David Dodds: Last News

Sign up to the weekly West Lothian Courier newsletter for the latest West Lothian news and sport.All West Lothian Council school staff and pupils have access to face coverings with transparent strips if they need them.Education Executive heard an update on transparent face coverings, which have benefits when working with those with hearing impairments and communication challenges.Specialist teachers of the Hearing Impaired Service and some staff working with pupils with Additional Support Needs have been using the coverings for some time.Whilst individual schools have been buying their own coverings, a central supply has now been bought to ensure anyone who need this type of covering has access.Executive councillor for education David Dodds

Six councillors who have between them delivered 82 years of service to communities in West Lothian have been thanked for their service as they prepared to step down at this May’s election.

David Dodds, executive councillor for education, added: “As the Scottish Government has said, the exceptional arrangements to close schools from January were put in place as a precautionary measure in light of the latest developments at the time.“A range of previously published evidence has made clear that schools are not high-risk environments when the appropriate mitigations and safety measures outlined in the guidance are implemented, particularly within the younger year groups.“There is to date no evidence that in-school transmission is a significant driver of increasing infection levels.“However, I think this is a positive step and more testing, generally, is to be welcomed and that it will help to instil further confidence within the

Sign up to the weekly West Lothian Courier newsletter for the latest West Lothian news and sport.Online music tuition will be free to West Lothian school pupils until April.The Education Executive voted to suspend charging for instrumental music tuition for winter term on the 2020/21 school year, which runs from January 5 to April 1, 2021.Consideration will be given to charging for summer term, based on the evolving national situation, at the next Education Executive meeting in March.Charging for instrumental music tuition was previously been suspended for summer term during the 2019/20 school year, April to June 2020, during the previous lockdown.Executive councillor for education David Dodds said: “I’m delighted to confirm that there will

Executive councillor for education, David Dodds, added: “Schools are on hand to help support parents and pupils, as always.“I’m a parent, grandparent and a retired teacher myself and I know what a challenging time this is for everyone. Many are trying to balance home working whilst helping the children with home learning, and it is not easy.“I hope everyone remembers that you can only do your best and please contact your school if you need any help.”He added:  “West Lothian schools have provided thousands of digital devices to support learning at home for all families who have a requirement and asked for assistance.

Sign up to the weekly West Lothian Courier newsletter for the latest West Lothian news and sport.Work is gathering pace on a new primary school in West Lothian.The new state-of-the art school in Calderwood, East Calder will provide non-denominational primary education for up to 462 primary and 128 nursery pupils when complete in 2022.The steel framework is already in place after the start of construction was delayed until June 2020 due to the covid-19 outbreak.The new £14.3 million school is required to cope with increasing demand in the growing Calderwood Core Development Area, which is expected to see 2400 new homes completed in the area as well as associated infrastructure improvements.Executive councillor for education David Dodds said:

Sign up to the weekly West Lothian Courier newsletter for the latest West Lothian news and sport.Whitburn Academy has been congratulated on its success in topping a new national awards project.Councillor David Dodds raised a motion before a meeting of the full West Lothian Council paying tribute to the school on its winning of the Reading Schools Gold level award.Cross-party support agreed to ask the chief executive Graham Hope to write to the school’s head teacher,  Tracey Loudon, congratulating her on the school’s achievement.Councillor Dodds, the executive councillor for education, said the award reflected the drive and determination to embed a reading culture at the school.His motion added: “This follows hard of the heels of Whitburn

Work has started on a new £1.2 million nursery in Bathgate.

“We recognise the need to continue to make improvements at Riverside, and will use this report to help focus our efforts to further help our pupils to achieve their full potential.”Executive councillor for education David Dodds said: “We share the confidence of Education  Scotland inspectors that Riverside has the capacity to continue to improve.“I know the dedicated staff team at Riverside, supported by the Quality Improvement Team, will  build on the strengths of the school to ensure the areas identified for improvement are achieved at  pace.”