Our Superstar Hermie Leavers 2020
CLICK HERE to watch our P7 LEAVERS SONG 2020
LATEST NEWS REGARDING THE REOPENING OF SCHOOLS
Dear Parent/Carer
I hope you have all managed to have a relaxing summer break and have enjoyed reconnecting with friends and loved ones. I am so excited to welcome the children back into the school building next week. Whilst I am sure that many of you can’t wait for us to reopen, there will also be many who have reservations and concerns. I can assure you that the safety and wellbeing of our school community is my number one priority. We have been working very hard as a team to ensure we have carefully thought through all of the health and safety measures that will be in place.
Please read the information below and take time to talk to your child about these arrangements. Moving forward we will be reviewing our procedures and risk assessments on a weekly basis and I will be seeking parental feedback from the School Association. Please bear with us as I expect to make adaptions as we work together to make our ‘new normal’ work for our school community!
WHAT WILL THE PHASED RETURN LOOK LIKE?
As you will be aware the First Minister last week announced the re-opening of schools for all children. The 2020-2021 school session will start on Monday 10th August for staff and we will be preparing to welcome our children back from Wednesday 12th August 2020. The return to school will be phased over three days from Wednesday 12th August to allow our children, parents and staff to become familiar with the changes at the school. This means that not all our children will return on the same day. To support the management of the phased return and enable our families to plan around the start of the school session we are grouping the children according to their surname. Please see the following for details of your child’s return to school.
| Child’s surname begins | Wednesday
12 August |
Thursday
13 August |
Friday
14 August |
|
A – L
|
Start back and attend full day |
Do not attend |
Attend full day |
|
M-Z
|
Do not attend |
Start back and attend full day |
Attend full day |
Please note that following new council guidance the above arrangements are different from those outlined in the letter sent to our new P1 parents in June and replaces the information provided in that letter.
A separate communication will be sent to nursery parents regarding their return and start dates by the end of the week (we are expecting an update from the Council on Thursday).
WHAT ARE THE DROP OFF AND PICK UP ARRANGEMENTS?
Physical distancing between adults and between adults and children from different families must be observed. This means normal access into the school for parent and carers will be severely restricted to maintain the safety of everyone. In order to facilitate this we will be introducing a staggered start and finish to the school day.
If your child is in P1: 8.45am – 2.45pm (Mon – Thurs) 8.45 -11.50am (Friday)
If your child is in P2: 9am – 3pm (Mon – Thurs) 9am – 12.05pm (Friday)
If your child is in P3: 8.45 – 3.15pm (Mon – Thurs) 9am – 12.00 (Friday)
If your child is in P4: 9am – 3.30pm (Mon – Thurs) 9am – 12.15pm (Friday)
If your child is in P5: 8.45am – 3.15pm (Mon – Thurs) 9am – 12.00 (Friday)
If your child is in P5/6: 8.45am – 3.15pm (Mon – Thurs) 9am – 12.00 (Friday)
If your child is in P6: 9am – 3.30pm (Mon – Thurs) 9am – 12.15pm (Friday)
If your child is in P7: 9am – 3.30pm (Mon – Thurs) 9am – 12.15pm (Friday)
In order to keep everyone safe we would request that you follow the advice below –
- Only parents/carers of pupils in nursery – P4 should enter the school grounds.
- Only ONE parent/carer should accompany your child/children at drop off.
- All adults are expected to remain 2 m apart at all times.
- We would ask that parents walk, scoot or cycle their child to the school gates if possible.
- Should you need to drive please park on a nearby street and not directly outside the school to ensure sufficient space for social distancing. Please do not park on the zig zag lines outside the school under any circumstances.
- Pupils/parents should arrive as near to their drop off/pick up time as possible. No earlier than 5 mins prior to their bell please and please do not remain in the playground at the end of the school day.
- Pupils should line up outside their entrance (noted below). School staff will supervise the pupils once they are in the school grounds.
WHICH ENTRANCE/EXIT WILL THEY USE?
| Class | Home Class Entrance (this will also be used for dismissal) |
| Nursery Class | Nursery entrance |
| P1A | Dining Hall Entrance (double doors) |
| P1B | Dining Hall Entrance (double doors) |
| P2A | Entrance previously used by P2/3 |
| P2B | Entrance previously used by P2/3 |
| P3A | Classroom entrance previously used by P6A |
| P3B | Classroom entrance previously used by P5 |
| P4A | Classroom entrance previously used by P4/5 |
| P4B | Classroom entrance previously used by P4 |
| P5 | Classroom entrance previously used by P7A |
| P5/6 | Classroom entrance previously used by P7B |
| P6 | Classroom entrance previously used by P6B (this is different from the entrance referred to in Miss Duff’s welcome film). |
| P7A | Infant playground entrance |
| P7B | Infant playground entrance |
WHAT ARE THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR SCHOOL LUNCHES IN AUGUST?
Lunches will be consumed in the classroom (apart from P1 and P7 who will eat in the dining hall). A free school packed lunch will be provided for pupils in P1-3 and those pupils eligible for free school meals. School packed lunches can be ordered using ParentPay by the WEDNESDAY of Week 2. We would ask that all pupils in P1-3 who would not normally have a school lunch (out of choice) and those that usually pay for a school lunch bring a packed lunch from home in the first 2 weeks to allow us time to get the ParentPay ordering system back up and running. Lunches and water bottles should be in a named container. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide the fruit your child would have received as part of Crunch and Munch and they should also bring a snack from home. Please avoid providing your child with crisps and sweets. A piece of fruit or oatcakes would be preferable.
WHAT CAN MY CHILD BRING TO SCHOOL?
Children are asked to bring minimal items (other than a snack, water bottle and lunch if needed) to school. All pupils will be provided with a ‘named learning resource pack’ by the school which will include stationary and will remain in school. All new P1’s have been provided with a named ‘pocket bear’ that they are welcome to bring to school with them.
WHAT SHOULD MY CHILD WEAR TO SCHOOL?
We are asking that the children return to school wearing their school uniform. Uniform should be washed frequently.
SHOULD THEY BRING PE KIT?
Please do not send a PE kit into school in the first week. We will send out a further communication regarding this once the children are back.
HOW DO I CONTACT THE SCHOOL/STAFF?
Please do not enter the school building/visit the office unless your message is urgent. You will be able to contact staff through emailing the office on admin@hermitagepark.edin.sch.uk or contacting the office by phone. The answerphone will be checked throughout the day. It is vitally important that we have up to date emergency contact numbers and an email address. Please email the office if yours has changed.
WHAT MEASURES ARE IN PLACE TO REDUCE THE RISK OF INFECTIONS?
The most important measure will be that your child will always be asked to wash their hands on entering and exiting the classroom. We will be minimising interactions between class groups during class and lunch/playtimes. We will not be organising any gatherings such as assemblies and singing will not be allowed. Face masks are not required to be worn by pupils and staff however they are allowed to wear them if they choose to.
Although pupils will not be expected to social distance from each other we will be minimising any sharing of resources and have strict guidance on our cleaning regime and where resources need to be quarantined. Pupils P2-7 will be encouraged to social distance from staff where possible. However, please be assured that social distancing does not mean emotional distancing and we will still be a caring and nurturing school!
WHAT HAPPENS IF MY CHILD DISPLAYS ANY COVID SYMPTOMS?
It is vitally important that if your child or anyone else in your household develops symptoms of coronavirus such as a high temperature, a new or continuous cough or a loss of/change in smell or taste, that person must stay at home for at least 10 days. In addition, everyone else in the household must stay at home for 14 days. Should a child display any of these symptoms within school there will be arrangements in place to isolate them in a safe place until they are collected. We will then follow the ‘Test and Protect’ approach in line with Health Protection Guidance.
WHAT ARE THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR AFTER SCHOOL CARE AND BREAKFAST CLUB?
Before and After school care such as Socialball and CLASP will be able to reopen at the start of term and you should liaise with them directly regarding places and their reopening arrangements. We will be restarting our school Breakfast Club in Week 4 of term and a further communication will be sent to parents regarding this. No after school activity clubs will be able to restart during the initial period of reopening.
As you will understand, the arrangements outlined above have been designed to be in line with current guidance. Should this guidance be amended we will of course adapt the information above and contact you with any updates. I would strongly recommend you follow our Twitter feed @hermitageparkps for any updates. There is also a helpful FAQs section on the council website –
www.edinburgh.gov.uk/schools-learning/returning-school-august-2020/1
We recognise that the sudden and unprecedented changes that have taken place since the end of March will have had an impact on our children and they may be feeling uncertain about the return to school. I have attached a ‘Back to School’ guide with this letter which has some very useful ideas on how you can support your child/children with this transition. I want to reassure you that staff fully appreciate the anxieties that children may have about the return, and we will welcome and support everyone to make the transition back to school a positive experience. I can’t wait to see the children back in the building and learning together again!
Yours sincerely,
Faye Calder-Kelly
Headteacher
Building_Resilience_Tips_leaflet_ASN_
EXCITING PLAYGROUND DEVELOPMENTS
I have been working with Edinburgh International Festival on a project which will involve them building us a small staged area in the playground this summer. I have added a copy of the draft design to the school website for you to look at. It will be positioned next to the Peace Garden to ensure we retain lots of open space for play/sports. We are looking forward to the children using it for creative play at breaktimes, for drama lessons and for performances to parents. The children will be involved in designing the back drop on their return.
CLICK HERE to see Stage Design
If you, or someone you know, is struggling during this very difficult time we have gathered together a list of supports available. As we become aware of others we will update this page. Click Here
We have provided USEFUL WEBSITES which you may want to use while your child is at home, we will try to update this throughout the closure. Click Here
For medical information please see the NHS Scotland Website. Click Here
Why not try some of the recipes from our Hermie cookbook – see below?
Healthy Hermie Multicultural Cookbook_FINAL
