Dear parent/ carer,
I hope that you and your family have had a good holiday and that your child is excited about coming back to school. We are looking forward to welcoming everyone soon.
Following the announcement from Scottish Government on Thursday that all children will return to school full-time in August. You will have received a Groupcall message from WLC communication which sets out which days each year group will be in school over the first couple of days. It is available here: https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/back-to-school and I have added details in the table below. Please note that our ELC children will begin to return on Wednesday 12th August and we will be in contact with further guidance to support a safe return. Children starting our ELC for the first time will be contacted individually.
You may also be interested in the Scottish Government advice that is informing our reopening arrangements. You can view this here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-preparing-start-new-school-term-august-2020/
We are currently finalising details to reflect the updated Scottish Government guidance and ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our children, staff and families. More information to share new school procedures including arrival/pick up arrangements will be sent out by the end of the week, as we know you will be anxious to get this information so you can prepare for your child returning to school. Until the more detailed information is available I have put together some of the key information which I hope you find helpful.
| Is it safe? | Risk assessments have been completed to identify actions to ensure it is safe for children to return within our school. |
| When do children come back? | 11th August – is an in-service day for school and ELC staff
12th August – ELC children who already attend on a Wednesday should attend for their normal session, P1 (9:10-12:00pm), P2, P3 and P4 (Full day) 13th August – ELC children who already attend on a Thursday should attend for their normal session, P1 (9:10-12:00pm), P5, P6 and P7 (Full day) 14th August – All school children to attend From Monday 17th all school and ELC children to attend full time |
| What should children bring? | We are asking children to bring as little as possible to school.
Children can/should bring: ·      a waterproof coat and any other appropriate clothing to be dry and warm outdoors as we will be outside as much as possible ·      a labelled water bottle and this should be filled at home each day. ·      a packed lunch if they wish (school meals are still available). ·      Pencil cases with their school supplies (the school can also provide these free to families). This helps us to limit the sharing of resources ·      school bags with just their essentials. ·      a snack for break time, which they will eat in the classroom.  Children should not bring: ·      a change of shoes – on the return to school children will not be changing into indoor shoes, they will wear their black school shoes indoors and outdoors. ·      PE kits – on the return to school, children will not be changing into gym kits. Please ensure on their P.E days they wear/ bring trainers. (They might want to wear their school sweatshirt and tshirt on P.E. days). P.E. will initially take place outdoors, as much as we can. ·      Additional items from home such as games, toys, etc. |
| What will be different? | Children will have:
·      to sanitise/wash hands regularly and will spend as much of their day as possible with their class group and their teacher. ·      a staggered start and end time to the day- details to follow by the end of the week. ·      staggered lunch and break times – details to follow by the end of the week. ·      go straight into their class at the start of the school day – details to follow by the end of the week. ·      limited mixing between classes or large gatherings. ·      an allocated gate to enter and leave at the start and end of the day. Parents/carers will be asked to: ·      not gather in the playground or outside the school gates and to maintain 2m distancing at all times ·      not enter the school unless you have an appointment but instead to communicate using emails or by telephone. ·      adhere to specific arrangements for P1 parents/carers on their child’s first day to enable a smooth transition, adults will not be able to come into class but we will arrange a transition area to support children with the move into school on their first day. ELC induction for new children who are staring with our ELC will be shared individually with parents/carers. |
| What will be the same? | Children will still be able to:
·      wear their school uniform ·      see their happy, smiley, welcoming staff ready to care for and teach them. We will all support them to settle back into school life. ·      order lunches as usual on iPay. All families now will have to use iPay to make payments, as cash will not be accepted at the office. ·      go to Breakfast Club each morning, from 12th Aug. ·      order milk for their snack. |
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During these unprecedented times things can change and we appreciate your continued understanding with this, however these are the plans in place for starting back. I will send out more detailed information by the end of the week.
We are super excited to open our doors and welcome all our school and nursery children back.
Kind regards,
Miss Burton
Head Teacher
