A SECONDARY school has closed for the day after teachers went on strike.

Members of the Union of Teachers (NUT) are staging the walk-out at Connaught School for Girls in Connaught Road, Leytonstone, in protest at plans for it to become an academy.

If the school does become an academy it will break free from local council control, receiving all its funding direct from the government and giving management greater independence over its day-to-day running.

The school's governors believe the move is needed to safeguard the future of Connaught after the council hinted some smaller secondary schools may be merged in future.

But critics claim it could end up being more expensive for the school to buy in previously shared services and could also potentially harm the terms and conditions of teachers.

Steve White, of Waltham Forest NUT, said there were no plans for the council to merge Connaught and that the academies move was based on "speculation".

More to follow.