Dear Parents/Carers,

My sincere thanks for the great work you are undertaking to support our remote/digital learning. The level of engagement across the school has been most reassuring. If you are one of the very few families that have not logged into teams to see the set work for each day please arrange to do so as a matter of urgency. Whilst your child/ren may not be in the classroom, school is most definitely continuing and new learning is taking place each day. Not visiting your child’s virtual classroom each day will lead to gaps in learning that will impact on their attainment. We are here to help so please do not hesitate to get in contact should you require any support. We have understood from the outset the enormous challenge this is for all our families as you attempt to juggle the demands of family life, home schooling and working from home. Please rest assured we get it. With that in mind please make it a clear focus to complete all work in relation to literacy and numeracy as a priority. Ensuring that new learning is undertaken and that learning intentions have been met in these two key areas will support your child enormously when the time comes to return to school. Please also, look after your own health and wellbeing and that of your family. Break the learning into chunks, ensure brain breaks, vary activities and make sure you all get outside each day. A child’s day in school is very varied and they don’t sit in class with their head down from 9 – 3pm so please don’t expect this at home. There are breaks, direct lessons, interaction, completing assigned tasks, opportunities to develop initiative and creativity so please do not get caught up on putting pressure on yourself or your child/ren. We know this is overwhelming but if we continue to work together we can make this situation a rewarding experience for everyone even in these most challenging of times.

I would like to take this opportunity to speak on behalf of the school staff and extend a huge thank you for the feedback we have received this week. Taking the time to contact the school and provide feedback around current provision has greatly supported staff in what has been a most challenging beginning to the term. Like you, they are spinning quite a few plates and greatly appreciate your many kind sentiments. Staff are working incredibly hard to get it right for your child so once again please do not hesitate to get in touch if you require support.

On a final note we say a very sad farewell this week to our dear friend and colleague Mrs. Sarah Cannon who died suddenly at the end of term. Sarah’s Requiem Mass will take place on Monday at 11.30am in St.Augustine’s Church. There will be a live broadcast should you wish to view online. As a school community we greatly mourn her loss as Sarah was a most valued member of our staff team and a treasured member of our school family. I am sure you join with us in extending your condolences to Frank, her husband and her children. Sarah was loved by everyone and her passing is of great sadness and felt across our whole school community. Please remember Sarah and her family in your prayers.

Yours sincerely

Mrs.Caroline Docherty

Head Teacher

It was lovely to see so many parents take time out from home schooling to join our virtual coffee morning.  I hope you found it helpful.  Many thanks to Mrs. Drummond who was on hand to answer more specific IT questions.  Please read attached summary of the morning’s meeting if you could not attend this morning.  We aim to host another virtual coffee morning next week to offer continued support.

Virtual Coffee Morning – 13.1.21

Please review the documents on the links below that will support the work provided by your child’s class teacher on their virtual classroom which will be accessible and updated on a daily basis on Microsoft Teams.

The code for the NL Virtual Classroom   is r0f8wg2

NL Virtual Classroom Child Guide (002)

NL Virtual Classroom Parent Carer Guide

Dear Parent/Carer,

Firstly I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a Happy New Year. I hope you enjoyed a relaxing break with your family and that 2021 brings health and happiness for us all. Following the announcement from the First Minister in December and the subsequent announcement on January 4^th, the new term has started in a way that is similar to last March, when we all went into the first lockdown. At this point, only the children of key worker children who have no other childcare arrangements in place should be attending school and over the next few days we will review and request documentation to support requests received.

It is our intention to operate a normal timetable from Monday, with learners accessing their classes via Microsoft Teams as they were accustomed to last term for their homework tasks. Remote learning isn’t easy, we know. Many of our staff are parents too who will also be taking on the challenge of working and home schooling their own children, so we fully recognize the strain that this situation can put on families. However, at this time the safest place to be is at home and we hope that it will not be too long before we can return to full time education in school.

Remote Learning

For the vast majority of our pupils, remote learning will begin on Monday 11^th January 2021, the learning set for your child will be specific, progressive and relevant to what they are learning in class and therefore we urge you to ensure that your child completes and returns the set learning. Learning has been planned by teachers to ensure a continuity of learning programme that replicates the weekly learning programme usually set in school. Although, the expectation is that all children complete the set learning, our approach is to offer a flexible, accessible, supportive and timely learning experience that supports everyone, as each family set up and accessibility to devices is unique for each personal family circumstance. In addition to this, North Lanarkshire have a Virtual Classroom available on Microsoft Team and we have attached a guide to this for you to review. Please see attachments. Your child’s teacher will communicate to them via Microsoft Teams the colour of work they can access on NLC Virtual Classroom and this will supplement the work they set. The code for your child to join the Team is: r0f8wg2.

We are here to help

Please remember that our staff are working incredibly hard to adapt lesson content for remote learning and that this is a learning curve for everyone. We don’t want anyone stressing about remote learning and therefore to provide further support we would like to invite our parents/carers to attend a WebEx session on Wednesday 13^th January at 11am to discuss further how remote learning will work, we will send out the link to join in the next few days.

Please remember, that Microsoft Teams is for pupil use and not an appropriate platform for adults to communicate (either by chat or on video), you can always email us at ht@st-augustines.n-lanark.sch.uk or telephone (01236 632090) as we will be on hand throughout the school day, but please do allow up to 3 working days for a response in some cases.

We hope that our approach will be supportive to you and your child and look forward to further strengthening the great partnership that exists between school and home.

Please do not hesitate to contact the school by e-mail or phone if you wish to discuss any matter. We look forward to welcoming your child to their virtual classroom and the start of lessons on Monday morning.

Kind Regards

Mrs.Caroline Docherty

Head Teacher

Please read the letter from Derek Brown, Executive Director Education and Families in light of announcement made by Scottish Government on 4th January.  This letter has also been sent direct to your mailbox if you have supplied the school with your e-mail address.  If you have not done so please contact the school so we can amend our records.  This will support us and ensure you don’t miss any communication coming from the school.

Parent-carer letter – FINAL

Dear Parents/Carers,

Please see attached letter from Derek Brown, Executive Director, in relation to arrangments for returning to school in January.  Please also review the attached information if you are a Key Worker (both parents must be Key Workers) and complete the attached form and send to the dedicated mailbox: keyworkerschools@northlan.gov.uk

FINAL Parent-carer letter – January 21 return 21.12.20

Key Workers school and ELC support request form January 21

The school community would like to wish everyone a most peaceful Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year.  2020 has been a year like no other that has tested us all in so many ways.  A s a school community we thank you for your continued support and the many good wishes you have sent to us.  It is most greatly appreciated.  Your children are amazing and it is they who make our school a great school.  We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to the Parent Council and the PTA for their great support throughout the year.  Without them we would not achieve all that takes place around our school.  Thank you.  The end to 2020 is tinged with great sadness as we mark the sudden passing of our dear friend and colleague Sarah Cannon.  Our school community has been in mourning since the sudden news yesterday.  On our return to school we will provide support to all those who need it and be on hand to support children who feel her loss the most.  Please remember Sarah and her family your prayers.

Dear Parents/Carers,

It is with great sadness that I must inform you of the sudden passing of our dear friend and colleague Sarah Cannon.

Sarah was a parent of the school for many years and was always actively involved in the community life of the school throughout her children’s attendance at St.Augustine’s Primary. She later became a highly valued member of our staff team, firstly securing the post of Dining Hall Assistant then Additional Support Needs Assistant and finally Clerical Assistant. Sarah was known and loved by all in our school community and she knew everyone. Nothing was too much trouble. We were lucky to have Sarah as a member of our staff team and greatly valued her kindness, generosity of spirit and dedication to the school and children.  Sarah will be greatly missed.

Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends at this sad time.

Mrs. Caroline Docherty

The document below has FAQ regarding the Winter Hardship Payment for low income families. If your circumstances have changed and you have not previously applied there is a link to the online application for Clothing Grant and Free School Meals.  We used groupcall to directly e-mail this information to all parents.

Winter Hardship £100 Payment FAQ’s