PUPILS at a Derby secondary school will miss lessons for the second time in two weeks when teachers strike again tomorrow and on Thursday.
Members of two teaching unions are in dispute with Merrill Academy, which is run by Derby College, over performance-related pay.
The first day of action was last Tuesday and a meeting on Thursday failed to come up with a solution, according to Sue Arguile, Derby branch secretary of the National Union of Teachers.
She said: "Unfortunately, very little progress was made in the talks. Therefore, we have no alternative but to take further strike action this week.
"Members of the NUT are determined that the situation, which has seen the majority of teachers denied pay progression despite achieving the second-best exam results ever, should not happen again.
"They are insistent that unfair targets linked solely to pupils' attainment are not an acceptable way of measuring teacher performance and thus determining pay progression.
"We do not want to be trapped into seeing pupils as 'levels' but rather want to be free to teach in ways which acknowledge the individual strengths and weaknesses of each individual pupil.
"Targets which concentrate on a particular percentage of pupils achieving a particular measure of progress put unfair pressure on both teachers and pupils. Square pegs should not be forced into round holes."
The other union involved is the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers.
Both unions' members are expected to stage a picket line outside the school in Brackens Lane, Alvaston, tomorrow and possibly Thursday.
Derby College has previously said that the strikes are "unfair" to pupils and parents and "staff who are committed to the academy".
