The wildcat action meant confusion was rife outside Berkeley Institute yesterday morning, where a handful of students were left in limbo outside classrooms. Many said they had not been told what was going on and some were angry that teachers were playing with their grades during a key exam period.

Asked if the day?s tests were going ahead as planned, Blayne Baker, 17, said they were cancelled. ?The teachers are on strike,? Mr. Baker said. ?There?s not enough teachers to hold the exams.? Mr. Baker said he was supposed to have had a Physics Standard BSE exam today but it had been scrapped.

Ian Coke Jr., 16, said the teachers went on an unannounced strike which left the students stranded.

?Berkeley students are furious,? Mr. Coke Jr. said.

His schoolmate Jahi Simmons said: ?Quit the scam and give us our exam.?

Jenoa Lowe, 15, said students had been outside playing since they arrived at 8.40 a.m.

?We?re dependent on these exams, our future relies on these exams,? Ms Lowe said. ?They?re playing with our grades.?

When asked where the teachers were, she said she did not know but the rest of the students were inside waiting to see if they would be sent home.

Ms Lowe also explained that she and her classmates were supposed to take GCSE exams in Family Studies, Business Studies and Science at 9.30 a.m. ? but no teachers were available.

Berkeley principal Michelle Gabisi declined to comment. However, a sign posted on her door said that GCSE Business Exams would be held at 1.30 p.m. no matter what happened yesterday.

Elsewhere, Harrington Sound Primary parent Rebecca Topliffe said it was unacceptable for her seven-year-old son to have been left without any staff supervision during lunch hour.

?I am concerned for my child?s safety,? Mrs. Topliffe said. ?Anybody could have come and taken a child. I don?t know if a paedophile was watching. I don?t appreciate it. ?I called this morning and that?s when I found out they (teachers) were on this work to rule and that teachers would not do anything beyond what was required of them,? she said. ?That means kids will not be supervised for lunch or breaks.? Fearing for her child?s safety, she visited Harrington Sound Primary on her lunch-break ? only to discover that there was one volunteer parent watching over the entire school.

She said the parent happened to be attending an awards ceremony at the school, cancelled due to the industrial action. Harrington Sound principal Lisa Smith-Clarke said she did call two volunteers to watch over the children. However, they did not turn up until 12.30 p.m.

While Mrs. Topliffe sympathised with teachers in the pay dispute, she said they had to give more notice to organise volunteers before refusing to work, as she side one child got kicked in the side of the face during the unsupervised lunch period.

?I feel sorry for the parents,? she said. ?There has to be something written somewhere that says they can?t do that, that they have to give 24 hours notice.?