St. John Paul II Primary School & Nursery Class, Viewpark

Please take a minute to read the letter by clicking the link below.  Thank you!

Update after Day 1

We have been asked to share the letter below, which has been provided by Professor Jason Leitch, the National Clinical Director for Scotland.  This gives information regarding the return to school for P1-3 and Nursery children.

We realise that there has been a lot of information sent your way, but we want to make sure that you have all of the relevant and up to date information.

Jason Leitch letter – 18 February

The following information is relevant to all families, regardless of whether your child is home learning or in school.

As you all know, our Nursery & P1-3 children will return to school on a full time basis from Monday 22nd February 2021 and we are very much looking forward to seeing their wee faces!

With the return of those children, we need to give you some specific information and reminders in order to keep everyone safe.  If your child is in P1-3 or if they are accessing time in school under the Keyworker/Vulnerable status, a letter will be emailed to you this evening.  Please keep an eye out for it as it give you the following:

• Reminder of what house your child is in
• Start/Finish times
• Reminder of PE Days
• Zones/Gates for access
• Health & Safety information & reminders  ALL adults are expected to follow these!

Please note:  Those families who are accessing school through the Keyworker/Vulnerable category, your child’s current hours remain in place.  These children do not come to school on a full time basis.  Remember, if there is an adult or alternative care available at home, your child should not attend!

Please click on the link below to see blank version of this letter.  If you do not receive a letter and your child is entitled to attend school, then please just come to school on Monday, as we must not have an email address for you.

School Reopening Nursery – P3 Feb 2021

IF YOUR CHILD IS IN P4-7 AND CONTINUING TO LEARN AT HOME:

We have had an increase in requests for older siblings to attend school when P1-3 return.  Please understand that we would like nothing more than to welcome all children back to school.  However, the message from the Government is clear and we should all be staying at home unless completely necessary for the time being.  I understand that many of you will be finding this situation challenging to say the least and we will continue to do what we can to support you.  However, the emphasis is currently on having the least amount of children and adults in school as possible.

Please do not disengage with digital learning!  We have made such great progress and the provision is very good.  I understand that there is the temptation to disengage.  Even if your child joins in with certain aspects or if they need a break but are then guided back to their lessons, it is better for them to be involved.

THE GUIDELINES FOR ISOLATION AND TESTING HAVE CHANGED…

If you live with other people and have symptoms, YOU WILL ALL need to stay at home for 10 days from the start of your symptoms even if the others don’t have symptoms themselves. They should book a test 3 to 5 days after your symptoms started. Even if they receive a negative result, they must still complete the 10 day isolation.

If they develop symptoms, they need to stay at home for 10 days from the day their symptoms started. They should do this even if it takes them over the original 10-day isolation period.

Your whole household should follow our stay at home guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection.

Following the First Minister’s announcement yesterday, we are preparing some up-to-date information for you regarding the return to school for our Nursery and P1-3 children.  It will likely be Friday before final information is distributed, once North Lanarkshire have issued their guidelines to schools.  There are Head Teacher meetings today and tomorrow.

North Lanarkshire issued this statement yesterday…

Following confirmation from the First Minister, all children attending early years establishments (those eligible will continue to receive  1140 hours), pupils in primaries 1 to 3 and a small number of senior pupils on a limited basis will return to schools and centres from Monday 22 February 2021.

This includes children and young people in additional support needs (ASN) schools.

Early Years: All children should return to centres and nurseries as normal including partner providers.

P1-3: All children should return to school as normal including ASN pupils. School transport will be in place for those who are eligible. For those in composite classes, only children in P3 should attend school and those in P4 will be taught via online learning. All children in P1-3 will receive universal free school meal provision on return to school.

Please note that shielding children and young people should continue to shield under current lockdown guidelines, unless otherwise directed by a clinician.

I would also add…

Please take the time to read the information and guidelines we send out.  It is important now, more than ever, that EVERYONE abides by the guidelines for Lockdown and the school specific guidelines that we issue to keep our children and our staff safe.  The First Minister made it very clear that the concern was more about the behaviour of adults and how important it is for adults to stick with it and follow the rules for face coverings, social distancing and STAYING AT HOME.

NORTH LANARKSHIRE SURVEY – DIGITAL LEARNING

NLC have asked us to promote a survey being carried out about Digital and Remote Learning.  The link below will take you to the Parent/Carer Survey.  Children will have the opportunity to complete their own survey through Microsoft Teams.  The survey will close on Thursday 18th February 2021.

Survey for Parents – http://bit.ly/NLSurveyCarers

SUPPORTING CHILDREN IN EARLY YEARS AND P1-3 TO RETURN TO SCHOOL

NLC Psychological Services have produced some Parent/Carer information and a story for both Early Years (Nursery) and P1-3 to help with preparation for returning to school.

Transition – Going back to nursery after lockdown Early Yea (1)

Transition – Going back to nursery after lockdown Early Yea

Transition – Going back to school after lockdown P1-3 Narrative

Transition – Going back to school after lockdown P1-3 (info for parents)

North Lanarkshire Council have commissioned a Wellbeing Survey for every child who attends school in the area.  In the current climate, wellbeing is of paramount importance!  The survey will be completed by Teachers for Children.

All of the information about the Survey, what the plan is and what it aims to achieve, as well as what will be done with the information gathered is included in the letter which you can access by clicking the link below.  The letter also includes information about what to do if you do not want your child to take part.

PLEASE NOTE:  If you have signed up for the PARENT PORTAL, you will have received a notification and a copy of the letter already.  You can also opt out of the survey (if you wish) by using the permission slip on Parent Portal.  Signing up for Parent Portal is something we would advise all Parents/Carers to do as this will give you access to a whole host of resources using ONE login!  (Pupil Reports, permission slips, amending your contact details, reporting an absence, online payments.

Click on the link below to access the Wellbeing Survey Parent/Carer Letter:

Wellbeing Survey 2021 Parent Letter

REMINDER!

Applications are still open for Early Learning & Childcare until Friday 12th February 2021.  All applications should be submitted by this date.

Click on the link below to access everything you need to know.  The link will give you information about:

• Eligibility
• Entitlement
• The application process

Click HERE for more information.

We have taken delivery of 50 SIM Cards which will provide users with 30GB of Data for up to 90 days.  These have been provided free of charge and are available for any families who may be having trouble with internet/broadband connections at home.

Please click on the link below to find out more information.  We can support with set up if this is something you would like help with.  All you need is a Smartphone, or a laptop/dongle which you can slot a SIM card into.  Full instructions below.

Vodafone SIM Cards

Perhaps you have an old Smartphone which you no longer use?  This could be used with the SIM Card and tethered to your other device to provide internet connection.

As we mentioned at assembly last week, we want to make sure that all of our Parents & Carers have as much support as they need as we all cope with Digital Learning.  There will be many people who use Microsoft Teams on a regular basis in their own places of work.  However, there will be many who have never used Microsoft Teams.  There may also be some people out there who just have one or two issues which they would need help with!

We are more than happy to provide support and would be willing to run live practical session so that our staff can talk to you directly.

Please take a moment to complete the very short survey so that we know what the uptake of this would be and what things you’d like to see covered.

PLEASE COMPLETE THE SURVEY BY 3PM ON MONDAY 18TH JANUARY.

ENROLMENT OF NEW P1 CHILDREN SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY 22ND JANUARY 2021.

North Lanarkshire Council has put in place a new system for Registration of Infant Beginners to support our ongoing response to COVID-19.

Parents/carers of children who attain the age of five years between 1 March 2021 and 28 February 2022, should register by 22 January 2021 for starting Primary 1 in August 2021.

A new interactive Primary 1 Enrolment Form is available (see below). Parents/carers can enrol online and submit a copy of their child’s birth certificate and council tax/utility bill to their child’s catchment school.

If you do not live within our catchment area, you should still enrol at your local catchment school and submit a placing request.

The documents you’ll need:

1. A copy (scanned/snapshot picture) of your child’s birth certificate.
2. If you don’t have a council tax notice, you can print a copy on our council tax portal.  You can access this by clicking HERE.

You can learn more about choosing a school for your child on the Scottish Government website by clicking HERE.

Parents/carers who want to defer entry for their child to primary school and apply for an additional year of part-time pre-school should register their child for school as described above and complete the deferred entry application form. This document is available from the school.

If you have any questions about deferred entry, please contact Mr Thomas on  01698 522723 or email enquiries@johnpaul.n-lanark.sch.uk.