Coalsnaughton Primary School & Early Learning Centre
Newsletter
September 2020
Staffing Well, returning from my secondment has been an absolute dream! I had forgotten what a brilliant team of people we have in Coalsnaughton Primary School and Early Learning Centre (Nursery)! The team are AMAZING! Miss Meaghan Watt (P1), Miss Laura Petherbridge (P2/3), Mr Gardiner (P5/6/7) and Mrs Moon (Nursery) have all settled in extremely well. Miss McLaughlin (P4/5) is on sick leave but we are hoping that she will be back in the near future! Miss McGill will take the class in her absence. Mrs Linsey Ferguson is covering the non-class contact time for P4/5 on a Wednesday and Mrs Jacqueline Ferguson is covering the probationer day on a Wednesday in P2/3.
Leeanne Ross (P.E. Cover)
On our team this session we have Leeanne Ross. Leeanne is a Scottish women's football midfielder. She currently plays for Glasgow City, having been with the club since 2007. Between her debut in 2006 and her retirement from international duties in 2017, Leeanne amassed 133 caps for Scotland! How cool is that! Leeanne will be in school on a Tuesday and a Thursday and she will be teaching P.E. Please make sure that your child comes dressed for P.E. on these days.
A huge congratulations to Mr Gardiner and his wife. Mrs Gardiner had a beautiful baby girl during the holidays!
Meet Elise McGregor Gardiner and look how cute she is!
Headteacher Awards I will be issuing Headteacher Awards every month to children who work hard and demonstrate our school values. I will choose one child from each class and these children will be invited for Tea with Mrs C! August Awards
Well done to; P1 Rhianna Brown P2/3 Roseann Gibson P4/5 Ross McNab P5/6/7 Payton Michie
Health & Safety
Once the children came into the school we discovered that some of what we planned didn’t work in practice. We have reviewed this and tweaked a few procedures in the School and Early Learning Centre Risk Assessment. So far so good!
Our cleaner, Annette is in school during the day from 11 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. to carry out enhanced cleaning procedures in the classroom and toilets. Staff are cleaning equipment and toys frequently. We are opening doors and windows to increase ventilation in the building. The children are going outside more for learning, breaks and physical activity. Our children and staff are following these steps:
They are frequently ensuring that the children (staff too) are washing/sanitising their hands and drying them thoroughly when entering/leaving
the building, before/after eating and after using the toilet. We are encouraging the children and staff to avoid touching their faces
including mouth, eyes and nose. We are encouraging the children and staff to use a tissue or elbow to cough or sneeze into.
Pick Up and Drop Off Times The schools staggered breaks and lunch times are working well for us. We reviewed our Pick Up and Drop Off times for the classes at the end of the first week. The children were so good at coming in that we have managed to have only 5 minutes between each group. 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. for P2/3 & P5/6/7 (Group 1)
9.05 a.m. and 3.05 p.m. for P1 & P4/5 (Group 2) The children lining up on the coloured dots in the playground is working well. Having the P1 parents in the playground has helped the congestion outside on the pavement. Entry and Exit Points
All classes are entering/exiting via the front door and this is working well.
Breakfast Club and After School Clubs
The Breakfast Club is running from 8.30 a.m. everyday. Joan and Mrs Harrower are there every morning. Children who are entitled and have applied for free school meals receive a free breakfast, for everyone else the cost is £1.20. As yet we are not operating After School Clubs.
Lunchtime Our staggered lunchtimes are working well. P4/5 & P5/6/7 - 11.30 a.m. – 12.15 p.m. P1 & P2/3 – 12.00 p.m. – 12.45 p.m.
We are still continuing with packed lunch Grab Bags. P1-3 and Free school meals will be provided free of charge. All other pupils will be able to purchase a Grab Bag for £1.50. It would be really helpful if these are paid through Parent Pay. Perishable/ refrigerated contents of the lunch bag must be eaten on the day or disposed of. These items MUST NOT be taken home. This is very important because of labelling laws. The only items that can be kept are raisins, packet mini biscuits, fresh fruit and bottled water.
School Milk School milk is available and can be booked and paid for in the usual way
Water Our water cooler is available, as normal for the children to re-fill their water bottles. Can you please make sure that they arrive at school with their own filled water bottle? These should be thoroughly washed every night.
Active Engagement with Test and Protect If you, your child or a member of your close family becomes ill, especially with Covid-19 symptoms, please do not send them to school. You can contact NHS Inform online and follow their advice on booking a test or I can also request a test through our emergency planning services for staff and pupils. If a child arrives at school with any symptoms, they will be kept apart from other children in our designated COVID room and sent home as soon as possible. You can find out more at Test and Protect https://www.nhsinform.scot/campaigns/test-and-protect If any cases of Covid-19 are detected we will follow Public Health advice. Please note: That all the usual childhood infections are still out there too, like colds and sickness bugs. There may be an increased risk of catching these common, childhood illnesses after months in lockdown so please follow the advice if your child is sick. Following a bout of sickness or diarrhoea your child must stay at home for 48hours, from the last symptom.
Flu is serious and with COVID-19 around, it’s more important than ever to get the flu vaccine. The NHS strongly recommends that children get the flu vaccine this year. This is for three reasons: • Flu can be serious and life-threatening, even for normally healthy children. • To reduce the risk of children spreading flu to friends and family. • To reduce the strain that a spike in seasonal flu would put on our NHS on top of COVID-19. Help protect children, each other and our NHS. You will have received your child’s permission slip please return these to school as soon as you can. The vaccine Normally, children are eligible to receive the nasal spray,* which is more effective than the injection, and is quick and painless. The vaccine is safe and does not cause flu. Children will just feel a little tickle in their nose. Some children will need to receive the flu vaccine as an injection in their upper arm. For example, children who have severe asthma or have medical conditions that make their immune system weak should not receive the nasal spray vaccine. * The nasal spray vaccine contains a highly processed form of gelatine (pork gelatine), which is used in a range of many essential medicines. The gelatine helps to keep the vaccine viruses stable so that the vaccine provides the best protection against flu. Many faith groups, including Muslim and Jewish communities, have approved the use of vaccines containing gelatine. However, it’s the parent’s or carer’s choice whether or not they want their child to have the nasal spray vaccine. Those who choose not to have the nasal spray vaccine for religious reasons may request the injectable alternative when completing the consent form. You can find out more information on
www.nhsinform.scot/childflu
Best Start Grant £250 to help with your child’s next step! If your child was born between 1 March 2015 and 29 February 2016 and you get benefits or tax credits, you could be eligible for School Age Payment. Go to mygov.scot/beststart or call 0800 182 2222. You can apply between 1 June 2020 and 28 February 2021. School Motto, Vision and Values Our School Motto is ‘Be All You Can Be’ Our Values are Ambition, Kindness, Respect, Perseverance and Responsibility. I will be doing class visits and focusing on a value each month. The value for September will be ‘Kindness’. We have created a ‘Kindness Tree’ and we would love to hear from you any acts of kindness that we could celebrate and add to our tree! It would be good if we could create a ‘Vision Statement’ for our school. I will be sending out a parental consultation form to gather your thoughts!
A Snap Shot of what is happening! I thought since we are not allowed to have visitors in school I would put some photos in the newsletter to give you a snap shot of what is happening in nursery and school. Nursery Outdoor Play
P1
P2/3
They have all settled in beautifully!
In their new classroom . (The Old Blue Room)
P4/5
P5/6/7
Socially distancing from Miss McGill
Socially distancing from Mr Gardiner
Communication
Just a wee reminder that you can contact the school office on 01259 452204 (our admin finishes at 12.30 p.m. so you may need to leave a message), e-mail the school coalsnaught@edu.clacks.gov.uk , e-mail myself clcclarkburns@glow.sch.uk or send a Dojo message to the teacher or me and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Kind Regards
Colleen x
Colleen ClarkBurns (Headteacher)