Letters

27 February 2023

Dear Parent/Guardian

Re: Planned strike action at Falmouth School on Thursday 2 March 2023

We write further to our previous correspondence to update you on the progress of our contingency planning during the forthcoming strike action in schools.

Background

We have had confirmation from NEU that members of the union intend to take formal industrial action by participating in a strike which will take place on 2 March 2023.

The strike action is in relation to a national dispute around teacher and school staff pay. I wanted to take this opportunity to further explain the dispute and to also outline the school’s plans during the strike. 

What is the dispute which has led to the strike about

As you may know, over the summer the Department for Education agreed to a 5% pay rise for teachers. Teaching unions across England and Scotland, including NEU are in dispute with the Department for Education regarding their request for teachers pay to keep up with inflation and the cost of living.

What will happen at the school during the strike? 

I have set out below the arrangements for school opening during the strike action on 2 March 2023:

• The school will be open for selected students on Thursday 2 March 2023.
• A separate communication will be sent to parents and carers of those students who will be invited to attend.

Some staff might form a picket line outside the school. A picket line is where staff gather near the entrance to a workplace to protest in person, they may be holding notice boards or banners. If that is the case, I would like to take this opportunity to remind all students and parents that as a Trust we support our staff’s legal right to strike. Please ensure that any interactions you have with staff are courteous and respectful as they would be on any other day. 

We would also like to remind you that it is unlawful for people who are not members of staff at the school (or their union representatives) to join a picket line. We therefore ask parents or carers or pupils to refrain from joining any picket line.

We have tried to give parents and carers as much notice as possible of these circumstances.

We appreciate that any closure / partial closure may be disruptive to you, for which we apologise. We hope that you understand we have not taken these decisions lightly and had to take decisions to secure the health and safety of your child and any non-striking staff in consideration of anticipated heavily reduced numbers of staffing.

Lastly, we want to take this opportunity to reiterate that your child’s education is important to all staff at Falmouth School. We hope that by putting in place these contingency plans we can limit any impact the strike could have to your child’s education. 

Yours sincerely

Lenka Chanter

Headteacher