Industrial Strike Action – Academy Closure
Please see the following update to our initial post which can be found here.
The teachers’ union, NEU are taking further industrial strike action in England and Wales on:
Wednesday 1st March 2023
Wednesday 15th March 2023
Thursday 16th March 2023.
The other main teaching union, the NASUWT, has directed its members not to cover lessons of those teachers on strike. Regrettably this means that we are unable to open the Academy as normal.
Arrangements for Wednesday 1st March 2023
Students should open Google Classroom from 9am where they will see announcements in their stream if their normal timetabled lesson will be taught remotely by those members of staff who are not on strike. Materials will be posted after the lesson time should any students be unable to join the live lesson. Our Online Student Services page provides links to a range of high-quality, web-based learning resources to support students in subjects where their teacher is on strike.
Year 11 mock examinations will continue on Wednesday 1st March. Students should arrive at 8:50am as usual, wearing Business Dress and bringing their exam equipment including a pen, pencil, ruler, and scientific calculator. The first exam is English Literature; this will be followed by a half-hour break and then the Chemistry exam. Most students will finish by 1pm, and will be able to go home at this time. Students who have extra time or study separate science will finish later, by 2pm at the latest.
We may invite a small number of Year 13 students into the Academy for some intensive work. If this is the case for your child, then we will be in contact.
If your child is entitled to the government free meals scheme and you would like a packed lunch to be provided for your child on any of the strike days, please see full details and register here.
As with during the pandemic, we will remain open for our most vulnerable students for whom being home alone may not be appropriate. We will be in contact with you in due course if your child meets the criteria for this provision.
We may also be able to provide very limited supervision for the children of key workers in Years 7 and 8, to allow children to attend and use an Academy device to access their online learning. If you are a key worker, have no alternative childcare solution, and have not already registered then please do so here. Students attending the Academy must bring their own headphones to use for their online learning.
Please note that the arrangements for the remaining strike days may differ, and we will give you as much notice as possible of any changes to subsequent days. However, it is likely that most Year Groups will remain at home on strike days.