Good morning,
We hope those of you celebrating had a Happy Easter and a Happy Vaisakhi, we wish those families celebrating from tomorrow Eid Mubarak!
I wanted to remind you of the arrangements sent out prior to the Easter break regarding the forthcoming national strike action:
As you are aware, the National Education Union has chosen to stage industrial action on selected days this academic year, and recently announced additional national strike dates for Thursday 27 April and Tuesday 2 May. Unfortunately, due to the number of staff who will be unavailable as a result of this industrial action, we will not be able to run the school day as normal. With such close proximity to national examinations for students in Years 11 and 13, we have to prioritise those year groups. Therefore, I am sorry to say that Landau Forte College will be closed to students in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 on Thursday 27 April and Tuesday 2 May. However, students in Years 11, 12, and 13 should attend as normal. A small number of young people have been identified as exceptions to this closure owing to their particular circumstances and they will be invited in to attend school on these strike dates. We are contacting these families this week.
I am aware that this strike will cause disruption and difficulty to students and parents which is why we wanted to provide as much notice as possible. I would also like to stress that this strike is happening because of a national dispute between the teaching unions and the Government and is not related to any issues at our school.
For students in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 affected by the closure, the following educational arrangements apply:
- Work will be posted on Satchel One Show My Homework for timetabled lessons
For students attending school, the Restaurant will be open as normal. Students in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 who are eligible for free school meals can collect a packed lunch from Reception between 10am and 1pm.
I am very sorry for the disruption and concern that this decision will cause. Please be assured that we have considered every alternative to closure and have tried to maximise the number of students we can safely accommodate in the school. We do, however, need to maintain staffing levels that enable effective supervision and education of students. Unfortunately, due to this industrial action we will not be able to maintain these at a high enough level for all students and so have no option but to request that some students remain at home.
Kind regards,
Alison Brannick