Industrial Action in Sixth Form Colleges - 15th & 16th March 2023

14 March 2023

As many may be aware, there is a national industrial action tomorrow, Wednesday 15^th March, and on Thursday 16^th of March, which is affecting all Sixth Form Colleges across the country.

The National Education Union (NEU) has entered a dispute with the Secretary of State for Education as a result of a ‘failure to give the undertaking to make available additional and sufficient funds to allow sixth form employers to pay a fully funded increase in the pay of teachers in sixth form college at a greater rate than inflation'.

Staff are not required to inform the College if they intend to take strike action; therefore, we cannot confirm which classes will still be running. This subsequently means we do not know if we will have enough staff onsite to run the College safely. Therefore, all lessons will be online on both the 15^th and 16^th of March. Staff who are not taking strike action will deliver their lessons online following the normal College timetable, and students should join Microsoft Teams at the start of each lesson.

Sports fixtures will run as planned and students in College teams should speak to the relevant staff member running the team for information about where to meet and when. However, please note that other enrichment sessions will not run on that day.

The LRC will be open for students who do not have access to online facilities at home. The refectory shop will also be open. Other rooms and facilities will be closed to students. Students involved in fixtures who need to come in prior to the meeting time due to transport are also welcome to use the LRC to access their lessons.

Adult daytime and evening classes and Skills for Life classes will run as usual, as these are not affected by the strike action.

Facility tours will run as planned.

Regular timetabled lessons will resume on Friday 17^th March 2023.