The NEU has announced strike action taking place in 2023, in February, March, April and May. Please see our guidance below for how to manage this in ScholarPack.
For general details on managing strikes in schools, please see the DfE's guidance here: Handling strike action in schools
Our team at our parent company The Key Group have also created a free resource to help you navigate the impact of the strikes - you can find it on their website here: Industrial action FAQs
Managing staff
You'll need to record if any staff are absent from your school on strike days for the Workforce Census.
First, decide how to record the staff absences. The DfE advises to use the absence type of Unauthorised absence. You can either:
- use our built-in Unauthorised absence type
- create your own absence type to specifically report on industrial action. This should map back to the Unauthorised absence type. To do this follow these instructions: How do we add our own Staff Absence categories
You can see how to record staff absences here: How can I add staff absence?
As long as you have added any additional staff to ScholarPack, any teacher will be able to take the attendance register. You can see how this is done here: Teacher Registers
Managing student attendance
Depending on school's settings, you may not allow teachers to override attendance marks already input in registers. Because of this we recommend completing the steps below in this order.
First, identify any students who will still be attending (such as those who are Vulnerable or children of Key Workers). Mark them as such either on their profile, or in bulk using the Group Updater.
If these students will be attending when others will not be, you'll need to set up a register for them. Follow these instructions.
Next, you'll want to mark the students who won't be attending with the correct attendance code. This should be the Y code. Be sure not to tick the students who are attending. You can see how to edit the register for the strike days here: How do I fill in or edit a register in bulk?
Top Tip: You could also wait until after attendance is taken each day to fill in your Y codes.
On the day of the strike, take the register for the children who are attending. You can see how this is done here: Teacher Registers