The next round of strike action by the National Education Union (NEU) is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 5 and Friday 7 July. Due to reduced staffing numbers, we will once again be partially closed, with similar arrangements in place as on the previous strike date. Having evaluated the situation and to ensure we can provide a safe environment for our students, school will be partially open.

School will be open to the following students:

• All Year 10 and Year 12

• Looked After Children, those with social services involvement and those with an Education and Health Care Plan (ECHP) - we will contact these families separately

Students in these groups are expected to attend school in full uniform and bring their usual equipment as on a normal day. We will work as closely as possible to the normal lesson timetable for Year 11 with some variation where needed. Younger students will do supervised learning activities but may not follow their usual timetable. Teachers and classroom support staff will be available to help students engage and make good progress in their activities. School buses will run as normal.

For those students who are not expected to be in school and are in receipt of free school meals, the school will organise a voucher for Tesco to the value of £4 which will be sent via email to the parent.   

Learning activities

Year 7, 8 and 9

Year 7 Camp is going ahead and will not be affected by strike action on Wednesday 5 July. Non Campers are required to stay at home on this day unless they fall under any of the categories outlined above. All of year 7 are required to stay at home on Friday 7 July.

We will be providing students with learning activities that can be completed at home for students in Year 7 to Year 9. These will include options that can be completed with or without a computer. We will not be running live video lessons. Students in school will be doing the same activities as those at home.

Year 10 and 12

Year 10 and 12 students are expected to attend school as normal.

HOME LEARNING FOR FRIDAY 7 July 2023

About the strikes

As you will be aware, this strike is due to a national dispute between the NEU and the government over teachers’ pay and conditions; and not because of any issue at our school or the Together Learning Trust. 

We’d like to thank our fantastic teachers, classroom assistants and support staff, many of whom are working additional duties to allow us to open partially. Nobody takes strike action lightly, and we hope you’ll share some sympathy with the staff who have made the very difficult decision to do so. We know the same rising living costs have also affected so many workers and families. Along with all our staff, we are committed to providing a safe environment and valuable education for all of our students. 

We share your frustration that this set of circumstances has come about and that it has not been possible for these issues to be resolved amicably without the need for strike action. There are no winners in these circumstances, and as such, it remains important that we continue to support each other with the utmost respect and goodwill.

Thank you for your continued support.