Shetland schools closing due to planned teacher strike

By Garrett Stell

January 30 2023, 4:55 pm

All Shetland secondary schools and most others will be closed next Monday. Image: Shetland Islands Council.

All secondary schools and the majority of primary schools and nurseries in Shetland will close for a teacher strike on Monday, February 6.

Shetland Islands Council sent a letter home to parents on Monday to announce the changes.

Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) and the Association of Head Teachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS) are going on strike in Shetland next Monday.

Next week’s strike action has been on the calendar since December 2022, but councils have typically waited until a week out to formally announce which schools will have to close.

This is usually to give time for further negotiations to take place before giving parents advice on how to make child care arrangements.

But despite multiple conversations between teacher’s unions and their employers in the past month, there has been no new pay offer and no resolution to the pay dispute.

Shetland secondary schools

Schools in Shetland will close next week according to their union membership. The council announced on Monday that all secondary schools will close. That means no school for secondary students at Anderson High, Brae High, Aith Junior High, Baltasound Junior High, Mid Yell Junior High, Sandwick Junior High and Walsay School.

In addition, the majority of secondary and nursery provisions will also close. Of the high schools and junior high schools that offer more than secondary provision, only the Sandwick and Brae early learning and childcare departments or out-of-school clubs will be open.

Shetland primary schools and nurseries

Cullivoe, Fair Isle and Skeld Primary Schools are the only primaries that will remain open next Monday.

The nurseries and out-of-school clubs at Whiteness, Sound, Skeld, Scalloway, Fair Isle and Bell’s Brae will also operate normally.

More strikes expected

Next week’s strike is just one of many parts of a programme of rolling strike action across the country, with only members from certain local authorities striking on a given day. All members will go on strike on February 28 and March 1.

More rolling strikes are expected in March and through April, although teachers’ unions haven’t announced when they plan to call out Shetland staff specifically.

Shetland Islands Council has posted detailed information on each school on its website.