Dear Parents/Carers,
I am writing to inform you that further industrial action has been announced by the National Education Union (NEU) and the next strikes are due to take place on Wednesday 5 and Friday 7 July.
As communicated previously, this action is as a result of a national dispute between the unions and the government, and not specifically Leigh Academies Trust or its academies. As an academy, we are working closely with staff to manage any disruption especially to vulnerable students and the children of key workers.
The following arrangements will apply:
- Vulnerable students and the children of key workers will be able to attend school as normal and will join their classmates in virtual lessons under the supervision of our staff. Break and lunch times will operate as normal with appropriate supervision in place in the normal way. If you are a key worker, please contact us as soon as possible to confirm that your child will be attending on strike days. If you do not require a place for your child, then they can attend virtually along with other students.
- If you are a parent of a vulnerable child, we will contact you separately to confirm your child’s attendance on strike days.
- Students in Year 12 are unaffected due to work experience and must continue to attend their work experience placements.
- Students in Years 7 and 10 should attend school as normal on both Wednesday 5 and Friday 7 July. We are able to accommodate this year group in school based on our judgement of the number of staff who will be on strike. Should a teacher be absent, the lessons will be covered as normal. Attendance for students in Years 7 and 10 on these days are therefore obligatory.
- We have taken the decision to prioritise Year 10 students because of the two weeks that have recently been taken for Pre-Public Examinations (PPEs), and the fact that we would like to ensure that any misconceptions and gaps in knowledge revealed from the PPEs are addressed before the summer holidays so that students are appropriately prepared for the examination year. For Year 7s, we recognise the impact of the recent strikes on their ability to settle fully into secondary school life and also the challenges these strike days may create for parents of younger years.
- Students in Years 8 and 9 would be required to engage with online lessons via Google Classrooms as in the previous strike days.
For those students who are in receipt of Free School Meals, we will continue to provide meals on strike days. This arrangement is that students who are eligible should order them in advance through their college admin and then collect them after school on the day prior to the strike.
If you have any questions or concerns about the alternative arrangements outlined above, please contact the academy at info@longfieldacademy.org in the first instance. As ever, thank you for your continued support.
Yours sincerely,
Dr F. Donkor
Principal
