Dear Parents/Carers,

Industrial action by the NEU
We have been officially informed by the National Education Union (NEU) that they will be taking industrial action in the form of a strike on the following dates:

• Wednesday 1st February 2023;
• Tuesday 28th February 2023;
• Wednesday 15th March 2023;
• Thursday 16th March 2023.

The strike is part of national industrial action organised by the NEU as part of a national dispute between this union and the government regarding teacher’s pay, and not direct action against their school. Ballots by two other main teaching unions, NASUWT and NAHT, did not meet the 50% response threshold to take industrial action. We wanted to give you advanced notice that learning may be disrupted on the above dates. We have significant numbers of staff at the Boulevard Academy who are members of the NEU and strike action is further complicated by the fact that:

• There is no requirement for a union to inform us how many members of staff will take strike action.
• Union members are under no obligation to inform employers in advance of their intention to strike.

This may mean that it may not be until the morning of the first proposed strike on Wednesday 1st February that we will know how many teaching and support staff we have on the school site. We are working with the unions to seek clarification on this. We will be in touch with you with regard to our planning for this first strike day as soon as possible, but this could be very close to the actual strike day on the 1st February 2023. With this in mind I would ask you to start thinking about alternative childcare arrangements for this day, should this be necessary.

Should the school remain open or partially open, it is highly likely that there will be changes to how learning in the school is delivered on this day. We will always prioritise, as far as possible, those students who have public (GCSE) exams this summer in addition to identified key groups of learners. We are working closely with our union representatives to keep up to date with the situation, and I will inform you of the final arrangements as soon as possible. I’m sorry about the potential disruption this may cause. It is my hope that the government and the unions will resolve this situation as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely
Mrs J Mitchell
CEO/Principal