had three classes open.

Open for business as normal were King Offa, Sidley and Pebsham primary schools, and Bexhill College.

Up to two million people across Britain took part in the strike affecting courts, museums, libraries and job centres as well as hospitals.

Staff at the Conquest Hospital turned out early to form a picket line but at Bexhill Hospital nobody took part according to the East Sussex Hospitals NHS trust, except two workers at the Mental Health Unit run by Sussex Partnerships.

And at Rother District Council only a handful of staff went on strike, and services ran as normal.

Bexhill High’s principal Mike Conn however said he was “taken aback” by the strength of feeling among his staff.

He had hoped to keep the school open but when he realised the numbers involved decided he couldn’t, and felt during the week support kept growing.

He was stunned that 59 per cent of teachers were out, translating to about 50 staff, compared with just three teachers on strike during a previous day of action.

He said: “These staff are dedicated people, dedicated teachers and professionals in school, who care passionately about the children.

“But they feel let down by the government which doesn’t seem to understand there is a major principle at stake here. I think the government has underestimated the depth of feeling.

“The big issue for the staff, I am hearing, is when people enter this profession they enter on the understanding of certain givens.

“When they join they want to be sure the whole package is always going to be in place.”