Dear Parents and Carers,
National Strike Action by the NEU - Wednesday 1st February – Boxgrove Primary School will be partially closed
I wrote to you earlier this week with regards to the proposal by NEU teaching members to take strike action on Wednesday 1st February. This is not a decision that any of our teachers have taken lightly. Please understand that Teachers are striking against the national educational policy and resourcing in schools and not against the children that they work so hard for every day or because of any issues specifically relating to our school.
As Head of School, I have had to consider how to manage the inevitable disruption, placing the safety and well-being of staff and students at the heart of the decision-making. There is a significant membership of NEU members at Boxgrove, therefore I can confirm that the school will be forced to close the majority of classes to pupils on Wednesday 1st February.
The school will only be open for our Year 6 pupils and we will also be inviting those in receipt of Pupil Premium into school from closed classes. Those children invited will receive a ParentMail outlining these arrangements in due course. This will not be the same cohort as during the pandemic, but will include students who are in receipt of Pupil Premium, have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) and those children who are in the care of the Local Authority. These students will be supervised and supported to access a similar learning offer to all other students who are working from home.
Wednesday 1st February
Staff who are not striking will attend school, but the low numbers that will be in attendance pose a number of operational and health and safety implications, meaning we are unable to open fully as a school. For each of the strike days, we will be moving to providing work which will be sent out via ParentMail, or work packs can be collected from the school office.
Your child’s attendance will not be affected by the strike day, as they will be coded as a Y (unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances). You will now need to make alternative childcare arrangements for your child/children on Wednesday 1st February.
As this is an ever-changing situation, I am unable to advise at this time if classes will be closed on the additional proposed strike dates listed by the NEU, but I will send out more information nearer the time. However, I do recommend that you start to make, where appropriate, alternative childcare arrangements for these dates (2nd March, 15th March, 16th March).
If you do have any questions, please do get in touch with a member of the leadership team.
Best wishes,
Mr Rae
Head of School