Teachers stage picket line protest over academy plan

A school in Kingswinford was closed to the majority of pupils today as teachers picketed in protest over plans for it to become an academy.

The Kingswinford School was open only to Year 11 pupils as around 40 members of staff and union chiefs gathered outside the two main gates.

Banners and flags were set up outside both entrances in Water Street from 8am onwards for the strike.

Governors have already voted in favour of the school becoming an academy, but staff claim there has been no consultation with them about the change and said the protest was a way of getting their voices heard.