Following advice from the Scottish Government to close schools, we are aware that children and young people may be at home for a long period of time. Therefore, we have produced a range of materials to support their learning through Glow and Edmodo.

Understandably, this is an unsettling time for children, young people and their carers. We acknowledge that people will be feeling anxious about the impact that the pandemic may have on the health and wellbeing of people around them.

A a result of this, we would like to share some reliable resources to provide reassurance for parents/carers and young people.

Elament
http://www.elament.org.uk/self-help-resources/

Unicef
https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/6-ways-parents-can-support-their-kids-through-coronavirus-covid-19

Public Health England 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-on-supporting-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-and-wellbeing-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

In light of the new restrictions and the number of career events that are unable to take place, ‘Lantra Scotland’ have created a new form that people can complete in order to continue to access information about careers in the land-based, aquaculture and environmental science sector.

Whether it be via virtual meeting, email or by phone, anyone can register for a one to one meeting or bespoke package of information to be sent to them.

The link can be found here:

[ https://www.scotland.lantra.co.uk/how-get-information-about-land-based-careers-us ]https://www.scotland.lantra.co.uk/how-get-information-about-land-based-careers-us 

This will also be available on the ‘Careers’ page of Lantra Scotland’s website (www.scotland.lantra.co.uk/careers-scotland)

They have created this support through social media channels too;

Twitter
[ https://twitter.com/LantraScotland/status/1244576544611274752 ]https://twitter.com/LantraScotland/status/1244576544611274752

Facebook
[ https://www.facebook.com/lantrascotland ]https://www.facebook.com/lantrascotland

Instagram
[ https://www.instagram.com/p/B-WyD8CFLsN/ ]https://www.instagram.com/p/B-WyD8CFLsN/

 

Through these challenging times, we ask you to remember a number of people in your prayers. We remember our NHS staff and other key workers as they show great strength and bravery in this time of need.

We ask that you remember family members,  friends and members of the community who may be struggling with illness, poverty or loneliness during this time. It is important now, more than ever, that we communicate with others and keep in touch with those less fortunate than ourselves.

Below is our school prayer, ‘May All Things Be For God.” We remember God in our prayers and his Divine teachings.  God reminds us to be humble; to do our best in all things and, in our faith, to continue to serve others.

May All Things Be For God.

God Our Father
Guide us through each day
Give us the strength to do Your will
Help us to work together
To serve our school, our home and our parish
Give us the Gift of Faith to live our school motto
“Que tout soit per dieu”
We as this through Christ our Lord

Amen.

The following link contains an updated list of Edmodo class codes.

Art and Design, Business Education, Home Economics and Religious Education now have Edmodo classes for each year group where resources and schemes of work are easily accessible. The Social Subjects list has also been updated to include National 3-5 Modern Studies and History. Codes for PE and Technical Studies have also been updated

Final Edmodo Codes

Many staff within the school have been working together to upload resources onto Edmodo, a user friendly website and app on which teachers can post resources on a subject-by-subject basis and on which safe and secure communication can take place between class teachers and pupils. A link to the Edmodo website can be found under Useful Websites below left or by clicking here.

Edmodo provides a means of contact  between class teachers and pupils in each Edmodo class group.

Link 1 provides information on the creation of an Edmodo profile and a step-by-step process on how to join classes.

Link 2 provides a list of class codes from each department. Pupils should join relevant classes only.

Accessing Edmodo

Edmodo Codes

If your child normally goes to school in MOSSEND, NEW STEVENSTON, HOLYTOWN and surrounding villages: 
Please take your child to New Stevenston Primary School, Coronation Rd East, New Stevenston, Motherwell ML1 4HX

New Stevenston Primary is the venue for all Taylor High Pupils whose parents are both key workers.

All parents/carers will need to complete a keyworker form on arrival at the hub school.

If you are a parent/carer of a child who attends an LCSC unit, and you require school support as you are a key worker, your child should attend the nearest school to you as listed above and below.

 

 

Dear Parent/Carer,

Although all schools officially closed on Friday afternoon at 3pm, we recognise our duty to support Key Workers in posts which ensure that essential services can be delivered and cover tasks within the local community which support the vulnerable and aid community resilience. Definitions of key workers and eligibility are outlined in Appendix A (click here to download this appendix or click the link at the end of this letter to view). This service is for families where both parents/carers are key workers or in the case of single parent families, where the main care giver is a key worker.

It is essential in stopping the spread of COVID-19 that people who can work from home do work from home. The remaining education support service should only be accessed by those who absolutely require it to enable National Health Service and other critical services to continue and also for vulnerable young people.  We appreciate your cooperation with this.

 Arrangements for week beginning Monday 23^rd March 2020

If you are an eligible key worker, who has no other suitable childcare arrangements, then your child can attend school as normal on Monday 23^rd March; school transport will run as normal. If you are able to go in person to school or establishment, staff will ask you to complete a pro-forma. If you are unable to do that then the school or establishment will contact you to gather information.

Future Plans

Over the course of this transition week, the council will collect data from across Schools and Centres and use this data to inform its planning. This may involve closing some schools and moving to a cluster/hub model, with only identified schools and centres remaining open to support Key workers who have no alternative childcare in place. In practice, this may mean that your child attends a different school, but within their locality.

 Meeting your needs

This week, you will be asked to complete a form to provide us with essential information about you and your child. This will include information about your employment, work patterns and emergency contact details. This information will be used by the council to build up a picture of the requirement for education services across each locality. The more information you provide the more prepared we can be. Further information will be provided about this later in the week.

School Meals

All children who are entitled to free school meals will be able to access these meals. If you need to access this support please take your child to their usual school at the school’s normal lunchtime (12.30 – 1.15pm).

Breakfast clubs will be open in those schools that normally offer them.

 SQA Course Work

Scottish Government have clarified your child should not attend school to complete any SQA course work. The school may ask you to complete course work remotely.

Teachers know your children well and already have a wide range of evidence on which to base their professional judgement. Estimated grades will be based on predicted attainment, coursework and assessment. They will NOT only be based on prelim marks. Since all estimates and professional judgements have not yet been carried out, I would ask that you do not contact the school at this time for that information. Although there is no process for appealing professional judgement, the SQA have indicated that their post results service will be free of charge this year. Further information on this will be issued in due course.

Finally, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should any child who has symptoms of coronavirus, or who lives in a household where someone has symptoms, present at school. The whole family must follow the self-isolation advice.

Thank you for your continued cooperation and support.

Yours faithfully

J. G. McCormick

Head Teacher

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/public/taylor/uploads/sites/25431/2020/03/22233347/Parent-Carer-Letter-Appendix-A-Key-Workers-22-03-20.pdf

NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL UPDATE ON SUNDAY 22nd MARCH……

Schools are now open tomorrow Monday 22nd March 2020 only to children of key workers so that they can undertake their essential roles.

School support must only be used  where essential for key workers. If parents/carers have a partner who is not a key worker, then they are asked to please keep their children at home.

There has also been an update from Scottish Government confirming that students in Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Year should NOT attend school on Monday 23rd March to complete coursework.

Any further update today will also be shown on the school website and issued via Twitter.

Watch out for updates from the Council on Twitter @nlcpeople

Thanks to all parents and carers for their support at this very difficult time.

KEY WORKERS

All North Lanarkshire schools will be open on Monday for the children of the following categories of key workers

It is essential, to stop the spread of transmission of coronavirus, that people who can work from home do work from home. This is not business as usual and it is vital that this support being offered is only accessed by those who absolutely require it to enable NHS and other critical services to function.

If you’re a key worker who requires support, please take your child to your normal school on Monday. We will review these arrangements over the coming week and it is likely we will fully close some schools but we will inform you of this and the alternative provision we will put in place.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should any child who has symptoms of coronavirus, or who lives in a household where someone has symptoms, present at school. The whole family must follow the self-isolation advice.

Key worker categories:

Category 1

Includes:

• Health and care workers directly supporting COVID-19 response and associated staff
• Workers supporting life-threatening emergency work as well as critical primary and community care provision
• Staff of energy suppliers
• Staff, including teachers and early years workers, providing childcare and learning for other key workers and staff who support school buildings

Category 2

Please note that the first presumption is that staff who can work from home will work from home

• All other health and care workers including home support staff and care home staff
• Emergency services staff, including police, fire and rescue, prison officers
• Military personnel
• Social workers

Those supporting critical national infrastructure including:

• Staff keeping air, water, road and rail passenger transport operating
• Oil, gas, electricity and water and sewerage workers
• Logistics staff including drivers and transport workers
• Food and other necessary goods staff including food production, processing, distribution, sale, delivery as well as those essential to the provision of hygienic and veterinary medicines
• Staff in essential financial service provision including: banks, building societies and financial market infrastructure; IT and data infrastructure; postal services; civil nuclear, chemicals and telecommunications; payment providers; waste disposal.
• Journalists and broadcasters

Category 3

Other council and associated staff in the following categories. Please note that the first presumption is that staff who can work from home will work from home

• Strategic-level management and support staff
• Waste services staff
• Fleet services staff
• Cemeteries staff
• Property repairs and maintenance staff including frontline workers of Mears and Saltire
• Roads and lighting maintenance staff including staff of Amey
• Facility support services including cleaning, catering, school crossing patrollers and janitorial staff
• Human resources staff including payroll and employee service centre
• IT staff
• Communications staff
• Finance staff including welfare, revenue and benefits staff and municipal bank staff
• Registration staff
• Essential legal services
• Psychological services staff

SCHOOL MEALS

All children who are entitled to free school meals will be able to access these meals. If you need to access this support please take your child to their usual school at the school’s normal lunchtime, but only at their normal lunchtime.

Breakfast clubs will be open in those schools that normally offer them, will be open.

S4, S5 and S6 STUDENTS

A normal timetable will not be operating. Only the following students should attend school:

• Children of key workers as detailed above.
• Pupils who have already been instructed by their schools to attend at a specific time for coursework purposes.

Other S4, S5 and S6 pupils will be contacted by schools shortly to arrange completion of coursework. Schools have already informed pupils about arrangements for online learning.

Parents and carers are advised that North Lanarkshire Council Communications team are preparing to release information as soon as possible through its normal communication channels regarding the closure of schools to pupils from today.  This will include

• Arrangements for children of key workers (including clarification of who Key Workers are)
• Clarification of arrangements for S4-S6 pupils for SQA accreditation purposes
• Arrangements for those children requiring free school meals from Monday onwards
• Arrangements for children with additional support needs from Monday

Further information will be available through the school’s normal communication channels from Monday onwards.

Today, the Education and Families Service issued information in the form of a letter from the Executive Director of Education and Families, Derek Brown.

From:  Derek Brown, Executive Director

Dear Parents /Carers

Following advice from the Scottish Government to close educational establishment today, we fully recognise that from today children and young people may be at home for a long period of time and we have produced a suite of materials to support their learning – further information about materials will be sent to you in due course.

Understandably, this is an unsettling time for children, young people and their carers and many people will be feeling anxious about the current situation and the impact that it may have on the health and wellbeing of family, friends and colleagues.

For this reason we have also included information to help you reassure your child.  Many of these resources have been developed in collaboration with South Lanarkshire Council.  The document linked below provides some advice and guidance.

We will continue to up-date this resource and ensure that it is widely available online.  You will be notified of these updates next week.

Thank you for your on-going support during these challenging times.

Regards

Derek Brown, Executive Director

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/public/taylor/uploads/sites/25431/2020/03/20181348/EF_00204-Supporting-Children-Interactive-1.pdf