Tens of thousands of public school staff have walked off the job over an ongoing pay and workload dispute, impacting schools statewide and leaving thousands of families in the lurch.

Victorian teachers and public school workers will walk off the job for the second time in four months on Thursday after rejecting the government’s latest pay and conditions offer.

Victorian members of the Australian Education Union voted to turn down the state government’s updated offer of a 28.3 per cent pay rise over the next four years.