Kirkby secondary school announces closure for four year groups as teachers set to strike

Outwood Grange Academies Trust, which runs Outwood Academy Kirkby, has announced plans for closure ahead of industrial action over pay and teachers’ recruitment and retention.

A ballot earlier this month revealed overwhelming support for the industrial action, with 90.4 per cent of National Education Union members in England and Wales voting in favour of the strikes.

The action will see Nottinghamshire teachers and support staff walk out of the classroom on February 1, March 1, 15 and 16.

The Government has offered teachers a 5 per cent rise, but the NEU is demanding a pay rise of 12 per cent for its members.

The Department for Education has said headteachers will be expected to take “all reasonable steps” to keep schools open for as many pupils as possible during strike action.

However a spokesman at Outwood Grange Academies Trust said: “While we respect our colleagues' choice to take industrial action in the form of strikes, we have a responsibility to keep our schools open to the maximum number of children that our staffing levels will safely allow.

“All of our Nottinghamshire academies – Outwood Academy Kirkby, Outwood Academy Portland and Outwood Academy Valley – will be open to Year 11 and all vulnerable students as normal on Wednesday February 1, the first day of the NEU strike action.

“Additionally, we have made arrangements for lunch to be available for any child on free school meals.”

The trust took over running Kirkby College in September – renaming it Outwood Academy Kirkby – after the college was placed into special measures in 2018.

However, despite regular monitoring visits, it was found to still be inadequate after another inspection in November 2021, with Ofsted noting the curriculum is ‘not ambitious enough’ and homophobic and transphobic comments have ‘become the norm’, leading to its transfer to Outwood.