Coalsnaughton Primary School & Early Learning Centre
Newsletter
Thursday 6th August 2020
Welcome Back Everyone! I am absolutely delighted to be back in post as your Headteacher. I can’t wait to see all of our weans next Wednesday. I can appreciate that this has been a really challenging time for many of us and we will try and do our upmost to support you and the children through it. All our staff will return on Monday 10th of August and we will be working hard to finalise the preparations for welcoming our children back on Wednesday 12th of August.
Health & Safety The Health, Safety and Wellbeing of our staff and our precious children is our number one priority and we have taken every precaution to ensure any risks are mitigated as much as possible. Our school has been further risk assessed during the holidays and we are following the guidance issued by the Scottish Government on physical distancing and other health and safety matters. However, I really understand that some staff, children and families will be really anxious. That is only to be expected and is normal. I can assure you that we have plans in place and these will be regularly reviewed. We will quickly tweak anything that is not working.
We will encourage the children during the day to wash / sanitise their hands regularly and practice good cough hygiene. Our cleaner, Annette will be in school during the day to carry out regular enhanced cleaning procedures with products which are effective against viruses. Our staff will ensure any equipment and toys children use are easy to clean and cleaned frequently. We will ensure increased ventilation by opening and doors. The children will not need to stay physically distant from each other in their class but staff members will stay 2 metres away from children as much as possible. If a staff member has to be less than 2 metres away from a child e.g. during a 1-2-1 meeting or to give first aid, they will use suitable PPE which may include a face covering and / or sterile gloves etc. In the Early Learning Centre (Nursery) the children will not need to stay physically distant from each other or their key worker but staff members will stay 2 metres away from each other and children as much as possible. Children/staff will not be asked to wear face coverings. Some pupils/staff may choose to do so. Every effort will be made to minimise pupils mingling in large numbers assemblies, the choir, singing will be suspended for now. Our classrooms have been reconfigured to ensure 2 metre distance between, children and staff, and movement around the schools will be staggered and minimised to reduce contact between large numbers e.g. there will be staggered breaks and lunch times.
Visitors We will be keeping visitors to our school to an absolute minimum. Adults should not come into our building unnecessarily.
There will be a QR code at the entrance to our school which any visitor will be asked to scan on their mobile phone and fill in their contact details. This will be held centrally by the Council and deleted after 21 days in line with governance and GDPR. For visitors who don't have a smartphone paper forms will be available and we will need to email the details to emergency planning department for them to update the Councils database.
Communication
You can contact the school office on 01259 452204, e-mail the school coalsnaught@edu.clacks.gov.uk , e-mail myself clcclarkburns@glow.sch.uk or send a Dojo message and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
Additional Support If your child has specific additional support needs, is perhaps vulnerable due to family circumstances, is upset or has experienced trauma as a result of the pandemic we are here to help you. If you have any concerns or want to talk please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Classes 2020/2021 Due to a change in circumstances we have had a change of teacher in P2/3 and P4/5. We are sorry about any inconvenience caused. P1 – Miss Meaghan Watt P2/3 – Miss Laura Petherbridge P4/5 – Miss Stella McLaughlin P5/6/7 – Mr Gardiner Arriving at School We would encourage all children to walk to school. If they do travel to school by car please avoid parking near the school. I know that you will all be excited to see each other but can I ask that parents/carers do not meet in groups outside the school, or block paths which may make physical distancing difficult. I would also ask that you do not enter the school playground for the time being. If your child is reluctant to come into school please wait with them and a member of staff will come to assist you.
Pick Up and Drop Off Times We will stagger the Pick Up and Drop Off times for the classes. 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. for P2/3 & P5/6/7 9.15 a.m. and 3.15 p.m. for P1 & P4/5 Can we ask that the children line up on one of the coloured dots in the playground? These have been placed around the Daily Mile Track.
Entry and Exit Points P4/5 and P5/6/7 will enter via the Fire Door at the far end of the building. (Nearest door to P5/6/7 classroom) P1 and P2/3 will enter via the main entrance.
Breakfast Club and After School Clubs The Breakfast Club will run as normal form 8.30 a.m. and we will notify you when our After School Clubs will start to operate, details to follow.
Lunchtime Meals will be provided, initially in the form of a packed lunch for children in our Early Learning Centre and for Free School Meals entitled children, including P1in the school. For all other children, we ask that you please provide your child with a packed lunch. Lunch bags/boxes should be washable or disposable. These should be kept with the child and taken home every day to be washed. Meal and snack times will be staggered to avoid large numbers of children gathering at the same time and to keep children within their class groups. For the first few weeks the children will eat their lunch in their classroom. We will encourage the children not to share food or drink items. We would discourage children from going home at lunch due to the staggered lunch times. (Times still to be negotiated with the staff team on Monday). The aim is to return to a full hot meal service in all establishments as soon as it is safe to do so.
School Uniform It is important to make sure clothes are clean and washed regularly to minimise the risk of spreading infection. Please make sure all items are labelled. As the children will be outdoors more this session we would suggest that children wear a white polo-shirt/red school cardigan or sweatshirt, black track suit bottoms/leggings and trainers. Your class teacher will do a newsletter in the first week and notify you of gym days so that children can come dressed for gym on these days.
Items from Home
We ask that children bring the minimum amount of personal items from home. Please ensure any items are clean before they are brought to school and can be cleaned when they go home. We will be providing children with their own trays and their own stationery so pencils cases will not be necessary. Children can bring a jacket, small bag, water bottle and packed lunch box. Jackets will be hung on your child’s chair and their bag kept at their desk, where possible. You may wish to provide your child with a small bottle of hand sanitiser and a small packet of tissues. This will help support good hygiene practices.
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. Contact NHS Inform online and follow their advice on booking a test. 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. We will continue to follow the Government Guidance and advice to keep everyone safe. We have already developed a ‘phased recovery plan’ to help us recover from the impact of the pandemic. Additional contingency plans are in place should we need to go into lockdown again. I would like to thank you all for your patience and continued support during these unprecedented times. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns or issues. Kind Regards
Colleen x
Colleen ClarkBurns (Headteacher)