Schools across West Lothian will close next week as teachers strike.
The Educational Institute for Scotland (EIS) teaching union and the Association of Headteachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS) have informed the council that their members intend to participate in national strike action on Thursday, November 24 .
This will result in a significant reduction in staffing levels within schools.
Therefore all council run schools in West Lothian will be closed.
A council spokesperson said the local authority is conscious that school closures inconveniences parents/carers and disrupts learners’ education and so arrangements will be in place.
All local authority schools (including Additional Support Needs schools) will be closed to pupils
Pupils will still be able to access online materials, including previous learning materials in Microsoft Teams (P4-S6) or SeeSaw (P1-P3), to study/consolidate prior learning
All council Early Years/nurseries will remain open on November 24.
A BACs payment will be made for those children and young people entitled to a free school meal (not universal entitlement)
Dr Elaine Cook, Depute Chief Executive of West Lothian Council said: “I appreciate that the industrial action will cause significant disruption to the learning of our children and young people and that families will have to make alternative arrangements for childcare during these days.
" I am sorry for the inconvenience this will cause.
“While the council has been formally notified by these trade unions of their intention to strike, there is also the possibility that through ongoing negotiations at a national level that the strike may not take place.
"We will provide you with an update via GroupCall and the council’s social media channels on Tuesday 22 November. However, at this stage, our advice is to have alternative childcare arrangements in place for Thursday, November 24.”
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