Secondary schools will close for some pupils due to strike

Secondary schools in Dundee and Fife will open to senior pupils only when teachers strike again next week. Dundee City Council and Fife Council have confirmed that only S5 and S6 pupils – and some S4 pupils – should attend school on Thursday December 8.

Primary schools – including nurseries – and early learning and childcare centres will open as normal.

Kingspark School and Rockwell Learning Centre, in Dundee, will remain open but secondary pupil support centres in Fife will also shut on that day.

Industrial action is being taken by the NASUWT Scotland and SSTA teaching unions, and follows a strike by the EIS union which closed all schools last Thursday.

A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “Due to planned national industrial action on Thursday December 8 by both SSTA and NASUWT unions, Dundee secondary schools will be open only to S5 and S6 pupils that day.

“Individual secondary schools may have some S4 pupils attending where staffing allows.

“Direct contact will be made with families about details.”

Fife Council said it was unlikely it would be able to run schools safely without sufficient staff.

Shelagh McLean, head of education and children’s services, said: “To help families plan, we’ve made the difficult decision to close all Fife (secondary) schools on Thursday December 8.

“We’ll update parents immediately if the dispute is resolved and plans change.”

Secondary schools in Dundee and Fife will be open to all pupils on Friday December 9.

Like the EIS, NASUWT and SSTA want a 10% pay rise for all teachers, instead of a deal aimed at boosting the wages of lower-paid staff.

The latest pay offer would have seen an increase of between 5% and 6.85% for teachers.

But the offer has been rejected by the unions.

On Thursday Perth and Kinross Council confirmed all secondary schools – with the exception of Pitlochry High School – would be shut for S1-S4 pupils.

Angus Council said it will confirm details of how secondary schools will be affected early next week, but said primary schools will remain open.

Some schools have started running prelim exams which could be affected by next week’s strike action.

We’ll update parents if the dispute is resolved and plans change

ACTION: St John’s RC High School on Harefield Road, Dundee, which is one of the schools closed to S1-S4 pupils.