24^th  January 2023

To all of our parents / carers,

STRIKE UPDATE: Wednesday 1^st February 2023

As I posted on dojo last week, one of the teachers’ unions (the NEU) has voted for national strike action.

This is planned for 1^st Feb / 1^st March / 15^th March / 16^th March. The majority of national and local schools are being impacted by this, as are we.

Teachers have informed me of decisions and so I can confirm the following plan for Wednesday 1^st February 2023:

OPEN: Bears, Cubs, Busy Bees, Whales

CLOSED: Robins, Raccoons, Woodpeckers, Wallabies, Tawny Owls, Tigers

Why are these closed? There simply won’t be enough staff to keep children safe.

The strike isn’t just about pay, although I know the media are focusing on this. It’s about the budget cuts, the increasing workload, the lack of people training to be a teacher…

This isn’t about any issues in school, this is national.

• Ofsted and the Department for Education are also striking on this day.

I feel very fortunate that our families are so supportive of our school and understand that our staff work incredibly hard – going far beyond what the official job role says, day after day.

I understand that school closing will cause inconveniences and for this I am very sorry. I hope giving you some notice will help with this.

At the moment I don’t know what will happen on the other 3 dates, but have given you them in case we have to close again.

If your child is not in school you can request a packed lunch that you can collect at 11:30 on Weds 1^st. I will send a link for you to do this.

As always, I thank you for your support and I know that the whole school community will be respectful of this situation.

Katy Latchford, Headteacher