I am sure you will be aware from the news that the teacher union, NEU, has declared further strike action on a series of dates nationally. Teacher strikes are scheduled across the next two weeks on the following dates:

 

Thursday 27th April

Tuesday 2nd May

 

➔ Year 11 will be able to come into school to revise and/or work independently in a supervised study space if they do not have access to adequate study space at home. Please ensure Year 11 pastoral staff are informed if your child is coming in to work on either date by emailing Year11@longbenton.org.uk Year 11 will be issued with instructions for revision tasks to be completed next week.

➔ There will be some additional provision for Year 11 that is delivered by a very limited number of non-striking staff. This will be arranged independently with your Year 11 child via their class teacher. This may be, for example, a taught lesson that is available at a point in the day or provision to complete non-examined assessment (coursework).

➔ Year 12 and 13 lessons will continue if staff are here to deliver lessons. They will be informed via Google Classroom / Head of Sixth Form in advance regarding each date.

➔ We have limited provision to supervise students in Learning Support on both dates. If you would like to request that your child is supervised in school on these dates, please contact SEND@longbenton.org.uk

 

I am sorry that these strike days will again be a disruption to you and your child’s education, and I understand that this situation may be frustrating. Teachers have not taken the decision to strike lightly. However, the government's recent pay offer was rejected by the four main teacher unions (ASCL, NAHT, NEU and NASUWT) due to its inadequacy in terms of addressing pay erosion, recruitment and retention issues and providing sufficient funding for the pay settlement - for example, requiring schools to fund 4% of the pay award offer for 2023/24, which would be unaffordable for schools and in many cases likely necessitate further cuts to educational provision.

 

Kelly Holbrook

Headteacher