Newsletter – w/c 17.01.2022

Dear Friends and Families of Crossmichael and Gelston Primary Schools,

 

I am writing this letter whilst isolating at home as my daughter has tested positive for Covid-19.  If you wish to contact me directly then please call 07741 686730 or alternatively, contact the school and someone will get back to me.  I hope that you are well.

 

Covid-19 Update

In each school, we have some pupils isolating because they have tested positive for Covid-19.   If someone in your child’s class has tested positive then we will notify you by sending a letter containing advice.  (It is worth noting that symptoms in children reported to us by parents tend to include a fever, vomiting, fatigue and persistent headache.)

 

Please remember that if your child or anyone in their household experiences a fever, persistent cough or loss of sense of taste/ smell then you should isolate immediately and book a PCR test.

 

If you have no symptoms but your lateral flow result is positive then please report this on the Government website and isolate immediately.

 

Children (anyone under 18yrs 4months) and fully vaccinated adults (had 2 jabs and a booster) who test positive, may end isolation earlier than 10 days as long as they record a negative lateral flow test on day 6 and no sooner than 24hrs later on day 7.

 

Adults (over 18yrs and 4 months) who are not fully vaccinated and test positive must isolate for 10 days.

 

Household contacts of a positive case may return to school/ work if they continue to receive a negative test each day for seven days provided that they are under 18yrs 4months or are fully vaccinated. (If you are an adult who is not fully vaccinated then you must isolate for 10 days regardless of negative lateral flow results.)

 

Learning from Home 

It is likely that some pupils may need to isolate and will need to learn from home.

 

In my previous newsletter l mentioned that pupils could access a GLOW tile called ‘D&G Learning from Home’.  Unfortunately, this was incorrect and I apologise for any confusion caused.  (Teachers can use this resource and signpost parents to appropriate activities.)  Nevertheless, there are tiles available that have lovely activities on them such as ‘OUP Oxford Owl’.  Please explore the tiles on GLOW.

 

In addition, here are some useful websites:

P1 and P2 Phonics – A series of useful videos on different sounds, presented by Mr Thorn and Geraldine the Giraffe.

Geraldine the giraffe – YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7sW4j8p7k9D_qRRMUsGqyw

All ages – all curricular areas:

The Topmarks website offers many activities and interactive games.  www.topmarks.co.uk
 All ages – Numeracy and maths:
Many interesting problem solving tasks available for all ages.  You will enjoy this as much as your children!!
https://nrich.maths.org/
Phonics for P1 and P2
In P1/2, we spend time ensuring that children learn the letter sounds and that they can recognise them.  We teach sounds in a specific order to make it easier for children to learn to build words more quickly.  E.g. the first group of letters is s, a, t, i, p, n .  This enables learners to create words such as is, at, in, sit, pan, tap, etc.  Sometimes children are not ready to put sounds together to make words so instead we focus on playing ‘snap’ or ‘pairs’ with the sounds so that they recognise what a ‘p’ looks like, etc.  They also learn to write the sounds in sand/ jelly/ foam/ paint before using a pencil.  There are many activities available online to help children learn sounds (phonics).

In addition to this, some children have a ‘SumDog’ username and password to enable them to complete numeracy and maths activities at home.  Teachers also post spelling words on either the closed class Facebook pages or on Microsoft TEAMS.  These can be accessed each week.

 

If you need help then please contact us.

 

 

Primary 1 Enrolments

The school year starts in August and children enrol in the January before they start.

Children turning 5 before the end of February 2023 will enrol in January 2022 to start school in August 2022.  Children born between 1 September and the last day of February can choose to start primary school later . Children born between the first day of March and the last day of August can also apply for deferred entry.

In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are reducing parental contact with schools and asking that rather than attend schools to enrol, parents/carers submit applications via school bags/post/electronically, where possible, along with supporting proof of date of birth and home address to the catchment school.

If your child/ren currently attend the nursery of your catchment primary school, there will be no requirement for you to provide proof of address or date of birth.

In all instances, you should download, complete and submit the appropriate application form below to your catchment school by week ending 21 January 2022.

Here is the link to all enrolment information on the Dumfries and Galloway website: https://www.dumgal.gov.uk/article/15241/School-places#:~:text=Enrolling%20for%20Primary%201&text=Children%20turning%205%20before%20the,start%20school%20in%20August%202022.&text=Children%20born%20between%20the%20first,also%20apply%20for%20deferred%20entry.

 

Dates for Your Diary

Monday 7th – Wednesday 9th February – P6 and P7 pupils from both schools to Lockerbie Manor for a residential excursion with Miss Cruickshanks, Miss Reid and Mrs Stevens.

Monday 14th February – Wednesday 16th February:  School closed to pupils.  (Staff training days on 15th and 16th.)

Easter holiday – Monday 4 April to Monday 18 April 2022

 

Best wishes,

Mary Cruickshanks

Headteacher

 

Contact details:

Miss Mary Cruickshanks

gw08cruickshanksmary@ea.dumgal.sch.uk

07741 686730

 

 

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