Teachers are today staging the latest in a series of strikes over their ongoing claim for improved pay and conditions.
Tens of thousands of teachers will follow up their five days of strike action during the past three months by again staying away today (May 2) after their union rejected the latest Government pay offer as “insulting”.
The Government insists that schools should open if possible, although it accepts that there will be disruption as a result of the action by members of the National Education Union in England.
The BBC reported that on previous strike days, more than half of England’s 22,000 schools have either closed or partially closed.
Teachers do not have to say in advance whether they are striking, and there are no rules about when parents must be told about closures.
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This means that head teachers must decide whether to shut their school, with some parents only be told about a closure on the morning itself once staff numbers are known.
Heads are permitted to use agency staff or volunteers, who do not have to follow the curriculum, or offer remote education.
Following a period of intensive talks with unions, the government had offered teachers a £1,000 one-off payment for the current school year and an average 4.3 per cent pay rise for staff next year but this was rejected and has since been withdrawn.
Teachers are joining a number of other workers like junior doctors, civil servants and driving examiners in stopping work this month after a winter that has seen the country regularly brought to a halt by strikers.
The best way to find out whether your child’s school will be open or closed today is by looking on your local authority website or the school’s own website and social media accounts.
Many local authority websites publish a list of closures and/or restrictions, while school sites should have the latest advice for parents on their current status.
