26 May 2020

Practise like you’ve never won and perform like you’ve never lost.

Dear Parents/ Carers,

I wanted to update you on our current position as I’m sure you will have seen many news reports about schools reopening and to share with you the plans, we are putting in place for children and staff to return safely.

The return to school buildings will be a very carefully planned and organised event.

In June some staff will be allowed to access our building initially to work with Support Services Co-ordinators to complete risk assessments for our building in light of social distancing guidance.

Staff will then be allowed to enter the building to plan and organise classrooms to facilitate keeping children 2 metres apart.

Staff will familiarise themselves with new procedures and plan for how to safely have children entering and leaving the building and how to move about the building avoiding contact with other groups.

We will be meeting with cleaning supervisors, janitorial staff and catering staff in order to ensure that there is a rigorous plan for the cleaning and disinfecting of all areas used by children and staff.

We plan not to open certain areas of the school for instance the Playroom, Sensory Room and ICT suite.

It is likely that in August children will come to school in small groups of about 8-10 per mainstream class. They might have staggered start and finish times to try to cut down on numbers of parents entering or leaving the school grounds at the same time.

We are expecting to receive guidance on numbers for ASN classes soon.

Children will be issued with a resource folder of stationery and essential items to prevent the sharing of resources.

Children will experience what is being called blended learning: Numeracy, Literacy and Health and Wellbeing curricular areas taught in school and home learning for time that they are not in school covering other curricular areas. We are awaiting advice from The Scottish Government and SLC on how best to proceed with the organisation/ grouping of children to facilitate this.

It is likely that children will have reduced time in front of a teacher and will work from home for some of the time on set tasks.

I understand that this gradual reopening of school buildings is very concerning for parents and carers and staff as there are many aspects to take into account.

Please be reassured that the safety of our children and staff is paramount in all the decision-making processes and that at times we may need to revise our procedures due to further advice from the Scottish Government and SLC.

I have not made classes for next session as yet and will try to keep siblings coming to school on the same days/ times to minimise disruption to parents and carers where possible. Children will be coming to school with only 7-9 others in their year group at a time to reduce the risk of infection to all. As the advice and infection rate change, I will then make up classes for when children can attend in larger numbers.

I have asked teachers to remain at the same stage they are teaching this year and to remain in the same classroom again to reduce the disruption and movement of staff and belongings around the school. There are a few minimal changes due to us reducing from 10 mainstream classes to 9.

Although I have asked teachers to remain at their current stage there may need to be some changes depending on shielding and staff ability to attend school.

To help with Primary 1 transition into the school we have posted information and a virtual tour on our school website. We encourage all new parents and carers to show the tour to their child and talk to them about the information on the page.

Our Secondary School colleagues have been busy creating transition packs for our Primary 7 children. These have been emailed directly to children or are on secondary school websites.

I am aware that as parents you will have lots of questions about returning to the school building. I will endeavour to answer your questions and if I cannot I will try to find out for you.

If you have any questions please email me at

headteacher@st-johns-hamilton-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk

Thank you for all the hard work you have been doing with the children. We recognise that learning comes in many forms and that although this unprecedented time has given us many challenges it has also provided time to spend with our families, especially our children.

I will keep you updated as I receive further advice and guidance.

Your sincerely,

Alison Hope.

Head Teacher