NHS Guidance on Attendance at School
We know that this is a confusing and uncertain time as we learn how to follow the guidance for Covid 19 symptoms and testing. We would request that all families take time to re-read the guidance below, this should support you in deciding your child’s attendance at school. It is important as a whole school community we follow this guidance to keep everyone safe.
The NHS guidance is:
- Please don’t send your child to school with symptoms which may be coronavirus (a new persistent cough, and/or a high temperature, and/or a loss or change in taste or smell).
- If your child or anyone in your household has symptoms you should ALL stay at home. Find out how to organise a COVID test on NHS Inform or phone 0800 028 2816. If your child has symptoms but tests negative they can return to school once they have had no symptoms for 48 hours and are feeling better. Please show the teacher the negative test result. This helps monitor cases and keeps the school community safe and reassured.
- If you return from an area with quarantine restrictions keep your child off school and stay at home for 14 days. A negative COVID test will not shorten quarantine as it doesn’t show if you or your child will develop the virus. Updated travel information is on gov.scot
When you phone our office to report your child’s office we will ask if your child or anyone in the house have symptoms and remind you of the NHS guidance.
Please find attached the information leaflet:
parents and carers letter good practice schools
Please find track and trace information:
Drop off and Pick Arrangements: Nursery
Thank you for bearing with us whilst we organise our routine for children entering and leaving the nursery building. Please find below a reminder of the processes. There are staff in the area and signage on the fence to support you. These processes are part of our school risk assessment and comply with Scottish Government policy and advice.
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Drop off at nursery:Â
- AM/ Full day places: The nursery opens at 8am and it would be fantastic if all children could be in nursery by 8:45am. If you are bringing a young  school aged child into the outdoor area they must remain beside you at all times and not play with the nursery equipment. All other children should make their way around to their allocated gate.
- PM places:Â The nursery opens at 1:15pm and it would be fantastic if all children could be in nursery by 1:45pm.
- Open the gate into the nursery outdoor area. Please close the gate behind you.
- As you enter the outdoor area please wait on one of the physically distanced spots and a nursery nurse will greet you.
- Close gate on the way out, please don’t loiter in this area.
- Adults should follow 2m physical distancing guidelines when dropping off in the outdoor area.Â
- We would recommend adults entering the outdoor area to wear a face mask.
- Children will wash their hands when they enter the nursery.
Pick up at nursery:Â
- AM places: Nursery pick up begins at 12:15pm and all children should be collected by 12:45pm.
- PM/ Full day places: All children should be collected by 6pm. If you are collecting your child before 5pm and there are children in the outdoor area please wait at the gate and a nursery nurse will approach you. If there are no children in the outdoor area please enter and ring the bell.
- Open the first gate into the nursery outdoor area. Please close the gate behind you.
- As you enter the outdoor area please wait on one of the physically distanced spots and a nursery nurse will greet you. If there are not enough spots please wait outside the nursery gate until one becomes available.
- Children will wash their hands before they leave the nursery.
- Close gate on the way out, please don’t loiter in this area.
Thank you for your support as we continue to put processes in place to support everyone’s safety.
Important Information about the Return to School
Dear parent/ carer,
Please find further information below regarding changes to our school day which follows Scottish Government guidance and takes into place our local risk assessment. Please be assured that staff will be available to support with these new routines to our school day, so please don’t feel confused or overwhelmed, we will support you. There will also be signage up to help direct you.
Nursery
Returning and new nursery children will have received a groupcall email with information about start dates, times and routines. This is also available on our blog. The remainder of this letter is mainly aimed at our primary children.
Primary 1
On Wednesday 12th August Primary 1 children should be dropped off by one adult between 9:10-9:30am at the playground entrance to their classroom. You should enter and exit through the library gates. You will have the opportunity to take a photo of your child on the class decking. Children should be collected in the playground at 12pm. Â From Thursday 13th they should enter the playground as explained below and collected from the playground at 12pm. Â From Friday 14th they can attend Breakfast Club if you wish and will be collected at the normal time, as detailed below.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club will operate between 8:10-8:48am and is open to all P1-7 children. The entrance to Breakfast Club is as normal through the lunch hall doors. If children are attending Breakfast Club they should arrive, as normal by 8:30am and they will be registered. Breakfast will be served in individual packs and the children will sit at a table allocated for their class. At 8:48am the children will enter the playground with a pupil support worker and line up at their classroom door. We would request that Primary 1 children do not attend Breakfast Club on the 12th and 13th August.
Morning routines
The school playground will be closed until 8:48am. Children can enter the playground through their allocated gate between 8:48-9:00am and enter their classroom.
- Primary 1-3: The Library Gate
- Primary 4-5: Kick Pitch Gate (including those P4 children in P4/3)
- Primary 6-7: Upper area side gate
Their classroom doors are labelled with their class name. Children will use hand sanitiser and take off their jacket, etc. Parents as normal, should not enter the playground in the morning. Adults should remember to distance 2m from each other and not gather at the gates. It is very important that children are punctual and arrive by 9am through their appropriate gate. If a child is late, please phone the school and someone will come and collect them outside the office door, this process should only be used in extenuating circumstances.
Staggered Break and Lunch Times
Children will wash their hands/ use hand sanitizer before eating and they will have their break time snack in class. In the playground they will be allocated an area for their class to play and will have a box of playground games for their class. In the dining hall, classes will be allocated a seating area and there will be limited classes in the dining hall at once. School lunches will be served in a disposable box with disposable cutlery. Packed lunches can be brought from home as normal.
Break Times
- 10:30-10:45am – P1, P2/1, P3/2, P4/3
- 10:45-11:00am – P4, P5, P6, P7
Lunch Times
- 12:00-12:45pm – P1, P2/1, P3/2, P4/3
- 12:45-1:30pm – P4, P5, P6, P7
End Of Day
Primary 5-7 will leave school through their allocated gate at 3:15pm and at 12:25pm on a Friday.
- Primary 5: Kick Pitch gate
- Primary 6-7: Upper area side gate
Primary 1-4 should be collected from the playground by one adult. The playground will open at 3:05pm and at 12:15pm on a Friday. Adults should enter the playground through the infant side gate and leave with their child/ren via the library gate. This is to avoid congestion and support distancing between adults.
The children will exit from their class door as normal between 3:10-15pm (12:20-12:25pm on a Friday) and the teacher will match them up with their adult. We ask that you exit the playground immediately after collecting your child/children. Â Adults should maintain 2m physical distancing from other adults and not congregate together in groups. The whole of the playground should be used to help with physical distancing. Please ensure your child is collected by 3:15pm as collection of children will not be available by the office.
Parking
A reminder that the turning circle is a drop off point. The staff carpark and delivery area should not be used by parents and carers. This is very important for the health and safety of our families accessing the school.
Home Learning
On Wednesday 12th August P5-7 children should access their previous class Team on Glow, using their log in details. For example Primary 7 will access their Primary 7 Team. They will find the learning for Wednesday in the transition channel in their Team. For example Primary 7 will go to the Into Primary 7 Transition Channel.
On Wednesday Primary 2-4 will bring home with them their learning tasks to complete at home on the Thursday when they are not in school.
Home learning choice boards will resume after the September Break weekend.
Access to the Building
In line with the risk assessment, communication from parents/ carers to the school should predominantly be done via the school email address or phone call. Parents will only have access to the building though pre-made appointments, please do not arrive at our office without a pre-made appointment.
Please find below previous information as issued on 5th August.
| Is it safe? | Risk assessments have been completed |
| 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.
Please be patient with us as we find our new normal and establish new routines to help with everyone’s safety. We are super excited to open our doors and welcome all our school and nursery children back.
Kind regards,
Miss Burton
Head Teacher
Information for New Nursery Children
Dear parent/ carer,
We look forward to welcoming your child to our nursery from Wednesday 12th August. If your child has a Wednesday place they should attend as normal on Wednesday, and likewise for the following days.
In order to support us introduce your child to our nursery we have allocated you a time slot. We will email this information to you on Thursday 5th August. We would request that only one adult drops them off at this time. Your child is entitled to stay for their full nursery session – am, pm or full day or you can request a shorter time, depending on your circumstances. A member of our nursery team will be ready to greet you and issue you with some paperwork to be completed and returned to us as soon as you can.
Our nursery operates 50 weeks per year, closing only for the Christmas holidays.
We spend a lot of time outdoors in all weathers so please ensure your child brings their own waterproof clothing and wellies each day. Please let us know if you need support with this. On the return to nursery we will not be asking children to change into indoor shoes. They should also bring a change of clothes in their school bag each day which is carried to and from nursery. Due to the current restrictions, we request that you only bring a transition toy to nursery if required, we would prefer if children did not bring toys to nursery with them. Full day children should bring their packed lunch as usual.
We are still waiting awaiting guidance on parents accessing the nursery building. We would request that only one adult drops off and collects your child at nursery. This may involve a drop off to the nursery outdoor area where a member of staff will greet them. Please remember that there should be a 2m distance between adults.
We are super excited to welcome you and your child to our nursery family.
Kind regards,
Miss Burton
Head Teacher
Information for Our Returning Pre-School Nursery Children
Dear parent/ carer,
We look forward to welcoming your child back to nursery from Wednesday 12th August. If your child has a Wednesday place they should attend as normal on Wednesday, and likewise for the following days.
In order to support us with our ante-pre children starting nursery we would request that if you have an am or full day place, please arrive at nursery between 8 – 8:50am. If they have a pm place, please arrive between 1:15-1:45pm.
Our nursery will now also operate 50 weeks per year, closing only for the Christmas holidays.
As always we will be spending a lot of time outdoors in all weathers so please ensure your child brings their own waterproof clothing and wellies each day. Please let us know if you need support with this. On the return to nursery we will not be asking children to change into indoor shoes. They should also bring a change of clothes in their school bag each day which is carried to and from nursery. Due to the current restrictions, we request that you only bring a transition toy to nursery if required, we would prefer if children did not bring toys to nursery with them. Full day children should bring their packed lunch as usual.
We are still waiting awaiting guidance on parents accessing the nursery building. We would request that only one adult drops off and collects your child at nursery. This may involve a drop off to the nursery outdoor area where a member of staff will greet them. Please remember that there should be a 2m distance between adults.
We are super excited to open our doors and welcome all our nursery children back.
Kind regards,
Miss Burton
Head Teacher
Key Information About Returning to School
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
Information for New Nursery Families
Dear parent/ carer,
We have been informed by pupil placement that you have a place in our nursery  – how exciting! We would like to welcome you and your family to Pumpherston and Uphall Station Community School.
We had previously posted out forms to you but unfortunately there has been a mix up and they are at the Livingston sorting office. Please do not feel you need to go and collect these forms, they will be reissued when you start with us.
The nursery staff have made this Sway to give you a virtual tour of our nursery, if you click on the link you can see our nursery building and most importantly – the staff who work in our school.
https://sway.office.com/Wxpse86SNO9S77f0?
If your child is already 3 the expected return date to nursery is from 12th August (dependent on the days you have been offered), otherwise they start the day after their third birthday.
I will be in touch with you again in August to confirm the starting arrangements for your child for starting nursery, following a further announcement from the Depute First Minister on the return of nursery and schools at the end of July.
Your school years are some of the best years of your life and our staff are very excited to help you make those important memories. You can find out more information about our nursery on our blog: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/puscpsnews/category/our-classes/nursery/. If you wish to contact us, please email us: wlpuscps@westlothian.org.uk
Kind regards,
Miss Burton
Welcome to our Nursery
Welcome to all our new nursery children. Over the next few days you will be receiving an induction pack from us in the post. We look forward to welcoming you all in August.
Here is a Sway including a virtual tour of our nursery.
End of Term Message from Miss Burton
Good morning everyone,
Wow! Can you actually believe it is the end of term?!
It’s hard to believe that 14 weeks ago our school doors closed, but our school community definitely didn’t.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you as parents and carers for your support as we navigated through these unprecedented times. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and for supporting us along the way. In some ways, although we are apart, I feel like we have grown closer. You have done a brilliant job of supporting your child with home learning, please give yourself credit for that.
Thank you to our staff who have quickly adapted to a new way of learning and teaching, and especially for humouring me with my love of making a making a wee video! They have consistently taught our children, showing they care whilst experiencing the personal challenges that lock down brings to us all. Thank you to everyone who also works behinds the scenes- a lot of work goes into running the school smoothly.
Happy retirement to our dear Mrs Ness, who has dedicated 25 years to our school. That is a huge achievement and dedication to our community! She will be greatly missed by us all.
Thank you to our children- we miss them dearly! They are the true stars of PUSCPS. We have loved seeing, and hearing them in Teams, reading emails and seeing their uploads to online learning journals. Good luck to our Primary 7s- they will be greatly missed. It was great to celebrate with them last week, and we know they will go on to make us all proud. Please now take 10 minutes to sit with your child and watch this wee video we made especially for them:
I will be in touch in August once we have a clearer picture of what the school day will look like. August will bring a new normal for us, but for now, rest and try not to worry. None of us like uncertainty, but the one thing that is certain is that we will always be here to support you. We are ready to welcome you and your child back, and we are very excited about that!
Please give your child a big PUSCPS hug from me- I miss them lots.
Happy holidays,
Miss Burton
