Teachers at Village Infant School are striking on Tuesday and Wednesday
Teachers at an east London school have gone on strike over the local council's decision to merge it with a nearby Church of England (CofE) school.
Barking and Dagenham Council approved plans to amalgamate Village Infants and William Ford Junior to make it a joint voluntary aided CofE primary school.
Village Infants staff fear the criteria for admissions could be changed to favour Christian pupils.
The council ruled out unfair treatment and said the move would save money.
Councillors approved plans for the merger at a cabinet meeting on 11 July and it will take effect from 1 September.
But nearly 700 people, including parents, governors and teachers from both the schools have opposed the proposals.
'Feel very compromised'
Teachers at Village Infant School walked out over the plans last week and this time they will be on strike on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Heather Douglas, head teacher of the school, said: "Primarily we're against it because a voluntarily aided church school could disadvantage the local community.
"They can change their admissions criteria to favour children of a Christian faith and the teachers' pay and conditions can change because the teachers are employed by the local authority, so when we become part of a church primary school they would be employed by the diocese."
Ms Douglas added that staff came from various cultural backgrounds, and "some of them feel very compromised at having to work in a faith school".
"The governors and staff of Village Infants are opposed to it, William Ford governors and the staff are opposed to it, and it seems the council are actually not consulting," she added.
Governors' assurances
After the merger decision, council leader Liam Smith said: "Both the NUT and parents have been assured that no child will be treated unfairly because they do not attend church.
"This assurance has also been provided by the governing body at William Ford Junior School that this will not happen."
Councillor Rocky Gill, cabinet member for education and finance, said: "In the current economic climate and with our well publicised campaign for more school places, we continue to ensure that all children have a school place in the borough.
"With the difficulty in getting the funds we need for our schools, sharing buildings and non-teaching staff might be another sensible option to consider."
