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Dear Family and Friends of Crossmichael and Gelston Primary Schools,

 

Here we are in the last week of term with our summer holidays beginning on Friday 3^rd July.  What a busy time it has been.  Thank you to everyone for your support this term.  It has been greatly appreciated.

 

We have prepared a pre-recorded Leavers’ Assembly and this will be available to watch from Thursday.  I will post a link on the blog for you.

 

Update on the Reopening of Schools

Tomorrow, the Director of Education will be issuing a letter to parents.  I will update the blog in the morning and send letters to families on Wednesday.

 

Staff Update

I would like to thank all members of staff for their hard work and commitment to providing online learning for pupils during the school closures.  You have been amazing!

 

This summer we say goodbye to several members of staff across the Partnership schools.  At Crossmichael, we are saying a fond farewell to Mrs Martin and wish her well in her new post as a Nursery Nurse at Kirkcudbright Primary School.  P5-7 teacher, Miss Seivwright has secured a teaching job in Aberdeen and we wish her luck in the future.  We also, say goodbye to Mrs PIckthall who has been working at Gelston Primary School as a Learning Assistant.

 

In August, we welcome Miss Nicole Drummond as the P1-3 teacher at Gelston whilst Miss Scott works from home prior to commencing her Maternity Leave.  We also welcome Mrs Ayesha Marscheider who was the successful candidate at interview today for the post of P1/2 teacher at Crossmichael.

 

P1 Transition

New P1 pupils will meet Miss Drummond and Mrs Marscheider on Thursday when they arrive for a tour of the school.  They have been allocated appointment times to ensure that social distancing arrangements can be followed.

 

Farewell to Primary 7

We are so proud of our Primary 7 pupils.  It has been an unusual year for them and a difficult end to their time in Primary School.  We have tried to find other ways to mark the occasion but there is nothing like meeting in person!  I would like to thank Mrs Stevens and Mrs Martin from Crossmichael, and Miss Reid and Mrs Maxwell from Gelston, for helping to deliver the end of term leavers’ gifts to P7 pupils at home.  It was lovely to see your smiles!

 

We will try to arrange a ‘get together’ in Term 1 if restrictions relax sufficiently to enable us to do so.  We wish all our children (and P7 parents) the very best of luck in the future.  It has been a pleasure to know you all.

 

Pupils Progress Reports

Your child’s end of year report will be emailed to you on Wednesday along with a covering letter.

 

Crossmichael Portacabin

We were due to have a portacabin erected to accommodate the increase in our school roll but this was delayed due to Covid-19.  It is looking unlikely that the portacabin will be in place in time for August but we are working closely with colleagues to have it on site as soon as possible.

 

End of Term Art Gallery

Mrs Bielinski has created an Art Gallery of pupils’ work.  I hope you enjoy watching the video clip.

 

CG Art Gallery End of Term.mp4

 

 

Holiday Dates

School holidays start on Friday 3^rd July and the schools reopen to pupils from Wednesday 12^th August.  (Inset days are on 10^th and 11^th August.)

 

Have a wonderful summer and take care of yourselves!

 

Best wishes,

Mary E Lidstone-Scott

Headteacher

Dear Family and Friends of Crossmichael and Gelston Primary Schools,

 

Update on the Return to School

I am sure you are aware that when schools return in August (staff on 10^th August and pupils on 12^th August), we will be operating with two days in school, two days at home and one flexible learning day.  We are still clarifying what the ‘flexible learning day’ will look like and I will be in touch with more information as soon as possible.  I do know that your child will not attend school on that day.

 

Thank you for returning your responses to the questionnaire I sent out last week about preferred days.  This information is helping us to plan for the return to school.  We are in the process of sorting out pupil groups and will share this information with you as soon as possible.

 

 

Keeping in Touch

Thank you for continuing to keep in touch via email and Facebook.  Please continue to check that your child has completed the weekly Health and Wellbeing questionnaire.  I am growing concerned about a few children who have not been in touch for over a week and despite leaving telephone messages, I have not yet heard from their parents.  Please remember to contact me just as if we were in the school building and your child was absent.  I have responsibility for safeguarding and ensuring that all pupils are safe and well.

 

 

Learning at Home

I cannot thank you enough for everything that you are doing to support your child’s learning at home.  Next week, teachers will not be providing learning grids as it is a transition week.  They will provide you with a generic list of suitable activities instead.

 

 

End of Year Pupil Progress Reports

Next week, you will receive and end of year summary report of your child’s progress.  I have also included a letter explaining the breakdown of curricular levels.

 

 

Cancellation of the P7 Virtual Leavers’ Meal

Sadly, we have had to cancel the P7 online meal.  We were trying to think of an alternative way of providing pupils with a leavers’ meal but in practice, an online version would not work.  I hope that we can meet up again at another time when restrictions have relaxed.

 

 

P7 Transition Days

Castle Douglas High School are providing online transition activities for P7s this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

 

 

P1 Transition Arrangements

I have invited P1 parents and children for a brief tour of the school on Thursday 2^nd July.  We will continue to communicate with new P1 parents via email.

 

 

Pre-Recorded End of Year Assembly

Next week, we plan to share a pre-recorded end of year assembly with you.  If there are any P7 parents who would prefer their child’s speech not to appear on the school blog, then please notify the school office as soon as possible so their speech is not included in the public forum.

 

 

Crossmichael Parent Council Meeting – Monday 29^th June

Crossmichael Parent Council are meeting at 7pm on Monday 29^th June via the ZOOM app.  If you wish to be invited then please email Mrs Gilli Hodson at crossmichaelparentcouncil@gmail.com before Friday 26^th June so she can send you a user ID and password.  (I am aware that some pupils are moving to Crossmichael from Gelston over the holidays.)

 

 

Supporting Families and Education Staff with Wellbeing

I have been asked to let you know that the Educational Psychology and Educational Visitor Telephone Consultation Service will be available throughout the summer holidays.  Please see links to this information:

supporting children poster

 

Also, there are useful free webinars aimed at parents.  Please see the link below:

 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/children-in-scotland-20206726841?utm_source=phplist5981&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HTML&utm_campaign=Free+ASN+webinars+-+Join+us+for+more+online+CPD

 

 

 

Once again, thank you for your support and please get in touch if you have any questions.  My telephone number is 07741 686730 and you can email the school offices.  The addresses are:

Gw08crossmicha@ea.dumgal.sch.uk

Gw08officegelston@ea.dumgal.sch.uk

 

 

Best wishes,

Mary E Lidstone-Scott

Headteacher

15 June 2020 – Letter to Parents & Carers – Reopening of Schools in D&G

Dear Family and Friends of Crossmichael and Gelston Primary Schools,

Updates for August

I have no further updates about the return to school.  I have several meetings this week and I will keep you informed once I have more information available.

 

Transition Arrangements for New Pupils

I will be contacting all parents/ carers of pupils who are new to the school so that they can come for a short visit including a tour of the school on Thursday 2^nd July.  Each family will be given a different 10 minute time slot and we will follow social distancing advice.  Please save the date.

 

 

End of Term Arrangements for P7s

We are preparing a pre-recorded ‘Leavers’ Assembly’ for the last week of term.  Our P7 pupils are busy recording their speeches.  I will be delivering the P7 gifts to your homes throughout next week.  We are arranging to have a virtual meal via ZOOM on Friday 26^th June at 6.30pm.  The school will pay for this if parents could collect the ‘take away’.  Miss Campbell is currently looking into menus and prices for both schools.  We will contact you separately to make arrangements.

 

Learning at Home

In the last week of term (w/c 30^th June) teachers will not be sending out learning grids but will provide you with links to suitable websites where your child can access materials if they wish.  Staff will be focusing on transition arrangements and organising the digital materials associated with this.

 

Staffing and Classes

We welcome Miss Nicole Drummond as the P1-3 teacher at Gelston for next year.  Miss Scott will be working from home until her Maternity Leave begins.

 

At Crossmichael, I am interviewing class teachers on Monday 26^th June for the P1/2 vacancy.  I also hope to have someone in post to cover Miss Campbell’s Maternity Leave. 

 

Parent Council Meeting

We had a Parent Council meeting on Tuesday 9th June.   The link to the minutes can be found here:

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/dg/gelstonpc/2020/06/15/minutes-of-meeting-tuesday-9th-june-2020/

The link to parental support from Connect Scotland and D&G can be found here:

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/dg/gelstonpc/2020/06/15/parental-support-from-connect-scotland-and-dg-15th-july-2020/

 

Please get in touch if you wish to discuss anything further.

 

Best wishes,

Mary E Lidstone-Scott

Headteacher

Dear Family and Friends of Crossmichael and Gelston Primary Schools,

 

I hope that you are well. Over the last week we have made some progress in thinking about what the return to school may look like for our pupils but there are still several issues requiring clarity.  I will continue to keep you updated.

 

 

 

Staffing in August

We are still working through a number of vacancies across the partnership schools.

 

At Gelston, we are delighted to announce that Miss Scott is expecting a baby in October.  We wish her and her family well.  Due to the current circumstances it is unlikely that she will physically return to the building, but she will continue to prepare work from home until her Maternity Leave commences.  I am delighted to announce that we are welcoming Miss Nicole Drummond to the partnership as a full time, permanent member of staff.  She will teach P1-3 in Gelston next year.

 

I am also pleased to announce that Mrs Stevens will be increasing her contract to five days a week on a full time, permanent basis.  She will be based in Crossmichael next session.

 

We are advertising a full time, temporary vacancy for the 4^th teacher Crossmichael and I hope to conduct interviews before the end of June.

 

Congratulations to Miss Campbell (Clerical Assistant at Crossmichael) who is expecting a baby in September.  Lovely news!  This temporary Maternity cover post of 16.5 hours is now advertised.

 

 

 

Classes in August

In August 2020, our classes are going to be:

 

Crossmichael  (Roll = 83 pupils)

P1/2 = Vacancy (currently advertised)

P2-4 = Mrs Burton (4 days) and Vacancy (1 day)

P4/5 = Mrs Glover

P6/7 = Mrs Stevens

 

Gelston  (Roll = 37 pupil)

P1-3 = Miss Drummond / Miss Scott (from home until Maternity Leave commences)

P4-7 = Miss Reid and Mrs Maxwell

 

(I will be contacting parents/carers who have children in P2 and P4 at Crossmichael to discuss classes.)  It is worth noting that it may be some time before children attend their normal registration classes and I will explain this further when I provide an update on the re-opening of schools.

 

 

 

An Update on the Re-Opening of Schools

I completed a walk around of the school buildings on Friday along with three people – H&S, Property Services and Clerk of Works.  They were looking at the layout of the building and have put up signage and cordoned off areas to ensure we are following social distancing guidelines.

 

It is now possible for staff to return where necessary to carry out risk assessments in their own rooms and in communal areas.  One of our priorities is in looking at the capacity of our classrooms.

 

It will not be possible or prudent to enable all pupils to return to school each day.  We are looking at a mixture of learning in school and learning at home.  Unfortunately, I am unable to state what this will look like and await confirmation from the Local Authority.

 

We need to maximise the number of pupils who can attend school each day whilst maintaining social distancing.  We are also aware that it makes sense for siblings to attend on the same days.

 

We envisage that each classroom will contain a group of approximately 10+ pupils.  Each group will contain a mixture of pupils from different classes and siblings will be together.  Your child may not be taught by their class teacher until things return to normal.

 

In terms of learning, we are aware that our children will need time to adjust to being back in school again and that there is now a new ‘normal’ for them to get used to.  They will need time to reconnect and socialise in new groupings.  Once they are feeling more comfortable, we will begin learning through a topic-based approach.  This will enable all learners to be appropriately challenged based on their own needs and will make the planning of learning and teaching more manageable.  Once things become a bit more settled then we can begin targeting individual pupils to reduce the attainment gap in Literacy and Numeracy.

 

Our teachers will not have the capacity to teach in schools and prepare materials for home at the same time, so we are trying to find a solution together.  It is likely that your children could complete some follow-up activities based on their ‘topic’ at home.  Also, Education Scotland have produced resources to support learning from home.

 

It is understandable that we have many questions but until I receive clarity from the Local Authority it would not be helpful to speculate.

 

 

 

Parent Council Meeting

Crossmichael Parent Council are meeting at 7pm tonight (Monday 8^th June)  via the ZOOM app.  Please email crossmichaelparentcouncil@gmail.com to request a user ID and password.  You can also forward any questions that you have about the reopening of schools prior to the meeting.  The agenda will be:

1. Apologies
2. Attendees
3. Approval of minutes of previous meeting
4. Matters arising
5. Chairperson’s Report
6. Headteacher’s Report
7. Treasurer’s Report
8. Arrangements for P7 Leavers and Leavers’ Assembly
9. Members of staff who are leaving
10. Crossmichael Community Rainbow Snake
11. Update on portacabin
12. Update on return to school
13. AOB
14. Date of next meeting

 

 

Gelston Parent Council are meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 9^th June) via the ZOOM app.  Please contact Mrs Abby Tuchewicz by emailing gelstonprimaryschoolparentcouncil@outlook.com to request a user ID and password.  Please send us any questions that you have about the reopening of schools prior to the meeting.  The agenda will be:

1. Attendees
2. Approval of minutes from previous meeting
3. Chairperson’s Report (including thanking P7 parents)
4. Headteacher’s Report
5. Treasurer’s Report
6. An Update on the Return to School
7. P1 and P7 Transition Arrangements
8. AOCB

 

Support for Parents

You will find further information for parents. including links to surveys, here:

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/dg/crossmichaelpc/2020/06/08/information-for-parents-and-links-to-surveys-08-06-2020/

 

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/dg/gelstonpc/2020/06/08/information-for-parents-and-links-to-surveys-08-06-2020/

 

 

 

End of Year Pupil Progress Reports

At the end of June, we will be sending you an electronic copy of your child’s school report.

 

 

 

Transition

We hope that our new Primary 1 pupils will have the opportunity to visit their school prior to the summer holidays for a tour of the building.  Where possible, pupils will meet their teacher.

 

We will be recording a P7 Leavers Assembly and will upload it to the Blog in the last week of term.  Our P7s are preparing short video clips of their leavers’ speeches to be included in the assembly.  I also have gifts to present to pupils on their doorsteps.  This is not the way that we had hoped to mark the end of their time at Primary School but we are so proud of our children and want to mark the occasion.

 

Online transition has begun with Castle Douglas High School and P7 children are now able to talk to their new classmates via Microsoft Teams.

 

Please contact me if you wish to discuss anything further.

 

Best wishes,
Mary E Lidstone-Scott
Headteacher

Dear Family and Friends of Crossmichael and Gelston Primary Schools,

 

I hope this newsletter finds you well and that you were able to enjoy meeting up family and friends in the sunshine at the weekend.  Whilst the lockdown restrictions begin to gradually lift, we must still remember that things will not go back to normal for some time.

 

Update on the Reopening of Schools

Last Thursday, you may be aware that the Scottish Government published guidance on reopening schools.  This document aims to clarify how schools can be reopened safely, and in a phased way, whilst still maintaining some consistency across Scotland.  There are many questions that we need to work through to ensure that pupils can return as soon as it is safe to do so.

I have included the document here for your information:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-re-opening-schools-guide/pages/overview/

 

On Friday, I am meeting with Health and Safety representatives, the property team and trade union representatives to carry out extensive risk assessments at both Crossmichael and Gelston Primary Schools.  Once this has been completed, I will be able to open the school to staff, following social distancing rules and risk assessment requirements.  This means that schools will be open for staff from 8^th June on a carefully planned and managed basis.  National advice remains that it is safer to work from home where possible.

 

The Local Authority is preparing a Local Phasing Delivery Plan which will outline local plans regarding the reopening of schools.  The first step for this is to prepare for the reopening of school buildings throughout June.

 

I understand that we all have many questions about the expectations throughout June and the reopening of schools in August.  The Local Authority will work together with our school community to ensure a smooth transition for all pupils.

 

I would recommend that you send any questions to our Parent Council via email.  The email addresses for each are:

crossmichaelparentcouncil@gmail.com

gelstonprimaryschoolparentcouncil@outlook.com

Crossmichael Parent Council are meeting on Monday 8^th June at 7pm using the ZOOM app.

Gelston Parent Council are meeting on Tuesday 9^th June at 7pm via the ZOOM app.

 

P7- S1 Transition Arrangements

We will be publishing a pre-recorded assembly for our P7 leavers.  This will include a short speech from each P7 pupil and input from staff.  I will present each child with their gift on their doorstep whilst maintaining a safe distance.   I have included information about the transition to Castle Douglas High School on our partnership schools blog.

 

N- P1 Transition Arrangements

Ideally, I would like our new P1s to have the opportunity to visit the school before the summer holidays.  I will be in contact with parents as soon as I know if this is possible.  I will be sending out P1 packs to parents and will encourage them to read information on our school website.  We have not yet set up a ‘buddy’ system as we are unsure of how this would work remotely.

 

Staffing and Classes

I am still awaiting confirmation of our staffing in August.  We have several vacancies across the partnership schools.

When pupils return, it will be on a phased basis and they are likely to have some time in school and some time learning from home.  This is referred to as ‘blended learning’.

Pupils will not necessarily be attending classes along with peers from their own class.  We will need to consider accommodating siblings on the same days to make this manageable for our families.  This will also make it easier for us to maximise the amount of children that we can safely have in the building in order to receive teaching input.

 

I thank you for your patience and understanding as we try to find the safest and most effective way of reopening our schools.  Please contact your Parent Council with any questions in advance of the meetings happening next week.  The Local Authority will be consulting with us as they develop their Local Phasing Delivery Plan.

 

Best wishes,

Mary E Lidstone-Scott

Headteacher

Dear Family and Friends of Gelston Primary School,

 

Keeping in Touch

I hope this newsletter finds you well.  Thank you for encouraging your children to complete the ‘Pupil Health and Wellbeing Survey’ by Friday of each week.   This is very useful for us because we can quickly see how children are getting on and we can identify pupils and families who need our help.

Last week, 73 / 120 pupils completed the survey and we contacted several families to ensure that you are being supported.  I hope that you are finding this useful.

All parents/ guardians have been emailed the link for this week and older pupils will receive it via their own email addresses.  Please encourage your child(ren) to complete the survey.

 

A National Update on the Re-opening of Schools

The First Minister has announced, that the Scottish Government is currently planning for the reopening of Scottish schools on 11th August 2020.

The route map document can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-framework-decision-making-scotlands-route-map-through-out-crisis/ 

This document provides information about the re-opening of schools and Early Learning and Childcare: https://www.gov.scot/publications/excellent-equity-during-covid-19-pandemic-strategic-framework-reopening-schools-early-learning-childcare-provision-scotland/

We understand that this will be an anxious and uncertain time for many people, including parents and carers. For that reason the Scottish Government have produced a Q&A document to support parents and carers at this time.  This document covers some of the key questions that parents will have with regard to the safe reopening of schools and ELC settings.  This information has been published on the Scottish Government’s Parent Club website and can be accessed here:  www.parentclub.scot/easing-restrictions-in-scotland

 

I will keep you informed of any further updates.  Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

 

Best wishes,
Mary E Lidstone-Scott

Headteacher

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

Headteachers across Dumfries and Galloway met online this morning with the Director to progress plans for children and young people to return to school after the summer holiday. The First Minister announced yesterday that it is expected that pupils will return to school on 11 August with measures in place to keep children and staff a safe distance from each other and make sure everything is kept clean and hygienic, so that children can return safely. The national information from Parent Club is available https://www.parentclub.scot/articles/reopening-schools.  Locally, there will soon be a Dumfries and Galloway webinar about our Local Authority plans for schools and nurseries– we will share this with parents when we have the details.

However, while the schools are reopening, they won’t be going back to the way they were before. The reason for this is to make sure that children and staff are in as safe an environment as possible.  This is likely to mean that not all children can be in school building at the same time – we will balance this with learning outside and at home.  This might mean that pupils will take it in turns to go into school for a few days or a week, and then learn at home for the rest of the time. Pupils will start to spend more time in school as soon as it’s safe to do so.  At the moment we are planning what this blend of school and home learning will look like, taking account of the needs of pupils and families, as well as practical arrangements like cleaning and transport.

We will be preparing a list of Frequently Asked Questions which we will put on our school website and I will share more detail as soon as I have more information available.  Until then, we will still be learning with you at home – keep in touch with me and your child’s teacher to make sure you and your child have the help they need.

Keep safe and well.

Best wishes,

Mary E Lidstone-Scott

Headteacher

Keeping in Touch

Learning at Home

As the school closures continue I understand that parents/ guardians are anxious that their children are going to ‘fall behind’ academically.  Please let me reassure you that we will be able to support your child in closing the gap in their attainment when they return to school.  I know that this will not be a ‘quick fix’ but we will do this and your child will continue to make good progress.  The increase in our attainment levels over the last 12 months shows that we can do this!  In the meantime, we are in contact with families and we are trying our best to put small, manageable programmes of work in place for those individuals with additional support needs.

I meet regularly with staff and we discuss how best to support your child at home without overwhelming you.  Feedback from families is varied with some families asking for more online activities and others struggling to get their child to engage with any of them.  We need to get the balance correct.  I would like to reassure you that the advice from Scottish Government is that we are not ‘home schooling’ our children.  We are trying to encourage our children to ‘engage in learning’ – whatever that may look like.  It will be useful for your child to access some of the materials prepared by the school because each is set at your child’s curricular level and it is there for you.  Please keep in touch with your child’s teacher by email and they will advise you and support you.

Some families are finding it difficult to navigate through pupil activities and many are printing off all activities because of this.  This is costly and unnecessary.  I have had a discussion with teachers and we are trying to minimise the activities that require ‘printing’.  (Often the PowerPoints are to be accessed on screen and it is not necessary to print them.  Most of the activities can be done using a pencil and paper too.)  Please get in touch with your child’s teacher via email if you are having difficulty in accessing materials online.

Some parents/ guardians have told us that they are spending a significant amount of money on ink cartridges and other materials for their child to learn at home.  I have offered to provide packs with jotters, paper and pencils in them that can be collected from the school.  I believe that it is the cost of ink that is causing the largest expense.  Therefore, I will be raising this at the next Primary Headteachers Strategy Group meeting to see if it is possible to find a way to support you with these costs.  In the meantime, please limit the amount that you print off and do not print in colour.

CONNECT (Scottish Parent Teacher Council) Information Sessions

Connect is hosting two online sessions with Enquire, Scotland’s advice service for additional support for learning, on Thursday 21 May. Parents are invited to share their experiences and ask questions. Places are free, booking is essential. You can choose from 2 sessions, 2-3pm and 8-9pm.  Please see below.

Connect is also hosting a FREE online information session for parents on Tuesday 26th May.  It is titled, “Q&A with Skills Development Scotland Next steps: young people’s options for education, work and training.”  Please see the link below.

Please continue to stay at home and stay safe.  I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Best wishes,

Mary E Lidstone-Scott

Headteacher