Please click below to download a letter from Derek Brown, the Executive Director for North Lanarkshire Education and Families. Please read this as it contains the information relevant to all North Lanarkshire establishments. Please read this letter in full as it contains important information regarding a phased return.
Letter to Parents from Derek Brown, 4/8/20
Can I thank you all for your patience throughout the national Lockdown and over the past week as we have taken the advice from the Scottish Government and applied that to our own setting. As a local authority, we now plan for a PHASED return over the first week for all primary school-age children, with our nursery pupils attending 5 days each fortnight, on the specified days we shared with you in June. NLC have indicated that we will increase nursery hours over the coming months as soon as it is practical to do so.
Firstly, can I assure you that the school has been cleaned to the highest standard and this will remain a priority as we move into the new term. We will also continue to monitor hygiene practises, including hand-washing, and enforce this to ensure our pupils are kept safe within the school.
A few recommendations have been relaxed nationally since my last communication in June, so we will continue to monitor these and update you further if more changes need to be made.
As we return to school, pupils will be provided with all equipment they need and this will not be shared with any other pupils. Please note, we are not encouraging your child to bring anything more than a filled water bottle from home in the first few weeks, so you will probably want to wait until we are sending homework home before you provide your child with a bag. Unnecessary personal items from home, such as toys, should NOT be brought into school. Pupils can bring a lunch box, if you wish, but if you would rather provide your child with lunch in a disposable bag, that is an ideal alternative. School lunches will be provided, and a cooked meal offered daily but this may be a reduced menu. Also, as you know, we will not be allowed to handle cash in school on our return to further reduce the possibility of infection transmission. Any lunch payments will need to be made using the council iPayment system. Mr Sharp will send letters home to remind families of your log in details on your child’s first day back. I expect our Breakfast Club to operate as normal, with payment for this also made using the online system. If I am told of any changes to these plans I will update you immediately.
As we explained in June, parents are not allowed within the school grounds and the gate at the back of the school at the lane will only be used by our nursery families, so we will continue to implement the staggered start and end times we shared with you in June to allow for physical distancing of parents at the school gates. We will be flexible with this arrangement to suit the needs of individual families. (Please send me an email if you have a problem with these times, stating the names of your children and the classes they will be in this year. We will find an easy solution to suit your family. gw09nicolsonalison2@glow.sch.uk)
8.50am – 2.50pm Room 1, Room 5, Room 16
9.00am – 3.00pm Room 2, Room 8, Room 14, Room 15
9.10am – 3.10pm Room 3, Room 4, Room 9, Room 10
There will be a member of staff on each gate from 8.50am. Please aim to arrive at school as close to your start time as possible. This arrangement will be closely monitored and evaluated over the coming weeks. It will be modified as required, with your help, to find the safest solution to any access issues.
FOR OUR NEW P.1 PUPILS WE WILL WELCOME YOU AT THE PITCH GATE BETWEEN 9.30am AND 10.00am ON WEDNESDAY 12TH AUGUST. TO AVOID UNNECESSARY QUEUING, WE WOULD ASK THAT YOU AVOID ARRIVING BEFORE THAT TIME. Please limit the number of adults per child to 2 at the maximum. I know many family members may wish to share this important event, but we do not want our youngest pupils to be overwhelmed with crowds of physically distancing adults.
For the first week only, 12th -14th August, our Primary 1 pupils will start at 9.30am and be collected at 2.30pm to allow for more time at the school gates avoiding crowds.
Pupils will remain, on the whole, within 3 defined Zones within the school building and grounds. This will allow us to maintain ‘bubbles’ and minimise contact across all classes. We will not be holding whole school assemblies or working classes together and senior pupils will not be carrying out their usual Monitor duties whilst we are still in this period of recovery. Breaks will be staggered and we will continue to assess how lunchtimes will operate to ensure minimal contact across the school.
As explained in June, there has been no change to our uniform policy. We would ask that pupils’ clothes are washed regularly. In light of the current pandemic, we would rather children came to school in clean clothes, so we will not pass comment on any child who has had to wear other clothing as their uniform is ‘in the wash’ (as always, no football colours should be worn). If you are having trouble laundering your child’s uniform regularly, please speak to a member of staff and we will create a plan to help. On our return to school, learning will be taken outdoors wherever possible, so please ensure your child has a jacket and shoes suitable for the weather.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions still left unanswered. Our entire school staff will do all they can to support you, as a family, through these coming weeks of change.
We are, of course, coming back to school to learn, but more importantly we need time to reconnect as a school family. Please put your child’s mind at rest by assuring them we will NOT be demanding they ‘catch up’ by doing loads of extra work and tests in their first days back. Above all, over the coming weeks I can’t wait to hear chatter, loud laughter, excited giggles and all the stories I have missed, that are important to your child. We can’t wait for our classes and corridors to be buzzing again. ♥️
