To ask if schools will close on 1st Feb?

[cosied]

National teachers strike on 1st Feb so does that mean the schools are not open that day?

Has anyone received any communication from their schools relating to what impact the strikes may have?

Will it mean that teachers will be outside of schools with banners on the picket line?
Would love to nip down and show support if so.

Not enough support staff voted to strike. So it's only teachers that will be.

Our intention is not to picket the schools but to picket the local education authority.

I want to picket, but I'm worried about a)abuse from the public and b)tension with colleagues who 'cross the line'.

No but they normal do as a matter of courtesy.

We live not too far from the LEA too. I'm a miners daughter and strongly support industrial action.
Will definitely pop by when I know where its going to be held in our region.

My dc's school have said they expect disruption and given some examples of what might happen, full closure, partial closure, some online learning or vulnerable and keyworker children. The head will update as and when. I expect my Y11 will be in if anyone is (EHCP and GCSE year). I imagine my Y7 will be home.

We used to all be in the NASUWT until they were absolutely terrible in January 2021. Over half of us changed on that day.

I'm really hoping our school stays open otherwise its 8 hours of TV and ignoring my 4 year old so that I can work in the other room. And I'm probably one of the lucky ones.

Three of my relatives are teachers and they've all said they don't want or plan to strike as they don't feel its the right thing to do to the kids. So I'm hoping it's not as disruptive as they're making out.

The Intermediate UKMT maths challenge is on 01/02. It would be good to know if school will be closed, as the kids are preparing for it.

For those who are saying teachers who strike are doing so without considering impact to kids or that striking isn't good for them etc. please consider the fact that this is a few days of disrupted education. Teachers are underpaid and overworked (abd have been for years!) - so many of us are not functioning at 100% because of this. The expectation of teachers is incredible and something needs to change, which, WILL only benefit children in the long run.

We are on day 3 today pr strikes in Scotland with a fourth on 6th Feb.
It's chaos ad all the holiday clubs run by councils are shut as well. It doesn't look like they are doing anything either

well, it’s the union with the most members in the large secondary school where I work (England)

Unless the government accept that things need to dramatically change in education you'll be doing this more often

There's been talk of 4 day weeks because classes can't be covered

Don't forget support staff might also have children at home do won't be able to cover

I want to support the teachers striking, but I hope they can keep some of the school going. My eldest has mocks that week (and a couple of the actual gcse exams) really hope they are able to still go ahead. Will happily keep the other 6 dc at home, but will be gutted for dd if this messes up her exams.

No they have suggested volunteers though!

I'm half hoping they don't have enough DBS checked volunteers to cover and half hoping they do so they can actually see what teachers have to do day in and day out.

I'm also hoping TAs don't cover either as that won't help.

I'm not a teacher but I support all striking public sector workers who are finally making a stand against real time pay and budget cuts.

Even more so after learning today there's millions to push through the removal of EU from all the workers rights legislation and they are going to affect the rights of 8 million owners of which 3/4 are expected to be woman. And woman are more often teachers and nurses.

I was going to point that out!

Not even in send education.

Under that it's 30 per class but I would be interested to know if that's 30 per teacher only and if TAs and lunch staff have ratios they must adhere to.

@watchfulwishes thankyou so much for your support.

Reading through this thread this evening after getting home your reply stood out.

I teach in a PSU. The excluded and very needy students that don't fit elsewhere. This sector is growing. Tls you a lot. This is after 19 years in mainstream.

And I can tell you this- schools are on their knees.Schools and special schools, and PSU and FE. I'm seeing more and more referrals with less money because the system is collapsing. Really dying.

I've taught since 2000. In retrospect, I taught in a golden time during the Blair years. I had books, paper, a photocopying budget, money to run clubs and LEA support. It's very different now. My photocopying budget for this half term is £5.00.

My own children are almost out of ks4. I am thankful because I genuinely see the whole system struggling. Fund it. Value it. Respect the staff and their public sector values. Keep them. Don't treat them like shit and hound out thè older, more expensive teachers. Be honest about what the job entails, renumerate it fairly and make it a job worth having again.

There is no way as a graduate now, given my time again, i'd teach. And that is horrifying. We surely want bright graduates, as I was, to teach?

Teachers can sign up to the NEU anytime up to and even on the day of the strike and then participate in strike action. Quite a few NASUWT members in my school have already signed up.

Aren't the other unions balloting again? If this happens I think most schools will have to close.

I hope non-NEU teachers and HLTAs realise that they CAN and SHOULD refuse to cover a striking teacher! We are striking for their benefit too! Just because their unions and members didn't get enough ballots, doesn't mean that they won't benefit from any negotiations.

Can they? Can 'regular' TAs and 1:1 TAs refuse to cover as well? Legally?

There's due to be a train strike that day as well, so unless school is running totally as normal I'll probably keep them at home. There's no point in them going in for a day of being crowd controlled, they'll get better education from YouTube 😬

Guidance is that public exams go ahead. Teachers don't get involved in those so they should be protected.

I agree with watchfulwishes.

If you don't care about teacher's working conditions, pay and what they're having to deal with in schools, then you don't care about children. Because schools are grossly underfunded, understaffed, and teachers are quitting in droves and almost impossible to replace in some subjects/locations, and many people who would have considered teaching are being put off. There won't be enough teachers if this continues in this manner.