Do schools close in a strike or do they get supply teachers in?

[pinkyponkyplink]

As the title.
Do they get supply teachers in?

Where do you think the money will come from the pay supply teachers? Plus many of them will be in support of strike action.

Traditionally you can't cover a striking member of a union in a legal strike (which it is) so if a teacher is striking their class will not be in. I think the government are currently trying to bypass this, but I'm not sure how legal it is yet. I think most headteachers will support striking members and not cover.

You do not have to give notice of your intention to strike, so they don't know you're not in until you're not in.

The govt are not including schools in the currently proposed legislation about legal minimum cover.

How many supply teachers do you think there are in the country? And how many supply teachers who will work during a strike? Many supply teachers are NEU members, and so will likely not work that day.

Some schools will close. Some will stay open. Some, especially primaries, may stay open with a skeleton staff and have all the kids in the hall showing a video.

Teachers and support staff who are members of other unions also cannot be compelled to cover for striking colleagues.

Some heads are NEU members and I imagine they will close their schools.

And as Mrs Hamlet says, you don't have to tell your school whether you are coming in or not, and your head may not even know what union you are a member of (plus some NASUWT staff may switch to NEU now). So it will be very difficult for heads to plan.

Can a HLTA 'babysit' your class? We could easily stay open with TAs and no learning taking place, which feels a bit pointless as honestly I feel like children and parents would hardly care. Also, what happens if it's a teacher's PPA on a strike day (covered by support staff)? I'm just worried there will be little impact (though I want there to be!).

If you're striking:

do not tell the head
do not set work
do not mark work done

You are withdrawing your labour.

You're not allowed to cover for striking colleagues

HLTA should not cover you- they should not even be asked on a strike day. Remind your TAs of this- especially if they are in a union too!

Unfortunately, the PPA can still be covered (assuming that teacher is not on strike), but presumably that's not the whole day, and it won't be every strike day?

The real thing is the unpredictability of strike days. Heads don't know who is in each union or who is planning to strike unless you tell them (don't) and they also don't know every member of support staff will be in that day- especially in February, winter illnesses are still an issue.

Of course, some heads will open the school and have all the kids in the hall watching videos, but will that really not bother parents at all?

If the head doesn't know, don't even tell them which union you're in- it's your private information, they don't automatically know.

If you're switching unions to strike, don't tell the head that either.

The more unpredictability there is, the harder it is for heads to open schools.

But then how is pay worked out? If I'm not striking, for example, but the decision is made to close the school because the head doesn't know who's on strike and who isn't. How do they know that I'm still entitled to my pay?

They'll have a signing in system on the day.

Oh ok so school shut but non striking staff in. I'm not daft usually 🤦🏻‍♀️

The strikes are mostly for the same day of the week so yes PPA will generally fall on strike days for us. It's a full half day and always covered by TAs - they wouldn't be covering for me, just following their usual timetable. I'm worried children will be shoved together for a morning then have a normal afternoon. DfE says schools should stay open if possible but surely that can only be by colleagues covering? Is children in the hall watching a film cover?

The DfE will say that is acceptable unfortunately.

If the TAs normally cover you, unfortunately they can be compelled to.

I do think there needs to be more variation of strike days, it would be better to hit every day of the week.

But you can only do what you can do, by withdrawing your labour. Presumably your school will be very tight on staff numbers that afternoon and if a few TAs were ill it would become a major issue?

supply teacher over here. I will not work or provide cover.

I think for secondary then schools will be open for vulnerable / key worker children, supervised by support staff - same as in covid lockdown.

I do think there needs to be more variation of strike days, it would be better to hit every day of the week.

Agree. I work PT and none of the strike days fall on my working days. I will just make sure to provide zero planning for strike days and leave it blank on the timetable.

The DfE have issued guidance. Headteachers are expected to:

• ask other teachers to cover classes of striking staff,
• combine classes (and have been reminded that staffing ratios don't exist for over 7s),
• use support staff as cover supervisors for classes of striking staff,
• engage agency staff,
• engage "day" staff from a bank of people they build as potential cover supervisors,
• use volunteers as long as they have a DBS check done.

They have also removed the requirement to teach the curriculum on strike days so they could stick all the kids (7 and up) in the hall for a day under the supervision of one member of support staff or DBS checked volunteer.

I'd be surprised if more than a few primary schools close with all this in place.

They can get knotted. I will not cover.

Makes a mockery of striking and the 'right to strike'.

Can teachers not striking say no to covering for those that are striking? (I'm thinking of those that wanted to strike but in NASUWT for example).

I'm in the NASUWT, I think the advice if asked to cover for a striking colleague is to do the following in order:

1. Protest and say that is an unreasonable demand
2. Ask for the request in writing from the headteacher
3. Contact the union for advice

Heads can ask, but my understanding is that teachers (possibly just union members) have the right to refuse. Support staff can refuse to cover if it is not part of their normal duties, again a good idea for them to be unionised though.

I am not convinced that agency staff will work on strike days in any large numbers- I know some will but many supply staff are NEU, and they can simply say they are not available that day. Of course, non NEU supply cannot be compelled to work on that day either.

Banks of supply staff were tried last winter too- I don't think they exist? Does anyone's school actually have this?

I would not want to be that volunteer, supervising a large group of students alone. What about first aid etc? What protection do the volunteers have if a child gets hurt or makes an accusation because they are not being properly supervised?

Heads also need to consider things like do they have enough first aiders on site, and can they evacuate the building in the event of a fire etc- they couldn't open just with volunteers. And I hope most heads will not take the attitude of opening at all costs- don't forget some heads are NEU, some NAHT voted to strike etc.

They also need to consider things like illness among support staff- if they are relying on, say, 5 staff to come in to open a school, what if one of them is ill? Not exactly unlikely this winter?

And heads should be reminded that they need to preserve their relationship with staff too- if they work really hard to essentially break the strike, they'll likely lose teaching staff. I wouldn't want to work for a head like that, I'd start looking for a new job ASAP.

TBF we know from last winter that supply staff couldn't even cover covid self isolation. I reckon most schools have more NEU members than they did staff off with covid at any one time. Plus I'd expect at least NEU supply teachers not to work, and others are of course free to refuse to work that day.