Tuesday 4th August 2020 10:29<\/p>\n
Dear Parent\/Carer,<\/p>\n
I hope that this letter will find you and your family well and enjoying a well-earned summer break, albeit in rather different circumstances.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
Date of Return of Pupils<\/u><\/strong> With this in mind, almost all schools in East Ayrshire will undertake a \u201csoft start\u201d approach from Wednesday 12th<\/sup> \u2013 Friday 14th<\/sup> August to allow young people to experience what will be a new environment for all of us.\u00a0 Individual schools will let you know their specific arrangements, including who should attend each day.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n We have asked our schools to prioritise children in P1 and S1 in the first week, and know that the \u201cvery first day at school\u201d 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.\u00a0 Schools will communicate these arrangements individually.<\/p>\n 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 6th<\/sup> August for Early Childhood Centres and Friday 7th<\/sup> August for school-aged children. All pupils in East Ayrshire should be therefore be attending full-time by<\/u> Monday 17th<\/sup>August<\/u><\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)<\/u><\/strong> ECCs that delivered 1140 hours prior to lockdown will begin to reintroduce the\u00a0delivery of 1140 hours of funded early\u00a0learning\u00a0and 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Wellbeing and Learning <\/u><\/strong> 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 7th<\/sup> August: https:\/\/eastayrshi.re\/wellbeingquestionnaire<\/a>\u200b<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 Children will also encounter some adaptations to PE and practical lessons to keep everyone safe.\u00a0 Music tuition will also be delivered in a different way and parents \/carers will be contacted where appropriate.<\/p>\n Transport and Arrival of Pupils <\/u><\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n Ongoing Measures to Protect your Child\/Children and Your Family <\/u><\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n All young people will be asked to wash or sanitise their hands on arrival at school and this will be encouraged throughout the day.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 High traffic and \u201ctouch-point\u201d areas will be cleaned regularly through the day.\u00a0 Further information can be found here: 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 We are already taking the most supportive measures that we can in recognising that this will be difficult for some of our pupils.<\/p>\n Catering <\/u><\/strong> 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n It is likely that most food will be consumed in classrooms initially to prevent mass gatherings of pupils in dining areas.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 We are happy to assist any parents or carers who may have difficulty with this, please alert your school if this is the case.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n COVID-19 Surveillance<\/u><\/strong> Contingency Planning <\/u><\/strong> SQA <\/u><\/strong> Some Practicalities\u2026<\/u><\/strong> Next Steps <\/u><\/strong> Can I end by thanking you all so much again for your support of your child\u2019s learning. \u00a0My teams and I simply cannot wait to welcome them all back to school.<\/p>\n Kindest regards,<\/p>\n LINDA McAULAY-GRIFFITHS Sent To You By East Ayrshire Council<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 … Continue reading Letter from Head of Education<\/span>
\nAs 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.<\/p>\n
\nEach ECC will work towards the delivery of 600 hours of early learning and childcare taking account of the refreshed ELC guidance and\u00a0public health measures published on 30 July 2020.<\/p>\n
\nYour child\u2019s 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.\u00a0 You can access our pupil wellbeing framework here:
\nhttps:\/\/www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk\/Resources\/PDF\/S\/Supporting-wellbeing-for-children-guidance.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n
\nSchool transport will run as normal and pupils should access their assigned transport as normal.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Clearly this will not be the case for young people with additional support needs who require to be dropped off in school proximity.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Your school will also provide further information on pick-up and drop-off areas at the start and end of the day.<\/p>\n
\nWe have worked alongside your Parent Councils, Headteachers, the Council\u2019s Health & Safety Team and Facilities & Property Management services over the summer period to ensure a safe return to school.<\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk\/CouncilAndGovernment\/Coronavirus\/Schools-ecc.aspx<\/a>\u200b<\/p>\n
\nDetailed 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.\u00a0 Further details of school catering can be found at this link. https:\/\/www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk\/schoolmeals<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nA 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.\u00a0 We ask that parents and carers support us in the following ways in this regard:<\/p>\n\n
\nPlease 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
\nThere 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.<\/p>\n
\nIn 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:<\/p>\n\n
\nYour school will send you a specific communication about their individual return plans within the next 24 hours.\u00a0 Can I please ask that you bear in mind that school staff will return on Tuesday 11th<\/sup> August in regard to any further queries you have specifically.<\/p>\n
\nHead of Education <\/strong><\/p>\n