Category: Primary 2

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 12^th 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.  From Thursday 13^th they should enter the playground as explained below and collected from the playground at 12pm.  From Friday 14^th 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 12^th and 13^th 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.  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 12^th 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 5^th 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.

 

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

 

6th August Letter

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.

 

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