Dear Parent/ Carer

Following the recent letter from the Head of Education in regard to pupil return in August, and her subsequent communication in regards to the return of all schools in the authority, we are pleased to share our proposed model with you in this communication. We ask at this stage that all parents and carers please understand that the model is still subject to national ratification next week but has been approved by East Ayrshire Education Service in this interim stage.

Firstly, can we thank you for your dedicated work with our young people during this period of lockdown, and say that we are delighted to be sharing our plans for welcoming them back to school on a part-time basis as per national guidance. In reaching our model, we too have considered the safety and wellbeing of our young people, staff and their families as we are so aware that this will be your prime concern.

In regard specifically to our school, please find the model undernoted:-

The school will operate with pupils attending in two cohorts – one of Monday and Tuesday, and the other on Wednesday and Thursday.

Monday	Cohort A
Tuesday	Cohort A
Wednesday	Cohort B
Thursday	Cohort B
Friday	Teacher provides scheduled time for pupil/teacher feedback through MS teams

 

In addition to attendance patterns, we also know that parents and carers will have many questions, and we hope that some of these may be answered in due course.

Details regarding which cohort and which days your child will attend school will be provided next week through a text message. Please ensure your mobile phone numbers are up to date. If not, please contact the school as early as possible to update. Children form the same family will attend school and ECC on the same day. Some individual pupils will be invited in from time to time on a Friday to provide further contact and support. You will be contacted individually if this involves your child in August.

We shall also be operating a staggered drop off and pick up time for classes, as well as ensuring that markings, signage and zones are clear in the playground for pupils and parents.

We are also very aware that the proposed part-time pattern will not meet the needs of everyone, and we ask you to bear with us as we answer queries specific to individual family circumstances. A position has not yet been reached by the Scottish Government in regards to the provision of childcare for keyworkers for August, we therefore ask for your understanding that we cannot answer any questions on this matter until the position is declared nationally. Can we ask for your co-operation in bearing with us next week as we work our way through a likely increase in parental communications, and please also bear in mind that we may be welcoming young people back to school for induction at this time.

Information on emergency childcare over Summer holidays has already been sent to all parents and carers who have been accessing this from March, as this childcare will change over the Summer break, and parents will require to re-register for the new service.