Are your DCs schools closed on Thursday?

[T12ACY]

I can imagine how those who prefer to skip school must have found Thursday's action a fantastic excuse. When approached by a police officer, doing his job (not on strike), all DC coud respond with 'the teachers are on strike'

I simply cannot understand any parent who supported (or encouraged) their DC skipping school with the excuse of 'supporting' strike action if the HT wrote to advise the school would be open.... The teaching staff who were not balloted by their union to strike went in to work as they should have done and it's thank to this that my DS was in school, and his whole school was open. He was having end of year exams so there was no change to their planned activities. It would have made no difference to me if he were home as I plan my own diary and would have made adjustments if needed.

No doubt there will be further disruptions and more facts will come to light about the pressures being put on teaching staff to work past the age of 60 and increased pension contributions. All I can say is welcome to the world of what is actually quite a large percentage of the working population. I am not saying I agree with enforced changes to contracts, because I don't. There are so many things to be said about this, but I want to comment that I applaud DS's school for their efforts to avoid sweeping disruption to all when it wasn't necessary. There were some teaching staff balloted to strike, and they did so, but by planning carefully the school did not need to close fully (unlike some locally who seemed to take the option of closing at the loss of very few teachers).

[KS10]

How do you find out if a school was closed even though just a few were absent? I know who was absent from our school - and being NUT-strong there was no option but to close the school to pupils - but I certainly couldn't tell you how many were on strike at the school across the road.

[pheasantchick]

We were told that if our teacher wasn't on strike, then if the child missed school it would be classed as un un-authorised absence.

[T12ACY]

Just local knowledge KS10, which of course could be 'gossip'. Bit like most news reports which are based on unfounded allegations (I admit not to have taken a register at each and every school....). What I am trying to get across is that DS's school worked very hard to cover for the 'missing' teaching staff, of which there were quite a few and yet for just one day they got by. The lessons were affected at some levels but the time in those was used to study for their end of year exams, under supervision.
I also find it confusing that those who support strike action, and take this option didn't all stand by the school gate (or office for the civil servants) to display their protest to the rest of us. Yes the day is unpaid if you are striking, but the point is that a protest is being made so to disappear amongst the crowds seems to me a strange thing to do. I may be uneducated but if I felt strongly enough to take action like this I would be waving a banner and shouting from the rooftops. Is this not 'how it's done'?

[yoyo123]

there were rallies which quite a few of my colleagues attended

edited to add:
I wasn;t striking as I wasn;t scheduled to work that day however ,in solidarity, I refused to do the ironing

[T12ACY]

Yes I did see there were some rallies, and these organised events are probably a really good way to show a united front. Am liking your refusal to do the ironing

Please don't get me wrong I am not saying that it is right, or fair, to impose changes on an employee. I would like to see negotiations which I think is what the government are failing to engage in....

Still on the plus side it is a lovely sunny day and I am off to the coast (sadly for work but it puts a spring in my step when it's warm )

[ourmaminhavana]

It depends very much what classes a striking teacher would have had as to how easy it is to cover eg Sixth Form. In fact, other teachers in the school should not have been asked to set work for striking colleagues so it was probably more babysitting than active teaching.

[Fran17]

Yoyo wrote: I wasn;t striking as I wasn;t scheduled to work that day however ,in solidarity, I refused to do the ironing.

I wish I had thought of this. Note to self: do not iron during next teachers' strike.