Royston Primary School
School recovery, resilience and re-connection
August 2020
- Can my child bring a school bag?
Yes. I have no information suggesting that this not be allowed. I would actively encourage pupils to bring a school bag with the essentials in it. Pupils should bring a pencil, rubber, ruler and sharpener and possibly a small note book. I would also suggest a packet of tissues and for younger children a very small bag with spare pants and shorts in it in case of accidents. Pupils can also bring a snack for playtime and a bottle of water with them. Pupils should not bring toys from home; they will become upset when the teacher does not allow them to play with them. Pupils can bring a water bottle to school but please ensure this is filled at home. Pupils will not be able to re-fill their bottle. We will have supplies of paper cups should your child run out of water.
- Can my child bring packed lunch?
Yes. Again so far, I have not had information to suggest they cannot bring lunch from home if they wish. They will not be allowed to share food from their lunch box with their friends. We will explain this sensitively to younger pupils.
- Where will my child eat their lunch?
As we have a fairly small school pupils will still have lunch in the dining hall. Lunch time will be staggered to ensure only approx. 20-25 pupils are in the dining hall at any one time. We can accommodate this easily whilst ensuring social distancing remains at 2 metres. Children will not be left isolated to have lunch and we will ensure this is a positive experience for all.
- Will there be lots of hand washing?
Lots and lots! This will be built into your child’s programme of activity at school, aspecially at key points such as break and lunch time. With lots of hand washing however can come some skin problems. With so much hand washing skin can become dry and sore. You may wish to put a small tube of hand cream in your child’s school bag for them to use after hand washing.
- Will children line up in the playground?
At the present time we do not foresee pupils lining up in the playground. We will be instructing an informal staggered entry into the school building. Your child will have an entry space and allocated door. This will come to you nearer the time. I would foresee pupils can arrive at school somewhere between 8.45am and 9.15am approx. We will greet them on entry and they will go directly to their classroom where they will engage in soft start table top activities suited to age and stage prior to the beginning of formal teacher direction. There will be no lining up at playtime nor lunch time. With very small numbers in the playground and additional supervision, pupils will be individually managed in and out of the building.
- Will school times be the same?
Approximately! We may open up a longer window at the beginning and end of the school day in order to avoid traditional ‘bell rush’ times. We have yet to decide how best to do this to suit all our pupils and families.
- What uniform should my child wear?
Our uniform suppliers remain the same.
My Clothing https://myclothing.com/ or
BE Schoolwear online https://www.border-embroideries.co.uk/store-glasgow and in-store 35 Argyle St Glasgow G2 8AH.
You may wish your child to wear polo shirt and sweater or school shirt and tie, skirt, trousers etc. This is entirely up to you. I would suggest you carefully consider footwear and the jacket you buy. We have been guided to spend the majority of time outdoors learning. This is not a hard thing to plan and implement as there are lots of opportunities to use outdoor space for all aspects of learning and teaching. However we live in Scotland and as such, it does rain. It is not often freezing cold but it is very wet. I would suggest you consider a waterproof jacket – this is not the same as shower proof. Pupils will be outside, even in the rain. They will not be kept in when it is wet or a bit windy. Also sensible footwear will be essential.
You will be informed of pupil gym days so that you can have them wear gym clothing underneath their uniform, or simply have them wear their polo shirt and joggers/leggings. Pupils will not be changing for gym time. They will also not be changing into indoor shoes when they enter the school, but they should wear trainers on gym days so that they can take part safely either outside or in the gym hall.
I would also encourage your child to wear layers. All windows in school are to be opened to allow maximum air circulation – it could get a little chilly!
- What will happen if my child is sick?
The same as what happens now. Your child will be comforted as distantly as we can manage. Pupils will hold a sick bowl and sit in the open foyer. We will contact parent/carer/emergency contact immediately for them to be collected.
If your child feels sick or complains of an ailment we will be very cautious and contact you immediately. If your child is displaying the common symptoms of COVID-19 – a high temperature, a new and persistent cough or a loss of taste or smell, we will isolate them in our medical room and call you immediately. Our medical room will be made a comfortable as possible with posters and pictures for pupils should they require to use it. I hope they do not. If a pupil is isolated in the medical room a member of staff will remain with them outside the door and reassure them until a parent/carer is able to attend. It is crucial that should you notice any of the common symptoms, no matter how minor, you keep them at home and isolated for 7 days. You would inform us of an absence in the usual way.
- Trips, visits, coaches, afterschool clubs…
Unfortunately these are not being planned for term 1, possibly longer. We will remain in school, in our bubbles with minimal contact. We hope these can be planned for the near future and we will keep you informed of this.
- Parent interaction
We need to work closely with you in order to provide the best support we can for your child. However, our ability to engage in face to face interactions is going to be difficult. We would encourage telephone calls as opposed to ‘in person’ discussions. We understand that things come up from time to time and it is easy to engage with teachers and myself when you see us. We will not be able to do this as all of our focus and concentration will be on ensuring pupil safety and wellbeing in line with current guidance. In addition we will not be able to have parents generally inside the school building. We must keep person to person contacts to a bare minimum. The easy answer is, please just call us! We want to talk to you if there is an issue or a question. We can arrange for the class teacher to call you back as soon as possible. I can speak to you at any time or, in my absence either Ms White or Mrs Young my principal teachers will be able to discuss matters with you. In addition my email is on the newsletter. If you have access to IT, please do contact me this way. We just don’t have the same instant availability as we have had previously, but please remember, we do want to talk to you.
- Collection Points
At present, P1-3 pupils are collected in the playground. We hope to continue this as the pavements are so narrow outside the school gate. We will mark off parent waiting zones in the playground and ask you to promote social distancing as you wait. We will obviously cut down on numbers in the playground as we will have fewer children in school each day and children will have a staggered exit time.
As you can see there is a lot to think about! There are probably numerous questions remaining unanswered, some of them I won’t know the answer to yet. Please do get in touch if you have an unanswered question as it may well be something we have not considered yet.
As government instruction and council guidance continues to evolve over the summer period some of the above may become redundant and we might have to change information and guidance. The situation changes daily and we have no confirm picture of how August will look. We will continue to work closely with you and keep you informed of any changes nearer to the return date.
Official school summer holidays start on 24th June and I would suggest you don’t think too much and worry about this over the holiday period. We are all learning how we can best function safely. I will be in touch again with more detailed and accurate guidance at the beginning of August.
Mrs Jane McShane
Head Teacher
