Dear all,
We are excitedly preparing our Summer Term Newsletter, which will be with you all very soon.
But this letter must once again address the industrial action dates that are currently scheduled to take place next Wednesday July 5th and Friday July 7th.
Unions continue to articulate ongoing concerns not just around offers that have been made with respect to pay but also schools' abilities to fund these without this being to the detriment of other vital parts of our provision for young people.
Something we do not always focus sufficient attention on is that if the current salary offers, let alone higher ones, were to remain to the extent unfunded as in the proposal made following the last talks, many Schools and Trusts would go into the red sharply, within the life of a three year budget projection. This simply means the necessity for cuts in parts of provision that we all hold dear, you as much as ourselves, for our children.
So, at Noadswood, as in all settings, we respect colleagues’ right to take industrial action around these ongoing and still unresolved matters, whilst we are also, geniunely, very mindful of the ongoing disruption for you all, and our children over and above all.
To reiterate, then, in terms of upcoming dates, then, the National Education Union (NEU) have scheduled further strike action to take place on Wednesday 5th July 2023 and Friday 7th July 2023.
These dates provide all sorts of complexity for many schools, including ours, as many have scheduled their moving up days / sports days on these dates. As a school, and as before, we are obviously required to assess whether we can safely open if a number of colleagues are not present. As we stated before, approximately 53% of our teaching staff are in the NEU and have been asked to observe this action by their union, and this was, indeed, borne out by the approximate number who took the strike action on the previous occasions. Colleagues continue not to be required by law to give pre-warning of their decision to strike, so we cannot find out more accurately than this whether or not this figure will be replicated on this occasion, but it seems likely.
Given this level of potential absence, we have risk assessed according to all usual processes for doing so and concluded that we would be unable to safely cover the site and normal lessons with that number of staff out. We have therefore made a series of plans for each of the industrial action days to provide an educational plan that will work and be safe, but that will also provide some variety of experience for as many students as possible across the two dates. A detailed plan is attached to this message for the following two dates.
Key Details
Wednesday 5th July 2023 - Year 7 invited to attend between 9.30am and 1.30pm with Year 9 invited in to complete their mocks between 9.30am and 12.30pm
Friday 7th July 2023 - Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 to attend Sports Day between 9.00am and 12.30pm
Wednesday 5th July 2023
Year 7 are invited to attend school from 9.30am – 1.30pm. They will receive their normal lessons, and during any lessons where their teacher is striking, senior leaders will provide cover. Students should also bring a reading book for the day and their PE kit as we have scheduled a specific PE / team bonding activity.
Year 9 are invited to attend school from 9.30am – 12.30pm. Students will complete two mock papers on this date (science at 9.30am - 10.30am, followed by a break, and then mathematics from 11.30am - 12.30pm). Students who have completed early entry mathematics will have their normal mathematics lesson.
There will be one scheduled break for these year groups during this time when they can eat and relax as usual, and where packed lunches for those eligible for FSM will be available.
Years 8 and 10 will have FROG pre-assigned work at home, with vulnerable children and those you identify to us as unable to work from home being welcomed in school alongside Year 7 and Year 9. You can inform us of the need for your child to be with us, if there is no safe alternative, via our online form (click here).
*Specific students across the years will also be attending Noadswood for the summer concert and PE moderation. Mrs Rees and Mr Shearsmith will contact those families this impacts individually.
The visual for these days can be seen below:
Friday 7th July 2023
We are really pleased to still be able to invite all students in Years 7-10 to attend Sports Day (with a slightly amended programme). Students should arrive in PE kit, including their House top, for 9.00am with a finish time of 12.30pm. It is important students also bring a water bottle, sunscreen and a hat.
There will be one scheduled break for these year groups during this time when they can eat and relax as usual, and where packed lunches for those eligible for FSM will be available.
9.00am – Registration (Years 7 and 8 on astro, Years 9 and 10 on tennis courts)
9.15am – Trackside Area with Sports Day Session I
10.45am – Break
11.15am – Sports Day Session II
12.00pm – Presentations
12.15pm – Closing Ceremony
12.30pm - Departure
We understand that no model to cover a day interrupted by industrial action is ideal and the imperfections you spot about this one, we will undoubtedly share: our motivation for this pattern for the days, though, is to endeavour to give those closest to their exams greater in person structure for their days this time, whilst also maintaining an online offer for the remaining year groups. Any disruption is less than ideal, but hopefully the plan implemented, reduces the impact as much as possible for those students whose exams and formal assessment are closest.
As stated at the beginning of the letter, if a settlement is reached, and the industrial action is no longer taking place, the school will revert to its normal pattern for the day on each occasion.
If anyone has any questions or comments about their individual child(ren) about the plans above, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@noadswood.hants.sch.uk and one of us will be delighted to get back to you.
With our thanks again for your continued support around these recent alterations to the usual run of things,
Kathryn Marshall and the Noadswood Leadership Team