Thomas Bridge 06 February 2015

Council cuts school week in savings bid

School weeks are to be shortened by a Scottish council in a bid to save funds and deal with budget cuts.

West Dunbartonshire Council has announced plans to reduce the local primary school week by two and a half hours from this August.

The move could see the school day started later at 9:30am or ended at 2:30pm. Alternatively, the council has put forward plans to keep current 9am to 3pm school hours from Monday to Thursday and finish the day at lunch time on Fridays.

Parents will be consulted on how best to introduce the change in March, before phased implementation begins in the Summer.

West Dunbartonshire Council has seen Scottish Government funding fall by almost a quarter over the past five years and is predicting even further cuts.

In a statement, the council said: 'In the current timetable the 2.5 hours in question are currently provided by teachers who are not the pupils usual class teacher, and may in some cases include periods of "golden time" or assemblies.

'The new timetable would be shorter but the teaching time with the class teacher remains protected and will deliver our pupils a high quality of education.'

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