Apology to parents over late Dumfries and Galloway school closure notice

All of the region's secondaries and primaries have been shut for three days

The director of education on a Scottish council has apologised for the late notice to parents over the blanket closure of its schools.

Dumfries and Galloway Council initially said headteachers would be allowed to decide whether their schools would open during the three-day strike.

But less than 24 hours before the strike began, council chiefs announced all schools would close.

It prompted criticism from parents trying to make childcare arrangements.

Gillian Brydson has written to them to apologise and promised that lessons would be learned in future.

The union Unison has been taking strike action over pay across 24 council areas - including Dumfries and Galloway - for three days this week.

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The local authority issued a statement at about 12:30 on Monday confirming that it would shut all its schools - having previously said it did not expect a significant impact.

Several headteachers had earlier told parents and pupils that they intended to remain open.

In an email to parents, Ms Brydson said she wanted to apologise for the effect of the timing of that decision on parents and children.

"Please be assured we will learn lessons from this," she said.

"The next time our schools are faced with the prospect of strike action we will do things differently, particularly with regards to giving you certainty and the ability to make arrangements for your family at an earlier stage."

She also outlined the "full picture" of how the situation had developed.

'Significant impact'

Ms Brydson said that feedback from frontline staff and managers meant the number of people taking strike action was far more than they had initially envisaged and pupil safety could not be guaranteed.

She said they had tried everything they could to keep schools open.

"We know how difficult it has been over the last few years and did everything within our power to ensure your children's education was not disrupted further," she said.

"However, this proved not to be possible.

"We fully understand that the timing of this decision has had a significant impact on parents, carers, pupils, teachers and other staff in schools.

"As you return to normal routines tomorrow and we welcome our pupils back to school, we just wanted to write to you to say we're sorry and will learn from this."

Were you affected by the school closure decision in Dumfries and Galloway? If you are happy to share your story with us email [e-mail].