Industrial Action Letter

Dear Parents/Carers,

We have been informed by the ATL and NUT unions that they will be taking industrial action in the form of a strike on 30 June 2011.

This action is not against the school itself but is part of national industrial action organised by these trades unions about changes to the pensions schemes of their members.

There is no requirement on unions to inform us of which members of staff will take action, and it may be that they will not know themselves as there is no obligation on members of unions to obey a strike call.

Neither the governing body nor the Principals are legally allowed to close the school ?in sympathy? with the strike and we will not do so. However, our main concern is the safety of our students. The school will only close if in the opinion of the Principals it is not safe to remain open. If it does remain open, it is unlikely that lessons will be normal and there may have to be sessions of private study supervised by a senior member of staff. If action is prolonged, we will endeavour to protect the education of those on examination courses.

Because we may not know until very late how many staff will be available to work, the decision to close may have to be taken at the last minute. Every effort will be made to give notice at the latest by the day before; but in case the decision has to be made on the day itself, we are alerting parents/carers now so that you can arrange a safe place, which may be your home, to which your child can go if we have to close.

We must all hope that the issues over which the industrial action has arisen are resolved as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Also available as:
Industrial Action Letter (PDF Document)