28 June 2023
28th June 2023
STRIKE ACTION BY TEACHERS - Wednesday 5th July and Friday 7th July 2023
Dear Parents / Carers,
Ballots have been carried out by a number of 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 and conditions.
The NEU have announced they will be striking for 2 days next week. This will be on Wednesday 5th July and Friday 7th July 2023. It is our intention to keep school as open as we possibly can on these days and we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that this is the case. However, in doing so, I must ensure that we are able to meet health and safety requirements for pupils and staff who do not wish to strike. As a result, we have planned to partially open on both days.
I would like to update you now on the arrangements for Werneth School, which are in line with DfE guidance to headteachers and other schools in our multi-academy trust. These arrangements take into account the school’s capacity to operate safely on the days with a significantly reduced number of staff. They also allow the school to follow the DfE advice in providing an amended timetable for students on these days.
|
Wednesday 5th July |
YEAR 10 in school |
YEARS 7, 8 and 9 working at home |
|
Friday 7th July |
YEAR 9 in school |
YEARS 7, 8 and 10 working at home |
- The planned careers visit for Year 10 on 5th July has been cancelled. Year 10 will be in school.
- Vulnerable children in year groups that are at home will receive a telephone call from their Year Inclusion Manager prior to the days, inviting them to attend school if they wish to do so. They will follow a specially adapted timetable for the days and may be taught together as one group. The definition of a vulnerable child is: any child with an EHCP [ Educational Health and Care Plan ]; any child with an allocated Social Worker, and any child who is looked after ( ie fostered, in care ).
- Students in year groups at home will receive a link to Oak Academy resources that can be completed at home. https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage
- If your child is not in school and you are normally in receipt of free school meals, we will provide a meal if you request it. This will be at a designated time for collection at Werneth School and at Brinnington First House. You will have a choice of venue to collect from. If you would like your child to receive the free school meal, please send an email to fsm@wernethschool.com or telephone your child’s Year Inclusion Manager. The email should state the name of your child(ren), and if you would like the meal to be collected from Werneth School or Brinnington First House. We will provide drop off times next week.
If these arrangements change in any way between now and the strike days, I will contact you via Edulink as soon as practicable.
We appreciate the need for you to be updated as soon as possible so that you can make alternative arrangements if your child is unable to attend school. Planning does 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. We realise that this may cause you disruption, for which we apologise. We continue to work with our union colleagues as the situation develops.
Yours sincerely,
Mr A Conroy
Headteacher