Dear Parent / Carer,

Many of you are perhaps feeling overwhelmed by the current situation and are worried about the level of support that you are able to give your child with their home learning. We would like to reassure all families that the main priority during this unprecedented situation is ensuring that everyone stays healthy (mentally and physically).

Whilst we hope that all parents will support their children with the learning tasks assigned to them by their teachers, we would like to stress that we do not expect you to become a teacher yourself. All we ask is that you encourage your children to access Google Classroom every day and provide them with a quiet, comfortable space to complete their assignments. In the same way as homework should not become a battleground, neither should the current home learning experience. All teachers are available on Google Classroom to answer pupils’ questions and parents can contact the school by email if they need additional support.

You are, and always have been, your child’s primary educator. If you cannot facilitate the online learning at some points then that is okay. There are many alternative activities that you can do with your children that will have a positive impact on their academic achievement. For example:

• Reading every day
• Writing to loved ones that they cannot visit at the moment, recounting a special memory or keeping a diary
• Practical maths: cooking, sorting items, scavenger hunts (e.g. find 5 red objects or 3 objects beginning with ‘s’)
• Fine motor work: lego, cutting, playdough, tidying up small toys
• Research a topic of interest (country/famous person/invention, etc)
• Board games and card games
• Lots of imaginative free play

There is now a ‘Home Learning’ page on our website that has a range of helpful documents and videos to support you and your child with Glow, Google Classroom and other online tools. We will update this when necessary. Click here to access the page.

Continuing Education Arrangements – 22^nd March 2020

Dear Parent/ Carer,

St. Mark’s Primary School is now closed in line with the Government guidance on Coronavirus. All children are encouraged to stay at home and follow social distancing guidance- with the exception of families who are part of the vital services required at this time and those children and young people who would benefit from continued attendance. The vast majority of children will be accessing learning online. School staff have been working hard to prepare online learning for all pupils and you can find out more about how to access this by visiting the class blogs and watching the video https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/er/StMarks/curriculum/pupils/class-blogs/ .

A ‘Hub School’ has been set up in Carlibar Primary to accommodate the small number of children who need it. The hub school is an option of last resort for families who have no alternative but to send their children there in order for them to work in a front line role.  The Barrhead Hub will be open from 9am on Monday morning (23rd March) at Carlibar Primary School. Children and staff from all five primary schools (Carlibar, Cross Arthurlie, Hillview, St Johns and St Marks) plus Arthurlie and McCready Family Centres will be working together at the campus.

The Hub will operate a morning and afternoon session during regular school hours from 9am to 3pm and children should wear their St. Mark’s uniform.  If the children are staying for a full day, lunch will be provided, however, it is recommended that they bring a packed lunch if possible.

There will be a dedicated ‘St. Mark’s’ space in the Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) where staff from our school will be waiting to welcome the children and line them up to get ready to go into class. At this time I would ask that once you have dropped your child off at school with a recognised member of the staff, unless you urgently need to speak to someone, you leave the area to minimise congestion.

Arrangements for families with free school meal entitlement will follow in due course.

Yesterday (Saturday) was spent contacting families who responded to our initial survey regarding staff in frontline services. If, for any reason, you missed this survey or you have any questions regarding this, please contact me through the school email address schoolmail@st-marks.e-renfrew.sch.uk  and I will endeavour to get back to you before Monday morning.

Finally, although Sunday mass is cancelled today, there are a number of masses being offered online and we have shared details of these through our Twitter feed. We ask you to continue to pray for everyone affected by the Coronavirus and also that you keep the hub staff and our whole community in your prayers.

Thank you for your continued support at this challenging time.

God Bless

Anthony Hutcheson

Head Teacher

Dear Parent / Carer

You will be aware that the UK and Scottish Government have made the decision to close schools tomorrow (Friday 20^th March) in response to the spread of Covid – 19 (Coronavirus). Further guidance will follow tomorrow for parents and carers who are frontline key workers and are unable to access alternative childcare. I would like to reassure you we have plans in place to make sure our pupils have every opportunity to continue their education regardless of the circumstances we may face. Please see the Remote Learning Policy which reflects a clear commitment to reinforce skills and give our pupils access to learning activities which will meet their needs, building upon prior learning.

Our staff will follow the class timetable as far as possible with reinforcement and consolidation of skills and concepts. All classes from Primary 1 to Primary 7 have a Google Classroom, which can be accessed via Glow. Please use the links below to assist you and your child when using Google Classroom.

Using Glow tools at home

Google Classroom Helpsheet

Please ask the children to log in and each classroom will have instructions for the pupils thereafter. Regular online teacher check-ins with pupils will provide direction, give feedback and offer an opportunity for pupils to ask questions.

 If you indicated that you required a device for home learning, you may sign this device out from the school from 2pm onwards tomorrow (Friday). The children will be issued with a pack of home learning jotters for literacy and numeracy in order to record any written tasks set by their teacher. Reading books to cover the period up to Easter have been issued and we will make arrangements to refresh the reading books after the Easter holidays. If your child has been absent you can collect the home learning packs and reading books from school from 2pm tomorrow (Friday).

 I want to thank you for your recent understanding as we have made changes to planned events. We want to ensure we are helping protect our community as well as our pupils. I also want to thank all staff in St. Mark’s for their dedication and determination to respond quickly and effectively to the current situation. As a school community we are following Pope Francis’ suggestion to offer a decade of the Rosary daily to pray for all affected by this situation. May God bless you and your loved ones at this difficult time.

Yours sincerely,

Anthony Hutcheson

Head Teacher