The teachers prepared to strike again on 15 and 16 March

Teachers are set to strike again this week as part of their ongoing industrial strike.

The strikes – on March 15 and 16 – are the latest by the National Education Union (NEU) in a dispute over teachers’ salaries and underfunding of education by the government.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it expected head teachers to take all reasonable steps to keep schools open to as many students as possible.

The decision to open, limit attendance, or close a school being maintained is for the school principal. The decision of the Academies rests with the relevant Academies but is usually taken by the Principal.

Jonathan Lewis, Director of Education for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “We expect disruption to schools again on 15th and 16th March, and we expect some impact on all schools as a result of this action, even if they are fully open.

We will collect information about closed or partially closed schools and update our website regularly.

“School heads are writing to parents to enable them to make decisions. In the event of a full lockdown, schools are encouraged to support vulnerable children and important working children, although capacity will likely be limited.”

School principals will once again notify parents and caregivers if possible before Wednesday whether they expect their schools to be open, closed or partially closed.

While employees are not required to tell their employers if they intend to take strike action, managers have the right to ask employees in advance if they intend to strike so that they can plan how the strike will be managed.

Without a solid understanding of who is hitting, school leaders must consider the impact on the health and safety of children and staff in deciding whether to remain fully open.

Where schools have no choice but to restrict attendance, they should consider, where possible, providing distance education. Striking teachers cannot be forced to prepare work for students to complete on the day of the strike and are encouraged by NEU not to do so.

Advice from the DfE is that there is no statutory requirement for schools to teach the curriculum on strike days and supply around schools is likely to be limited.

The county council will update School closures page On its website regularly, as soon as schools provide information about closures on the day of the strike.