(Photo: @NUTonline)

Tens of thousands of teachers and school support staff went on strike today, with thousands of schools left fully or partly closed.

Members of the NUT joined colleagues from Unison, GMB, Unite and other public sector unions for the national day of action, with marches and rallies taking place around the country.

The NUT took part in the strike in its ongoing campaign over pay, pensions and working conditions, and teachers on the streets of London expressed their anger about education reforms implemented by Michael Gove.

A teacher from a school in Chingford said it had been closed by the action, and added he was particularly angry about the introduction of performance-related pay for teachers.

“We feel that goes against the whole ethos of education,” he said. “We work together. Some teachers will get it and some won’t. We don’t think that’s fair.”

David Gregory, who teaches at Sir John Cass School in Tower Hamlets, said low morale in the profession could trigger a recruitment crisis.

“We’re going to reach a point where the number of new starters doesn’t match the number of teachers leaving the profession,” he said. “I’m on strike because I’m worried about the mid- to long-term future of education.”