Today was the first day we had all the pupils back in the building and it was so great. Although much of our time this week has been spent learning new routines and washing our hands, it was nice to be getting back into a level of normality. Everyone seemed really happy to be in school and it was a joy to hear the sound of the pupils playing and laughing in the playground.

Our routines in the morning seem to be working very well and this will continue for the foreseeable future.

As we have added more pupils in each day we’ve assessed the situation at the end of the day and have been making adjustments to make it run more smoothly.

On a positive note I would like to thank the parents and older pupils who have organised multiple pick ups and walking buses. It has been great to see our older pupils taking their responsibilities so seriously and taking such good care of younger siblings and friends. This has been working really well. It would be great to see more of this.

To help improve the flow, if we could stick to only Primary 1 parents in the infant playground, that will help to avoid any confusion between the Primary 1 and Primary 3 classes.

To help P1 exit more swiftly, teachers will send older siblings down to the infant playground to collect their siblings or meet the adult collecting them.

P2-7 parents, if they absolutely require to be in the playground, should stand  surnames A-L in the middle and M-Z in the upper playground.

To help facilitate this P3 teachers will also bring their pupils to the middle playground. There is no need for P3 parents to stand outside the classroom doors.

P2-7 pupils will be dismissed at 3.15. It would be very helpful if pupils were aware of their arrangements and the direction they should be heading. Many pupils have not quite gotten into the new routines yet and have forgotten the agreed arrangements by the end of the day,

When this has happened teachers have for safety held on to the pupils until the arrangements are confirmed.

The Ashy Path still seems to be the main area where adult physical distancing (2M) is an issue. Please keep moving in this area and stay as far from the person in front as possible. It might also be sensible to wear a face covering in such a confined space.  Please be mindful of the safety of all members of the Bishopton Community, especially our  elderly and vulnerable neighbours.

We are still working on developing other solutions to alleviate the congestion in this area.

Today was our first day at full capacity.  Thank you for all your comments and suggestions as to what has gone well and what we can still improve on.  I am sure as we all become more confident in the routines, the process will run much more quickly and smoothly.

Once again thank you for all the support. I hope you all have a relaxing weekend and enjoy the forecast good weather,

See you all again on Monday.