Dear Parent/Carers
As you may be aware, one of the Teaching Unions, the NEU, has conducted a ballot on national strike action regarding pay in school and colleges. The dispute is continuing and the NEU have added two more days of national strike action this term. The strike action will take place on the following dates:
- Thursday 27th April
- Tuesday 2nd May
This is not industrial action against the School, it is as part of national action and is because the NEU states it has a Trade Dispute “with the Secretary of State for Education as a result of the failure to give an undertaking to make available additional and sufficient funds to allow employers to pay a fully funded increase in the pay of teachers at a rate greater than inflation (referencing May 2022 RPI of 11.7% at the time of submitting the claim).”
The next proposed strike day is next Thursday 27th April and Tuesday 2nd May and up to 21 out of over 49 teachers in School may therefore decide to strike on this day. As a result there may be some disruption to teaching. Because the strike is national and also includes schools and colleges, there may also be other staff who are affected because their children may not be able to attend school on these days. The school is committed to our student’s health, safety and wellbeing after considering all the risks and the impact of staff absence we have implemented a contingency plan.
Therefore, although the School will remain open on both these days for all staff who can come into work, due to the staff absence and their timetable commitments only Year 11 will be in school all other year groups will be remote working at home online via Google Classroom
Students in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 should not attend School in person on Thursday 27th April and Tuesday 2nd May.
Online Learning
However students should attend online via Google Classroom and registers will be taken each lesson. If their teacher has not appeared online to take their lesson after 10 minutes, they can assume that the lesson will not take place and their attendance record will not be affected. Instead, they should use this time as an Independent Workshop Session. Students need to reflect on the weekly goals they set and continue to work towards them. At KS3 students can work towards the current SAIL Theme and Missions. At KS4 the students can work on GCSE Pod, SENICA, Mathswatch etc to revise and catch up on homework, assessment work and independent study work.
Please see the attached the Shevington High School Remote Learning Policy that clearly highlights the expectations for students during a remote learning lesson.
Only Year 11 students will be in school accessing lessons as normal. Many lessons will not be affected by the strike action and will take place as planned online or in school for Year 11
Thank you for your continued support and co-operation in this matter.
Mr J Grant
Headteacher
