A reminder if you still have EV5 (parental consent) and Flu Vaccination forms at home,  could they please be completed and returned as soon as possible.

Thank you

From Monday 24th August there will be a designated area in the school playground for children to be collected at the end of the school day.

Primary 1 -3 parents/carers can continue to access the lower school playground at the end of the day to collect children.

Primary 4-7 parents/carers are required to wait in the Primary 6 and 7 playground to meet children.

The school gates will continue to be closed until 2.55pm.  We request that no one enters the school grounds until this time.

A reminder that pupils CAN bring their own stationery to school, however, these CANNOT be shared with others.

With the recent turn in weather,  could we please request that children come to school with adequate clothing for outdoor learning and P.E. – such as a waterproof jacket.

We do have a stock of waterproof clothing children can access if this is required. Please give us a call or email if you would like to access these waterproofs.

Please find information on the link below regarding the East Ayrshire School Lunch Pre Order System:

https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/Schools-Catering/School-meals-pre-order-portal.aspx

From Monday 17th August we ask that parents and carers no longer enter the school playground to drop children at school.  Children will walk on their own from the lower school entrance gate and upper school entrance gate.  A member of the management team will be at these gates to welcome the children to school.

Primary 1 parents and carers may continue to enter the lower school playground until children are collected by their teachers.  We ask that from Monday 24th August Primary 1 parents and carers no longer enter the school playground to drop children at school.

The reason for these changes is that we want to keep children and families safe and support social distancing.

Please make sure that your child’s name is on the labels of jackets, jumpers, cardigans etc.

Please remember to adhere to social distancing when dropping  and collecting children at school.

Today we were delighted to welcome back to school all our pupils from Group B including some more of our new Primary 1’s.

It was so good to see everyone in the school and the playground! We hope you all had fun.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to welcoming  back our P6 and P7 “Buddies”; Our Primary 1’s are very excited to meet them !

It was great to see all the lovely , smiling Group A children back in school today  along with our brand new Primary 1 pupils.

We enjoyed seeing them playing with their friends and having fun in the playground at break and lunch ! Everyone is excited about our Group B children coming tomorrow. We can’t wait to see you all again!

THURSDAY

• Option 1 – Chicken Goujons with rice
• Option 2 – Salmon fish fingers with baby potatoes
• Option 3 – Pick and mix with gammon sandwich
• Fruit/yoghurt/vegetable sticks

FRIDAY (P1 and P6 and 7 buddies)

• Option 1 – Chilli Con Carne with rice
• Option 2 – homemade cheese and tomato pizza
• Option 3 – Pick and mix with tuna sandwich
• Fruit/yoghurt/vegetable sticks/ice cream

At the moment we are working on a two week rota system for school lunches :

Please read the document below regarding updates to school transport.

Transport Update

Please read the attached letter from Mrs McConville detailing the arrangements for pupils returning to Mount Carmel Primary School.

Mount Carmel Return of Pupils Aug 5th

East Ayrshire Council has provided wellbeing guidance for parents and careers to help support our children as they return to school.

Please open the document below

Supporting-wellbeing-for-children-guidance

Letter to all parents/carers from Head of Education

Tuesday 4th August 2020 10:29

Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope that this letter will find you and your family well and enjoying a well-earned summer break, albeit in rather different circumstances.

Following the recent announcement from the First Minister on the return of schools, I am delighted to be able to furnish you with further detail on our plans to reinstate education for young people in East Ayrshire. I speak for all staff when I say how much we have missed having our young people in our schools. I am very aware that this will be an anxious time for families and young people and hope that this communication will help you as your young people return to school. Our key focus as we return in the immediate sense is to support the wellbeing of everybody involved.  At this stage, I wish to express a note of sincere thanks to your Parent Council Chairs who have been an active part of our Local Phasing Plan workstreams and have attended several meetings over the summer break in this regard.

Date of Return of Pupils
As per previous communications, the Health and Safety of all has been our overriding priority. I am also acutely conscious that some of our young people require enhanced transition and many learners will not have visited their new schools until now.

With this in mind, almost all schools in East Ayrshire will undertake a “soft start” approach from Wednesday 12^th – Friday 14^th August to allow young people to experience what will be a new environment for all of us.  Individual schools will let you know their specific arrangements, including who should attend each day.

We have asked our schools to prioritise children in P1 and S1 in the first week, and know that the “very first day at school” for P1 is one to be cherished and celebrated. Please know that schools are making individual arrangements to allow parents to arrive with their children and capture this moment in some way.  Schools will communicate these arrangements individually.

Given this planned partial attendance of pupils, we would ask that any families for whom this causes difficulty, to please approach the school for assistance, bearing in mind that emergency critical childcare ceases on Thursday 6^th August for Early Childhood Centres and Friday 7^th August for school-aged children. All pupils in East Ayrshire should be therefore be attending full-time by Monday 17^thAugust, other than young people with ongoing health issues, quarantining or self-isolating. We would encourage parents and carers to contact their school if there are any issues or concerns around attendance that schools may be able to help with.

Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)
Each ECC will work towards the delivery of 600 hours of early learning and childcare taking account of the refreshed ELC guidance and public health measures published on 30 July 2020.

ECCs that delivered 1140 hours prior to lockdown will begin to reintroduce the delivery of 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare on a phased basis. The increased hours will also be introduced in the new build Nether Robertland Early Childhood Centre and the new build Netherthird Early Childhood Centre on the same basis.

Further information for each individual ECC will be published on the Council website during week beginning 17 August, which will set out the timeframe for the delivery of hours in each location. I would ask for your patience while our staff work through these detailed arrangements.

Wellbeing and Learning
Your child’s wellbeing will always be our prime concern and staff are ready to welcome your child back to school in a welcoming way that links to our ongoing work on relationships across all of our schools.  You can access our pupil wellbeing framework here:
https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/Resources/PDF/S/Supporting-wellbeing-for-children-guidance.pdf

In addition, we have been actively seeking views of parents and carers in regards to wellbeing and would welcome any further responses to our wellbeing survey which closes on Friday 7^th August: https://eastayrshi.re/wellbeingquestionnaire​

Our teams are ready to recommence learning at all levels, but a few activities such as choirs and assemblies are unable to run at this stage, as per guidance.  Children will also encounter some adaptations to PE and practical lessons to keep everyone safe.  Music tuition will also be delivered in a different way and parents /carers will be contacted where appropriate.

Transport and Arrival of Pupils
School transport will run as normal and pupils should access their assigned transport as normal.  Where pupils are dropped off at school by car, we respectfully ask that this is not directly at school gates to prevent entry areas becoming overcrowded.  Clearly this will not be the case for young people with additional support needs who require to be dropped off in school proximity.  Your child does not require a face covering for school transport, but is absolutely welcome to wear a covering should they prefer to do so.  Sanitation of hands will be expected on bus entry (for public and school transport) and staff working as escorts in taxis will be wearing a face mask.  Your school will also provide further information on pick-up and drop-off areas at the start and end of the day.

In accordance with government guidelines, parents will not be able to enter the school, and arrangements will be made with you directly should an emergency occur and you require to come to collect your child.

Ongoing Measures to Protect your Child/Children and Your Family
We have worked alongside your Parent Councils, Headteachers, the Council’s Health & Safety Team and Facilities & Property Management services over the summer period to ensure a safe return to school.

All schools have a set checklist and risk assessments completed in accordance with our Local Phasing Plan. There are a great deal of practical measures that we seek your support for as our young people return, in addition to the actions that we have undertaken/will undertake as pupils return.

All young people will be asked to wash or sanitise their hands on arrival at school and this will be encouraged throughout the day.  We would ask all young people to bring clean tissues to school where possible, and they may bring their own personal sanitiser if parents wish. School clothes should be washed as per normal routine and we ask that pupils limit personal items brought to school to those that are essential.

Clearly our cleaning routines are aligned with guidance, and indeed exceed this, communal areas will be cleaned regularly and access controlled to limit numbers in any toilet or limited space.  High traffic and “touch-point” areas will be cleaned regularly through the day.  Further information can be found here:
https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/CouncilAndGovernment/Coronavirus/Schools-ecc.aspx​

With regard to physical distancing, the guidance is clear that there is no requirement for this in primary or secondary settings; however we wish to encourage this in all settings, particularly with our older secondary pupils.  We have issued guidance to all of our staff to reduce any unnecessary movement of pupils around schools and will encourage pupils to remain in groupings wherever possible.  A list of supporting actions has been issued to Headteachers to keep your young people and our staff as safe as possible, and signage and communications with our young people will reflect this.  Assemblies and other large gatherings such as school shows and Parents Evenings are unable to be held in the first term, subject to continued review and scientific advice.

Staff physical distancing from pupils is endorsed by the guidance at the standard 2 metres, and whilst we recognise that this will not be possible in all sectors, please understand that some of our staff will need to wear PPE where this is not possible.  We are already taking the most supportive measures that we can in recognising that this will be difficult for some of our pupils.

Catering
Detailed discussions have been ongoing with our Facilities teams and I am delighted to advise that a pre-order system will be in place for young people in our schools, this will take a differing format from primary to secondary.  Further details of school catering can be found at this link. https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/schoolmeals.

Schools are arranging a variety of ways to distribute food following detailed discussions between Headteachers and School Catering Managers and all issues around allergies will be taken account of as always.  We ask that our pre-order system is supported wherever possible to expedite the distribution of food to our young people and keep everyone as safe as possible.

It is likely that most food will be consumed in classrooms initially to prevent mass gatherings of pupils in dining areas.  Food will be pre-packed and will feature hot and cold options and pre-packed cutlery. No breakfast or break food will be available at the very start of term, but this will be under constant review and provision will be expanded in time as we begin to settle back to routine. We therefore ask that parents ensure that young people have access to breakfast and bring a snack, if needed, until further notice.  We are happy to assist any parents or carers who may have difficulty with this, please alert your school if this is the case.

Pupils can continue to bring a packed lunch and we ask parents to work with us in actively encouraging young people to remain on the school site for lunch, as we are unable to supervise any provision made outside of school.

COVID-19 Surveillance
A national COVID-19 surveillance system is being initiated for staff and senior pupils involving testing on a voluntary basis, and we have been working with our local Public Health Teams to plan for any scenarios that may arise in our schools or ECCs.  We ask that parents and carers support us in the following ways in this regard:

• Please do not send your child to school or ECC if they, or any of your household, have symptoms or a diagnosis of COVID-19.  Please alert school immediately if this situation arises.
• Please arrange to pick your child up from school immediately if you are contacted to advise that they are symptomatic, and follow subsequent medical advice.  Schools have to ensure that any child who is symptomatic is taken home, according to the guidance.

Contingency Planning
Please know that schools have contingency plans ready, should there be any change to this plan for return, either through any change to physical distancing or indeed local or national lockdown being required.  Clearly, we do not wish to use these unless necessary, but we hope that parents and carers will be reassured to know that these are readily available.

SQA
There is, as yet, no full announcement on the SQA exam diet for 2021, we continue to canvass on your behalf for clarity for our learners and staff, particularly given that these courses have indeed commenced. A separate communication has been issued to young people receiving results today.

Some Practicalities…
In summary, we absolutely appreciate that this will be a return to school involving a huge mixture of both anxiety, but also indeed joy as young people see their friends and staff again. As a final helpful list to parents, can you please support us by:

• Reinforcing hygiene measures and social distancing with your child(ren).
• Having your child bring tissues to school to capture any coughs or sneezes.
• Ensuring your child does not bring unnecessary items to school.
• Working with your school in a positive way, even if things are difficult, we all want to help.
• Reinforcing positive relationships between children and our staff.
• Using our meal pre-order system and giving your child a break-time snack and breakfast, please let us know if we can help with this
• Not dropping children off directly at school gates (where possible), this will help us prioritise this space for young people with additional support needs who require this access.
• Understanding that we are not permitted to allow visitors to school buildings, other than in emergency or other exceptional circumstances.
• Following individual uniform advice issued by your school, as we appreciate some families will not yet have been able to access this.

Next Steps
Your school will send you a specific communication about their individual return plans within the next 24 hours.  Can I please ask that you bear in mind that school staff will return on Tuesday 11^th August in regard to any further queries you have specifically.

Can I end by thanking you all so much again for your support of your child’s learning.  My teams and I simply cannot wait to welcome them all back to school.

Kindest regards,

LINDA McAULAY-GRIFFITHS
Head of Education

Sent To You By East Ayrshire Council

On Monday 3rd August and Friday 7th August we are organising a school grounds tidy from 10am to 2pm. Come along for a short time or for the full time.

Please bring your own gardening gloves and tools to use.

Children are welcome to come along but must be supervised by a responsible adult.  Please follow government rules regarding social distancing.

We want our school to look great to welcome our children back to Mount Carmel.

Together we are #TeamMC

Hello boys and girls!

Thank you so much for taking part in our transition activities over the past few months. We have loved getting to know you more and tell you and your families all about our wonderful school!

We hope you enjoyed coming to collect your extra special MC welcome bags on Wednesday. If you didn’t manage to come along don’t worry, Marty will look after your bags for you over the holidays and you can get them on your first day at school.

Have a fantastic summer with your families. Hopefully we get some more hot days like yesterday! We can’t wait to see you all in August, so until then here are some final messages just for you…

Lots of love Mrs Duff, Mrs Dunsmore and Mrs McGahon xxx

#TogetherWeAreTeamMC

Hello boys and girls and welcome to our final assembly of the year.

Let us begin today by taking some time to pause and speak to God. Fr Martin had filmed a final prayer and his thoughts for the year,

Thank you Fr Martin – you have such a special way with other children, we know how much joy you bring by taking the time to share your thoughts and prayers with us.

Thank you to Mrs Crawford and all of our staff for our Throwback Thursday. Follow this link for the most up-to-date items.

Now today we have some special words from out Head Teacher Mrs McConville.

Dear Boys and Girls,

At our last learning assembly I want to look back at some of the wonderful things that have happened in Mount Carmel this session.

When I came to our school in October the inspectors had just visited again. They said that everyone had worked really hard to make the school better and they didn’t need to come back to visit us again. This made us all really happy.

We said a sad goodbye to Mr Forsyth but his gift of the disco ball means he will always be part of the Mount Carmel family.

The Hallowe’en discos were a spooky success. I have never seen such brilliant costumes.

You worked hard to earn house points up to Christmas. The House Captains and Vice Captains making sure you did your best at assembly and keeping track of the totals. The winning House Red enjoyed a trip to the cinema to see Toy Story 4. We didn’t tell them we had a great time back in the school that day too watching the Lion King!

Our trip to the Palace Theatre was a great success despite the horrible weather that day. It was extra special for the lucky children who got to be on stage, Indigo and Liam will remember Cinderella for a long time.

The Christmas Fayre was incredible. I have never seen so many people in the hall. Families were so generous donating things to The Friends of Mount Carmel who organised the Fayre and the discos. A huge sum of money was raised and the FOMC have been most generous buying us a new Coomber, microphones and yummy things for our discos, not forgetting the selection boxes. No that’s not right the selection boxes came from someone else! Thanks for coming to Mount Carmel this year Santa and please come back next year.

The pantomime was great (Oh no it wasn’t, Oh yes it was) but the best show all year was the Infant Nativity. All the boys and girls worked very hard, but not as hard as the teachers J Such talent; it was amazing. I know the adults who came to see it loved it as much as I did.

Primary 7 had an extra special time at Lockerby Manor. I am sure they will remember all those exciting activities for a very long time. I know Miss Mudge and Mr B will.

There have been lots of activities for everyone this year. It’s hard to remember them but I will try, swimming, cycling, community time, Magic Mount Carmel, EuroQuiz, Knex, Class Assemblies, rugby, football, multisport, parties, discos, choir. Apologies if I have missed out your favourite, there was just so much going on.

Other two goodbyes we had to say this year were to Mr McMillan and Bill. The best Jannie and Lollypop Man in the world. We will miss them both.

Throughout the year we have had the opportunity to visit Our Lady of Mount Carmel on many occasions. It is always lovely to see how well behaved and respectful you are when we are in Church. It was a special year for some of our P4s who received the Sacraments of Confirmation and Reconciliation. I want to thank Fr Martin for everything he does for us. He is a special part of our family here in Mount Carmel.

Well boys and girls our year didn’t end the way we expected. We have really missed you over the past few months and are looking forward to seeing you all in August. Welcome to our new Primary 1s and farewell to our Primary 7s.

There are many people I want to thank for making me feel so welcome as your head teachers. The Parent Council for being so supportive. All the teachers and support staff who are amazing. Mrs Fergusson and Mrs Mc Gahon, my two right hand women I couldn’t do without. Finally boys and girls I want to thank you and your families for making this the best school ever.

Have a lovely holiday and I will see you in August.

Love Mrs McConville x

As our assembly comes to an end today we have one final video to share. Thank you for participating in our Sports Day – Please welcome our Sports Day Champions.

Boys and girls we love and miss you all. Have a great summer and we will see you all in August.

Stay safe, with love

#TeamMC

This morning we said our final farewells to the Primary 7’s. We were able to have them back into the school for a gift presentation. It was lovely seeing them all and how grown up they all look. It has been a different farewell this year but they will always hold a special place in MCPS hearts for being the ‘Lockdown’ Class of 2020.

We are so proud of them and wish them all the best at St Joseph’s.

Please be advised that, unfortunately, there will be NO BREAKFAST CLUB FACILITES available when we return to school in August. We apologise for the inconvenience and will keep you updated regarding any changes going forward.

Thank you for taking part in our Virtual Sports Day.  As promised here are some of the highlights.

Well done boys and girls!

If your child requires transport to school from August 2020, you will be able to apply online as of today (Thursday 25th June) at:

http://orlo.uk/transport_wT2hw

Welcome to Primary 4! I am Mrs McIntyre. Most of you will probably remember me as your Primary 1 teacher, I certainly remember you all and all the fun we had together from greedy number hunt monsters, tadpoles, Katie Morag’s Post Office and who could forget about the wild woo in the woods! I am so lucky to have the chance to teach some of you again. If you don’t know me, please don’t worry as  I am super excited to get to know you as your teacher along with Mrs Travers on a Thursday and Friday. We’re going to have an awesome time learning this year.  I know you can’t wait to see your friends but it won’t be long now and I definitley can’t wait to see all of your faces in August – I’ve been missing you all! I have been busy setting up a new classroom just along from the other P4 classroom and I have taken some pictures to let you see what it may look like after the summer. I can’t wait for you all to help me decorate my room with your fabulous work!

Here are a few photos …

I would love to hear from you, even if you are in on a Monday or Tuesday as we may see each other in the future.  Please send me a message on glow to say ‘hello’ .  I have sent you one below.  I’ve recorded a short message to remind you what i look like incase you’ve forgotten me in the link below!

Welcome message new P4

Any ideas you have  for our class charter then you can send me your thoughts and suggestions and it would be great if we could use one of them.

Keep posted for more news from myself and Mrs Travers shortly! Have a fantastic summer holiday!

Can’t wait to see you all very soon…

“Air Hug”

Mrs McIntyre

Welcome Primary 1/2!!

I am Mrs Dunsmore, your new teacher. I am super lucky to have met and got to know all of you during this past year and during all of our wonderful transition days. I can’t wait to be your teacher and make lots of amazing memories together!

Boys and girls going into Primary 2, you are so lucky because you are going to meet some brand new classmates … our wonderful Primary 1s! I know you will be the best role models for your new friends!

I  have been really busy in school getting everything ready for you coming back/starting. I thought you might like a look at how your new classroom looks. I can’t wait to fill our walls with all your fantastic work! Below you will see the photos I have taken as well as a special message from me (just in case you have forgotten what I look like). Click on the link to watch the video.

Welcome video Mrs Dunsmore

Have a wonderful summer! I can’t wait to see you all in August!

Lots of Love

Mrs Dunsmore xox