National Industrial Strike Action

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am writing to give you advanced information about what the education provision at Chellaston Academy will be on the next two NEU National Strike Days scheduled for Thursday the 27th of April and Tuesday the 2nd of May 2023.

The NEU [National Education Union] has announced further strike days over the next few months. The strikes are part of an ongoing dispute with the Government about sector pay and education funding. These strikes are not a dispute against the Academy, Headteacher or Trust.

At Chellaston Academy, more than three quarters of the teaching staff and a large proportion of our support staff are members of the NEU. From the last four strike days and continuing to work with the NEU, we expect the vast majority of these colleagues to be striking but we will not know the exact number until the day itself. Colleagues who are striking are not compelled to set work and colleagues in other unions are not compelled to cover for striking colleagues, as other unions are also in dispute with the Government.

However, due to the proximity of the Year 11 and Year 13 exams, some striking colleagues will be setting revision and exam preparation materials for their Year 11 and 13 lessons.

Our provision for the 27th of April and 2nd of May 2023 is as follows:

Year 7	Closed	Online Curriculum – See plans below
Year 8	Closed	Online Curriculum – See plans below
Year 9	Closed	Online Curriculum – See plans below
Year 10	Closed	Online Curriculum – See plans below
Year 11	Open	Normal timetable in place where teachers are at work. For lessons where colleagues are on strike, the classes will be supervised, and revision/exam preparation materials will be available. Students that should normally be in for form time should register in the MAIN HALL at 8.30am. On the 27th of April, there will also be an exams presentation where our latest examination booklet, examination timetables and further guidance will be given out.
Year 12	Open	Normal timetable in place where teachers are at work. Study, revision, coursework catch-up space available where teachers are not present. Students that should normally be in for form time should register in C-HALL at 8.30am.
Year 13	Open	Normal timetable in place where teachers are at work. Study, revision, coursework catch-up space available where teachers are not present. Students that should normally be in for form time should register in C-HALL at 8.30am.

Although the school site is closed to years 7, 8, 9 and 10 we are still passionate about your child’s education, and we will be providing a full day of online curriculum which starts at 9.00am. Outline details of the day are available from the document below:

Outline of day

The plans include resources and video lessons which are available through our Firefly platform. Details of how to log onto Firefly are attached in this video link, https://vimeo.com/791839016/1e7484c1ad. If there are any students who do not have a device at home, can you please contact your Head of Year or Deputy Head of Year. Contact details below.

Staff who are working will be available, via email, to answer questions related to learning. Some families will also be receiving wellbeing phone calls during the day.

Lunch Provision

We will also be providing a free packed lunch for students in their local community. If you would like your child to receive a lunch on Thursday 27th April and Tuesday the 2nd of May, can you please follow the links to the Microsoft Form surveys to let us know what option your child would like and which location they will be collecting lunch from.

Wednesday the 27th of April – https://forms.office.com/e/f6hyV7rLWu
Thursday the 2nd of May – https://forms.office.com/e/Bdm8bK2JcC

I am sorry that you will have to make alternative arrangements for your child and that they will experience disruption to their education. I understand that this situation is frustrating, and I ask that all members of the school community continue to treat each other with respect.

Contact details for Year Teams

Y7 team:

Head of Year 7 – Mr Burton b.burton@chellaston.derby.sch.uk

Deputy Head of Year 7 – Miss Dennett s.dennett@chellaston.derby.sch.uk

Y8 team:

Head of Year 8 – Mrs Dow d.dow@chellaston.derby.sch.uk // Mr Wagg t.wagg@chellaston.derby.sch.uk

Deputy Head of Year 8 –Miss Ovenden k.ovenden@chellaston.derby.sch.uk

Y9 team:

Head of Year 9 – Mr Shields d.shields@chellaston.derby.sch.uk

Deputy Head of Year 9 -Mrs Battrick h.battrick@chellaston.derby.sch.uk

Y10 team:

Head of Year 10 – Mr Moran e.moran@chellaston.derby.sch.uk