Dear Parents/Carers,

As you may have seen in the media recently, we have been informed by the teaching unions NUT and ATL that they will be taking industrial action in the form of a strike on 30th June.
This action is not against the College itself but is part of national industrial action organised by these trades unions about changes to the pensions schemes of their members.

Neither the governing body nor I, the principal of the College, are legally allowed to close the College ‘in sympathy’ with the strike and we will not do so. My two main concerns are the safety of our students and their ability to learn. It is with the balance of these two concerns in mind that I have decided to keep Guthlaxton College open next Thursday.

Gratefully I have been informed by the members of the unions which teachers intend to strike but since I am unable to cover the lessons affected by these staff being absent, it is unlikely that all lessons on Thursday 30th will be normal and there may have to be sessions of private study or group assembly supervised by senior members of staff.

Less than a third of lessons will be affected by the strike action; the majority of students will still have a normal experience on Thursday. Year 9 Wider Key Skills and Bye Bye Blues will still go ahead as planned.

We must all hope that the issues over which the industrial action has arisen are resolved as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

John Keller
Principal

Published on Thursday 23rd June 2011 at 09:00