Dear Parent/Carer,

School Photographs

On an annual basis, young people have their photograph taken for the school management system.

Usually, photographs of sibling groups and our S6 cohort are also taken. This session, only individual images will be taken. We will, if possible, arrange a date late in the 2020/21 session to facilitate sibling group images and an S6 year group photo.

While we appreciate that siblings are in the same household, the fact that they are in different year groups and classes adds a logistical challenge against the need to avoid unnecessary gatherings across year groups. For this reason, it is more practical to take individual images only at the moment.

Individual photographs will be taken tomorrow (Thursday 27th August) for all year groups.

School App

Please note, if you have downloaded the school app (instructions shown at top of our website under ‘Communication’), then the latest school news appears under the ‘News’ section rather than the ‘Messages’ section. However, the app defaults to show notifications for messages rather than news. Please check the news section for latest updates. To avoid duplication of work, staff do not post directly to the app, but have the app set up to pull over website and twitter posts. There can be a delay of an hour or so in new messages reaching the app but they will always appear under ‘News’ and not ‘Messages’.

Permission to leave school – voicemail messages

Please note, if you call the school and leave a voicemail message detailing an appointment (e.g. dentist, doctor etc.) that a young person needs to attend during the school day, staff will not routinely call back to acknowledge receipt of the message. Staff will update our internal records based on your voicemail message. As always, young people will only be released when a parent/carer reports to school to collect their son/daughter.

In the event that you need to speak to a member of staff, please make this clear when leaving a voicemail message.

Face Coverings

As of Monday 31st August, young people over the age of 12 are required to wear face coverings in communal areas of the school. This means wearing a face covering when in school corridors and when in the street, library, toilets, reception area, assembly hall and small gym (used for interval and lunch time for now). Young people will need to remove face coverings when eating snack or lunch.

In addition, young people over the age of 5 need to wear a face covering when using school transport. This means that if your son/daughter uses a school bus or taxi, they need to wear a face covering when using the bus or taxi.

Young people do not need to wear face coverings in classrooms or when outside. As the majority of the school day is spent in classrooms, the actual time spent wearing a face covering will be minimal. The above comes into effect as of Monday 31st August.

More information will follow from East Ayrshire Council in the coming days.