The Nottingham city council has said it cannot rule out school closures because of strike action over its proposed move to a five-term academic year.
The Nottingham branch of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) yesterday announced the dates when members would walk-out over the controversial move.
The National Union of Teachers have planned industrial action on Thursday, March 29, Tuesday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 25.
The National Union of Teachers have planned industrial action on Thursday, March 29, Tuesday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 25.
The first day of industrial action will be on Thursday, March 29, with the other days being Tuesday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 25.
It follows a ballot in which 493 members were asked if they were prepared to strike.
Nearly 90 per cent of the 251 papers returned were in favour of the move.
Councillor David Mellen, portfolio holder for children’s services at the council, said it would be down to individual schools as to whether they close on those days.
He said: “We don’t feel the strike action is necessary.
“We certainly don’t want our schools to be closed and the education of young people in Nottingham to be disrupted.
“We will issue advice to the schools, but it will be down to individual head teachers and governors on what course of action they take, depending on how many members they have who will be on strike.”
The council is consulting with teaching unions on the impact of the five-term year.
Other unions, including the NASUWT, are yet to decide on whether they will take future strike action.
John Illingworth, assistant secretary of Nottingham City NUT, said they were willing to halt strike action if the council agreed to sit down for talks, but believes this is unlikely.
He said there could be activities on the strike days which may involve marches.
He said: “We don’t like to have our members going on strike, we would much rather have them in school doing their jobs.
“But we feel this has been made necessary.”
The move, set to go ahead from September 2013, will see the school year split into five terms of equal length separated by two-week breaks and a four-week summer holiday.
The authority has cited a number of reasons for the move.
These include trying to prevent children forgetting what they have learned during the long summer holidays, and providing parents with the chance to book family holidays away from peak season.
But unions are unhappy as other authorities, including Notts County Council, are not making the same move, meaning some members could end up facing difficulties with childcare.
The council has said teachers who do not agree to changes in their contracts may be sacked and offered their jobs back under new terms and conditions.
The NUT has labelled these plans as “bullying”, accusations which the council has refuted.
