Cambridgeshire: 'Significant disruption' as teachers strike

Many pupils will not be in a classroom on Wednesday

The first of four national teachers' strikes is under way in Cambridgeshire as part of a dispute over pay.

In the Cambridgeshire County Council area, nine schools confirmed to the local education authority that they were closed on Wednesday morning, with a further 103 partially closed.

In Peterborough, two schools were closed and 46 partially open.

The director of education for the county said the "emerging picture is one of significant disruption".

The councils said the figures were estimates because schools were not obliged to inform them about a closure and many schools are academies which do not come under council control.

The one-day strike across England and Wales is the first of seven scheduled days of industrial action organised by the National Education Union (NEU) following a vote by members.

The union has said it expected about 23,000 schools to be affected by the walk-out.

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Director of Education for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Jonathan Lewis, said: "Even schools which are fully open will see some disruption to the curriculum."

In a statement, he added that in cases of full closure, schools were being encouraged to support vulnerable pupils and the children of critical workers, although "capacity is likely to be limited".

The Cambridgeshire authorities said they would be updating their websites regularly about which schools were closed.

While staff are not required to notify their school if they are intending to strike, head teachers are entitled to ask staff in advance if they intend to strike so they can plan how to manage it, Cambridgeshire County Council said.

But without a firm understanding of who is striking, school leaders had to consider the impact on the health and safety of children and staff in deciding whether they remained fully open.

The Department for Education had said it expected head teachers to take all reasonable steps to keep schools open for as many pupils as possible.