The furious parents of girls attending Connaught School for Girls have turned to £400-a-month tutors after industrial action by hard-left teachers at the school.

Teachers at the academy, located in Leytonstone in London, have taken a total of 45 days of strike action since 2022 – which is almost an entire term.

Their latest industrial action – led by members of the National Education Union (NEU) – began on April 21, 2026 and was due to run to June 8 before it was suspended.

This year’s dispute, according to union representatives, centred on proposed redundancies, workload pressures, pay cuts and the removal of subjects from the curriculum. 

However, the row has been linked to separate strike action at the school in 2025,  after allegations of misconduct involving a unionised staff member arose. 

Earlier this month, pupils at the school staged their own counter-protest in response to the latest strike, with footage shared online appearing to show some staff members laughing and applauding at the girls. 

Gathering outside the school, pupils carried signs reading, ‘Kids with more respect than adults’ and ‘Nice day off?’ – urging their striking teachers to return to classrooms during the GCSE exam season. 

Now, parents of affected pupils have spoken of their anger at the industrial action – which they say left them to self-fund private tutors in the run-up to critical exams.  

Parents of girls attending Connaught School for Girls, who were seen protesting against industrial action earlier this month, have turned to £400-a-month tutors

Fashion designer Angela Tranter, 39, has a daughter in Year 10 that attends the school.

Ms Tranter said she is currently spending £400-per-month on a private tutor following the absence of teachers from the classroom this year.  

She said: ‘My daughter’s mocks have been completely disrupted, no doubt next year the same pattern will continue.

‘If I’d known that the school had been striking since 2012, I would never have sent my daughter. Why would you send your child into a civil war between the staff?’

Ms Tranter, who spoke to The Times, added that those on strike ‘make absolutely no sense’.

She said: ‘They said the school had been doing things that were illegal. They said there were mass redundancies of Muslim people.’

Alia Khan, whose daughter helped lead counter-protests against the strike action, remarked that she was ‘so proud’ that parents were raising ‘warriors’.

She described the school and its leadership team as ‘fantastic’, but said the local NEU branch are staging back-to-back action and ‘mocking’ pupils who questioned their decision to do so. 

Footage shared online appeared to show some staff members laughing and applauding in response to the counter protesting students earlier this month

This year’s strike action came following allegations of misconduct which caused a separate dispute at the school in 2025. 

Parents were critical of those strikes at the time, saying they caused significant disruption to preparations for GCSE examinations that were approaching.

In response, headteacher Alexander Silk claimed ACAS-mediated negotiations had deteriorated after union representatives allegedly said industrial action could be withdrawn if a disciplinary investigation was dropped.

Writing to parents, he said: ‘During ACAS negotiations last week, the union representative informed me that they would call off the strike action if we agreed to call off the investigation. We have not agreed to this.’

He added: ‘It is not appropriate for the union to seek to influence the outcome of a disciplinary process or to attempt to force the school’s hand through strike action. We cannot and will not allow external pressure to compromise a fair and proper investigation.’

The NEU – who denied wrongdoing during the dispute – said the 2025 action was related to ‘the victimisation of NEU members’ and other concerns in the workplace. 

Yet since 2022, dozens of days have been lost to strike action for pupils, affecting several year groups. 

The unrelenting strikes have seen four headteachers since 2019 and pupil numbers dwindle.  

Since 2022, Connaught School for Girls has lost dozens of days to industrial action

This year’s strike landed just as Year 11 pupils were preparing to sit GCSE exams, raising renewed concerns among parents. 

Industrial action was allegedly threatened by teachers over classroom seating plans, cleaning rotas, management style and ‘unfair working practices’.

Around 30 strikers and supporters joined a picket line outside the school earlier this month, including NEU members from across Cambridgeshire, London and Hertfordshire.

Daniel Kebede, who is the NEU general secretary, joined the picket line. 

He said: ‘What they’ve got planned for Connaught is a disgrace, removing subjects, removing teachers.’

On May 7, a further rally was held outside the Department for Education, which brought together striking staff from four schools involved in separate but overlapping disputes across London.

Protestors included staff from Great Ormond Street Hospital School, where the National Education Union (NEU) claims three senior representatives, including union rep Kate Williams, were sacked following a collective grievance alleging bullying and misuse of disciplinary procedures.

At present, neither side appears close to a resolution. However, the current strike has since been suspended – with NEU leaders thought to have urged teachers to cease action due to bad publicity.  

A spokeswoman for NEU said members from Connaught School for Girls ‘voted for strike action due to the threat of compulsory redundancies and excessive workload’.

She said that while the dispute is ongoing, talks are in place to ‘hopefully’ resolve the issue and further strike action has been suspended. 

She said:  ‘Legislation is clear that agency workers should not be used to undermine lawful industrial action. The NEU will ensure that this is upheld.

‘NEU members across Waltham Forest are taking part in an indicative ballot on the issue of maternity rights and excessive workload. 

‘Teaching is primarily a female profession yet the maternity rights that teachers have are entirely inadequate, which is proven to impact upon teacher retention.

‘No teacher takes industrial action lightly. Teachers are dedicated professionals too often asked to go the extra mile without the necessary funding.’