Striking teachers are booking samba lessons and luxury lunches

Militant teachers are booking dance lessons and luxury lunches on strike days, leaving frantic parents to scramble around for childcare, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

On Tuesday, teachers will leave their classrooms for strike-day ‘activities’, including an hour-long samba workshop and a meal at a Hampton By Hilton hotel.

In Reading, union reps called on teachers to rally ‘friends’ and book a samba session before enjoying a picnic in the town’s Forbury Gardens.

A National Education Union post on Twitter read: ‘Get your friends together and join us for our strike activities in Reading.’ 

And in Stockton-on-Tees, striking members were urged to retreat from the picket line for lunch at the Hilton. 

The plans outraged MPs and parents’ groups last night, who accused the staff of ‘bunking off’.

Tory MP Jonathan Gullis said: ‘Up and down the country there are thousands of teachers going into work, educating our kids and putting their needs first.

‘But a minority of hard-Left NEU members are bringing them into disrepute, bunking off work for ‘strike action’ while holding samba lessons and dining out on luxury lunches at the Hilton. The NEU needs to stop having a jolly.’

A Government source said: ‘This just shows that the NEU cares more about samba lessons than maths lessons. 

‘Instead of keeping schools open to give kids the best education possible, the union has revealed itself to be no more than a glorified activity club for striking teachers.’

Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, a former headteacher, said: ‘It’s a shame that while the vast majority of teachers want to be in the classroom, militant unions have created what is effectively their own unofficial half-term. I hope they spare a thought for the children trying to learn at home.’

Tuesday’s strike will be the second of five days of walkouts by the National Education Union (NEU) in the summer term. 

It will plunge GCSE and A-level students into turmoil just weeks before their exams, as some are forced to study from home – and cause misery to parents searching for childcare.

However, leaked Government data suggests union barons are losing support. On Thursday, 95 per cent of state schools across England – around 15,000 – remained open or partially open, figures seen by The Mail on Sunday show. 

In London, 12 per cent more schools were open compared to the first day of industrial action in February. 

And in a survey of more than 400 schools, 73 per cent of trusts reported that less than 40 per cent of staff were striking. 

A Government source said: ‘There is a clear divide beginning to show between what unions leaders are demanding of members and what teachers on the ground feel.

‘Teachers are putting their pupils first while unions play politics.’

Arabella Skinner, of parents’ advocacy group UsForThem, said: ‘Every day our children miss sends a message that education isn’t important and fuels absenteeism. Seeing some of their teachers out and about appearing to enjoy a strike day reinforces this message. Adults should be role models.’

An NEU spokesman said: ‘Teachers are taking their legitimate right to withdraw their labour under the NEU ballot for strike action. 

‘This action should be entirely unnecessary and the responsibility for it lies at the door of the education secretary, who refuses to negotiate for a fully funded pay increase for teachers in England.’

The Department for Education said: ‘Children’s education has always been our absolute priority and they should be in classrooms where they belong. We have made a fair and reasonable pay offer.’