The Scottish Government has confirmed that all school pupils will be returning to school after the Easter break, therefore our first full week back for everyone will start on Monday 19th April.
We should all remember that, although this is a return to education for our pupils, it is still not a return to normality. That said we will do everything that we can, under the circumstances, to make the experience as much like our normal school day as possible.
As we have been following our Remote Learning Model and then our Blended Model since January, we appreciate that some of our pupils may be anxious and therefore all Year Heads have posted a summary letter and a power point, to provide some reassurance. These documents, along with plans of the one-way system in operation within the school, can be found on the Year Group Google Classrooms. For your information, the key points are listed below.
Key Points of Information for Return on 19th April
Pupils should arrive at school no earlier than 8.30 am and be in full School uniform. They should enter the building through Door 1 for A Block classes and Door 4 for Block B and C classes. Both doors will be open from 8.30am each day.
The school day will operate as normal with an 8.45 am start and a 3.35 pm finish (1.10 pm on a Friday). We will continue to release the classes in A Block at 3.30 pm (1.05 pm on a Friday), to help with congestion.
Interval will be from 11.15 to 11.30 and lunch starts at 1.10 -1.55, both as normal. Whenever possible food should be ordered through the Fusion Mobile app. Money can be added to their card via Parent Pay however there will be a till available to allow pupils to add money to their cards each day.
Pupils can still go out for lunch. Those pupils who choose to go offsite must follow the rules in place for wider society, for example, wearing a face covering when entering a shop and respecting distancing measures.
While in the school building, masks must be worn at all times – in classes, stairwells, corridors and in the Octagon queue, unless a pupil is medically exempt. We strongly recommend that all pupils take every opportunity to get outside for fresh air during Interval and Lunch, as they can then remove their masks outside in the playground while remembering to distance if their mask is off.
All classes will have seating plans which must be followed. This has allowed us to track and trace effectively. It is worth mentioning that pupils required to isolate before Easter were not contacts inside the building but from travelling to school and a lack of social distancing during lunch offsite.
Our primary focus, as always, is the wellbeing of our pupils. Lateral Flow test kits have been provided for our senior pupils and we are delighted to say we will now be offering the test kits to all pupils. Testing is voluntary however we are strongly encouraging all school staff and pupils who attend regularly to participate wherever possible.
Pupils who are taking part in the covid-19 lateral flow testing should start the morning of Monday the 19th April before coming in to school. Pupils are invited to collect a supply of tests on Thursday 15th April between 10am – 2pm.
Please note, the current restrictions are still in place and we are only permitted to have the pupils in to collect the kits. We have attached another copy of the consent form, the signed form will need to be returned in exchange for the testing kits.
We look forward to welcoming all our learners back to school next Monday.
Lateral Flow Testing Consent Form
Appointments for those with or without symptoms can be made by visiting Coronavirus (COVID-19) | NHS Lanarkshire (scot.nhs.uk) or by calling 0800 028 2816.