Dear Family and Friends of Gelston Primary School,
I hope this newsletter finds you well.
On Friday we emailed you with ‘Covid-19 Schools Information for Parents and Guardians’ . This should help to answer any questions you may have about how we manage Covid-19 in school. A copy can be found here:
School Holidays
Please remember that schools close for two weeks for the October holidays from Monday 12th October – Friday 23rd October. I wish you all a restful break.
Covid-19 Related Health and Safety
We have 38 pupils in Gelston Primary School. We have tried to minimise contact between children and adults from different classes within the school building.
We have several measures in place to minimise the movement of pupils inside the school buildings. E.g. Each class stays within their classroom in the building. Pupils enter and exit from separate doors. They share toilet facilities but they wash hands before and after leaving the classroom. We have staggered break times and lunches too.
Within each class, pupils do mix with each other in different groupings. They do not remain seated at their desks all day. We ensure regular hand washing before and after completing group tasks or before entering/ exiting the room.
We have a strict cleaning schedule in place where the school is thoroughly cleaned at the end of each day and touch points are cleaned twice throughout the course of the day.
There have been implications for staff too with us trying to minimise movement between classrooms during one day and also between schools.
Attainment and Achievement
We have spent a considerable amount of time gathering assessment evidence to find out exactly where learners are and to identify their next steps in learning. The school closures have had an impact on learning but we are able to move forward now that we have the evidence required. Mrs Hermon, our Additional Support for Learning Teacher, has been helping to advise us on programmes of work for individuals.
In addition to this we have been supporting pupils with their health and wellbeing needs. We now have strategies and support in place to help those pupils who have really struggled with the transition back into school.
On the whole, we are delighted with how well our pupils have settled back in to school this term.
Additional Support for Learning
In Gelston we have two full time Learning Assistants – Mrs McNeill and Mr MacDougall. Mr MacDougall will return to Gelston after the October holidays. Across the partnership schools, we also have a full time Learning Assistant, funded by Pupil Equity Funding, whose remit is to raise attainment through targeted interventions in Literacy and Numeracy – Mrs Clifton.
This year Crossmichael received £19,800 in Pupil Equity Funding to close the poverty related attainment gap. At Gelston, we received £4,800. This term, Mrs Clifton has been working at Crossmichael. She will join us in Gelston half way through next term.
I meet with staff every term and we review and revise timetables to ensure that pupils are targeted appropriately and effectively.
Playground Developments
Pupils are keen to develop our playground. They shared their ideas and showed me maps, drawings and letters outlining their ideas for the playground. They hope to reuse and recycle items as much as possible and are going to approach local businesses for donations. The P4-7 pupils helped to write letters last week.
We would like some parents/ carers to help us by applying for more grants to help fund some of the bigger items mentioned.
Pupil Groups
We have elected House and Vice-Captains. We hope to reinstate our Pupil Council, Health Group, Eco-Schools Group and Blogging Group after the holidays.
Reporting to Parents
Teachers will be sending an email to all parents/ carers before the October holidays with a brief update of how your child is getting on since returning to school in August. Please contact your child’s teacher via email if you wish to find out more information.
Best wishes,
Mary E Lidstone-Scott
Headteacher
