Dear Parents/Carers,
As I’m sure it will have been for you, the announcement on Tuesday confirming the full return of primary school pupils from 15th March was very welcome, indeed! As with the return of P1-3, we do not expect any major changes to be required from procedures that were in place prior to Christmas, however, we await further guidance from the Highland Council and will share this as it becomes available. A reminder to all pupils that when they return on the 15th, all home learning resources, including Chromebooks will need to be brought back to school. There will be no changes to canteen or transport arrangement and until the Easter holidays, we will continue to offer the menu which is currently in place and can be found at https://www.highland.gov.uk/downloads/file/22864/primary_2-choice_grab_n_go_menu Friday lunches will continue to be a grab and go option served in classrooms.
We are still in a situation where indoor PE is not allowed and remind pupils to come prepared to be outside in all weather. Pupils in P1-3 should all have a change of clothes available at school in case this is required.
As we prepare for the full return of pupils, there will be several updates over the next couple of weeks. Please take time to read these over and to be in touch with any questions or concerns that you may have.
Homework
As intimated previously, P1-3 class teachers have been going through the process of determining where all pupils are at in their learning. We hope to be in a position to start issuing homework again from next week at the earliest and class teachers will be in touch directly around the arrangements for this.
Ventilation
In line with current guidance and with our risk assessments, classroom windows are require to be open to increase ventilation, regardless of the weather. While this week has not presented a problem, pupils are reminded to wear additional layers in they are finding classrooms cold. The additional layers should be in addition to school uniform and not in place of it.
School Uniform
With the exception of PE days, all pupils should be in proper school uniform each day. On PE days, while PE clothing should be worn as a base layer, pupils are still expected to wear their school jumpers.
School uniform can be ordered directly from our supplier, Andrew Hyde at https://ahyde.co.uk/collections/portree-primary Please note that there is a new option to order a school hoodie and if anyone wishes to see these, a sample can be seen by arrangement with the school office. We are aware that the tartan skirts and kilts have been out of stock, however, if you were looking to purchase these, please contact the school office and we can point you in the direction of some other suppliers of these.
School uniform items can also be purchased at MacGregors in Portree.
Red Nose Day
The school will recognise Red Nose Day by holding a day for Comic Relief on Friday 19th March. Pupils will be encouraged to dress in red, to sport a crazy hair style and come to school prepared to tell a joke. Further details will follow.
Parents Night
Parents night appointments for P1-3 pupils will take place, virtually, on Tuesday 23rd and Wednesday 24th March. The Highland Council have adopted a new system for this using a programme called Parent Bookings which requires parents to sign up online for a preferred timeslot. Further information about how to do this will be sent out next week and the booking window will be open from 12th March -19th March for parents to sign up. This system is said to be very reliable and intuitive, however, it is our first experience using it and we look forward to seeing how it works. An opportunity for P4-7 parents nights will take place after the Easter holidays.
We wish you all a lovely weekend and to our P4-7 pupils and their families……only one more week of online learning……we can do this!
Regards,
Sara
portreeprimaryschool.com 