Message from Miss Gillies (Head Teacher) –  Issued via letter on 16^th March, 2020

Dear Parent/Carer,

It has been widely reported that the UK and Scottish Governments have moved to the ‘delay phase’ in response to the spread of Coronavirus. Therefore, I am writing to inform you of Hillington Primary’s contingency plans if the Scottish government takes the decision of a blanket school closure. I should stress that no decision has been made to close schools and we continue to operate as normal until we are told otherwise. However, I thought it would be useful and reassuring for Parents/Carers to know we have plans in place to make sure our pupils have every opportunity to continue their education regardless of the circumstances we may face. We would ask parents to read the latest information on the nhsinform.scot website regarding advice about symptoms of any persistent cough / temperature (as per our school Groupcall text on Friday 13^th March)

Our plans are detailed below:

• Class teachers will be preparing appropriate learning activities for their classes. Those families who do not have any access to internet will be issued with hard copies.
• We will endeavour to issue all pupils with jotters as part of our Home Learning Policy and these can be used in the event that the school is closed.
• School staff are meeting on Wednesday 18th to discuss possibilities of using GLOW, Microsoft Teams and online learning sites to further enhance learning opportunities. Further information on this will be communicated to families via a booklet which will be sent home, where possible.

Communication:

• Where possible, the school will use of Group Call/Website/Twitter account to inform pupils, parents, carers and other stakeholders about relevant issues if time-scale does not allow for communication within school. The city (https://www.hps.scot.nhs.uk/web-resources-container/covid-19-guidance-for-non-healthcare-settings/).council communication channels will also be updated on a daily basis with the most current developments and parents and carers should be encouraged to follow/check these channels for city information. COVID-19 GCC webpage https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/coronavirus
• Additional GCC wide information is currently being collated and will be circulated outlining the range of on-line learning options for those staff and pupils with and without iPads.

In order to support Government advice within school we are doing the following:

• Hygiene lessons at assembly.
• A continued focus on hand washing.
• Following NHS guidance :
  • Wash your hands with soap and water, or use a sanitising gel, regularly throughout the day.
  • Catch your cough or sneeze in a tissue, bin it, and wash your hands.
  • Cough / sneeze into your sleeve if no tissue.

You can help at home by reinforcing these messages with your child/ren. This is good practice and will benefit pupils regardless of the current situation.

We may change upcoming events in light of guidance as we want to ensure we are helping protect our community as well as our pupils. We would like to notify you of the following changes which are outwith our control:

• Our Careers Fair on Tuesday, 24^th March, 2020, will be postponed until further notice due to cancellation from a number of stallholders and presenters.
• We have been notified this afternoon that our Afterschool care will be closed for a week starting today, two members of staff will be available to look after the children and a request has been made to collect them as near to 3pm as possible. This will be reviewed in one week’s time and parents informed of next steps by Afterschool care staff directly.
• Swimming lessons have been cancelled until further notice and the children will not attend swimming from this week.

We appreciate your support and understanding at this time.