Schools Action Union

[2] The FSC held a conference in January 1969 that brought together various like-minded organisations including the Secondary School Students Union and regional groups from Leicester and Scotland.

[3][4] The conference drew protests from the National Front, requiring a large police presence, and was covered by ITV's World in Action current affairs programme.

[5] Indeed, writers Martin Hoyles, Alison Assiter and Avedon Carol described the SAU as highly militant Maoists, especially in comparison to the National Union of School Students (NUSS, founded in 1972).

[2] The SAU backed a 1970 campaign by the National Council for Civil Liberties against compulsory religious education and corporal punishment in schools.

The meeting went ahead at the Conway Hall Ethical Society where attendees were shown films, attended lectures and received instruction on the manufacture of silk screen posters.

[10] Following the Ted Heath's promises to end the era of strikes, and particularly after his 18 June general election victory, the SAU received an influx of working class members.

[2] The SAU distributed copies of the controversial Little Red Schoolbook, a handbook for schoolchildren written by Danish teachers that was censored in the UK under the Obscene Publications Act.

[5][2] The actor Colin Welland met Dresner on the set of David Frost's chat show and subsequently made a donation to the SAU.

[5] The protests was primarily against corporal punishment and school uniforms though Steyne also spoke of his support for the abolition of head teachers, which he likened to dictators.

[5] Margaret Thatcher was Secretary of State for Education at the time and in June refused a proposal to issue official advice to local authorities on how to deal with the SAU.

[12] Around 20 SAU members were given tickets to attend the performance of Alice Cooper's song School's Out on a July 1972 episode of Top of the Pops.

This was condemned by media campaigner Mary Whitehouse for exposing millions of children to "violence and anarchy" in a manner that was "utterly irresponsible in a social climate which grows ever more violent".