Teachers will be walking out of classrooms this week in a new wave of industrial action - and school strikes will hit Ashby and Leicestershire this Wednesday and Friday (July 5 and 7) as staff protest over pay and funding cuts.

Members of the National Education Union are walking out and are seeking a fully-funded above inflation pay rise.

Ashby School says on its website: "Wednesday 5 July - Year 10 students will not be in school. All other students are expected to attend.

"Friday 7 July - Year 7 students will not be in school. All other students are expected to attend."

This might not be the end of the disruption in English classrooms. Members are being asked if they would support further action, with the ballot closing at the end of the month.

The Government has branded the strike action "highly damaging", saying its offer was fair and reasonable and recognised the incredible work and commitment of the country's teachers. Information published by the Department for Education (DfE) said teachers were offered a 5.4 per cent pay rise in September, as well as a one off-payment of £1,000. They were also offered a further 4.5 per cent pay rise from September this year. Both would have been fully funded, the DfE said. The unions have also "rejected an offer to create a new taskforce to help reduce workload by an average of five hours a week for teachers and leaders", the department added.

This will be the seventh and eighth days of action in the country since Wednesday, February 1 for state school teachers, the NEU has said. Sixth form colleges held an additional walkout in November last year.

Lucy Hopley, regional secretary for the East Midlands, claims teachers in England have been "left with no choice". She said: "In stark contrast to Wales and Scotland, where settlements were reached months ago, the Government of England is intent on dragging its heels. Gillian Keegan has refused to engage and refused to meet with the education unions, in spite of the vast majority of teachers rejecting her initial pay and funding offer at the start of April.

"We want to find a solution but it seems the Government is more interested in political games. Having insisted that we must follow the advice of the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB), Rishi Sunak and his Education Secretary are now saying the opposite. It is increasingly likely that the recommendations of the STRB for 2023/24, delivered to Ms Keegan weeks ago, will not be followed. It is believed that the review body has recommended a 6.5% rise for teachers but she intends to suppress this unpalatable report until the end of term. In moving the goalposts, the Government is infuriating teachers and letting pupils down."

Nick Raine, East Midlands senior regional officer added: "There is a crisis in education. Schools and colleges are haemorrhaging staff, and those who remain are having to work unacceptably high numbers of additional hours in return for pay which continues to worsen in value. The Government's latest teacher census shows that a third have left the sector within five years of qualifying. They are missing their own training targets as a matter of routine, and teacher vacancies are up by 55% in just twelve months.

"The Government's latest position is to let this continue, and to deliver yet another real-terms pay cut upon teachers. Gillian Keegan and Rishi Sunak should be aware that our dispute is not fading away. Members of the NEU are voting right now in a re-ballot, to extend our campaign into the autumn if no resolution on pay and funding is reached with Government." Other unions are also consulting members on action in the autumn, he added.

A DfE spokesperson said: "Any strikes action is hugely damaging. We have made a fair and reasonable pay offer to teachers recognising their incredible work and commitment."

The DfE added it had increased school funding by £2 billion over two years in response to requests by the union in October. Funding per pupil in 2024-25 will be at its highest ever level, the department added, and is set to rise faster than forecast inflation in both 2023/24 and 2024/25.