NEU Hastings District

06/03/2026

25/02/2026

26/01/2026

Transport details for Hastings and St Leonards have been confirmed. 🔥

BOOKING NOW OPEN! Thanks to Hastings NEU, you can get subsidised train tickets to be part of the Hastings SUTR continent on the TOGETHER demo on 28th March.

Scan the QR code in this post or go to the link in our bio to book subsidised train tickets for the 28th.

26/01/2026

📱 Phones in schools aren’t the real problem.

Most schools already manage mobile phone use sensibly, with clear rules backed by staff and parents.

What schools do need is proper legislative backing when issues arise, not another layer of guidance or the risk of Ofsted using this as a new stick to beat schools with.

But this debate misses the bigger issue.

Children’s wellbeing is being damaged by highly addictive, algorithm-driven social media designed to maximise engagement, not protect young people.

If government is serious about children’s mental health, it should act where the harm sits:
✔️ regulate tech companies
✔️ enforce age-appropriate design
✔️ tackle addictive algorithms

Shifting responsibility onto schools won’t fix this. Regulating big tech will.

25/01/2026

We can all play a part in showing solidarity and rejecting division.

Help spread the message and show your support at the 28 March national demonstration with free posters, leaflets and stickers.

Get your free campaign materials here: 👉 bit.ly/45fpvVI

06/12/2025

🏳️‍⚧️✊ Trans Rights Are Human Rights ✊🏳️‍⚧️

Hastings and Rother District NEU opposes the decisions by Girlguiding and the Women’s Institute to exclude trans women and girls from membership. These organisations were not required to take this action, and choosing exclusion undermines the safety and dignity of trans+ people at a time when they already face unprecedented political and media hostility.

Claims that trans women pose a threat to cis women are both false and harmful. Violence against women and girls overwhelmingly comes from men they know, not from trans women. It is the rising far right, and the erosion of women’s rights by reactionary governments, that endanger women and girls, not trans+ communities.

Excluding trans and non binary young people carries its own safeguarding risks. Rates of self-harm, isolation and mental distress among trans+ youth are already significantly higher, and decisions like these intensify the danger they face. Girlguiding and the WI should be supporting young people, not shutting them out.

The Supreme Court ruling cited by some is not relevant to decisions affecting children and cannot be used to justify blanket bans. These decisions instead reflect a capitulation to transphobic pressure rather than a legal necessity.

As educators and trade unionists, we stand with our trans+, non binary and intersex colleagues, students and community members. We call on WI and Girlguiding members to oppose the bans and defend inclusive practice. We will continue to resist transphobia and misogyny wherever they appear.

Trans women are women.
Trans men are men.
Non binary and intersex people are valid and welcome in our movement.

🏳️‍⚧️✊🏳️‍⚧️✊🏳️‍⚧️✊
Hastings & District Trades Union Council

23/11/2025

✋ “If you’re a teacher or parent, the Government wants you to scroll past this.”

Headteacher Chris Ashley-Jones explains why we must pay attention to the Autumn Budget next week. 📆 🍂

07/11/2025

Which one of us is more English?

In this powerful TUC video, two men share their stories, one a white man descended from Irish migrants, the other an Asian man descended from Pakistanis. Both were born here, work hard, and call Britain home.

Our differences make our country stronger. Don’t let hate divide us.

👉 Watch and share the video to show that being “English” is about how we live together, not the colour of our skin.

14/09/2025

Hastings and Rother President of the NEU speaking at a recent Stand Up To Racism meeting.

06/09/2025

Solidarity Statement – NEU Hastings & Rother District

The NEU Hastings & Rother District sends our full solidarity to Simon Hester, Chair of Hastings & District Trades Union Council, following his arrest at the Lift the Ban protest in London on 6 September 2025.

We stand with Simon and with our sister unions in opposing the government’s attack on the right to protest. The proscription of Palestine Action is a dangerous move that threatens not just one campaign but the democratic rights of all trade unions and social justice movements.

As educators, we also reaffirm our commitment to international solidarity. We share the call for an end to arms sales and for Britain to break ties with policies of oppression. The right to organise, to speak out, and to protest is fundamental, and we will not accept attempts to silence our movement.

In unity and solidarity,
Hastings & Rother District, National Education Union

19/08/2025

The principle is sound in this announcement, but the way this has been handled is wrong. Announcing uniform reform just three weeks before term starts, and without it being statutory, leaves school leaders and governors unable to change policy in time. The result will be confusion: either a messy mid-year change, which doubles costs for parents or schools, or no change at all until 2026.

We expect schools will now face pressure at the gates in September. Parents will ask why the government says one thing but schools are still enforcing another, while staff worry about what line OFSTED expects them to take. That is a recipe for conflict, not clarity.

Locally, we can already see the headlines — endless stories in the Hastings Observer about children sent home for the wrong shoes, creating the perfect backdrop for a stern-faced photo op by the MP outside the school gates.

And this comes in the very same week GCSE results highlighted both a widening gap between boys and girls, and the “national disgrace” of outcomes for white working-class pupils. Those are the serious issues needing urgent attention. Instead, we get a feel-good uniform story drip-fed through The Sun. Families and schools deserve meaningful reform, not distraction politics.

THE government is calling on schools to reduce the number of branded uniform items they ask parents to buy. It comes a whole year before the new rules capping these products come into effect. From …

22/07/2025

📣 “That’s not discipline, that’s dysfunction.”

Our District Secretary, Justin Wynne, spoke to ITV News about the crisis at Ark Alexandra Academy, where nearly 500 children have left in just three years.

The NEU has raised serious concerns over:
• Detention quotas and pressure on staff
• High teacher turnover
• Children pulled from lessons and moved repeatedly
• A rigid behaviour policy that’s doing more harm than good

Justin told ITV:

“The policy looks strict on paper, but it doesn’t always help children improve.”

We need schools where relationships matter, not systems that rely on fear and spreadsheets.

📺 Watch the full ITV News report

National Education Union