Strike Letter - Thursday 27 April and Tuesday 2 May 20.04.23

20 April 2023

Dear Parents/Carers

As you may be aware, the National Education Union, in accordance with the provisions of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992, has announced further strike action. The proposed dates for this industrial action are:

• Thursday 27 April
• Tuesday 2 May

This action has resulted in some partial and whole school closures both locally and nationally. The decision to close a school to all or some students is never taken lightly and we will always try our best to keep the school open to as many students as possible. In order to take the necessary steps to ensure the health and safety of students, a risk assessment has to be carried out to determine if there is a need for a full or partial closure of the school.  Amongst other areas this risk assessment considers:

• Whether there are likely to be enough suitably qualified staff to enable students to be supervised safely
• If we can guarantee student to staff ratios will be met
• Our ability to ensure our emergency procedures including fire and evacuation, can be carried out

I am writing to you today to inform you of our plans for Thursday 27 April and Tuesday 2 May. Unfortunately, due the reasons outlined above, we will be partially closed and the school will be open to the following year groups on these days:

Thursday 27 April   
Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 – students in these year groups should attend school on this day. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find the same number of supply teachers as we have on previous strike days, at the moment we are unable to open to Years 7, 8 and 9. If this situation changes we will change our plans and let you know if any other year groups can attend school.

Tuesday 2 May
Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 – students in these year groups should attend school on this day. We are still working to find supply teachers and we will let you know as soon as possible if we can open to students in other year groups.

We have prioritised the older year groups as we are now so close to external exams for Years 11, 12 and 13. As I am sure you would agree it is important we minimise any disruption to the preparation for exams for these students. We have also prioritised Year 10 as this year group have internal exams and some students are completing assessments that count towards their actual qualifications 

Students in all year groups who have EHCPs will also be able to attend school as normal.

Students in the year groups who are not in school will receive remote learning via Firefly. There is no requirement for teachers who are on strike to set work. Students should log onto Firefly at 9am to see which lessons have been set. 

We appreciate that industrial action is disruptive, and you may need to change your plans or working arrangements whilst this action is ongoing. We will, of course, continue to monitor the arrangements in place and make modifications to improve support for students, wherever possible. However, ensuring the health and safety of our students must take priority.

We are sorry for the inconvenience this will cause parents and carers. I would also like to take this opportunity to reassure parents and carers that as a school we will do everything we can to ensure that any lost learning is caught up. 

Yours sincerely

Vicki Jackson
Headteacher