A document showing a united front from Midlothian council for a safe return to schools for all in August 2020.
Category Archives: Parent Zone
Domestic Abuse – A message from Police Scotland
Domestic abuse is any form of physical, sexual, mental or emotional abuse and takes place within the context of a relationship, either current or past.
If you, or anyone else you know, is experiencing any of the above, or being intimidated or threatened by a current or previous partner, it is Domestic Abuse.
Don’t delay in seeking help during the current coronavirus restrictions.
Call the 24-hour Domestic Abuse Helpline in confidence on 0800 027 1234 or visit safer.scot
Domestic abuse is a crime. Contact the Police via 101 to report it or 999 in an emergency.
Police Scotland website – www.scotland.police.uk
Dear Parents…
Dear parents,
You might be inclined to create a minute by minute schedule for your kids. You have high hopes of hours of learning, including online activities, science experiments, and book reports. You’ll limit technology until everything is done! But here’s the thing…
Our kids are just as scared as we are right now. Our kids not only can hear everything that is going on around them, but they feel our constant tension and anxiety. They have never experienced anything like this before. Although the idea of being off of school for weeks sounds awesome, they are probably picturing a fun time like summer break, not the reality of being trapped at home and not seeing their friends.
Over the coming weeks, you will see an increase in behavior issues with your kids. Whether it’s anxiety, or anger, or protest that they can’t do things normally – it will happen. You’ll see more meltdowns, tantrums, and oppositional behavior in the coming weeks. This is normal and expected under these circumstances.
What kids need right now is to feel comforted and loved. To feel like it’s all going to be ok. And that might mean that you tear up your perfect schedule and love on your kids a bit more. Play outside and go on walks. Bake cookies and paint pictures. Play board games and watch movies. Do a science experiment together or find virtual field trips of the zoo. Start a book and read together as a family. Snuggle under warm blankets and do nothing.
Don’t worry about them regressing in school. Every single kid is in this boat and they all will be ok. When we are back in the classroom, we will all course correct and meet them where they are. Teachers are experts at this! Don’t pick fights with your kids because they don’t want to do math. Don’t scream at your kids for not following the schedule. Don’t mandate 2 hours of learning time if they are resisting it.
If I can leave you with one thing, it’s this: at the end of all of this, your kids’ mental health will be more important than their academic skills. And how they felt during this time will stay with them long after the memory of what they did during those weeks is long gone. So keep that in mind, every single day.
Stay safe. x
From all of us in the Loanhead Primary Community
19.3.20 NEW update from Midlothian council regarding school closure
The following statement was sent to schools this evening. At the bottom of the statement are links to parental guidance and advice which will be very useful in this time. We will keep you updated as, and when, we know anything else.
All schools will be closed to Primary Pupils and S1-3 Pupils with the following exceptions:
· Saltersgate School will remain open to support our children with severe and complex needs. The Head Teacher will be in contact with individual families outlining the individual arrangements which will be in place.
· All Secondary Schools will be open to S4-6 Pupils only in order to complete any SQA mandatory coursework and assessments prior to the published deadlines. Please refer to individual High School Websites for further updates. We are planning a phased approach to distance learning however priority will be given to S4-S6 to begin with.
· We are now focussed on planning for the families of staff belonging to the following groups key worker groups: Emergency Services, NHS, Health and Social Care Partnership including Care at Home, Teachers and Council Staff who have requested assistance with Childcare in order to ensure that we deliver critical services. This requested provision will be delivered through 4 secondary and 4 primary schools acting as Hubs. Individual Schools will be in touch with the individual families to alert them to the arrangements which will be put in place.
· Free School Meals: We are currently working with catering services in order to finalise arrangements for the distribution of food for children entitled to free school meals and further information will be communicated as soon as plans have been finalised.
Public health advice and guidance should continue to be followed for staff and pupils with underlying health conditions and self-isolation.
As you will appreciate there is significant planning needed to move this forward and we will continue to update our website to keep you informed.
You can listen to the Deputy First Ministers announcement at this link:
https://news.gov.scot/speeches-and-briefings/statement-on-covid19-managing-the-impacts-on-scottish-education
Andrew Sheridan
Schools Group Manager (ASN & Inclusion)
Guidance for parents and carers in the event of school closure due to Coronavirus
Digital learning update
This week most pupils should bring home their digital learning passwords for Sumdog, Glow and Education City.
In class, pupils will practise logging into these and using them to enhance learning.
Google classroom is an app within Glow Scotland where each class has a ‘google classroom’. It works best on Google chrome and is accessible on most devices.
There are also tiles on the Glow home page for typing, maths, literacy games and activities too.
Pupils are asked to have a play about with these at home but also have passwords in school bags every day. This will be a learning curve for many and we appreciate your support, patience and cooperation at this time.
Thanks
Mrs Hinton
CoronavIRUS INFORMATION FOR SCHOOLS
The NHS Scotland advice poster was sent home today which shows current advice for schools in Scotland. Please see below
Coronavirus advice poster – Education – 4 March 2020 (1)
World Book Day 5th March 2020
Please see below.
World Book Day Thursday 5th March
This year, instead of dressing up, we would like all children to produce a 3D model of their favourite character or book. Anything can be used to produce this but it must be 3D.
Some suggestions for the base: different size/shape boxes, tubes, potatoes, origami, lego or other construction materials, eggs (hard boiled). These can then be painted and decorated with anything of your choosing.
If anyone needs any help from school please let us know.
We will have an exhibition of all the models for the classes to view. There may even be some prizes too!
We will be giving out the vouchers for a free book on Thursday too.
Below is the link to the World Book Day website. Here you will find lots of fun activities and ideas to encourage your child with reading for enjoyment.
On Thursday we will be doing ‘Drop Everything And Read’ your child can bring a book from home if they would like to…when the bell rings in school they will stop whatever they are doing and read for pleasure. We will be counting up the number of stories we share with each other from Monday until 29th March as part of the ‘Great Story Share’.
In school we will do some story sharing among other fun activities.
https://www.worldbookday.com/
Loanhead’s Got Talent update
Update for the Talent Show:-
The bar will be open from 6:15pm – 11pm.
We will have a program of events , order of performance etc on the night.
This has been selected at random.
First performance is 7pm so please arrive sharp as not to disturb performances. If you child is performing please arrive in plenty time !
There are tickets left for anyone wishing to come along and support our acts!
Thanks