Dear Parents/Carers,
I hope that you and your family have had a safe and enjoyable holiday and that your child is excited about coming back to school. We are looking forward to welcoming everyone soon.
As announced by the Scottish Government last Thursday, all children will return to school full-time in August. You will have already received a Group call message from West Lothian Council which sets out which days each year group will be in school for the first week of term. Details are available in the table below and can also be accessed at: https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/back-to-school.
Additional Scottish Government advice that is informing our reopening arrangements. Are available to be viewed here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-preparing-start-new-school-term-august-2020/
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.
We are currently finalising details to 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 (am), P2, P3 and P4 (Full day)
13th August – ELC children who already attend on a Thursday should attend for their normal session, P1 (am), 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 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 water bottle and this should be filled at home each day.
• a schoolbag only if absolutely necessary.
• a packed lunch if they wish (school meals are still available) and we ask that wherever possible this is a bag which can be disposed of and has items in which can also be disposed of at the end of lunchtime.

Children should not bring:
• pencil cases or stationery this will be provided by school so that all children will have their own pack of resources.
• PE kits as these should be worn on P.E days.

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 one teacher
• to wear school uniform as they would normally
• 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
• a soft start to their day in class, so they will not gather in the playground at the start of the day but will go straight into the class through a designated door, they will be shown their door on the first day they attend

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. There will be 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 within the school building 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:
• see their happy, smiley, welcoming staff ready to teach them from where they are and support them to settle back into school life
• order lunches as usual on IPay (please make sure that you can access the Ipay system)
• go to Breakfast Club each morning, from 12th Aug

During these unprecedented times things can change and we appreciate your continued understanding with this. I will send out further more detailed information by the end of the week.
Kind Regards
Johanne Gardner