According to the Independent Education Union they along with the NSW Teachers Federation agreed at a meeting last week that they would jointly walk off the job for the first time in 20 years this Thursday.

Students at Hennessy Catholic College and St Mary's Primary School will have the final two days of term two off school as the college has scheduled a Pupil Free Day for Friday.

"I have been advised by the IEU that some of our employees from our 56 schools in NSW and ACT will be participating in a full day of protected industrial action in the form of a work stoppage," Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn director Ross Fox wrote in a letter to parents at the schools.

"We fully support our employees' right to take protected industrial action in pursuit of a new enterprise agreement but are concerned about further disruption to student learning and the school community.

"On Thursday, 30 June 2022, some IEU members will be participating in a full day of protected industrial action in the form of a work stoppage.

"As a result of this action, your school may experience staff shortages. It may be necessary to ask that your children remain home on Thursday, 30 June 2022."

Mr Fox has assured parents they should know by Tuesday what arrangements will be made at both St Mary's and Hennessy Catholic College.

"Our Diocese has met a number of times with the IEU in an attempt to negotiate a new Enterprise Agreement for teaching and support staff," Mr Fox said.

"We will continue to negotiate in good faith with the IEU to reach a fair and just outcome for employees, and we will keep you informed of any potential disruptions to schools."

Though there is support for the teachers taking industrial action, some parents are frustrated.

"It's bad enough that they're missing out on days of school that we have had to pay for but when they are being paid a lot more than I make it just makes me mad," one parent said.

"It will be four days this term that my kids will have had off due to pupil free days and now the strike, that nearly equates to a whole week of learning that they have missed, it's not great," another said.

However, there were also those who spoke with strong support for the teachers.

"They work bloody hard, people give them a hard time saying they get school holidays off, but that isn't true, because even if it's holidays they are still planning lessons and what not," one person said.

"It can't be easy to be a teacher, they worked the entire way through COVID and other than a thank you they got nothing for putting themselves and their families at risk to make sure kids could still get an education, it's about time they get a pay rise," another said.

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