A lack of funding and pay is damaging the school experience for children and young people, a Southend headteacher has said.

Southend High School for Boys headteacher and former National Education Union president, Dr Robin Bevan, spoke on LBC London this morning ahead of tomorrow's teacher strikes.

The strike is being taken by teachers across the country, with thousands set to walk out the classroom on February 1, March 1, 15 and 16.

Nick Ferrari quizzed the headteacher over whether teachers should inform their headtreachers and bosses of their strikes, claiming not doing so is inflammatory.

Dr Robin Bevan said: "It's not inflammatory at all, trade union and industrial action legislation has been in place in this country for well over 150 years, that legislation is there to protect workers and to allow them to make a decision. There is plenty of protection for out children in our schools everyday. 

"I started by talking about the fantastic job the education work force does everyday and I was talking about the consequences of national policy inaction on pay and funding, those are the things causing damage in our classrooms everyday to the experience of young people and the learners.

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"That's where the action needs to be. All across the country there will be many NEU members who have informed their headteacher, they don't have to and that's the really clear point you can't put our guidance to tell people they have to so something when the law says they don't. 

"There will be some who haven't told their boss about striking and one of the reasons they wont have done is because they would have been desperately hoping that yesterday the secretary of state for education made a forward movement in the talks over teachers pay and school funding.

"This is after 10 years experienced teachers have seen their pay decline, what they are saying to me in the context of my own school unless something changes, unless we get an above inflation pay rise every single year their pay will decline if that happens we end up with an even worse situation in terms of recruitment, retention and reward for the education workforce."