Teachers have threatened strike action over plans to begin the autumn term in August.

The London Borough of Newham has set 29 August as the first day of the next school year - prompting an angry response from a teachers' union.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers says that it still recognises the beginning of the school year as 1 September - and a ballot of members could lead to a boycott of working in August.

"Teachers are under pressure from all directions and their only respite is the summer break. Encroaching on that time is a very sensitive issue for teachers," said Derek Moore, the union's national executive committee representative for north-east London.

Longer half term

Allowing the school year to spread into the traditional holiday month of August was touching a "very raw nerve indeed", said Mr Moore.

Last year the local authority began the school year on 31 August - which NASUWT members boycotted after a ballot.

According to the union, the school year is calculated on a year that begins on September 1 and ends on August 31 - and beginning any earlier would mean extra work without extra pay.

But the local authority rejects this, saying that the year will be balanced so that no additional working days are created. There will be two extra days off tagged onto the autumn half term with the third extra day taken off in the summer term.

The local authority rejected any suggestion that this was a precursor to moving towards a five-term year.