SCHOOLS across Herefordshire will be partially closing tomorrow (Wednesday) as teachers strike for a second time this year in a long-running dispute over pay.

Teachers will walk out across the north of England on Tuesday with the majority of schools expected to either restrict access to some pupils or fully close, the National Education Union (NEU) has said.

LIVE COVERAGE: Latest updates: Herefordshire school closures as teachers go on strike

Teacher members of the NEU are set to strike in the Midlands and eastern regions in England on Wednesday, and further walkouts will take place across Wales and the south of England on Thursday.

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Tens of thousands of members are expected to join the strike action.

Herefordshire schools affected by Wednesday's strikes

The following Herefordshire schools have publicly announced their plans for Wednesday:

  • Aylestone School, Hereford: open to year 11 and other invited pupils
  • Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School, Hereford: open to year 11
  • Earl Mortimer College and Sixth Form Centre, Leominster: open to years 7, 10, and 11, plus those students who have pre-arranged to attend.
  • John Masefield high School, Ledbury: open to years 9, 11, 12 and 13
  • Lady Hawkins' School, Kington: open to years 7 and 11
  • Much Birch CE Primary School, near Hereford: closed to all year groups
  • Queen Elizabeth High School, Bromyard: open to years 7, 8, 9 and 11 and vulnerable year 10 pupils

The Hereford Times will continue to update this list as new information comes in. If you know a school affected, please email news@herefordtimes.com.

Martin Henton, headteacher at the Bishop of Hereford's Bluecoat School which will be closed to years 7, 8, 9 and 10 on Wednesday, said in a letter to parents: "Since the last day of strike action taken by the National Education Union (NEU), the dispute with the government has still not been resolved.

"As a result, the second day of strike action on Wednesday 1st March is planned to go ahead.

"It is not an easy event to plan for as we will not know which staff will be supporting the strike action until the morning of Wednesday, March 1 and I want to give you as much notice as possible in advance."

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Andrew Evans, headteacher at Ledbury's John Masefield High School, said: "Unfortunately, the government and the National Education Union have not resolved their differences over teacher pay.

"As a result of this, a significant number of JMHS teachers will be taking part in the strikes which are taking place on March 1, March 15 and March 16.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, told the PA news agency: “I think across the three days we will have 200,000 members taking strike action.”

OTHER NEWS:

The country’s largest education union has had 50,000 new sign-ups since the strikes were announced six weeks ago, he added.

Last week, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan invited the teaching unions to “formal talks on pay, conditions and reform” on the condition that strike action by the NEU this week was suspended.

The NEU has called on Ms Keegan to drop preconditions to talks and instead make a “serious” offer on pay to avert national walkouts from taking place across England and Wales on March 15 and March 16.