Industrial Action Tuesday 21st February

Dear Parent/ Carers, 

I am writing to you about the forthcoming strike action by the teaching unions in Northern Ireland.  You may have seen the coverage of this in the news, and I wanted to inform you about the impact this is likely to have at our school.  

When a strike takes place, those taking strike action stop work and withdraw their labour. Teachers involved in the strike action will, therefore, not teach their class or undertake and other duties before 12.00 noon on the strike day.  

A detailed risk assessment has been conducted which considers the impact that the action will have on the health and safety of pupils, staff and visitors, and whether the school can run a full or an amended curriculum, to determine whether it is possible to operate the school safely during the strike.   

As the Principal, I and the Board of Governors have determined that the school will be: 

Closed to all pupils on the morning of Tuesday 21st February.  The school will open to children at 12.15pm with the usual home times. There will be no staff available before that time.  

Children will go straight to their class at 12.15pm.  Nursery children enter the nursery by the usual door.  

Canteen will operate from 12.30- a form will be sent on Monday 20th if you could please indicate if your child will require a canteen lunch. 

Please click Dinner Needed Tuesday 21st to let us know if dinner will be needed. 

After school care will operate as usual. 

Pupils unable to attend will be marked in the register using an appropriate code that will mean it is not counted as an unauthorised absence.   

Clearly this is a difficult situation, which will cause some disruption. I would ask you however to be understanding. A strike by teachers is very unusual. Taking strike action is not something that any teacher would take lightly. Those on strike will have thought long and hard about their decision and will also lose pay for the period that they are on strike. 

Yours sincerely, 

Mr Duddy 

Principal