As thousands of education staff strike around the country, schools in the South Hams have been affected by the strikes, with partial closures due to occur throughout the area on Wednesday.

The National Education Union (NEU) have called for all schools in England and Wales to take part in Industrial Action on February 1st and March 15th and 16th, and schools in London, the South-east and South-west of England to strike on March 2nd.

Dartmouth Academy have announced that they will be closing the school to all except Year 11 and vulnerable students.

Paul Girardot, Headteacher, said: “In order to ensure pupil safety in school, we anticipate the need to close to most year groups in the school on 1st February 2023 as we anticipate a number of teachers will be choosing to exercise their right to strike on this day.

“Our plan is to open to pupils in Year 11 so they can complete their examinations along with offering places to our vulnerable pupils across all other year groups... Families deemed vulnerable will be contacted separately to ascertain if you will require a space on the 1st February.”

Pupils who are not attending school on the industrial action days will learn from home via Teams or the schools home learning platform.

Mr Girardot added: “These are challenging times and I am grateful to you in advance for your understanding and support.”

Kingsbridge Community College have said they will be partially closing the college on Wednesday February 1st as they cannot be certain how many teachers will be choosing to exercise their right to strike.

They said: “Our plan is to open to students in Years 7, 11, 12 and 13 along with offering places to both our vulnerable children and those of key workers in Years 8, 9 and 10. The Year 11 PPE exams will go ahead as planned.”

Like Dartmouth, students not attending school will work from home. If work is not set by teachers due to the Industrial Strike action, they are encouraged to conduct their own revision.

Ivybridge Community College is remaining open for all students in Year 7, Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13.

The school have said: “Students in Years 7 and 11 will each follow a bespoke subject-based curriculum for the day to support the needs of the Year Group. We will be unable to keep to their normal timetabled lessons due to the potential number of staff absences.”

Students in Years 12 and 13 will follow their normal timetable for the day as far as it is possible and college transport and catering will run as normal for all students.

They added: “Years 8, 9 and 10 will study remotely at home. Work will be set via epraise and it is expected that this is completed.

“Vulnerable and SEND students in Years 8, 9 and 10 are able to attend College with a bespoke timetable for the day.”

23,000 schools are expected to be impacted by the strikes, which are a result of teachers feeling their needs are not being met by the government. Most state-school teachers in England and Wales received a 5% pay rise in 2022, but with rising living prices, many consider this to be inadequate.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, “salaries for more experienced and senior teachers have fallen by 13% in real-terms since 2010.”

The teacher unions met with Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, on Monday, but the talks were unsuccessful.

Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Gillian Keegan has squandered an opportunity to avoid strike action on Wednesday. The Government has been unwilling to seriously engage with the causes of strike action.”