February Newsletter 2 Update

Elderbank Primary, Early Years, Supported Learning and
Enhanced Deaf Provision

February 2021 Newsletter (2)

Dear Parents and Carers,

As you are all aware from the specific letters we issued on
Wednesday 17th February, there will be a partial return to
Elderbank for groups of learners, in line with the Scottish
Government guidelines from Monday 22nd February.

This includes:

 All Primary 1 – 3 pupils in Mainstream,
Supported Learning and the Enhanced
Deaf Provision

 All Early Years pupils
 Pupils in Primary 4-7 whose parents or carers are both

key workers and are out at work and not working from
home.
 A limited number of pupils in P4-7 who were assessed
as requiring in school learning for specific individual
vulnerabilities. (Any new requests require to be made
directly with Miss Robertson)

All children who are returning to school have been
given very specific arrangements for drop off and
collection. It is essential that all these
arrangements are adhered too.

The following is an extract from the letter sent by Jason
Leitch the National Clinical Director and is a reminder of
the need for everyone to follow the rules to allow the
country to come out of lockdown and allow all children to
return to school.

‘Reducing risk at home
It is important that we don’t treat the return to
school/ELC as an indication that we can relax
the rules elsewhere, as this could lead to an increase in community
transmission. While children are mixing at their ELC settings or school, it’s
still important that they don’t start having indoor play dates at home. We
know it is important for children’s wellbeing to be able to play with
friends, but, for now, it’s really important that this is outdoors.
There are two reasons for this:
1. We need to take things slowly. With some children returning to ELC and
school, we will be able to monitor the impact this has. If we go back to
‘normal’ we risk increasing transmission to levels that mean we need to
close schools and childcare settings again.
2. Household mixing in our home environments is likely to be higher risk
than mixing in ELC settings or schools, where adherence to strict guidance
is monitored. Simply put, children are more likely to pass on the virus to
each other in the home environment.

Please also remember that return to school and childcare does not mean
that you should stop working from home, if you’re able to do so.’

Jason Leitch – National Clinical Director

FACTS Guidance
It is very important that everyone follows these guidelines.
We are very grateful to everyone who has. This is essential
when dropping off and picking up children at school and
Early Years.

Remote Learning
The remote learning activities will
continue to be provided for children
learning at home and uploaded to
Seesaw or Google Classroom. The Targeted Support staff
will also continue to support children learning at home with
activities.
Please either email the school [email protected]
ayrshire.sch.uk or your child’s teacher or call the school
office on 01294-218632 if you have any questions or
queries about remote learning and we will be happy to assist.

We have received information that the devices that were
requested from North Ayrshire Council, for individuals who
required technology, should hopefully be delivered by the
end of term. We are all very aware of the delivery demands
across Scotland and we will distribute these devices as soon
as we receive them.

Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club will resume on Monday 1st
March at 8:15a.m.for children of Key Workers. The
children will have the opportunity to participate in
table top activities and will be arranged in their ‘bubbles’.

Lunch Break Times

These are the temporary lunch times during the partial
return to school.

Class(es) Time
Supported Learning 11:45a.m.
Base7,9,10,11 and Supported Learning Hub
12:00p.m.
P1C, P1M, P2/1, Class base 1 + P4-7 Hub 12:30p.m.
P2G, P2/3, P3G + Class base 2

There will be NO morning snack on sale, so please ensure
your child brings a morning snack to school with them.

Parental Feedback – Quality Assurance

As you are aware we have issued two questionnaires. This is
a summary of the responses that we asked pupils to
complete with their families.

Results from our
Remote Learning Family Survey

In February 2021 we sent out a short survey to our families and young
people to ask how they were managing with their remote learning tasks and
to ensure their wellbeing. We received 192 responses and the results were
extremely positive. Here is a summary of our findings.

1. Which learning platform do you
use?
Google Classroom

Seesaw

Both

2. Are you happy with the help
and support you get from the
school?
Yes 187

No 4

Out of the 4 children who responded
‘no’ to this question, we were able to
resolve 3 out of the 4 concerns.

3. Do you find it easy to contact
the school if you need help?

Yes 184

No 7

Out of the 7 families who responded
no to this question, we were able to
resolve 6 of the issues they were
experiencing.

4. Just now, are you happy with
the tasks you have been
getting?
Yes 179

No 12

Out of the 12 families who gave a ‘no’
response to this, we were able to
resolve 100% of them by making some
adaptations to the volume of work
that they were getting (either
increasing or decreasing the amount)
and reassuring children who were not
able to complete all of the tasks
during school hours due to
technology.

Primary 7 Transitions

The Primary 7 staff along with Miss Auld and Mrs
Macfarlane are continuing to liaise with the staff from
Greenwood and Miss Farrell is liaising with colleagues from
the new Lockhart Campus to co-ordinate the transition
programmes for all pupils. Both secondary schools have
plans for virtual and physical transition opportunities. Please
be assured all staff will keep you updated with all activities
the Primary 7 pupils are invited to participate in.

Early Years to Primary 1 transitions

The new Primary 1 registration has now taken place and Mrs
Collins will issue the plans for the transition programme in
March. We do, however, know that the transition plans will
need to be adapted in light of the current restrictions.

Kind regards,

Miss Robertson