Why are my son’s teachers constantly on strike?

It is a bright Wednesday morning in May. My son, T, a Year 8 pupil, should be at school and I should be working, but instead we are playing tennis. We are also listening to ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Dire Straits because he’s supposed to be studying the play in class so I figure I can cover both PE and English literature in the next half an hour before we head home and I start the work I’m meant to be doing.

My son isn’t ill and isn’t playing truant. His school, along with five others in Lewisham, south London, is in the middle of 13 days of strike action called by the National Education Union (NEU). Prendergast Ladywell, Prendergast School, Prendergast Vale, Prendergast Sixth Form and Prendergast Primary are all part of the Leathersellers’ Federation, which wants to turn the schools into a multi-academy trust (MAT).