Thousands of students are expected to stay home next Wednesday because of a planned teachers’ strike.
Many schools will be closed altogether and classes in some others will not take place due to measures taken by the National Education Union (NEU).
It is the first of four planned days of strikes over pay for teachers and caregivers.
Talks between unions and Education Secretary Jeremy Miles have so far failed to resolve the dispute.
At the same time, just before a strike, the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) initiates industrial action, including restricting some tasks to core hours and refusing to cover for striking staff.
Mary van den Heuvel, senior policy officer at NEU, said the impact of the strike presented a “mixed picture”.
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“Quite a few schools will close next week because they have a high density of our members,” she said.
“Others with very few members probably won’t notice much of a difference.”
“Members do not take strikes lightly,” she added. “They really want to be in the classroom and teach these young people.”
Senior union officials have already rejected the Welsh Government’s offer of a one-off payment for teachers and school leaders.
Ms van den Heuvel said talks with the government were ongoing, adding that a strike was “quite likely at this point”.
“Pay in particular is the reason for the industrial action, but there are many small things,” she said. “There are many issues with workloads… [and] the magnitude of the changes taking place in our schools.”
“It’s also about closing the wage gap of the last 10 years,” she said, claiming that teachers’ real wages have fallen by 20% since 2013.
Melissa Bartlett of Barry, Vale of Glamorgan has two children aged seven and eight.
She said: “I only have my mum to rely on for childcare, so I have to take the day off to look after her while he’s at school [and] so I miss a day’s wages.
“I’m a caregiver on a low salary so I think we’d all like some money in this crisis we’re going through. But is this the way forward? I dont know .”
Peter Avaient said he would likely take over childcare for his grandchildren if the strike affects schools in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan.
But he said he supports school staff “to get what they need.”
Mum-of-two Kirsty Bale said: “I’m not against it [the strike]they do what…really needs to be done.
Emma Parish, who cares for her two grandchildren, said: “They have to do what they have to do. I like to let it happen.”
One council said it expects “significant” disruption and has urged parents to check schools’ websites for the latest information.
Torfaen City Council said planning was challenging “given the uncertainty surrounding staff attendance and availability”.
It said three schools would be fully closed to pupils, 16 partially closed, while three were fully open, with 13 yet to be confirmed.
Cardiff Council is updating information on its website about school closures and Denbighshire Council said it would do the same.
Vale of Glamorgan Council said 11 schools had confirmed they would close and six would partially close, but the number was rising.
A third of Pembrokeshire’s teachers are eligible to take part in the industrial action and the council said around half of its 60 schools could close.
The chances are good. However, the magnitude of the impact will vary from school to school.
Principals will know how many NEU members are part of the staff, but they may not know how many will be on strike.
After risk assessments, they make judgments as to whether the school will be able to operate with a safe workforce.
Some schools will close entirely, while others will only open to a few students.
Education Secretary Jeremy Miles said heads were likely to “play it safe” because of the difficulties in planning with limited information.
Schools or councils will notify parents and guardians via email or SMS.
The education secretary said councils are keen to let parents know as early as possible.
Many have to make arrangements with employers or organize alternative care when children are out of school.
Mr Miles said everyone was “concerned that parents will have to take time off to look after their children when they may lose their pay”.
Teachers and support staff registered with the NEU are free to strike in Wales after a vote yielded a yes vote.
The union claims to have around 23,000 members.
Unlike some other unions, more than 50% of NEU members voted, crossing the threshold for industrial action.
Teachers in England will also go on strike. Other unions are involved in industrial action in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Members of NAHT in Wales, which mainly represents primary school principals, also begin industrial action on February 1st.
They say they will limit meetings and calls to core hours and will make no arrangements to represent employees who take part in industrial disputes.
They are demanding more than the 5% pay rise offered by the Welsh Government and say their pay has been eroded over many years.
They want inflation to rise by about 12% and say it should be fully funded, meaning it shouldn’t come from existing school budgets.
Unions are concerned about tight budgets in education in general, and they also have concerns about workloads.
The unions NASUWT and UCAC also elected members, but they did not pass the turnout threshold but were able to hold another vote.
The Association of School and College Leaders, which mostly represents secondary school leaders, hasn’t held a formal vote yet but says it’s still an option.
Teachers cannot be forced to supervise classes of colleagues who are taking industrial action.
Union laws in Wales also mean that assistant teachers cannot be hired to do the work of striking staff.
This means that even if there are only a handful of NEU members in a school, many students may still need to stay home.
It depends on the school. Mr Miles said online delivery is one of the options open to schools.
Staff who are not on strike could be asked to offer online classes to students who are forced to stay at home.
These may not be live classes, but they could be resources that students can access at their leisure.
Yes, partly according to NEW.
This is the first of four planned strike dates – the others being February 14, March 15 and March 16.
Unions, councils and the Welsh Government say they want to hold talks to try and settle the dispute.
The Welsh Government has argued it is unable to fund a more generous salary offer, but Mr Miles said he was “absolutely determined” to work with unions to find a solution to the dispute.
A one-off payment for staff, similar to what was offered to healthcare workers, was discussed.
They also discuss ways to reduce the workload. But the unions said it was “nowhere near” meeting their demands.
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