by Hugo Pierre, Former Camden Unison schools convenor
Unison members at Richard Cobden Primary School in London are taking four days of strike action to end the undervaluing of their role in the school. Teaching assistants (TAs) are now working strictly to their job descriptions and the senior leadership’s perceptions of the work they do in school.
Hidden away in their offices, the senior leadership team (SLT) continues to deny the essential, creative and important role the TAs play in making sure all children in class can access learning. The school, in a very deprived area of Camden, has children with a wide variety of learning needs. In order to downplay their role, the SLT says that teachers direct the TAs’ work. But even the most experienced teachers rely on either a dedicated class TA, or one that is dedicated to individual children with the most complex needs, to make sure the class runs smoothly.
The TAs are now demanding to see papers and plans before they work with children. They are only supporting children when they’ve been given explicit instructions by teachers.
Previous strike action has had a big impact on the school. SLT and the governing body continue to mislead the council, which did the grade evaluation for the posts, about the true extent of the work they do. Many of the teachers back their TAs, even though the work-to-rule can be difficult for them, and parents and students have been very supportive.
The TAs are organised and sticking together. They know they play a bigger part in the school than management gives them credit for, and they are determined to only stop their action when that’s recognised in a higher pay grade.
Richard Cobden School strike against ‘clueless’ management
by Hugo Pierre, former Camden Unison schools convenor
◷ 8th January 2026
Unison school support staff at Richard Cobden School in Camden took their third four-day block of strike action before Christmas. The school’s management proposed a restructure that cut permanent posts, retained agency staff and increased workload for all support staff. The increased workload was both in volume and responsibilities, especially for teaching assistants.
Unison opposed these cuts, the scale of which only became apparent after cross-examining the headteachers, because they would not work for the children, especially at lunchtime, and schools would become unsafe. There were already a lot of safety issues for staff that management were kicking under the carpet.
Unison members were also committed to giving the children, especially those with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities), the best support to meet their needs: taking groups out of class or providing specialist one-to-one support. None of this was recognised in their pay, so Unison demanded an increase for teaching assistants’ pay grade to scale four.
The school rejected most of the Unison response, making a few small changes. Members have taken strike action since the beginning of October to win their demands. The action forced management to look at a grading appeal of the work they do. Incredibly, the appeal accepted that they were doing more work than management said they were doing, but decided that the staff took this on voluntarily!
The school management and governors could end the dispute by agreeing that support staff, as proposed in the reorganisation, have these additional responsibilities. Instead, they appear to be clueless about the role of their own staff.
The school’s Unison rep said: “The fact that it got to strike action without any communication from the senior leadership team tells us there was no desire to have any meaningful conversation about the situation.
“Given that many other schools have regraded their support staff to level four without strike action, shows how little management at Richard Cobden value their support staff. All this in the light of them asking us to do more under a restructure and deletion of posts at the very roots of the school.
“Are they suggesting to parents that the support their children receive is of less quality than what other schools in the borough provide?
“Since the successful ballot for strike action, we have seen a massive increase in Unison membership and a desire from support staff to have their voices heard. Membership has nearly doubled since the dispute began.
“The fact that management have claimed they are trying to resolve the dispute has infuriated members and has been extremely damaging to morale. This has motivated people to stand up and be counted!
“Action will absolutely continue unless management is responsive to our requests. It is both baffling and infuriating to think that our friends in neighbouring schools are paid a higher scale for exactly the same job. All of this in the face of the Department for Education officially recognising that Richard Cobden School is one of a number in London that is facing unprecedented strain due to an increased SEND intake.”