Teachers at Keighley's Calversyke Middle School are fighting to keep their jobs which could be lost under Bradford council's schools review.

They say the review will result in unfair and unequal treatment of staff in middle schools which is having a knock-on effect on teachers' morale.

Under the review, the council intends to let first and upper school teachers keep their jobs while middle school staff will have to bid for positions in other schools.

Members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) at Calversyke say this is 'grossly unfair'.

In a letter to Diana Cavanagh, director of education at Bradford, and Ray Watson, head of the school review team, teachers at Calversyke have outlined their grievances.

Their concerns include:

young children travelling long distances to school

pupils aged 7-12 having their education 'severely disrupted' during the massive upheaval causing a 'fall in standards of attainment after the change'

larger schools resulting in less parental choice

unspecified amounts of money being spent on extra facilities for school upgrades

the 'talents' of 140 middle school heads and deputies being wasted as inexperienced first school heads take charge of bigger primary schools.

They have asked the council to consider negotiating with teachers, unions and governors for a 'clear and fair redeployment plan with the professional retraining being offered guaranteed to be an integral part of the process'.

They also want a monitoring system to be set up whereby teachers will have the opportunity to change jobs if they find their initial positions unsuitable.

Suggestions put forward by the Calversyke NUT members include closing fewer schools, shutting down first and middle schools situated close together, discouraging school mergers and avoiding setting up larger schools.

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