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For Clarity, Keyworker children in school, on World Book Day will be provided with a potato to participate in the activities. They can also wear their pyjamas.

We look forward to seeing your Potato characters!

 We have been:

• Learning the ‘l’ sound
• Revising our common words
• Adding to 20p
• Learning about People Who Help Us
• Celebrating mass with Fr Sebastian

Wow what an amazing first week back in Primary 1! We have loved being back with our friends!

#LoveLearning #PrimaryOne

We have been learning:

• to read and identify words of different sizes in our reading book
• to use a number square to help add and subtract small numbers to larger numbers
• about Katie Morag

Good morning,

It was great to welcome our P1-P3 pupils back to school today.  The children are all settled and are enjoying being back in class with their friends and teacher.  Thank you also, to the parents, for maintaining the required 2m distance and not congregating at the school gates.  Please continue to do so, to prevent the spread of the virus and to keep us all safe.

A reminder, that when you are collecting your child at the end of the day, you follow the same format as you did before the holidays and wait until you are called forward to collect your child.  Only one person is permitted to collect their child.  We ask that you also respect the safety of the staff, by maintaining a 2m physical distance at all times.  We regret that staff are unable to chat with parents when handing over children.  If for any reason, you do require to speak to your child’s teacher, please call the school office on, 01501 740452 and arrangements will be made for your child’s teacher to call you back.

Again, thank you for your continued support and understanding at this time.

Final-Details-for-Nursery-Return FEB 22nd

Dear Parent/carer,

We are delighted to be able to have our ELC and P1-3 children return on Monday 22^nd February.  Our focus will be on health and well-being, especially building relationships and confidence.

Separate guidance is being issued to the parents of ELC children to support their safe return.

We have safety as our main priority and have procedures in place to keep everyone safe.  Staff have access to Lateral Flow Test kits and will be wearing face coverings and adhering to the 2m distance advice. Pupils will work in their groupings and be allocated seats in the classroom, dining room and on school transport.   Regular handwashing and hand sanitizer stations are in place in each class. Pupils travelling on school transport are requested to wear face coverings unless exempt.

In the morning, Primary 1, 1/2, and 2 children will enter the playground and play in their zone until the bell rings at 8.45 am.   They will be collected by their teacher and enter a class at a time.    At the end of the day, classes will be dismissed a class at a time in the order P2, P1 then P2/1.   Parents should wait in the wait zones near the car park, then come forward in order, to collect their child and exit through the main Infant gate.   This is the same process we used between August and December.    Please remember to wear a face covering inside the school grounds and stay 2m apart from others.

The breakfast club is open only for the children of key workers and those who have been attending since Christmas. PE will be outside, so please make sure the children are dressed for the weather conditions.  Please do not sent the children to school if they are unwell or if a family member has booked a test or is awaiting test results.

We are busy preparing for the children’s return and look forward to seeing them on Monday.

Yours sincerely

Frances Burns

Healthcare Quality & Improvement Directorate
Jason Leitch CBE, National Clinical Director
T: 0131-244 5176
E: jason.leitch@.gov.scot

FAO: Parents/carers of children returning to ELC and P1-3

I know that many parents and carers will be pleased that their children are able to return to their early learning and childcare (ELC) setting or to school next week.
Some families might have concerns about safety. I’ve been asked to write to you to explain the reason for the decision to enable younger children to return to ELC and schools.
As always, this decision has been informed by a range of scientific and clinical evidence. One key finding is that younger children are less likely to get or pass on the virus. Because of this, and the measures that are in place, we know that ELC settings and schools are low-risk settings for these children and school staff.
Evidence and advice
It is natural to be nervous about the return to ELC and school, especially with the news of different variants of coronavirus. We want to reassure you that the decision to allow more children to return was based on very careful consideration of the risks and benefits by experts on the Chief Medical Officer’s Advisory Sub-group on Education and Children’s Issues. You can find out more about this group and see their published advice here.
The sub-group reviewed evidence on: the state of the pandemic in Scotland; transmission among young children and in ELC settings and schools; and the wider impacts of the current restrictions on children and families. The evidence continues to show that younger children are less likely to catch or pass on the virus than older children and adults. The decision to prioritise the return to ELC and early primary also reflects the role that those very early stages play in supporting children’s development, and the challenge of delivering this crucial support remotely.

Reducing risk at schools and ELC settings
With the return to ELC and P1-3, our national guidance has been updated, and ELC settings and schools will be reviewing their risk assessments and may be enhancing some of their own measures. Our key focus is on reducing the risk of adult-to-adult transmission, as well as wider community transmission. We know that we need to continue to reduce contact between adults, including both staff and parents/carers

There are some important steps that you can take to support the safe return to ELC and P1-3.
1. Wear a face covering, both at drop off and pick up time, but also if there are congested areas nearby
2. Reduce congestion at pick up/drop off time. Please limit it to one adult at drop off/pick up time.
3. Keep 2 metres away from other adults, whether you are waiting for your child or walking to or from school or nursery and avoid gathering in groups with other parents. (Even if you can maintain 2 metres distance you may create congestion that makes it difficult for others to keep a safe distance when they pass.)
4. Avoid car shares and limit use of public transport.
5. Be vigilant for any symptoms in your household, and follow the Test and Protect guidance if anyone displays symptoms.

I know that your schools or ELC settings have their own plans to reduce risk, so they may have specific instructions that they’d like you to follow.

Reducing risk at home
It is important that we don’t treat the return to school/ELC as an indication that we can relax the rules elsewhere, as this could lead to an increase in community transmission. While children are mixing at their ELC settings or school, it’s still important that they don’t start having indoor play dates at home. We know it is important for children’s wellbeing to be able to play with friends, but, for now, it’s really important that this is outdoors.

There are two reasons for this:
1. We need to take things slowly. With some children returning to ELC and school, we will be able to monitor the impact this has. If we go back to ‘normal’ we risk increasing transmission to levels that mean we need to close schools and childcare settings again.
2. Household mixing in our home environments is likely to be higher risk than mixing in ELC settings or schools, where adherence to strict guidance is monitored. Simply put, children are more likely to pass on the virus to each other in the home environment.

Please also remember that return to school and childcare does not mean that you should stop working from home, if you’re able to do so.

Older children
If you have children in P4-S3 then they won’t be returning to school on 22 February, with the exception of key worker and vulnerable children who are already attending when necessary. We are unlikely to have more children return to school before 15 March, at the very earliest.
If your child is in S4-S6 you will be aware that a very limited number of senior phase learners will return next week on a part-time basis for essential in-school practical work only. There will also be small increases in children and young people with additional support needs attending school where there is a demonstrable and immediate need but it remains too soon to make any further commitments regarding all other in-person provision. Schools will be in touch about what this means for individual pupils.

Support and advice
This is hard for all families, but the continued restrictions at home and across society are enabling us to reopen ELC and P1-3 from 22 February. I appreciate your support in keeping community transmission rates down.

If you have questions about the arrangements in your own school or setting, please contact them or your local authority directly.
The Scottish Government’s Parent Club team are working incredibly hard to ensure that the information about school and ELC is up to date, so please check there for further FAQs and other helpful information.
Yours faithfully
PROFESSOR JASON LEITCH

“The Passenger Transport Service is very keen to hear your views regarding both the transport provided and any contacts with the team.  There are two surveys to be completed depending on the type of transport your child(ren) use.

We appreciate that you may not have used this transport so much lately but your views are very important to us.  The links to the surveys are as follows;

School Bus Survey for Pupils and Parents 2020/21

School Taxi and Minibus Transport Survey 2020/21 .

Thank you for taking the time to complete the relevant survey.”

Keith Smith

Passenger Transport Services System Administrator

Good Morning, and hope you all had a lovely weekend.

We hope that you are all enjoying the activities posted on the Journals each week.  There has been lots of engagement and positive feedback. Thank you for this.  It is our aim to engage with parents/carers about their child’s learning as often as possible and for that reason, we ask that you continue to interact with the daily tasks.  It is great to see parents/ carers giving a ‘thumbs up’, commenting or sharing pictures of what they have been doing at home.

As we are unable to see the children every day, we are unable to observe the learning through our usual interactions with them.  For that reason, we ask that when you are interacting with the Journals, that you leave a comment about the learning.   For example, tell us your child managed to count to 6, missed out 7 then continued to 11, that they could tell you what they think might happen next in the story, that they had more peas on their plate than chips.  All these little things allow us to build a picture of where your child is in their learning, record it and plan for next steps.

If you would like to speak to a member of staff about this please don’t hesitate to contact the school on, 01501 740452.

Take care and stay safe.

The Nursery Team