DfE pressure to stay open on strike days

0370 270 6000

Search Mobile

collapse

already registered?

Please sign in with your existing account details.

Email address

Password

need to register?

Register to access exclusive content, sign up to receive our updates and personalise your experience on brownejacobson.com.

Privacy statement - Terms and conditions

Forgotten your password?

collapseSign

Browne Jacobson home

Home

Insights

Blogs

DfE pressure to stay open on strike days

17 February 2014

In an attempt to minimise the impact of the next national planned strike (26 March 2014) the DfE have issued guidance on what schools should do to stay open.

A number of suggestions are given by the government. These include using volunteers previously unknown to the school who have a DBS check from 'another walk of life' and suspending teaching of the curriculum for the day to put on a whole school 'activity day'.

Heads will view this advice with caution. It is essential that a thorough risk assessment is carried out and the guidance makes only fleeting reference to this. A balance will have to be struck between the benefit of the school remaining open and the risks, particularly with unknown, unsupervised volunteers. Our expectation is that this guidance will not have the desired affect of seeing significantly more schools remain open than on previous strike days.

related opinions

Security in schools – new guidance from the Department for Education

Following a consultation last year on a draft form, the Department for Education (DfE) has now published extensive guidance for schools and colleges in relation to security.

View blog

General election 2019 - implications for schools

Parliament has announced that a general election will take place in the UK on Thursday 12 December 2019. Schools are popular places for polling stations and whilst some larger schools are able to continue to operate on election day, many smaller schools are forced to close.

View blog

Admission policies may confuse disadvantaged families

In the run up to the deadline for completing the application form for secondary admissions for September 2020 entry, the Good Schools Guide has reported that some admission policies for state funded schools may confuse parents who are less affluent, work at weekends or have English as an additional language.

View blog