Charlton School

Wednesday 25^th January 2023

Dear Parents/Carers,

You may be aware from media coverage that the National Education Union has declared strike action, which will take place on Wednesday 1^st February. The strike is happening because of a national dispute between the unions and the government over funding for teachers’ pay, and not because of any issues at our school. 

I’m getting in touch to give you as much notice as possible about our arrangements for Wednesday 1^st February.  As a result of the high proportion of teaching staff involved, we will not be able to open the school fully on Wednesday 1^st February.  

We have made the decision to only open for Year 11 students and a small, invited group of students who either have additional special educational needs, social care involvement or who we deem would benefit from being in school. We will contact the parents/carers of this group of students individually. 

The Year 11 Hospitality and Catering assessment will take place as planned.  There will be no breakfast service for students in the canteen in the morning, but food will be available as usual at break and lunchtime.  There will be no after-school clubs in the evening.

Whilst we will do all we can to provide as near a normal school day for the year 11 and other invited students in school, it may still be necessary to combine some classes due to staff absence brought about by the strike action.

For all other year groups, work will be set through the Doddle platform for students to complete at home. The work will be set in advance of the strike day. Work will be set to allow the students to complete a variety of lessons on the day. We recommend the students complete the work following the timetable below:

In addition to work for the lessons above, all students will be set a student survey as a follow up to the Behaviour Hub questionnaire that students completed in the last academic year, as part of our involvement in the government Behaviour Hub programme. This questionnaire is completely voluntary, and students do not have to complete it if either they themselves or you as parents do not wish them to. The survey will be shared with them through Doddle in the coming days and students can complete it prior to the strike day if they prefer.

I’m sorry that some families will have to make alternative arrangements for children at short notice, and for the disruption to their education. We have attempted to minimise this as far as possible, following DfE guidance. I understand that this situation may be frustrating, and ask that all members of our school community continue to treat each other with respect. We remain committed to providing a safe and secure environment for our pupils and delivering high-quality teaching.

We are working closely with our staff union representatives to keep up to date with the situation, and I will inform you as soon as possible if arrangements change further. 

If you have any questions, please contact me through the school email at school@charlton.uk.com

Kind regards,

Andrew McNaughton

Principal