Good afternoon,

I am aware that there is a lot of speculation and anxiety around the school community as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. I want to share this communication to ensure that all parents have a clear, up-to-date view of the situation from a school perspective.

As things stand, there is no imminent news of school closure either locally or nationally. This situation is constantly under review at national, local and school level and, should that situation change, it will be communicated to parents through the school’s app, website and twitter feed. Please ensure that you rely on these school communication channels and East Ayrshire Council’s official accounts for updates and the latest advice. This will minimise the kind of speculation that only serves to cause distress and anxiety for pupils, parents and the wider school community.

As a school, we will continue to develop contingency and resilience measures to be as prepared as possible for the deepening of the COVID-19 outbreak both from a health and safety and an educational point of view. We will communicate with you at appropriate junctures about how you can support us with this and will ensure that pupils and parents are kept fully informed.

Our immediate priority is to ensure that we act responsibly to contribute to nationwide efforts to delay the spread of the virus. With this is mind, all pupils and staff are expected to follow the most recent national guidance and self-isolate for seven days if they present any symptoms of COVID-19. Please refer to the national guidance if you are unsure. If your child is self-isolating, it is crucial that you contact the school office to report the absence in the normal manner and inform them that your child is self-isolating for seven days. We are recording these figures for reporting purposes at council and national level. If teachers see pupils exhibiting the symptoms, we will ask the child to report to the school office and we will contact home to gather more information and agree an appropriate course of action with parents.

The SQA has issued a statement on their contingency plans, and we will work to supporting our senior phase pupils through any actions taken. I would like to reassure you that we will do everything in our power to prevent pupils being disadvantaged by the current situation and that, where possible, you continue to encourage them to focus on their learning and revision as we head towards a very important stage of their education. Again, plans around supporting pupils will be communicated in due course depending on what the situation requires.

Finally for now, I would like to thank you for your support. I have had several messages and offers of help and support today and parents have shown great understanding at what is undoubtedly an unsettling time. We will absolutely draw on the strength of our school community and come out of this period all the stronger for it.

Kind regards

Ryan Miller
Head Teacher
Stewarton Academy 

Good morning,

I am aware that there is uncertainty about overseas trips following the Prime Minister’s guidance yesterday. It seems likely that our Ardeche trip and our Berlin trip will be affected by this and are unlikely to take place. East Ayrshire Council will be writing to schools and parents to clarify the position on the cancellation of trips and guidance on insurance and financial implications in the near future and we will share this with you as soon as possible. In the short term, we will not be collecting any more payments for these trips until we have clarification of the position.

I appreciate your patience and support with this.

Ryan Miller
Head Teacher

We are keen to support parents to ensure all young people are Cyber safe, especially with the growing use of a wide range of Apps and online forms of communication (WhatsApp / TikTok / Instagram / Snapchat etc).

As part of our continued commitment, we are delighted to promote our new ‘Safer Schools’ App. This App is a reliable source of advice on all things Cyber. It gives empowering, current and informative information on all current digital platforms/tools/apps in an accessible manner.

We have a range of tailored user accesses (pupil, staff and parents/carers). To access your parent platform please

• Scan the QR Code below or go to your app store or Google Play and search for ‘Safer School’
• In school field type ‘East Ayrshire Council’
• The code for Secondary parents is: 7675

We would recommend that you discuss with your child which apps and social media platforms they currently use/access. This will help ensure they know how to stay safe online – using the app to start these types of conversations is great.

Good morning,

Please click here for national guidance in relation to Coronavirus. As our Pila ski trip returned on Friday 7th February, there is no requirement for staff or pupils to self isolate. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates to pupils, staff and parents if required.

Regards

Ryan Miller

We have added a tab in the ‘Parents’ section of the website with a link to the National Parent Forum of Scotland – Nationals in a Nutshell series, which helps parents navigate the world of SQA qualifications and progression pathways.

Mr Johnston alluded to these publications during tonight’s parental information evening and you can access the series by clicking on the image in the newly created tab.

The S Factor will take place tomorrow, Friday 20th December. Pupils are invited to dress down for the day and pay £1, which will cover the cost of their S Factor ticket.

Please be reminded that school will close at 2:30pm tomorrow and reopen again on Monday 6th January 2020.

Enjoy your festive holiday!

Good afternoon.

Concerns have been raised by local residents about the use of private car parks on approach to and adjacent to the school being used to drop children off and pick them up before and after school. We understand that parking restrictions and road access have been exacerbated by the building of the new Nether Robertland nursery next door and would ask that, wherever possible, parents could utilise the bus turning circle at the end of the street to drop off and pick up in the morning, allowing pupils to make the short walk from there to school.

With the increase in the volume of traffic and the inclement winter weather, please take as much care as possible on approach to the school and exercise consideration for the pupil traffic and other road users. Safety is always paramount in our thoughts and we appreciate your support with this.

Thank you,

Ryan Miller
Head Teacher

With Christmas fast approaching we are all more mindful than ever of the effects of poverty on the lives of many of the families we work with and the pressure many families feel to show their appreciation to staff in the school through gifts and tokens of appreciation.

Last year the BBC ran a feature about this with the simple message that thank you is enough. We want to share this message with you again this year to reassure any parents that are worried about affording a gift for a teacher in the run up to the Christmas break.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46580014

I also want to reassure you that there is no ban on bringing gifts to teachers, but that a thank you, a card and even just the thought behind these small gestures, is more than enough for us as a staff.

Wishing you all the best this festive season,

Ryan Miller
Head Teacher

To all pupils, parents and carers,

Please see the message below from East Ayrshire Council Transport regarding arrangements for the last day of term on Friday, December 20th.

Transport

The festive school closure on Friday 20 December 209 whereby all schools close at 2.30pm will no doubt have an impact on pupils who access school transport. We have many linked contracts that serve both primary pupils as well as secondary pupils across both mainstream and ASN schools.

To ensure efficient transport provision on this date and to ease congestion, all contractors will arrange to collect primary children at 2pm and secondary pupils thereafter at around 2.30pm.

Please note exceptions are

• Loanhead primary to be collected at 2.15 pm
• Netherthird Decant to be collected at 2.15 pm and Link to Rural to be collected at 2.30 pm.
• Willowbank primary and Hillside primary to be collected at 2.30 pm
• Grange Academy to be collected at 1.50 pm and Park Primary to be collected at 2.30 pm
• St Josephs Academy and St Andrews to be both collected at 2 pm
• Loudoun Academy to be collected at 2.30 pm
• Kilmarnock Academy to be collected at 2.30 pm

A full version of the letter can be accessed by clicking here

Kind regards

Mr R Miller

Head Teacher

We are delighted to share news of Stewarton Academy’s success at the Scottish Concert Band Festival on Saturday. All five bands played exceptionally well and were fully deserving of the following Awards:

Stewarton Academy P7 wind band – Gold Award

Stewarton Academy Junior Band – Gold Award

Stewarton Academy Intermediate Band – Gold Award

Stewarton Academy Senior Band – Gold Plus Award

Stewarton Academy Percussion Ensemble – Gold Plus Award

As a result all bands/ensembles now qualify to represent Stewarton Academy and East Ayrshire at the SCBF National Finals in Perth Concert Hall on 14 & 15 March 2020. We are delighted for every pupil involved in this success and pass on our congratulations.

As ever, the pupils were tremendous ambassadors for the school and EAC and it’s wonderful to see their efforts and industry being recognised and rewarded in such a high profile setting. Thank you to all the band directors, IMS Instructors and music staff who help the pupils prepare and work so hard to give our young musicians this opportunity.