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 amazing work with our young people during this period of lockdown, and 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: –  We will be planning for the return of up to 50% of our pupils each day.

• Group A – Monday and Tuesday ( Home Learning Wednesday, Thursday and Friday )
• Group B – Thursday and Friday.  ( Home Learning Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday )
• We are also planning for there to be a smaller group of pupils on Wednesdays that may require additional support.  This would be in addition to the two days in school,

• We will be organising pupils into groups with a maximum of 13 children in each group taught by one teacher for both days that they attend. Your child’s current class teacher, who knows them well is organising these groups. Your child’s group will be emailed to you next week.

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 some of the statements below, specific to our school:-

• All entry doors are colour coded and your child’s class will be informed as to which playground and door they should enter on arrival in August. This information will be sent next week with a map of the school.
• We are implementing a one-way system in our playgrounds, where possible. Enter and Exit signage has been displayed in all playground areas.
• Start and finish times will be staggered in August to allow for physical distancing. These timings will be issued with your child’s group.
• At present, guidance does not allow for parents to enter the school building. Parents/Carers should drop off their child in the designated playground areas.
• All playgrounds have been marked with coloured hearts. Where possible pupils should “stand on a heart, stay 2 metres apart.”
• 
  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 holiday 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.

  All of our staff returned to school this week and much of their time will be spent planning for our pupils’ return in August. They will continue to respond via the class email accounts but there might be a delay, please bear this in mind.

  Hoping you are safe and well,

  Alison Wright