Many schools in County Durham will close during strikes after the National Education Union received tens of thousands of new members, a union boss has suggested.

Teachers, including those in the region, will walk out on February 1 - with the joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), calling on school leaders to let parents know if they plan to shut their doors during strike action next week.

Ahead of the strike action, some schools have already announced that they will be partially closed on the day of the industrial action. 

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These are: 

Bearpark Primary School

The school will close on Wednesday, February 1 (All day) and re-open on Thursday, February 2 (Morning). Reason for closure: Industrial Action by all teachers. They remain open for critical workers and vulnerable children. (Partial Closure)

Cockton Hill Infant School 

The school will close on Wednesday, February 1 (All day) and re-open on Thursday, February 2 (Morning ). Reason for closure: Industrial action by teachers. They remain open for critical workers and vulnerable children.

Crook Primary and Nursery School

The school will close on Wednesday, February 1 (All day) and re-open on Thursday, February 2 (Morning). Reason for closure: Industrial action by teachers ( partial closure)

The closure comes after the NEU said it has received 22,000 new sign-ups in the past week after announcing it will launch seven days of walkouts throughout February and March in England and Wales.

Asked if there is likely to be more disruption due to the influx of new members, Ms Bousted told the PA news agency: “I think the action will be stronger because we’ve got a bigger membership. People join so they can take part in the action.”

Guidance from the Department for Education suggests agency staff and volunteers could be used to cover classes on strike days, with schools expected to remain open where possible.

The NEU is required by law to provide schools with the number of members in a workplace ahead of the planned strike action, but the union does not have to provide the names of individual members to employers.

Ahead of the walkouts next week, Ofsted has said it will schedule on-site school inspections and notifications of inspections to avoid strike days.

The watchdog said it will monitor the situation during this first wave of strikes in February and review “if necessary” for future dates.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “School leaders are currently in the process of working out what provision they will be able to provide during periods of industrial action.

“The decision around whether to keep a site open will be taken following a risk assessment considering the safety of staff and students, and taking into account the number of staff they expect to have available who are not involved in industrial action.

“We call upon the Government to avert strike action by committing to an improvement in pay and addressing the teacher recruitment and retention crisis. There is still time to resolve this dispute.”

A Department for Education (DfE) spokesperson said: “There are clear legal obligations on trade unions to inform employers of the outcomes of ballot results and notify them of intentions to strike.

“It is only right that the department seeks to ensure that these obligations have been met as part of continued correspondence with the NEU over industrial action.

“Our goal remains to keep as many children in schools as possible, therefore, ensuring schools are given as much notice as possible is vital.”