Schools Action Union (SAU)

Schools Action Union (SAU) was a schoolchildren’s movement, active in the late 1960s and 1970s, that handed out pamphlets outside schools and published a newspaper, Vanguard. It organised school strikes, demonstrations, and conferences, campaigning for democratic control of schools with full pupil participation. 

The SAU also united smaller student movements that emerged after May 1968, many influenced by Maoist ideas. The union's demands generally included:

• Teacher-pupil committees to run schools.
• No school uniforms – or broader freedoms of dress.
• No corporal punishment, detentions or other punishments.
• Free school meals and freedom to leave school during lunch break.

The demands could vary by school and sometimes included higher teacher pay. Schools Action Union, The Marxist, 10 April 1969 Second Encyclopaedia of anti-Revisionism On-line (website), Marxists Internet Archive.  

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The union had connections to other radical organisations, including the Young Communist League, North London Alliance in Defence of Workers' Rights North London Alliance in Defence of Workers Rights (NLADWR) Formed by Maoist groups, the North London Alliance in Defence of Workers Rights (NLADWR) was a community-oriented, broad front organisation that campaigned against state racism and imperialism. From mid-1971 to the end of 1972 the Alliance held street meetings, rallies and demonstrations in north London with groups such as the Black Unity Freedom Party, Women’s Liberation Front, Hackney United Tenants Association Ad-Hoc Committee and Schools Action Union. NLADWR was spied on by HN45 'Dave Robertson'. Full page: North London Alliance in Defence of Workers Rights (NLADWR)  and the International Socialists. International Socialists/Socialist Workers Party The International Socialists (IS)/Socialist Worker Party (SWP) is a Trotskyist political party. It started life in 1950 as the Socialist Review Group, changing its name to the International Socialists in 1962 and then to the Socialist Workers Party in 1977. The IS/SWP was of significant interest to the policing and security apparatus, spied on by at least 35 undercover officers. This profile is a stub that will updated. Full page: International Socialists/Socialist Workers Party  The National Union of Teachers' 1972 conference passed a resolution to support SAU.

The SAU was also of interest to the secret ‘Subversion at Home’ committee.’ The SAU appears in reports considered by the committee in 1970 and 1972. MI5 briefing ‘The Current Situation Amongst British Students’ with cover note to Official Committee on Subversion at Home (CAB 134-3248), 6 Mar 1970, MI5, UCPI0000035228.View Document MI5 report 'Subversion in the UK - 1972' with cover letter from Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister (CAB 301-490-1), 17 Mar 1972, MI5, UCPI0000035255.View Document  The idea of both teachers and school children being assessed as potential subversive threats was underlined by a memo issue by MI5 in 1975 to all chief constables, to keep a lookout for ‘subversion in schools’. Letter from MI5 to the Chief Constable asking for info on subversive activities in schools, 16 Dec 1975, MI5, UCPI0000034698.View Document

A Special Branch report by HN348 'Sandra Davies' HN348 'Sandra Davies' HN348 ‘Sandra Davies’ was a Special Demonstration Squad undercover officer who infiltrated the Women's Liberation Front, later known as the Revolutionary Women's Union, from February 1971 for two years. The Inquiry has released nearly 80 intelligence reports produced in her name, none of which justify her deployment, according to Inquiry Chair John Mitting. She was withdrawn as a precaution in February 1973 after a fellow SDS officer’s cover was blown. Her real name has been restricted. Full page: HN348 'Sandra Davies'  estimated that 800 children participated in an SAU-organised protest march on 8 May 1972. HN348 'Sandra Davies', Report on a school strike involving around 800 children, organised by the Schools Action Union, held on 8 May 1972, 12 May 1972, Metropolitan Police Special Branch, UCPI0000010928.View Document  

The SAU dissolved in 1974, but the abolition campaign continued and saw corporal punishment banned nationally in all state schools in 1986. Corporal punishment is now illegal in Scotland and Wales. Striking by school-age children has continued throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

Sources

Past Tense. Today in London's educational history, 1972. Today in London's educational history, 1972: a Schools Action Union strike and demonstration, Past Tense, 2020.