Teacher strikes: 'Deciding to close our school has been horrible'

In the Sixth Form survey room, Tia is twizzling a pinkish fluffy pen astir successful her hand. She is tense astir her mock IT exam adjacent week.

"This is my 1 practice, and past I've got the existent one," she says.

On Wednesday, she volition beryllium among the lone pupils attending Wales High School successful Rotherham, which is owed to adjacent due to the fact that of a unit walk-out implicit pay.

The determination to adjacent has been "horrible", says caput teacher Pepe DiIasio. Only Year 12s taking mock exams, susceptible pupils, and the children of captious workers volition beryllium expected in.

"Students person missed an atrocious batch of clip successful the past 3 years, and we don't privation them to miss immoderate more," helium says.

Pepe's office, a abbreviated locomotion and a fewer flights of stairs from the survey room, is the HQ of this hub of 1,900 pupils. He has been engaged preparing for Wednesday - sending letters to parents, making definite those who person children connected escaped schoolhouse meals get funds for lunches, and allocating laptops to children who request them for online learning.

Some parents person criticised schoolhouse closures connected societal media, arguing that families are fined if they support their children retired of schoolhouse - but Pepe hasn't had immoderate complaints similar that.

Planning up is tricky due to the fact that members of the National Education Union (NEU), which is co-ordinating the onslaught successful England and Wales, don't person to archer their heads whether they volition instrumentality part.

As the erstwhile president of the Association of School and College Leaders, Pepe is good alert of this. However, astir 30 members of unit person told him that they won't beryllium astatine work, and helium estimates the full fig could beryllium much than 50.

"One of the gifts of Covid is that we're afloat prepared for this benignant of situation, and what we tin bash is determination into a distant program virtually consecutive away," helium says.

Teachers connected onslaught besides don't person to acceptable enactment to screen onslaught days. Here, it is up to elder leaders similar adjunct caput teacher Hannah Feerick to hole enactment for pupils to bash astatine home.

"They'll conscionable travel their timetable arsenic they would bash connected a mean Wednesday," she says. "So if they person Maths archetypal thing, past they'll bash the Maths enactment for the archetypal hour."

The schoolhouse room volition service arsenic a impermanent schoolroom for pupils who are coming successful - but Hannah won't cognize however galore this volition beryllium until the greeting itself.

"Hopefully if we get thing that works for everybody, past we tin conscionable prime that up and reapply it."

Downstairs successful the subject technician rooms, the chorus of "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" is blasting retired from a vigor tucked down a enactment of plants. This portion of the schoolhouse is simply a retreat for Jo Smethurst, the subject assets manager, who spends overmuch of her time marching betwixt labs and checking the measurement number connected her leopard-print astute watch.

Jo is not a subordinate of teaching unit and won't beryllium connected strike, but she whitethorn not beryllium capable to enactment due to the fact that of her ain childcare issues. She says it has been "stressful" checking each greeting for an email from her son's superior schoolhouse astir whether oregon not it volition beryllium closing.

"I'm trying to look astir to spot if I tin get grandparents truthful I tin get immoderate childcare for that day. Or I volition person to person the time off, oregon his dada volition person to person the time off," she says - which could deed their income, arsenic helium is self-employed.

Despite her childcare jigsaw, she is broadly successful statement with the teaching unit going connected strike, due to the fact that of the rising outgo of living.

"Fuel, gas, energy - everything's going up," she says. "We privation our wages to spell up and teachers privation their wages to spell up."

Around the country from Pepe's office, with a greenish pen successful hand, Ross Napier is rattling done a heap of Year 13 Economics essays.

Ross represents NEU members successful the school, and plans to onslaught connected Wednesday. He near manufacture successful the mid-1990s to thatch due to the fact that it was an "attractive profession", helium says - but that has changed due to the fact that of the "erosion of pay".

His spouse is besides a teacher, and they lived "happily connected one-and-a-half salaries" for 12 years, portion she worked reduced hours aft having children. Then she went backmost full-time.

"We're worse disconnected present successful existent presumption than we were erstwhile my spouse was moving part-time," helium says.

Ross DJs astatine the weekends - location music, mostly - to assistance wage their bills and mortgage.

"The other income allows maine to enactment successful teaching erstwhile truthful galore leave," helium says. "I emotion the job."

Ross says helium hasn't picked up connected overmuch chatter astir the strikes among his non-NEU colleagues due to the fact that "most teachers don't truly person the clip to spell into the unit room". Last summertime helium had to springiness up a relation arsenic caput of house, due to the fact that helium didn't person the clip during the moving week.

Most of his students volition beryllium taking exams this year, truthful for him, striking is simply a "massive determination to make", but helium adds: "One time of onslaught isn't astir arsenic large an interaction arsenic the past 12 years of cuts."

Schools Minister Nick Gibb has told the BBC that the authorities is acrophobic astir agreeing wage rises successful enactment with inflation, which helium said would mean embedding ostentation into the economy.

The Department for Education, which is has been successful talks with teaching unions implicit pay, has advised that schools stay unfastened for "as galore pupils arsenic possible" - and the representation volition alteration crossed schools successful England and Wales. Strikes person already been taking spot successful Scotland, and teachers volition locomotion retired for fractional a time successful Northern Ireland connected 21 February.

Back successful the survey room, Year 12 pupil Oliver says helium is blessed that his geography mock is going up connected Wednesday.

"I've prepared and revised," helium says. "If I'm expecting an exam adjacent week, and it's the week after, it's different week that I've got to revise."

But for his brother, who is successful Year 10, the onslaught time volition mean a time backmost to learning astatine location - reminding him of learning during Covid.

"The further disruption is simply a spot worrying," says Tia. "At the aforesaid time, I consciousness similar I request to enactment my teachers, due to the fact that they are doing it for a bully reason."

Have you been affected by issues covered successful this story? Get successful interaction by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

Please see a interaction fig if you are consenting to talk to a BBC journalist. You tin besides get successful interaction successful the pursuing ways:

If you are speechmaking this leafage and can't spot the signifier you volition request to sojourn the mobile mentation of the BBC website to taxable your question oregon remark oregon you tin email america astatine HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please see your name, property and determination with immoderate submission.