A number of Flintshire schools have announced they are to close on Wednesday should teacher strikes go ahead
Wales is bracing itself for a wave of school closures as teachers across the country plan to strike on four separate days in February and March.
The industrial action, which is being organised by the National Education Union (NEU) is set to take place on Wednesday 1 February, Tuesday 14 February, Wednesday 15 March and Thursday 16 March.
Wednesday was the deadline for teachers to know if their school will close on the first of the strike dates next week.
A number of Flintshire schools have announced intentions to close next Wednesday should planned industrial action by teachers go ahead.
The NEU is taking industrial action in response to what has been described as a “failure” to provide a fully-funded increase in pay for teachers which at least matches inflation.
In Wales a 92.28 per cent majority of NEU members voted yes on a turnout of 58.07 per cent.
The union has called for a pay rise higher than the five per cent, however the Welsh government has so far only offered a one-off payment for teaching staff in addition to the existing salary increase.
This was rejected by education representatives. A similar offer to health and social care staff has also been refused.
Wales’ education minister has said he “is committed” to working with teaching unions to prevent industrial action, despite an offer of a one-off payment being rejected.
Hawarden High School, Connah’s Quay High School, Elfed High School, Sealand CP and Ysgol Treffynnon are amongst the schools in Flintshire that have sent letters to parents telling them that their schools will close if the planned strike action goes ahead.
In his letter, Mr Simon Budgen, head teacher of Hawarden High School wrote:
“You may be aware that the National Education Union NEU, is calling upon its members to take national strike action on Wednesday, 1. February 2023. This is in response to a trade dispute over pay.”
“I am sorry to inform you that Hawarden High School will be closed to all pupils on that day.”
“We have not taken this decision lightly, however, I am of the view that we cannot provide a safe and secure learning environment for our pupils with the staff we have available.”
He said: “Pupils who have the facility at home will be able to utilise the time to complete the set weekly competition, Eisteddfod homework and/or individual study time/revision.”
Mr Budgen said: “I am sorry that you will have to make alternative arrangements for your child at short notice, and that they will experience disruption to their education.”
“I understand that this situation may be frustrating and I appreciate your support in the circumstances.”
“I will of course continue to monitor the arrangements in place and make modifications where possible.”
“If the strike action is called off then we will confirm this as soon as we can and, in this eventuality, the school will be open.”
He said: “The NEU has, at this point, indicated that they will continue strike action for a further three days after this first strike on the 14′, February and on 1, and 16′, March.
“Please make a note of these dates now and I will write to you in advance of each date to confirm any changes to arrangements and whether the strike is going ahead.”
“I am in a position to confirm that pupils who are normally in receipt of free school meals will receive a direct payment for the day where there is a school closure in respect of industrial action. The payment will be processed directly in due course.
In his letter to parents John Wier, head teacher of Ysgol Treffynnoon wrote: “After carrying out a careful health and safety risk assessment, it is clear that should the strike go ahead on Wednesday 1st February 2023, Ysgol Treffynnon
will be closed to all students.”
“We will post a notice to confirm this on all our media platforms, including the Flintshire website, the night before.”
“We appreciate that industrial action is disruptive, and you may need to change your plans or working arrangements on the dates given above.”
“We will continue to monitor the situation and if the strike action is called off, we will let you know as soon as possible that the school will be open as usual.”
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Education Minister Jeremy Miles MS said that he is committed to working alongside unions to find a way forward.
However with no progress made with health unions, the minister was challenged on whether his negotiations would actually be successful.
Jeremy Miles said: “I’m not going to speculate on the future direction of those discussions, for reasons which I know you will understand.
“All I will say is that I’m absolutely committed to working with our social partners in that respectful way that we have here in Wales to seek a resolution to this.
Mr Miles said: “We met last week I was able to put a proposal on the table then. There are many, many aspects of that to discuss further with unions and local education authorities.
“We’ll be meeting again this week to take forward those discussions and I’ve said elsewhere and I’m very happy to repeat today, that I’m happy to meet as many times as it takes to get a resolution to the dispute.”
The minister would not be drawn on how much the Welsh government had offered to union representatives, but added that workload concern for staff was something that he was also trying to address.
He said: “The detail of the discussions as you’ll appreciate is something where we take you forward confidentially in the context of our social partnership, discussions with unions and local education authorities as the employer.
“I was able to make a proposal which was a one-off payment in addition to the five percent increase to salary.
“But alongside that, unions have for some time raised questions in relation to staff workload.
“We’ve actually had a process of discussion in relation to this in Wales over the course of the last year or more.
“Unfortunately to date we haven’t been able to resolve some of those quite thorny questions, but there is at least a clear understanding of the sorts of issues which teacher unions and heads have raised.
“In the context of the discussions we are currently having with unions, we’ve together committed to looking at those again and seeing what more we can do in relation to questions to do with workload as well as the question of pay.”
Deeside.com has asked Flintshire County Council for the position of all schools in the county on strike action days.
The NEU has declared potential national strike action in Wales for the following dates:
- Wednesday 1st February 2023
- Tuesday 14th February 2023
- Wednesday 15th March 2023
- Thursday 16th March 2023
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