Message to parents and carers

Industrial strike action – Wednesday 1 February 2023

As you are aware from our previous correspondence, some members of the National Education Union (NEU) will be taking part in the first of four days of strike action on Wednesday 1 February 2023.

We have been advised that a significant number of our teachers are in the NEU and we understand that many of them intend to participate in the strike.  

We have carefully considered the impact that this will have on the number of staff available to enable us to safely open Cirencester Deer Park School and provide appropriate levels of supervision through the day.

Regrettably, following our risk assessments we will be partially closing the school on Wednesday 1 February.  However, we confirm:

• The School will be open to all pupils in Year 11. Pupils in Year 11 are expected to attend school as normal in uniform and must bring equipment in for their timetabled lessons.  We have prioritised Year 11 as they are in the final months of their preparation for their examinations this summer;
• The School will be closed to all pupils in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10. Therefore, we ask that pupils in these classes do not attend school and that you make alternative arrangements. Pupils in Years 7 to 10 will be expected to check SMHW throughout the day as staff who are not striking will put the lessons they were intending to teach on to the platform, so pupils can access them remotely.  We encourage all of our pupils to engage in these tasks.

Unfortunately, at this stage, we are unable to confirm our position regarding the three other proposed strike days by members of the NEU on Thursday 2 March, Wednesday 15 March and Thursday 16 March. We will inform you of our plans in relation to these dates as soon as we are able to do so. In the interim and as a contingency, we encourage you to consider alternative childcare arrangements on these dates should we be unable to keep your child’s year group or the school open.

We assure you the decision to close the school on Wednesday 1 February has not been taken lightly and we apologise for any potential disruption and the uncertainty regarding the additional proposed strike days. We are very grateful for your understanding and continued support.

We appreciate that this situation may cause frustration. However, we recognise and respect the right of our staff to take part in industrial action and ask that all members of our community continue to treat each other with respect at this complex time.   

Yours sincerely,