24th January 2023

Strike Action Letter

Dear Parents/Carers

Industrial Action

As you may be aware ballots have been carried out by a number teachers’ trade unions to determine whether their members agree to take strike action, following a dispute which has arisen between the unions and the government about teachers’ pay. This has not arisen due to any issues at the school.

The outcome of the ballots has been announced and only the members of NEU have voted to take strike action. Other unions who balloted did not meet the required thresholds.

The NEU have announced they will be striking on the following dates (I have highlighted, in bold, the dates which would potentially impact NUSA):

1 February 2023: All schools in England

28 February 2023: Schools in North and North-west England, Yorkshire and Humber

1 March 2023: Schools in East Midlands, West Midlands, and Eastern region

2 March 2023: Schools in South-east and South-west England, and London

15 and 16 March 2023: Two-day strike in all schools in England

It is our intention to keep the school open wherever possible and we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that this is the case. However, we need to ensure that in doing so it is able to meet the health and safety requirements for pupils and staff. As a result, the School Leadership Team are currently in the process of planning for the upcoming strikes and considering whether the school may close or partially close on those days.

In the event of a partial close, we will be prioritising the attendance of vulnerable children, children of critical workers and pupils who are in exam years.

As a parent myself, I appreciate the need for you all to be notified at an early stage so that alternative arrangements can be made for your children if they are unable to attend school. Planning is however likely to take some time as rules relating to industrial action mean that we are unable to accurately identify the exact number of staff that are likely to engage in strike action. I will inform you via my normal weekly letter on Friday of the plans for Wednesday 1st February 2023.

We realise that this may cause you disruption, for which we apologise. We wish to assure you that we will be taking all reasonable steps to minimise disruption to pupil learning. We are sure that all members of the Trust/school community will continue to treat each other with respect. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your patience during this time.

We continue to work with our union colleagues as this situation developments and we will endeavour to keep you updated as soon as we are able.

Yours sincerely,

Emma Howard

Headteacher