 in England since February - and another is planned for Friday. As well as lessons, end-of-term events such as sports day, concerts and school trips could be disrupted. And with more strike ballots taking place, schools are bracing for further disruption in the new school year. It has been more than five months since teachers first took to the picket lines in woolly hats, clutching takeaway coffees between gloved hands. They received a 5% rise for the year 2022-23. This time they are calling for above-inflation increases, plus additional money to ensure any pay rises do not come from schools' existing budgets. The weather may have improved since that first strike on 1 February, but relations between the two sides in this dispute remain as frosty as ever. There are no talks under way between the unions and the Department for Education (DfE), and there is no obvious resolution in sight. There have been crunch points in recent months. After intensive talks in March, the government offered teachers an additional one-off payment of £1,000. It also offered a 4.3% pay rise for most teachers next year - with starting salaries reaching £30,000. The NEU, and three other unions involved in the dispute, rejected the offer - which means the one-off payment is now off the table. More strikes have taken place since then. The most recent walkout, on 2 May, affected more schools than previously - with less than half, only 45.3%, able to fully open. Some teenagers we spoke to at the time were worried revision classes would be affected, as they prepared for exams. The NEU has said it did everything it could to make sure school was as normal as possible for those year groups taking examinations this summer. Two things will determine what happens next. The first is the announcement of how){kind=link}
Many schools in England closed on Wednesday, as teachers walked out again over pay.
It was the sixth national strike by members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England since February – and another is planned for Friday.
As well as lessons, end-of-term events such as sports day, concerts and school trips were disrupted.
And with more strike ballots taking place, schools are bracing for further disruption in the new school year.
It has been more than five months since teachers first took to the picket lines in woolly hats, clutching takeaway coffees between gloved hands.