Hundreds of south Shropshire primary and secondary school pupils stayed at home yesterday when strike action closed their classrooms.
The one-day pay strike by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) meant many schools were forced to turn pupils away.
The Community College, Bishop’s Castle, said students from Year 7-11 were not accepted into school but the sixth form was open as usual.
Terry Hunt, headteacher of the Community College, said: “We sent a letter home to parents a few days ago so they had a week’s notice. We were sorry for the inconvenience, if we could have avoided it we would have done. These things happen in life.”
Lacon Childe School in Cleobury Mortimer and Church Stretton School both were closed to pupils in years 7-10. Wigmore School, which has pupils from south Shropshire and north Herefordshire, was unaffected by the action and worked normally.
Alan Gilhooley, headteacher at Lacon Childe, said: “We let parents know last week by letter and on the website.
“The NUT is a significant union among the staff and we took the decision to close for health and safety reasons. We have tried to protect the Year 11s because of their GCSE exams coming up soon.”
But it was ‘business-as-usual’ as south Shropshire’s largest secondary school Ludlow Church of England School Specialist Technology College. Headteacher Phillip Poulton of Ludlow School said: “The school was open as normal to all students.”
The strike also hit primary schools. Clunbury Primary was closed, as was St. George’s in Clun.
Cleobury Mortimer Primary was closed to Reception year 1 and some of year 5.
At Wistanstow Primary, Class 1 was closed, with Reception and Year 1 pupils not accepted into school. Clare Reynolds, headteacher of Wistanstow School, said in a letter to parents: “We understand that this caused inconvenience for parents but all school staff support this action and the reasons behind it.”
The strike was called by the NUT over pay. Members have been offered a pay increase of 2.45% but the teachers say that, with inflation running at more than 4%, this is, in effect, a salary cut.
