WA’s Department of Education confirmed so far,22 schools would fully close and 61 would only be partially open – meaning they would provide student instruction for selected year levels or cohorts of students for the whole day.
Schools closed during stop-work action
Education Director-General Lisa Rodgers was confident the majority of schools would remain open.
She said the department valued teachers and was “making every effort to have this reflected in their pay and conditions”.
“Public school principals will inform their communities by the end of today on the plan for their school,” Rodgers said.
“All families will be informed on whether their school will be open,or partially open.
“The parents of students at schools that are impacted will receive more detailed information outlining the plan for Tuesday morning.”
She confirmed there would be no classes on the morning for the schools that were closed,and said students should attend at 11.30am in the Kimberley and Pilbara,and 12.30pm in all other regions.
It is unclear if students at affected schools would still be able to attend if their parents required them to.
Community and Public Sector Union WA Branch Secretary Rikki Hendon told 6PR on Friday morning that support workers were not trained to handle children’s duty of care,and the state government should re-think its plans if it was expected they look after students.
“Frankly it’s a risk to[the support workers],it’s a risk to the students,and it’s not something we would support,” she said.
Schools partially open during stop-work action
“I certainly won’t be sending my child to school during the strike.”
One principal at a primary school in Perth’s western suburbs wrote to parents and confirmed the school would still be open,and they would arrange to provide supervision and modified activities for students until the end of the stop work action.
“The Department of Education has assured me that they are working as hard,and as fast as they can to reach a resolution with the union. Every effort is being made to minimise future impact on all schools,” she said.
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