NEU Industrial Action – Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March
Sat 11 Mar 2023Dear Parent/Carer,
Re: NEU Industrial Action – Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March
The National Education Union (NEU) announced on 16th January that their membership has voted in favour of industrial action. The final two days of strike action are set to take place on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March 2023. Please note that the following information only applies if the industrial action goes ahead – we felt it best to outline our plans well in advance. Should industrial action be called off, the school day on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th March should run as normal. We will write again if this is announced.
We have taken account of NEU membership numbers at Swanshurst, as well as local, regional and national information regarding the number of teachers taking industrial action earlier this month. To enable effective planning and delivery of as much education as possible for pupils, we have now begun to plan for 15th and 16th March. Today’s letter is to provide advanced information.
Will school be open to all pupils on 15th and 16th March?
Partially. Please find details below of the programme of onsite provision for each of the two days.
Wednesday 15th March: School will be open all day to Year 11, Year 13, for vulnerable pupils, those with an EHCP and for children of critical workers. School will open and close at the normal time for all of these students with the exception of Year 11, who will be dismissed at 14:30pm. School will be open between 9am and 12pm for pupils in Year 10 who are studying Health and Social Care (with the exception of the E block). Finally, school will be open to invited pupils who are young carers so that their planned activities can go ahead to mark National Young Carer’s Week. These pupils and their families have received separate information from Ms Halligan, our school social worker.
Year 11 and 13 pupils will be completing a programme of mock examinations. The subjects being examined and details of timings and rooms for these will be shared with pupils as soon as possible. Some examinations will have revision time built in whilst pupils are in the exam halls to account for different paper durations.
Year 10 Health and Social Care pupils (with the exception of E block) will be taught by department staff and dismissed at 12pm. On arrival, pupils should go to Lower Hall.
Year 12 criminology and mathematical studies students have mock examinations period 1 and 2 respectively, and should come into school for these examinations only.
Thursday 16th March: School will be open all day with the normal start and finish times to Year 11, Year 13, for vulnerable pupils, those with an EHCP and for children of critical workers. School will also be open to some Year 10 pupils at designated times. Please refer to the list on the next page carefully if your child is in Year 10.
Year 11 and 13 pupils will be completing a programme of mock examinations. The subjects being examined and details of timings and rooms for these will be shared with pupils as soon as possible. Some examinations will have revision time built in whilst pupils are in the exam halls to account for different paper durations.
Year 11 pupils studying GCSE Drama have their external practical exam (which counts towards their final GCSE grade) all day in CDS.
For Year 10, school will be open 9am to 12pm, and 1pm to 2:30pm for specific E block option groups. The Year 10 E block option schedule is as follows:
- 10E Food – whole group in for the morning (912pm)
- 10E DT whole group in for the morning (9-12pm)
- 10E RS – whole group in for the morning (912pm)
- 10E Creative iMedia whole group in for the morning (9-12pm)
- 10E Economics – whole group in for the morning (912pm)
- 10E Psychology – whole group in for the morning (912pm)
- Year 10 pupils studying health and social care (excluding 10E) in for the afternoon (12:3015:00pm)
On arrival, pupils should go to their normal teaching rooms for this option block.
Will pupils who travel to school by bus be affected by the planned strike action by National Express West Midlands employees on Thursday 16th March?
If the planned strike action goes ahead, it is likely to impact bus services. At the time of writing this letter, the National Express website states that they anticipate only a limited network will run on Thursday 16th March. Therefore, we advise families to plan well ahead in order to arrange for pupils to travel to and from school via other modes of transport. It will be important to build in additional travel time.
Will Free School Meals (FSM) be provided for eligible pupils?
Yes, as long as a meal has been requested in advance. For pupils who are eligible for FSM, we are able to offer a packed lunch for collection at 12:30pm on the day from The Hub. To request a packed lunch, you must complete the relevant section of this form https://forms.office.com/e/f9q11yMbej .
For pupils who are attending onsite provision, food will be provided by the canteen as normal at break and lunchtime.
How will places for on-site provision for other groups be allocated?
For vulnerable pupils, pastoral staff have identified those who should be offered a place in our on-site provision using the guidance provided by The Department for Education. Families of these pupils will be contacted over the coming days for places to be confirmed.
For pupils with an EHCP, pastoral or SEND staff will be in touch with families over the coming days for places to be confirmed.
For children of critical workers, we require parents/ carers to review the enclosed list which defines ‘critical worker’ status. If your role falls into this category and you require on-site provision for your child on 15th and 16th March, you must complete the relevant section of this form: https://forms.office.com/e/f9q11yMbej Please note that on-site provision or an FSM packed lunch will not be provided unless this form is completed.
For pupils working at home, how will work be set?
For all other pupils, independent work from Oak National Academy, or other online resources, will be set. This work will be set on Edulink and will be available from 8:40am on 15th and 16th March. The work set will be for a range of subjects and will either consolidate recent learning or provide pre-learning for the upcoming curriculum content in these subjects.
We hope this provides you with a helpful update on our plans.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact school via enquiry@swanshurst.org.
Yours faithfully,
Mr M Dunn
Head Teacher