Tuesday 11 August

Dear Parent/Carer,

 

We look forward to warmly welcoming pupils back to school from tomorrow onwards. 

 

Week beginning 10 August	Monday 10	Tuesday 11	Wednesday 12	Thursday 13	Friday 14
	In-Service STAFF ONLY	In-Service STAFF ONLY	S1 & S2 PUPILS ONLY (S6 Buddies will be invited to also attend)	S3 & S4 PUPILS ONLY	S5 & S6 PUPILS ONLY
AT HOME			S3-S6 PUPILS	S1, S2, S5 & S6 PUPILS	S1-S4 PUPILS
Week beginning  17 August	Monday 17	Tuesday 18	Wednesday 19	Thursday 20	Friday 21
	All pupils in school from 830 am	All pupils in school from 830 am	All pupils in school from 830 am	All pupils in school from 830 am	All pupils in school from 830 am

 

Understandably, pupils will be a bit nervous and anxious so please do reassure them that staff have been working hard towards getting everything ready for their safe return.  A great deal of thought and effort has gone into making the school as safe as possible for all and preparing lessons that will gently reintroduce all to school based learning.

 

Special thoughts are with our new S1s and their families as they, tomorrow, start at High School. I’m sure they will be both especially nervous and excited tonight but all will be fine. 

 

I’d like to revisit a couple of areas I referred to in my email on Sunday.

 

Break and lunchtimes  

1. Limited break time snacks and school lunches will be available. 
2. S1s must stay on the school campus; all other pupils may visit local shops at breaks of lunchtimes. Queuing in local shops is likely to be a slow process. 
3. School lunches are offered at a fixed price of £2.70. Exceptionally, cash may be used but we would prefer that the cashless technology is used. S1s will received their PIN codes in the next few days.
4. Lunches will be provided on a ‘grab and go’ basis with appropriate distancing and one way queuing in place.
5. It is strongly recommend that all bring packed lunches.
6. All pupils on free school lunches will be provided with a lunch in the dining room. 

 

Other

1. Pupils must all bring face coverings (or masks) with them to school. 
2. Face coverings (E.g. masks) are mandatory in local shops, on public transport and in some areas of the school. (Staff will advise pupils on this)
3. Pupils with respiratory conditions will be supported in wearing masks throughout the day. 
4. The school will not be providing masks to pupils other than in a situation where a pupil is displaying C19 symptoms.
5. Pupils should have clothing that is suitable for Edinburgh in August.  (E.g. Thunderstorms and sunny spells are to be expected throughout August).
6. Pupils may find it helpful to bring their own hand sanitiser. This will help in avoiding any issues with allergies to the gel that we provide and will also reduce queues at hand sanitiser units.

 

 

On a completely different matter, I apologise for the time it has taken us to refund parents for cancelled trips. The administration around this has been completed; we are awaiting the funds being transferred to ParentPay so that parents can be refunded. In normal times, this would only take a few days. 

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any immediate queries. Do bear in mind that we will aim to cover a lot of the queries you may have in the initial briefings for pupils so you may wish to delay contacting us until your child has been in school for the first day.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Donald j Macdonald

Headteacher