TEACHERS in St Helens have gone out on strike today (Wednesday) as the first National Education Union action takes place.

NEU members have seven days of action planned but the union says “only four will impact on schools in St Helens”, (February 1 and 28, and March 15 and 16).

Patrick White, secretary of St Helens NEU, said ahead of the strike “teachers do not want to strike” and added that “for many this will be a very upsetting but necessary action”.

He added teachers have seen a huge drop in the value of their salaries and said there are difficulties in “recruiting suitable candidates” and with “retention of teachers.

Part of the action is also about “better funding for schools”, he added.

READ > NEU strikes: Schools across St Helens to face disruption amid dispute

There were picket lines early this morning at schools in St Helens, including Sutton Academy, De La salle and Cowley Schools as teachers went on today’s strike.

Mr White hopes that today’s action can lead to discussions to help lead to an agreement.

He said to the Star: “We were generally pleased, and (Education Secretary) Gillian Keegan seemed a bit more conciliatory over the news so I’m hoping that there will be a bit of a shake-up, and between now and February 28 there will be more discussions and hopefully we’ll get some sort of agreement.”

He said that teachers on the picket lines this morning received support from members of the public.

“When I was out this morning, there were people beeping their horns and I get the feeling that the public are very much on side,” he added.

“They want a decent education standard and they want well-paid teachers and want teachers that are the best, and really, if pay isn’t sufficient those quality graduates will go somewhere else.

“We’ve seen pay drop by nearly 20 per cent since the Tories came to power, as a lot of public sector workers have found.”