Parents of pupils in Aberdeenshire are calling for clarity as more schools announce they will be closing next week.
School staff will go on strike on September 6, 7 and 8 after the GMB union and Unison failed to reach a new pay agreement with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).
Catering staff, cleaners, caretakers, teaching assistants and early years practitioners will walk out next week.
Bosses at Aberdeenshire Council have already confirmed that all of their nurseries will be closed during the three days of the strike.
They said it was up to individual head teachers at schools to decide whether to close, based on risk assessments at their schools. These risk assessments are still ongoing while thousands of parents wait for clarity.
Parents of school-age children are growing increasingly concerned about what will happen with their kids’ school next week. Just days away from the start of the strike action, many don’t know whether they will have to arrange alternative childcare.
Some, such as Balmedie Primary, have decided to close. Others, such as Kemnay Academy, confirmed they would remain open. Many more are yet to decide.
Childcare concerns amid strike action: ‘We don’t have anyone who can help’
Nikki Thomson is waiting to hear if her son’s school will be open next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Her six-year-old boy attends Hillside Primary in Portlethen. She is worried about the impact a closure at short notice will have on her job as a nurse.
Nikki said: “If it’s Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday then it affects three days of my work.
“There are going to be school staff off but they haven’t confirmed whether the school is off. I think it’ll be last minute.
“We don’t have anyone who can help. I suppose there’s nothing we can do.
“I’m not against but I would like some notice. Parents do have to make plans for this kind of thing.”
Council writes to parents
Aberdeenshire Council has already written to parents confirming all local authority nurseries will be closed next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Letters said that the requirement for higher adult to child ratios in nurseries meant that it would have been difficult to meet health and safety requirements during the strike.
Head of education Vincent Docherty said that head teachers were deciding whether or not it was safe for schools to open.
He added they are “in the process of advising parents and carers” about possible closure plans.
Strike action to hit Orkney and SQA
Meanwhile, officials in Orkney have warned that some schools are likely to close during the strikes.
Education bosses there are expecting some schools to close during the three days in September.
In a separate industrial action, members of the Unite union who work for the SQA voted to strike on three days in September – the 8th, 15th and 16th.
The SQA will confirm priority appeal results on September 6. But the union said that the strike will “severely delay” up to 22,000 regular appeals.
Over the summer, members rejected a pay offer that would have amounted to between 1.7 and 4%, depending on job grading. Members cited questions over the future of the soon-to-be-scrapped SQA and job security among other reasons for the strike.
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