St Cuthbert's RC Primary School

St. Cuthbert’s RC Primary School

Newsletter 10 – Friday 16th October 2020

St Cuthbert’s CARES We are: Creative Active Respectful Equal Supported

Good afternoon all,

Thank you for your support throughout this term. We hope you and your families have a restful time together in the half term holiday week. Please read the information below and as always let us know if you have any questions about the coming term. (0131 443 2621) or via our admin mailbox (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk)

School October Holidays – Monday 19th October to Monday 26th October 2020

Please note the above dates. Monday 26th October is an in-service day. Staff will be in on this date but pupils resume on Tuesday 27th October 2020.

School Uniform Re-launch – From Tuesday 27th October 2020

We said in August, that for the initial weeks of term uniform would be optional, whilst we assessed the impact of outdoor learning. We are now in a position, where having reviewed the issue we would like uniform to be worn again throughout our school community.

Wearing school uniform helps create a feeling of oneness and belonging. Everyone is on the same ‘team’. A sense of loyalty emerges and everyone wearing the same uniform also promotes equality and fairness. Details of our recommended uniform are listed below:

COLOURS :Royal Blue Sweatshirts, fleeces and polo shirts in the school colour can be ordered online.

BLAZER: Royal Blue with Badge

TIE: Royal Blue and Yellow (these can be purchased from the school and P7 will be supplied with ties by the school, as part of their leadership role within our community)

GIRLS:

Grey Skirt/Trousers

White polo shirt/White Blouse with school tie

Royal Blue School Sweatshirt/cardigan

Blazer/Royal Blue Fleece, School shoes – black

BOYS:

Grey Trousers

White polo shirt/White Shirt with school tie

Royal Blue School Sweatshirt

Blazer/Royal Blue Fleece, School shoes – black

The parts of the uniform that include school branding can be ordered via Borders Embroidery. See link below

Border Embroideries – www.border-embroideries.co.uk

Other parts of the uniform can be purchased from local supermarkets and other clothing shops.

When the current situation changes, we hope to reinstate our uniform thrift shop that our parents established last year. We will let you know as soon as this is possible. In the meantime, please contact the school office if you require an item of clothing from the thrift shop – we would be very happy to help in any way we could.

Please note that uniform does not need to be worn on P.E. days.

P1 (Thurs) P2 (Mon) P3 (Mon and Thurs) P4 (Monday and Tuesday ) P5 (Mon and Thurs) P6 (Mon and Wed) P7 Friday (Mon and Wed) LCC2 (Thurs).

Finally, please note, as per the letter from Andy Gray, Chief Education Officer last week that we will continue to provide the safest learning environment possible in our school. As part of this endeavour, classrooms will require to maintain adequate ventilation and, while school heating systems will be fully utilised, it would be wise to consider extra layers of clothing.

Black History Month

We hope you enjoyed seeing the children’s learning on our twitter account this week.

Active Schools Co-ordinator in School Fortnightly from w/c 2nd November 2020

Fiona Damen has been seconded to our school on a fortnightly basis, where she will be working with all of our classes on outdoor games and activities during the school day to complement our existing P.E. Provision.

Rights Respecting Schools

We attached a letter to Learning Journals this week; explaining the schools aims and pathway for progressing childrens’ rights in our school. Please let us know if you have any questions about the information in the letter.

October Break – Scottish Government Advice

Please remember that the Scottish Government have advised against ALL overseas travel during the October holidays. If you must travel for essential reasons please be aware that the list of exempt countries may change at short notice, on public health grounds. This means you may have to isolate for fourteen days on your return.

New School Dinner Menus for Post October Holidays

Please remember that you have not already ordered a school lunch for week commencing, you will need to bring a packed lunch from home.

School Photographs – Tuesday 24th November 2020

At the moment, we are hopeful that Covid restrictions compliant, individual and family photos will be able to be taken in school on the above date. More information will follow nearer the time.

First Holy Communions Update – November 14th, 21st and 28th 2020

Fr Duffy will create two new letters after the October holidays:

1. The first will provide details of health and safety protocols for each celebration of First Holy Communion.

2. The second letter will ask for details of guests (all candidates are entitled to have 5 guests attend, this includes friends and family). This letter should be returned to our school office who will forward to Fr Duffy with strictest confidence.

Learning Journals – Registration

There are still a number of parents/carers who are not signed up to this important platform, which is used for reporting, termly sharing of learning and class specific letters. Please contact Mrs Holden via the school admin mailbox to register. Thank you.

Medical Appointments

I know this is really difficult to do, but wherever possible can appointments be made out of school hours or if this is not possible can pupils return to school after appointments to ensure that the minimum of educational time is lost.

Playground Bubbles and Social Distancing Outside Gates

The council have supplied printed footprints to help us distance out-with the gates. They have also painted guidelines to help clearly demarcate our existing playground bubbles. Thanks for your support with these measures this term.

P1 2021 Enrolment Week – w/c 9th November

The enrolment week this year is as above. I will supply further details as soon as I have them.

First Reconciliations Update (Current P4 Pupils Only) – Booking Now for December 2020

Parents/Carers of pupils who were in P3 last year and should have celebrated their First Reconciliation in March 2020, will have the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament in December: between the dates of Saturday 5th and Saturday 12th December. Parents/carers can select either a Saturday or weeknight slot by contacting Fr Duffy on 0131 443 1317 or staned@stcuthbertschurch.com to arrange a time for this sacrament to be celebrated.

*Please note that any pupil wishing to celebrate their First Holy Communion in 2021 must have also made their First Reconciliation.

Breakfast Club: Booking for Week Commencing 26th October is Now Open!

Breakfast Club is open daily from 8 am until pupils’ respective start times. I would appreciate it if you could email admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk if you wish to reserve a place for week beginning 26th October. Please note the Monday is an in-service day. Cost will be £1.50 per day for the first child and £1 per day for any additional children. If your child has free school meal entitlement, there is no charge. You still need to reserve a place via the admin mailbox. Once your child’s place is confirmed, money should be handed into the office on the Monday of each week in a sealed envelope marked with pupil names and amount of money enclosed.

Nursery Applications – Please See New Link Below

We are still awaiting an opening date for our nursery. In the meantime however, you can use the new link below to access an application form to apply for a place when the nursery opens, please select St Cuthbert’s as your first choice if you wish a place:

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/download/12890/apply-for-nursery

If you are interested in applying to St Cuthbert’s only, you do not need to accept a temporary place elsewhere. Temporary places can however be secured by entering a 2nd and 3rd choice on the online form. Pupils can then be transferred when St Cuthbert’s opens. However please be aware that a place at St Cuthbert’s is not guaranteed and places are allocated using the admissions criteria.

Please hand or post in any completed forms to our office and please feel very welcome to ask if you have any questions.

Our Learning This Week in St Cuthbert’s Primary School

Please see this week’s learning below. I hope you enjoy reading it. Please also check out our school Twitter Account @stcuthbertsRCP when learning will be shared on the following days:

Monday P1/P2 Tuesday P7/LCC1/2 Wednesday P4/P6 Thursday P3/P5

P1 – In Literacy we have learned the sounds u and b. The children are getting better and better at blending sounds to read words and decoding to spell them.

In Maths we have been sequencing and ordering numbers to either 10, 20 or 30.

We enjoyed our STEM project; planning, building, and evaluating our 3 little pigs houses using our knowledge of the properties of materials. You can see the results on Learning Journals.

P2 – Numeracy: Number squares and where the numbers fit into the number squares. Literacy: Forming sentences in different formats. HWB: Eco reviews.

P3 – This week Primary 3 have been learning to recognise and draw symmetrical objects, indoors and outdoors. As part of the Black History Month we have been learning about Rosa Parks’ life as a significant individual. In Music, we have been learning to clap and write rhythmic patterns.

P4 – Primary 4 have been learning lots about Black History over the past two weeks. This week we have been learning more about important black historical figures and we have chosen our favourites to create fact files on and display in our classroom. In art we have learned about an influential black artist and we have even had a go at replicating a piece of her work.

P5 – We have been learning about Rosa Parks and how she worked hard to have the unfair and racist laws changed in the USA. In RE we have been learning about the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary and what they tell us about the life of Jesus. In Social Studies, we

have also been learning about how to work towards keeping our Green Flag by monitoring Litter and Water use.

P6 – In Numeracy we have been learning how to solve calculations using grid multiplication. In Literacy we have been learning to write a ‘letter in a bottle’. Some of our class have written their letters from on board the sinking Titanic, others have written from the future, or from a deserted island! In Social Studies for Black History Month we have been learning about and celebrating the lives of those who campaigned for civil rights in the USA, influential figures such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jnr.

P7 – We have been using the bus stop method in short division. We have been learning about the Abolition Act of 1807. We have been consolidating our spelling by playing spelling basketball.

LCC1 – Literacy: Initial sounds SH and CH, Listening Skills, Writing: Sequencing the Monkey Puzzle and retelling the story in our own words. Maths: Naming 2D shapes – identifying shape by counting sides and corners. HWB – Structured Play to develop turn taking and sharing

LCC2 – Literacy: Spelling of common words. Writing: Continuation of a story from a visual prompt. Numeracy: Arrays using the 4 times table. Perimeter of a 2D shape

Head Teacher Availability

As above, please continue to feel very welcome at any time to contact me by phone or to e-mail our admin mailbox for my attention and I will respond as quickly as I can.

Mass Times at our local Parish – St. Cuthbert’s, Slateford

Fr Duffy passes on his best wishes to all of our families. Attendance at Mass can now be secured by booking online. Please see details on the parish website. http://www.stcuthbertschurch.com

Saturday 6pm – Vigil Mass

Sunday 10am – Parish Mass

Sunday 5pm – Additional Mass

Finally

Thanks again for your support in these challenging times. You have been really cooperative and understanding of our changes, which is much appreciated. I hope that you and your families enjoy the holiday.

Kind regards.

Mr P Brack, Head Teacher

     St. Cuthbert’s RC Primary School

                           Newsletter 9– Friday 9^th October 2020

        St Cuthbert’s CARES We are: Creative Active Respectful Equal Supported

Good afternoon all,

You will have received a letter yesterday from Andy Gray, Head of Schools, thanking you for the role you and other parents throughout Edinburgh have played in facilitating our return to school this term, please allow me to add my thanks (translated copies of this letter, in a number of languages will be available early next week via this link Inclusion Hub – Letter to parents 081020 translations

We will continue our regular communication with you as always, please however continue to contact us by telephone (0131 443 2621) or via our admin mailbox (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk) if you have any questions about the school’s response to the Covid situation or anything else that you would like to ask. I hope you find the detailed information below both informative and useful. Please note that due to a technical issue the newsletter this week will only be available on the school app and Learning Journals.

Procedure if a Positive Case Occurs

As the infection rate continues to grow, I’m sure many of you are wondering what will happen if a positive case was to occur in our school. This is something we of course, do not want to happen but think it best to be prepared. The main points of our planned response, informed by City of Edinburgh Council guidance are listed below:

1. All parents/carers would be informed by text that there is a case of Covid 19 in the school. A similar confirmation will be placed on our school website and app also stating that our contact tracing process is underway.
2. Parents of any pupils who need to self-isolate for 14 days will be telephoned and texted to inform them of this requirement. They will also receive a confirmatory letter.
3. Once the contact tracing process is completed, another text will then be sent to the whole school community to confirm that the contact tracing procedure is complete and that those who have not been advised to isolate should continue to attend school as normal. Similar information will be placed on the school website and app.

Please also be aware that these procedures are subject to change as circumstances change. Should you require clarification of any of this, please contact me and I will be very happy to explain.

School Uniform Re-launch

We said in August, that for the initial weeks of term uniform would be optional, whilst we assessed the impact of outdoor learning. We are now in a position, where having reviewed the issue we would like uniform to be worn again throughout our school community.

Wearing school uniform helps create a feeling of oneness and belonging.  Everyone is on the same ‘team’.  A sense of loyalty emerges and everyone wearing the same uniform also promotes equality and fairness. Details of our recommended uniform are listed below:

COLOURS                     Royal Blue Sweatshirts, fleeces and polo shirts in the school colour can be ordered online.

BLAZER                        Royal Blue with Badge

TIE                              Royal Blue and Yellow (these can be purchased from the school and P7 will be supplied with ties by the school, as part of their leadership role within our community)

GIRLS                          Grey Skirt/Trousers

                                    White polo shirt/White Blouse with school tie

                                    Royal Blue School Sweatshirt/cardigan

                                    Blazer/Royal Blue Fleece, School shoes – black

BOYS                           Grey Trousers

                                    White polo shirt/White Shirt with school tie

                                    Royal Blue School Sweatshirt

                                    Blazer/Royal Blue Fleece, School shoes – black

The parts of the uniform that include school branding can be ordered via Borders Embroidery. See link below

Other parts of the uniform can be purchased from local supermarkets and other clothing shops.

When the current situation changes, we hope to reinstate our uniform thrift shop that our parents established last year. We will let you know as soon as this is possible.  In the meantime, please contact the school office if you require an item of clothing from the thrift shop. 

Border Embroideries – www.border-embroideries.co.uk

Black History Month

In the cause of promoting equality and inclusion, our classes have been learning about black history. We will share some of this learning on twitter next week.

Eco-school Update:

The school has started working on the renewal of our Eco-school green flag. Due to the current restrictions, Miss Pusker and Primary 3 have taken this on as a class responsibility for now and will ask the different classes across the school to get involved and help with the specific tasks throughout the year. The last few weeks Primary 3 has been working on understanding the purpose of Eco-schools and started on carrying out environmental reviews in litter and waste minimalization topics.

Digital Communication at St Cuthbert’s School

We are aware that the school now uses a number of digital platforms. Please see below a list of what we are communicating and what platforms we use to do so. This will hopefully clarify and simplify the situation:

1. School Website: At the moment this is being used primarily for posting our weekly newsletter. We will also post our school Recovery and Renewal Plan on this platform by start of November for parent/carer information. We will look to develop our website more fully over the coming year. It can be accessed by searching.

https://st-cuthberts-primary.com/

2. School App – This is used for sending out letters and other communications in an eco-friendly paperless way. We also post the weekly newsletter on the app. Should you require further information about downloading the app, please contact our admin mailbox.

3.Twitter –  We use this to share learning from each class weekly. The twitter handle is:

@stcuthbertsrcp

4.Learning Journals – This is a secure password protected website. We use this for termly sharing of pupil learning in Literacy, Numeracy/Maths and HWB. We also share our end of session reports via this platform. If we wish to survey parent/carer opinion securely, we also use this platform. The same newsletter that we post on the website and app is also shared on Learning Journals. If you are not registered or require further support using Learning Journals, please contact our DHT, Mrs Holden via the admin mailbox.

Resumption of Homework  – MS Teams Login Information

We sent out print copies of the login guide this week and uptake of homework seems very positive. Please contact our mailbox, if you have any questions about Teams.

School October Holidays – Monday 19^th October to Monday 26^th October 2020

Please note the above dates. Monday 26^th October is an in-service day. Staff will be in on this date but pupils resume on 27^th October 2020.

October Break – Scottish Government Advice

Please remember that the Scottish Government have advised against ALL overseas travel during the October holidays.  If you must travel for essential reasons please be aware that the list of exempt countries may change at short notice, on public health grounds. This means you may have to isolate for fourteen days on your return.

New School Dinner Menus for Post October Holidays

We were advised that these would be on Parent Pay at some point this week but there has been a short delay.  They are now expected to be available from next week.  Please note that the last date to book lunches for w/c 26^th October will be Wednesday 14^th October. We have been informed by City of Edinburgh Council that any lunches for this week ordered before today will need to be reordered. Please also see below the photos, of how the menu will be served to pupils.

School Photographs – Tuesday 24^th November 2020

At the moment, we are hopeful that Covid restrictions compliant, individual and family photos will be able to be taken in school on the above date. More information will follow nearer the time.

First Holy Communions Update – November 14^th, 21^st and 28th 2020

Fr Duffy will create two new letters after the October holidays:

1. The first will provide details of health and safety protocols for each celebration of First Holy Communion.
2. The second letter will ask for details of guests (all candidates are entitled to have 5 guests attend, this includes friends and family). This letter should be returned to our school office who will forward to Fr Duffy with strictest confidence.

First Reconciliations Update (Current P4 Pupils Only) – Booking Now for December 2020

Parents/Carers of pupils who were in P3 last year and should have celebrated their First Reconciliation in March 2020, will have the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament in December: between the dates of Saturday 5^th and Saturday 12^th December. Parents/carers can select either a Saturday or weeknight slot by contacting Fr Duffy on  0131 443 1317 or staned@stcuthbertschurch.com  to arrange a time for this sacrament to be celebrated.

Father says that more parents and carers are now getting in touch to book dates. Thanks very much for this. If you haven’t had a chance to do so, please try to in the coming weeks. Father was in our P4 class this week to speak to the pupils about the Sacrament and it’s meaning. It was a positive and informative visit.

*Please note that any pupil wishing to celebrate their First Holy Communion in 2021 must have also made their First Reconciliation.

Reporting Absence (Particularly with Reference to Possible Covid Symptoms)

Thank you for the sensible approach you are taking to gauging when children are not well enough to attend school. In the current circumstances of an ongoing pandemic, we need to remain cautious and follow appropriate guidelines. We very much appreciate that our parents and carers are doing this.

If you are calling us to report absence, please be specific in reporting reasons for absence. In cases where you are reporting any of the following symptoms relating to Covid-19

High Temperature

New and continuous cough

Loss of, or change in, the senses of taste and smell

please be advised that pupils with any of these symptoms must be tested and evidence of test result e-mailed to our admin account (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk).

If a test is positive, pupils must have isolated for 10 days before returning to school 48 hours after symptoms have ceased. Siblings and families must isolate for 14 days.

If test result is negative, pupils should return to school once they have had 48 hours without any of the above symptoms.

Breakfast Club: Booking for Week Commencing 26^th October is Now Open!

Breakfast Club is open daily from 8 am until pupils’ respective start times.  I would appreciate it if you could email admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk if you wish to reserve a place for week beginning 26^th October. Please note the Monday is an in-service day. Cost will be £1.50 per day for the first child and £1 per day for any additional children. If your child has free school meal entitlement, there is no charge. You still need to reserve a place via the admin mailbox. Once your child’s place is confirmed, money should be handed into the office on the Monday of each week in a sealed envelope marked with pupil names and amount of money enclosed.

Nursery Applications – Please See New Link Below

We are still awaiting an opening date for our nursery. In the meantime however, you can use the new link below to access an application form to apply for a place when the nursery opens, please select St Cuthbert’s as your first choice if you wish a place:

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/download/12890/apply-for-nursery

If you are interested in applying to St Cuthbert’s only, you do not need to accept a temporary place elsewhere. Temporary places can however be secured by entering a 2^nd and 3^rd choice on the online form. Pupils can then be transferred when St Cuthbert’s opens. However please be aware that a place at St Cuthbert’s is not guaranteed and places are allocated using the admissions criteria. 

Please hand or post in any completed forms to our office and please feel very welcome to ask if you have any questions.

Our Learning This Week in St Cuthbert’s Primary School

Please see this week’s learning below. I hope you enjoy reading it. Please also check out our school Twitter Account @stcuthbertsRCP when learning will be shared on the following days:

Monday  P1/P2
Tuesday  P7/LCC1/2
Wednesday  P4/P6
Thursday     P3/P5

P1 – This week P1 have been learning c and k and we are learning to read and spell in literacy. We have been estimating and measuring lengths and have been ordering and comparing items. We found out where metal came from and that some metals are magnetic. We did an investigation to see whether we could remove a paper clip from a glass of water without getting wet. We also made mazes for a magnetic person to travel along!

P2 –  In Literacy, P2 have been learning the ou sound. In Maths they have been using arrays to help them add. In health and wellbeing. They have been learning about how to create a happy place.

P3 – Literacy: We are learning to retell stories in a sequence through comic strips. Mathematics:  We are learning to recognise when a shape has symmetry. Numeracy: 

We are learning to count in jumps of 10’s and 1’s, describe and build arrays and to recognise patterns.

P4 – In Primary 4 we have been looking at different ways of using our prediction skills when reading. In our literacy we have been discovering new words and silly sentences and thinking about how to change the sentences so that they make sense.  In numeracy we are continuing to develop our speed and accuracy in our addition and subtraction.

P5 – In Primary 5, this week in Maths we have been learning to identify 3D objects from their nets. In Science, we have been learning how to conduct a fair test and used this to investigate which materials can dissolve in water. In RE we were learning more about the different parts of the Mass and revising the prayers.

P6 –  In Literacy, we are learning to create similes and metaphors with Mrs. MacLeish. 

In RE with Mr. Vilanova we are learning about the Story of the Children of Fatima. 

In Expressive Arts we are learning to create advertisements for the Titanic and the White Star Line by exploring different drawing techniques in lettering, line, shading and shape.

P7 – In P7 we have been learning about the five luminous mysteries in RE.

We have been furthering our understanding of the grid method and long multiplication in Numeracy lessons. We have been learning about Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii, writing newspaper articles with the information.

LCC – LCC2 have been learning about multiplication and perimeters. In Science we looked at the seeds of trees and made our own helicopters that acted like the seeds of a sycamore tree. And in art we added the black calming lines to complete our stained-glass windows. 

Head Teacher Availability

As above, please continue to feel very welcome at any time to contact me by phone or to e-mail our admin mailbox for my attention and I will respond as quickly as I can.

Mass Times at our local Parish – St. Cuthbert’s, Slateford

Fr Duffy passes on his best wishes to all of our families on their return to school. Attendance at Mass can now be secured by booking online. Please see details on the parish website.

www.stcuthbertschurch.com

Saturday 6pm – Vigil Mass

Sunday 10am – Parish Mass

Sunday 5pm – Additional Mass

Finally

Thanks again for your support in these challenging times. I hope that you and your families enjoy the weekend.

Kind regards.

Mr P Brack, Head Teacher

Letter from Chief Education Officer:

St. Cuthbert’s RC Primary School

Newsletter 8 – Friday 2nd October 2020

St Cuthbert’s CARES We are: Creative Active Respectful Equal Supported

Good afternoon all,

It is hard to believe that we are in October already. We have made a successful return to school now for almost a term and a large part of that is down to your support and cooperation, allied to the continuing hard work of our staff team. We realise however that you will always have questions about aspects of school life or require clarification of communication. When this is the case, please continue to contact us by telephone (0131 443 2621) or via our admin mailbox (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk) if you have any questions about the school’s response to the Covid situation or anything else that you would like to ask. I hope you find the detailed information below both informative and useful.

Digital Communication at St Cuthbert’s School

We are aware that the school now uses a number of digital platforms. Please see below a list of what we are communicating and what platforms we use to do so. This will hopefully clarify and simplify the situation:

· School Website: At the moment this is being used primarily for posting our weekly newsletter. We will also post our school Recovery and Renewal Plan on this platform by start of November for parent/carer information. We will look to develop our website more fully over the coming year. It can be accessed by searching. https://st-cuthberts-primary.com/

· School App – This is used for sending out letters and other communications in an eco-friendly paperless way. We also post the weekly newsletter on the app. Should you require further information about downloading the app, please contact our admin mailbox.

· Twitter – We use this to share learning from each class weekly. The twitter handle is:

@stcuthbertsrcp

· Learning Journals – This is a secure password protected website. We use this for termly sharing of pupil learning in Literacy, Numeracy/Maths and HWB. We also share our end of session reports via this platform. If we wish to survey parent/carer opinion securely, we also use this platform. The same newsletter that we post on the website and app is also shared on Learning Journals. If you are not registered or require further

support using Learning Journals, please contact our DHT, Mrs Holden via the admin mailbox.

Resumption of Homework – MS Teams Login Information

As stated previously, all homework will now be set using the medium of MS Teams. It is placed on the Teams website every Friday and its completion is due on Thursdays.

We are aware of and apologise for some issues that have experience logging into Teams Accounts. Please see a list below of possible issues and actions to take if they occur;

· The way the passwords are structure can appear confusing, in terms of what is a letter and what is a number. Please try different combinations to ensure that they work. Generally speaking the passwords are alphabetic apart from one or two digits at the end.

· If you are still experiencing difficulties after having done this, your child’s password may have expired. Please contact our admin mailbox to have it re-set.

· When entering the user name, please use the user name allied to the ending @ea.edin.sch.uk as opposed to the e-mail ending of @schools.edin.org

· All of these tips and more are included in our revised log-in guide which is attached with this newsletter. We will also send out a one-off paper copy to all parents/carers on Monday.

Electrostatic Cleaning – ‘Fogging’

The next round of this deep cleaning will take place in school over this weekend.

Assisted Road Crossing Service – 7th October (a.m)

Please note that this service will not be available at the above date and time. We hope that it will be available on the afternoon of this date. The service will remain in place at all other places and times.

Flu Immunisation – Wednesday September 30th 2020

NHS Staff visited the school on the above date and the process went well. If your child has not been immunised and you want this to take place, please contact your GP.

School October Holidays – Monday 19th October to Monday 26th October 2020

Please note the above dates. Monday 26th October is an in-service day. Staff will be in on this date but pupils resume on 27th October 2020.

October Break – Scottish Government Advice

Please remember that the Scottish Government have advised against ALL overseas travel during the October holidays. If you must travel for essential reasons please be aware that the list of exempt countries may change at short notice, on public health grounds. This means you may have to isolate for fourteen days on your return.

School Photographs – Tuesday 24th November 2020

At the moment, we are hopeful that Covid restrictions compliant, individual and family photos will be able to be taken in school on the above date. More information will follow nearer the time.

New School Dinner Menus for Post October Holidays

We expect these to go live on Parent Pay at some point next week. Please note that the last date to book lunches for w/c 26th October will be Wednesday 14th October.

First Holy Communions Update – November 14th, 21st and 28th 2020

Fr Duffy will send out a letter to all involved on the first week of November which require – for track and trace purposes – details of all pupils, family members and guests that are attending each of the 3 celebrations. Father feels that sending the letter out at this time will give families more time to decide who they are inviting. Remember that due to restrictions, only 5 family members and or friends may accompany each candidate. Both candidates and guests will also be required to wear masks and socially distance. Fr Duffy will also be arranging rehearsal times within school hours.

First Reconciliations Update (Current P4 Pupils Only) – Booking Now for December 2020

Parents/Carers of pupils who were in P3 last year and should have celebrated their First Reconciliation in March 2020, will have the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament in December: between the dates of Saturday 5th and Saturday 12th December. Parents/carers can select either a Saturday or weeknight slot by contacting Fr Duffy on 0131 443 1317 or staned@stcuthbertschurch.com to arrange a time for this sacrament to be celebrated.

Father says that more parents and carers are now getting in touch to book dates. Thanks very much for this. If you haven’t had a chance to do so, please try to in the coming weeks. Fr will be in school next week to speak to the pupils in this class about the Sacrament.

*Please note that any pupil wishing to celebrate their First Holy Communion in 2021 must have also made their First Reconciliation.

Reporting Absence (Particularly with Reference to Possible Covid Symptoms)

Thank you for the sensible approach you are taking to gauging when children are not well enough to attend school. In the current circumstances of an ongoing pandemic, we need to remain cautious and follow appropriate guidelines. We very much appreciate that our parents and carers are doing this.

If you are calling us to report absence, please be specific in reporting reasons for absence. In cases where you are reporting any of the following symptoms relating to Covid-19:

· High Temperature

· New and continuous cough

· Loss of, or change in, the senses of taste and smell

please be advised that pupils with any of these symptoms must be tested and evidence of test result e-mailed to our admin account (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk).

If a test is positive, pupils must have isolated for 10 days before returning to school 48 hours after symptoms have ceased. Siblings and families must isolate for 14 days.

If test result is negative, pupils should return to school once they have had 48 hours without any of the above symptoms.

Breakfast Club: Booking for Week Commencing 12th October is Now Open!

Breakfast Club is open daily from 8 am until pupils’ respective start times. I would appreciate it if you could email admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk if you wish to reserve a place for week beginning 12th October. Cost will be £1.50 per day for the first child and £1 per day for any additional children. If your child has free school meal entitlement, there is no charge. You still need to reserve a place via the admin mailbox. Once your child’s place is confirmed, money should be handed into the office on the Monday of each week in a sealed envelope marked with pupil names and amount of money enclosed.

Nursery Applications – Please See New Link Below

We are continuing to make excellent progress with preparing our nursery for opening, hopefully in late October (depending on final confirmation from City of Edinburgh Council). Our two nursery seniors have been taking part in recruitment interviews throughout this week and things are really starting to take shape. You can use the new link below to access an application form to apply for a place when the nursery opens, please select St Cuthbert’s as your first choice if you wish a place:

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/download/12890/apply-for-nursery

If you are interested in applying to St Cuthbert’s only, you do not need to accept a temporary place elsewhere. Temporary places can however be secured by entering a 2nd and 3rd choice on the online form. Pupils can then be transferred when St Cuthbert’s opens. However please be aware that a place at St Cuthbert’s is not guaranteed and places are allocated using the admissions criteria.

Please hand or post in any completed forms to our office and please feel very welcome to ask if you have any questions.

Our Learning This Week in St Cuthbert’s Primary School

Please see this week’s learning below. I hope you enjoy reading it. Please also check out our school Twitter Account @stcuthbertsRCP when learning will be shared on the following days:

Monday P1/P2 Tuesday P7/LCC1/2 Wednesday P4/P6 Thursday P3/P5

P1 – We learned g and o sounds and have enjoyed Maths week using and applying our skills such as counting, measuring and shape in both indoors and outdoor contexts.

P2 – We have been focusing on the air and ir sounds in Literacy. In Maths, we have been learning to group numbers equally. In Health and Wellbeing we have been looking at resolving arguments using the ‘big deal, Little Deal’ approach.

P3 – We are learning to develop our writing skills through the Free Writing Friday activity.

(Children have also enjoyed our new Free Writing Friday activity where they can use their creativity and imagination to write and draw whatever they would like in their notebook.)

We are learning to develop our ability to recognise how to communicate with others in tricky situations by using the “big deal” and “little deal” strategies. We are learning to develop our logical thinking skills by playing strategy maths games.

P4 – This week we have been learning how to write a recollection. As part of numeracy week, we have been doing lots of number challenges and revising how to multiply a two digit number. In our topic work we worked together to make up quiz questions to reflect on our learning.

P5 – This week in Primary 5 we have been using what we have learned about poetry to write a poem for the Green Pencil Award on the theme of Nature During Lockdown. In Maths and Numeracy, we have been applying our times tables knowledge to create boardgames to help a younger class with their learning. In Art, we were learning to draw portraits of Mary Queen of Scots.

P6 – We reflected on our learning this afternoon, and chose 3 things to share in the newsletter. In Social Studies, we have been learning about the stories of the survivors of the Titanic. In Numeracy, we have been learning to use strategies for addition and subtraction.

In Maths with Mr. Vilanova we have been learning how to measure angles.

P7 – We have been learning about Mount Etna and writing newspaper reports about an eruption. We have been learning about angles outside in the playground. We made different pictures with sticks, rocks and leaves. We have been learning about illumination art in RE.

LCC1 – Practising cutting and threading to develop our fine motor skills. Adding to 10 using concrete materials. Continuing spelling CVCs words using s,a,t,p,in. Spanish: numbers to 10 and colours. Flags of the world: China and Cuba

LCC2 – This week LCC2 have been learning about interesting and ambitious vocabulary to use in their writing. They have been continuing to investigate perimeter and how to calculate it. And in science we were using capillary action to mix primary colours and get secondary colours.

Head Teacher Availability

As above, please continue to feel very welcome at any time to contact me by phone or to e-mail our admin mailbox for my attention and I will respond as quickly as I can.

Mass Times at our local Parish – St. Cuthbert’s, Slateford

Fr Duffy passes on his best wishes to all of our families on their return to school. Attendance at Mass can now be secured by booking online. Please see details on the parish website. http://www.stcuthbertschurch.com

Saturday 6pm – Vigil Mass

Sunday 10am – Parish Mass

Sunday 5pm – Additional Mass

Finally

Thanks again for your support in these challenging times. I hope that you and your families enjoy the weekend.

Kind regards.

Mr P Brack, Head Teacher

St. Cuthbert’s RC Primary School

Newsletter 7 – Friday 25th September 2020

St Cuthbert’s CARES We are: Creative Active Respectful Equal Supported

Good afternoon.

Thanks for your support again this week. Please continue to contact us by telephone (0131 443 2621) or via our admin mailbox (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk) if you have any questions about the school’s response to the Covid situation or anything else that you would like to ask. I hope you find the detailed information below both informative and useful.

School Lunches – Post October Holiday

The menu for school lunches post-October holidays should be live on the Parent Pay system by the end of next week. These menus will offer fully risk assessed warm and cold options each day. Please look out for this menu going live.

Parent/Carer Consultations Update: October to Christmas

Edinburgh schools will not be able to hold in person parents/carers consultations as we would normally do in October this year. What we propose to do instead, is for teachers to share a sign-up link with parents/carers via MS Forms (which will be posted on our secure Learning Journals platform) for them to choose a slot for a 5 minute telephone consultation with their child’s class teacher at some time between October and Christmas. I will be speaking to teachers over the coming weeks about suitable dates and will share this information with you as soon as it is available. We appreciate that this is not the same as having the face to face conversations we would normally have, but hope you appreciate that we are trying to be proactive and ensure that you are kept informed of your children’s progress under challenging circumstances.

Resumption of Homework

Homework has been organised for all classes this week via MS Teams. Going forward, it will be given out on a Friday, in order to give pupils and families both weekend and week night time for its completion. We will give all pupils reminders of their user names and passwords to ensure that they can access this work. These will go home with pupils today, Friday 25th September, please check that these details have been brought home safely and ensure that they are kept in a safe space. If any passwords are lost, please let us know and we will re-set

them next week. Please contact us if you have any questions re these plans or have difficulty in accessing homework digitally.

Flu Immunisation – Wednesday September 30th 2020

Please be reminded that flu immunisation will take place in the school on the above date for those pupils whose parents/carers completed and returned the necessary permission forms.

Digital Learning in St Cuthbert’s

Twitter (@stcuthbertsrcp)

Thank you for your positive response to our tweets sharing learning again this week. See reminder below of days on which classes will be tweeting:

Monday P1/P2 Tuesday P7/LCC1/2 Wednesday P4/P6 Thursday P3/P5

We will also share photos of Star Learners and Pupils of the Week, as of this Friday. The initial plan was to do a collage of all winners but due to Covid constraints this will now start with P1 and progress through classes weekly. This week’s featured class will be P2. Please note that only pupils, whose parents have given permission will be featured in tweets and no names will be displayed.

MS Teams

We have now setup new class Teams for 2020-21 and these will be used to share homework from week commencing 21st September. If anyone requires a device to access homework through this medium, please let me know via the admin mailbox: admin@st-cuthbert’s.edin.sch.uk

Nursery Applications – Please See New Link Below

We are continuing to make excellent progress with preparing our nursery for opening, hopefully in late October (depending on final confirmation from City of Edinburgh Council). Our two nursery seniors have been taking part in recruitment interviews throughout this week and things are really starting to take shape. You can use the new link below to access an application form to apply for a place when the nursery opens, please select St Cuthbert’s as your first choice if you wish a place

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/download/12890/apply-for-nursery

If you are interested in applying to St Cuthbert’s only, you do not need to accept a temporary place elsewhere. Temporary places can however be secured by entering a 2nd and 3rd choice on the online form. Pupils can then be transferred when St Cuthbert’s opens. However please be aware that a place at St Cuthbert’s is not guaranteed and places are allocated using the admissions criteria.

Please hand or post in any completed forms to our office and please feel very welcome to ask if you have any questions.

October Break – Scottish Government Advice

Please remember that the Scottish Government have advised against ALL overseas travel during the October holidays. If you must travel for essential reasons please be aware that the list of exempt countries may change at short notice, on public health grounds. This means you may have to isolate for fourteen days on your return.

First Reconciliations – Current P4 Pupils Only Update

Parents/Carers of pupils who were in P3 last year and should have celebrated their First Reconciliation in March 2020, will have the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament in December: between the dates of Saturday 5th and Saturday 12th December. Parents/carers can select either a Saturday or weeknight slot by contacting Fr Duffy on 0131 443 1317 or staned@stcuthbertschurch.com to arrange a time for this sacrament to be celebrated.

Thank you to those who have been in touch with Father already. If you haven’t had a chance to do so, please try to in the coming weeks. Fr will be in school next week to speak to the pupils in this class about the Sacrament.

*Please note that any pupil wishing to celebrate their First Holy Communion in 2021 must have also made their First Reconciliation.

Reporting Absence (Particularly with Reference to Possible Covid Symptoms)

Thank you for the sensible approach you are taking to gauging when children are not well enough to attend school. In the current circumstances of an ongoing pandemic, we need to remain cautious and follow appropriate guidelines. We very much appreciate that our parents and carers are doing this.

If you are calling us to report absence, please be specific in reporting reasons for absence. In cases where you are reporting any of the following symptoms relating to Covid-19:

· High Temperature

· New and continuous cough

· Loss of, or change in, the senses of taste and smell

please be advised that pupils with any of these symptoms must be tested and evidence of test result e-mailed to our admin account (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk).

If a test is positive, pupils must have isolated for 10 days before returning to school 48 hours after symptoms have ceased. Siblings and families must isolate for 14 days.

If test result is negative, pupils should return to school once they have had 48 hours without any of the above symptoms.

Breakfast Club: Booking for Week Commencing 5th October is Now Open!

Breakfast Club is open daily from 8 am until pupils’ respective start times. I would appreciate it if you could email admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk if you wish to reserve a place for week beginning 5th October. Cost will be £1.50 per day for the first child and £1 per day for any additional children. If your child has free school meal entitlement, there is no charge. You still need to reserve a place via the admin mailbox. Once your child’s place is confirmed, money should be handed into the office on the Monday of each week in a sealed envelope marked with pupil names and amount of money enclosed.

Our Learning This Week in St Cuthbert’s Primary School

Please see this week’s learning below. I hope you enjoy reading it. Please also check out our school Twitter Account @stcuthbertsRCP

P1 – In Literacy we are learning to recognise and write n and p and we have started spelling 3 letter words. In Maths we went on a 2D shape hunt in the playground and are learning to double numbers. Play: a lot of us have discovered the pleasure of developing our fine motor skills by drawing with some lovely results

P2 – In Maths , we have been partitioning numbers as well as naming and using shapes to create 2D pictures. In health and wellbeing we have continued to work on positive behaviour choices through using zones of regulation.

P3 – In Literacy we have been learning to identify speech in a story and use predictive skills to develop and extension to an existing story. In Modern Languages we have learnt to identify numbers in Spanish. In Mathematics we have been learning to make 3 dimensional shapes using 2 dimensional shapes.

P4 – In Primary 4 we have been working together to identify patterns in times tables. In literacy this week we have been working on using the prefixes dis, un and in. Also in our

Ocean topic this week we have been learning about the moon and it’s pull on the waters of the earth.

P5 – In Literacy, Primary 5 have been learning to use descriptive language to write an acrostic poem about Autumn. In Numeracy, we continued to practise our times tables facts and we are using these to create new facts which involve multiples of 10 and 100. We have been learning about proportion in Art and using this to draw each other’s portraits.

P6 – In Maths we learned about the properties of 3D objects with Mr. Vilanova. In RME we have been learning about the life of Moses, and how God chose to communicate with him.

In Spelling we have been learning about Homophones.

P7 – We have been learning about Edinburgh Castle and how it was built on a volcanic plug.

We have been learning the tious (shus) sound in spelling and in STEM we have learnt about the layers of the Earth.

LCC1 -This week LCC1 have been revising initial sounds s, a, t, p, i, n. We have been word building cvc words using shaving foam, lentils, sand and play doh. We are continuing to add 2 numbers to make 5 and are working on correct number formation. Mr Villanova continued our Spanish topic and the children can name 4 cities in Spain. We read the Very Helpful Hedgehog, collected leaves and made 3D pictures of hedgehogs

LCC2 – Have been learning about endangered animals, why they are endangered and are beginning to investigate what can be done to protect them. We are also learning how to measure and calculate the perimeter of a shape. The class have also been learning about shading and practised this when drawing a Panda.

Head Teacher Availability

As above, please continue to feel very welcome at any time to contact me by phone or to e-mail our admin mailbox for my attention and I will respond as quickly as I can.

Mass Times at our local Parish – St. Cuthbert’s, Slateford

Fr Duffy passes on his best wishes to all of our families on their return to school. Attendance at Mass can now be secured by booking online. Please see details on the parish website. http://www.stcuthbertschurch.com

Saturday 6pm – Vigil Mass

Sunday 10am – Parish Mass

Sunday 5pm – Additional Mass

Finally

Thanks again for your support in these challenging times. I hope that you and your families enjoy the long weekend.

Kind regards.

Mr P Brack, Head Teacher

St. Cuthbert’s RC Primary School

Newsletter 6 – Friday 18th September 2020

St Cuthbert’s CARES We are: Creative Active Respectful Equal Supported

Good afternoon.

We have now reached the first milestone in the school year: The September weekend. It seems like a long time since our return to school but it has been great to be back. We thank you for your support in ensuring that this return has gone well. Please continue to contact us by telephone (0131 443 2621) or via our admin mailbox (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk) however, if you have any questions about the school’s response to the Covid situation or anything else that you would like to ask. I hope you find the detailed information below informative and useful.

Parent/Carer Consultations: Arrangements for Term 1

Edinburgh schools will not be able to hold, in person parents/carers consultations as we would normally do in October this year. What we propose to do instead, is for teachers to share a sign-up link with parents/carers via doodle poll, MS Forms or some other secure method to secure a 5 minute telephone consultation with their child’s class teacher at some time between now and Christmas. We appreciate that this is not the same as having the face to face conversations we would normally have, but hope you appreciate that we are trying to be proactive and ensure that you are kept informed of your children’s progress under challenging circumstances. More information on this subject will follow next week. Thanks for your patience.

St Augustine’s High School – Open Evening Information

Usually, a representative from St Augustine’s would attend our school in term 1, to provide an overview of their school to prospective parents. Again, this is something we are regrettably unable to do this year. St Augustine’s, have however provided us with a narrated information power-point that can be accessed via the link below.

https://staugustinesrchs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Information-Evening-2020.pptx

Homework – Resumes Week Commencing 21st September 2020

Homework will recommence next week in all classes (see note below re MS Teams). It will be given out on a Friday, in order to give pupils and families both weekend and week night time for its completion. Please contact us, if you have any questions re these plans or have difficulty in accessing homework digitally.

Digital Learning in St Cuthbert’s

Twitter

Thank you for your positive response to our tweets sharing learning this week. See reminder below of days on which classes will be tweeting:

Monday P1/P2 Tuesday P7/LCC1/2 Wednesday P4/P6 Thursday P3/P5

We will also share photos of Star Learners and Pupils of the Week, as of this Friday. The initial plan was to do a collage of all winners but due to Covid constraints this will now start with P1 and progress through classes weekly. Please note that only pupils, whose parents have given permission will be featured in tweets and no names will be displayed.

MS Teams

We are also in the process of setting up new class Teams for 2020-21 and these will be used to share homework from week commencing 21st September. If anyone is unable to access homework through this medium, please let me know via the admin mailbox: admin@st-cuthbert’s.edin.sch.uk

Nursery Applications – Please See New Link Below

We are continuing to make excellent progress with preparing our nursery for opening, hopefully in late October (depending on final confirmation from City of Edinburgh Council). You can use the new link below to access an application form to apply for a place when the nursery opens, please select St Cuthbert’s as your first choice if you wish a place

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/download/12890/apply-for-nursery

If you are interested in applying to St Cuthbert’s only, you do not need to accept a temporary place elsewhere. Temporary places can however be secured by entering a 2nd and 3rd choice

on the online form. Pupils can then be transferred when St Cuthbert’s opens. However please be aware that a place at St Cuthbert’s is not guaranteed and places are allocated using the admissions criteria.

Please hand or post in any completed forms to our office and please feel very welcome to ask if you have any questions.

First Holy Communions Update – Current P5 Pupils Only

Letters confirming details of the celebration have now been sent out to all candidates who both Fr Duffy and the school are aware of. If you have not received a letter and are expecting your child to make the sacrament, please contact Fr Duffy on 0131 443 1317 or staned@stcuthbertschurch.com

First Reconciliations – Current P4 Pupils Only Update

Parents/Carers of pupils who were in P3 last year and should have celebrated their First Reconciliation in March 2020, will have the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament in December: between the dates of Saturday 5th and Saturday 12th December. Parents/carers can select either a Saturday or weeknight slot by contacting Fr Duffy on 0131 443 1317 or staned@stcuthbertschurch.com to arrange a time for this sacrament to be celebrated.

Thank you to those who have been in touch with Father already.

*Please note that any pupil wishing to celebrate their First Holy Communion in 2021 must have also made their First Reconciliation.

Staggered Timings Update

We are aware that staggered timings at the start and end of each day are inconvenient and present extra challenges to your morning routines. Thank you for being so cooperative in adhering to these timings and arrangements and ensuring that pupils do not arrive late and miss any of their key learning time. At present there is no indication of when these arrangements are likely to end, but we will of course let you know.

P1’s current start date of 8.45am is earlier than normal and thank you for adapting to this change. If, however, you find that you are late at any time please do not approach the classroom but instead bring your child round to the main entrance where our office staff will greet you and take your child through to their classroom. Thank you.

Finally, please be aware that pupils from P1-3 must be collected by an adult.

Return of Data Capture/KIC and Photographic Forms

Our Admin staff report that some Data Capture/KIC/Photographic forms have not been returned as yet. The information required is extremely important for your child’s school record so please return these as soon as possible. If you DO NOT return the KIC form, it means that your child will NOT be able to take part in any excursions from now until June 2021, if these become possible later in the year.

Flu Immunisation – Wednesday September 30th 2020

Please be reminded that flu immunisation will take place in the school on the above date.

Reporting Absence

Thank you for the sensible approach you are taking to gauging when children are not well enough to attend school. In the current circumstances of an ongoing pandemic, we need to remain cautious and follow appropriate guidelines. We very much appreciate that our parents and carers are doing this.

If you are calling us to report absence, please be specific in reporting reasons for absence. In cases where you are reporting any of the following symptoms relating to Covid-19:

· High Temperature

· New and continuous cough

· Loss of, or change in, the senses of taste and smell

please be advised that pupils with any of these symptoms must be tested and evidence of test result e-mailed to our admin account (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk).

If a test is positive, pupils must have isolated for 10 days before returning to school 48 hours after symptoms have ceased. Siblings and families must isolate for 14 days.

If test result is negative, pupils should return to school once they have had 48 hours without any of the above symptoms.

Breakfast Club: Booking for Week Commencing 28th September is Now Open!

Please be advised that Monday 21st September, is the Edinburgh September weekend holiday and the school week starts on Tuesday 22nd. Breakfast Club will be in operation from 8 am until pupils’ respective start times. I would appreciate if you could email admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk if you wish to reserve a place for week beginning 28th September. Cost will be £1.50 per day for the first child and £1 per day for any additional children. If

your child has free school meal entitlement, there is no charge. You still need to reserve a place via the admin mailbox. Once your child’s place is confirmed, money should be handed into the office on the Monday of each week in a sealed envelope marked with pupil names and amount of money enclosed.

Our Learning This Week in St Cuthbert’s Primary School

Please see this week’s learning below. I hope you enjoy reading it.

P1 – We have been learning to recognise and write t and i We are learning to add doubles to 10 in Maths. We are also learning to sort different materials and know some of their properties

P2 – In Maths , we have been counting backwards and forwards and grouping numbers. In Literacy, we have been learning to build sentences. In health and wellbeing

P3 – In Literacy we have been looking at Fantastic Mr. Fox and learning to create simple settings and plots for stories. In R.E we have been learning to consider ways in which the Catholic/Christian community works together to show care for the word and for the needs of all people.

P4 – We have been learning to estimate by rounding up 3 digit numbers to the nearest 100 to complete subtraction and addition sums. This week, we have enjoyed writing imaginative story and we have been learning to develop our feedback skills when commenting on each others written work.

P5 – This week in P5 we have been learning about Haiku poems and writing our own poems using the Haiku pattern of 5-7-5 syllables. In Numeracy, we have been learning to recall our times tables facts quickly to help us in multiplication and division problems. We were also learning about life in the past, and comparing the lives of children at the time of Mary Queen of Scots with children today.

P6 – In Numeracy, we have been learning how to estimate using money. In Literacy, we have been learning how to write a newspaper article. In Religious Education, we have been learning about the story of the Passover and how it is celebrated.

P7 – In Maths, we were learning how to round 4 digit numbers and adjust the totals. In Science, we were learning about erosion and why this happens. We have also learnt about endangered animals as part of our learning surrounding creation in R.E.

LCC1 – have been adding 2 amounts to equal 5, using concrete materials and interactive smart board games. They have been retelling the story of the Gingerbread in their own words. They have also enjoyed learning Spanish phrases with Mr Villanova

LCC2 – LCC2 have learnt about place value for 5 and 6 digit numbers. We have been investigating the Loch Ness Monster and drew pictures of the monster. In Science, we were learning about mixing different liquids, what happens and made a coloured liquid which we used to make bubble pictures.

Head Teacher Availability

As above, please continue to feel very welcome at any time to contact me by phone or to e-mail our admin mailbox for my attention and I will respond as quickly as I can.

Mass Times at our local Parish – St. Cuthbert’s, Slateford

Fr Duffy passes on his best wishes to all of our families on their return to school. Attendance at Mass can now be secured by booking online. Please see details on the parish website. http://www.stcuthbertschurch.com

Saturday 6pm – Vigil Mass

Sunday 10am – Parish Mass

Sunday 5pm – Additional Mass

Finally

Thanks again for your support in these challenging times. I hope that you and your families enjoy the long weekend.

Kind regards.

Mr P Brack, Head Teacher

St. Cuthbert’s RC Primary School

                           Newsletter 5– Friday 11^th September 2020

                                   St Cuthbert’s CARES We are: Creative Active Respectful Equal Supported

Good afternoon.

Thanks for your ongoing support, please continue to contact us by telephone (0131 443 2621) or via our admin mailbox (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk) if you have any questions about the school’s response to the Covid situation or anything else that you would like to ask. I hope you find the information below informative and useful.

Digital Learning in St Cuthbert’s – Twitter and Teams

Lockdown was a watershed moment for education in Scotland. Digital Learning and the benefits it brings, has become apparent to all schools. To this end, from week commencing 14^th September, staff will be tweeting weekly examples of learning from their classes on the following days:

Monday  P1/P2
Tuesday  P7/LCC1/2
Wednesday  P4/P6
Thursday  P3/P5
Friday – A photo collage of Star Learners/Pupils of the Week.

Please note that only pupils, whose parents have given permission will be featured in tweets and no names will be displayed.

We are also in the process of setting  up new class Teams for 2020-21 and these will be used to share homework from week commencing 21^st September.

Nursery Applications – Please See New Link Below

We are continuing to make excellent progress with preparing our nursery for opening, hopefully in late October (depending on final confirmation from City of Edinburgh Council). You can use the new link below to access an application form to apply for a place when the nursery opens, please select St Cuthbert’s as your first choice if you wish a place

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/download/12890/apply-for-nursery

If you are interested in applying to St Cuthbert’s only, you do not need to accept a temporary place elsewhere. Temporary places can however be secured by entering a 2^nd and 3^rd choice on the online form. Pupils can then be transferred when St Cuthbert’s opens. However please be aware that a place at St Cuthbert’s is not guaranteed and places are allocated using the admissions criteria.  See attached admissions policy. 

Please hand or post in any completed forms to our office and please feel very welcome to ask if you have any questions.

First Holy Communions Update  – Current P5 Pupils Only

Letters were sent out last week to families, of pupils who Fr Duffy currently has registered for the celebration of First Holy Communion. Please note that at this point, this refers only to those pupils who should have made their first communions in June but were prevented from doing so by lockdown. We will communicate with you re current P4 communions after Christmas.

Please note that all candidates for First Holy Communion must be baptised Catholics and should have made their First Reconciliation (Confession). If your child has not and wishes to make their First Holy Communion with us, please contact Fr Duffy on 0131 443 1317 or staned@stcuthbertschurch.com  to arrange a time for this sacrament to be celebrated.

Please also contact Fr Duffy, if you expect your child to make their first communion this year but have had not had a letter confirming a date from us this week. He will discuss registration with you. We have now given out registration forms to all those who have previously expressed an interest in their child receiving this sacrament previously.

First Reconciliations – Current P4 Pupils Only Update

Parents/Carers of pupils who were in P3 last year and should have celebrated their First Reconciliation in March 2020, will have the opportunity to celebrate the sacrament in December: between the dates of Saturday 5^th and Saturday 12^th December. Parents/carers can select either a Saturday or weeknight slot by contacting Fr Duffy on on 0131 443 1317 or staned@stcuthbertschurch.com  to arrange a time for this sacrament to be celebrated.

Please be advised that any pupil wishing to celebrate their First Holy Communion in 2021 must have also made their First Reconciliation.

Reporting Absence

Thank you for the sensible approach you are taking to gauging when children are not well enough to attend school. In the current circumstances of an ongoing pandemic, we need to remain cautious and follow appropriate guidelines. We very much appreciate that our parents and carers are doing this.

If you are calling us to report absence, please be specific in reporting reasons for absence. In cases where you are reporting any of the following symptoms relating to Covid-19:

High Temperature

New and continuous cough

Loss of, or change in, the senses of taste and smell

please be advised that pupils with any of these symptoms must be tested and evidence of test result e-mailed to our admin account (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk).

If a test is positive, pupils must have isolated for 10 days before returning to school 48 hours after symptoms have ceased. Siblings and families must isolate for 14 days.

If test result is negative, pupils should return to school once they have had 48 hours without any of the above symptoms. Please see accompanying letter from Director of Public Health and Health Policy, Scotland. We would ask that you follow the guidance in this letter with one caveat; that instead of showing the teacher any test result, that you follow the procedure outlined above.

Covid19 – School Cleaning Update

As well as our regular, thorough daily cleaning regime, City of Edinburgh Council has also authorised a monthly, deep clean; known as fogging or electro-static cleaning. The next round of this will be completed over the coming weekend.

Staffing Update

Congratulations to Miss Donnelly on the birth of her daughter, earlier this week. We are all really happy for her. Mum and Baby are both doing well.

Car Parking Outside School Gates

The school has been made aware that there now seems to be more cars double parking and parking / stopping on the yellow zig zags outside the school. We totally appreciate the inconvenience that our new staggered timings can cause families with children starting at different times. We would however ask that you remain mindful of the safety of our whole community in this regard. Thanks very much.

School Meals

Please remember that the deadline for ordering school lunches is a Wednesday at 12 midnight for the following Monday (eg. Wednesday 16^th  September is deadline for lunches w/c Monday 21st  September).

Breakfast Club: Booking for Week Commencing 22^nd September is Now Open!

Please be advised that Monday 21^st September, is the Edinburgh September weekend holiday and the school week starts on Tuesday 22^nd. Breakfast Club will be in operation from 8 am until pupils’ respective start times.  I would appreciate if you could email admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk if you wish to use this service for week beginning 21^st  September. Cost will be £1.50 per day for the first child and £1 per day for any additional children. If your child has free school meal entitlement, there is no charge. You still need to reserve a place via the admin mailbox. Once your child’s place is confirmed, money should be handed into the office on the Monday of each week in a sealed envelope marked with pupil names and amount of money enclosed. These costs may change in the future.  Thank you.

After School Club Update from Gingerbread

Please note that our after-school care provider/partner Gingerbread are now able to offer their services again. Gingerbread After School Care have spaces available in their club.  If you are interested in further information please contact Carole Anne/Janice or Andy on 0131-478-1391/07825925846 or e-mail us here at gingerbread12@outlook.com

Our Learning This Week in St Cuthbert’s Primary School

Please see this week’s learning attached.

P1 –  Have been learning to write the letters s and d. In Maths, we are learning to continue a pattern and in HWB that life has its ups and downs and that is ok.

P2 – Have learnt the ar sound in Literacy. In Maths they have been grouping numbers in 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s. In P.E. they have been learning fitness skills.

P3 –  In Art, we learned about creating tints and shades by experimenting adding a certain amount of white or black paint to another colour. In Maths, we have learned how to recognise and name common 3D objects by the description of their properties. Finally, in Health and wellbeing, P3 have been developing and practising jumping and running skills through energetic play.

P4 – P4 have been enjoying learning about coral reefs and the animals that live there. Ask your child to tell you about some interesting facts they have learned about The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. We also had fun learning dive instructions and through the medium of drama we made up some imagined underwater conversations and the rest of the class had to tell the story as it was happening.

P5 –  In Numeracy, we are learning to use our knowledge of number bonds to create new facts involving multiples of 10 and 100. We were learning to organise historical facts in time order for a timeline of the life of Mary Queen of Scots. We were learning about the importance of keeping active through Mile a Day and PE activities.

P6 –  In Numeracy, we learned how to estimate using our skills of rounding to 10, 100 and 1,000. In Social Studies we learned about the experience of passengers on board the Titanic. In Spanish with Mr.Vilanova, we learned how to count to 100, classroom vocabulary and colours. 

P7 – Have been learning to round 5/6 digit numbers to the nearest 10, 100 and 1000. We enjoyed playing “That’s my multiple!” We have been learning about rocks; we know that there are three different types of rock – Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic. We wrote fact files in our writing lesson. We have been furthering our understanding of the Holy Spirit through the Pope Francis Award. We looked at our future vocations and how we might help people through our jobs.

LCC1 – Have been using visual supports to learn their friends names and take turns.

We have been recognising number patterns to 10 using Numicon

We have read the Rainbow fish and Tiddler and are making a class aquarium.

LCC2 – Have been learning how to find the area of a shape, making stained glass windows and making and using Newton discs. 

Head Teacher Availability

As above, please continue to feel very welcome at any time to contact me by phone or arrange an appointment with me in person if you have any questions or if I can help in any other way.

Mass Times at our local Parish – St. Cuthbert’s, Slateford

Fr Duffy passes on his best wishes to all of our families on their return to school. Attendance at Mass can now be secured by booking online. Please see details on the parish website.

www.stcuthbertschurch.com

Saturday 6pm – Vigil Mass

Sunday 10am – Parish Mass

Sunday 5pm – Additional Mass

Finally

Thanks again for your support in these challenging times. I hope that you and your families have a great weekend!

Kind regards.

Mr P Brack, Head Teacher

St. Cuthbert’s RC Primary School

Newsletter 4 – Friday 4th September 2020

St Cuthbert’s CARES We are: Creative Active Respectful Equal Supported

Good afternoon.

It’s hard to believe it’s September already. Thanks for your ongoing support. As a parent/carer body you have been brilliant at assimilating all of the changes we have made as a consequence of the pandemic. As always, we will continue to communicate with you as clearly and frequently as possible. Please do however contact us by telephone (0131 443 2621) or via our admin mailbox (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk) if you have any questions.

Nursery Update

We are continuing to make excellent progress with preparing our nursery for opening, hopefully in late October (depending on final confirmation from City of Edinburgh Council). You can use the link below to apply for a place when the nursery opens, please select St Cuthbert’s as your first choice if you wish a place with us.

earlyyears@edinburgh.gov.uk

If you are only interested in applying to St Cuthbert’s, you do not need to accept a temporary place elsewhere. Temporary places can however be secured by entering a 2nd and 3rd choice on the online form. Pupils can then be transferred when St Cuthbert’s opens. However please be aware that a place at St Cuthbert’s is not guaranteed and places are allocated using the admissions criteria. See attached admissions policy.

Please feel very welcome to ask if you have any questions.

First Holy Communion Update

Fr Duffy and I met to finalise plans this week to enable those pupils who were scheduled to make the sacrament of First Holy Communion last year to make it this year. The plans are as follows:

· First Communions will take place on 3 consecutive Saturdays in November (14th, 21st and 28th).

· They will be celebrated within the context of 10 o’clock Mass on each of these dates.

· Pupils will be allocated one of the above dates based on alphabetical ordering of candidates.

· Pupils may be supported by up to 5 family members.

· Written communication confirming the date of your child’s celebration will be issued next week.

Please note that all candidates should have made their First Reconciliation (Confession). If your child has not and wishes to make their First Holy Communion with us, please contact Fr Duffy on 0131 443 1317 to arrange a time for this sacrament to be celebrated.

Reporting Absence

Thank you for the sensible approach you are taking to gauging when children are not well enough to attend school. In the current circumstances of an ongoing pandemic, we need to remain cautious and follow appropriate guidelines. We very much appreciate that our parents and carers are doing this.

If you are calling us to report absence, please be specific in reporting reasons for absence. In cases where you are reporting any of the following symptoms relating to Covid-19:

· High Temperature

· New and continuous cough

· Loss of, or change in, the senses of taste and smell

please be advised that pupils with any of these symptoms must be tested and evidence of test result e-mailed to our admin account (admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk).

If a test is positive, pupils must have isolated for 10 days before returning to school 48 hours after symptoms have ceased. Siblings and families must isolate for 14 days.

If test result is negative, pupils should return to school once they have had 48 hours without any of the above symptoms. Please see accompanying letter from Director of Public Health and Health Policy, Scotland. We would ask that you follow the guidance in this letter with one caveat; that instead of showing the teacher any test result, that you follow the procedure outlined above.

Staffing Update

We record our sincere thanks and best wishes to Miss Donnelly (LCC1), who leaves us today. She has been a great teacher and member of our community: her hard work and skill will be missed. Going forward Mrs Holden, our DHT, will teach LCC1 from Monday-Wednesday and Mr Vilanova Diaz will teach the class on Thursdays and Fridays.

School Meals

Please remember that the deadline for ordering school lunches is a Wednesday at 12 midnight for the following Monday (eg. Wednesday 9th September is deadline for lunches w/c Monday 14th September).

Breakfast Club: Booking for Week Commencing 14th September is Now Open!

Breakfast Club re-opened this week. Attendees have been informed that their places have been reserved. In keeping with the City of Edinburgh Council’s guidance, the club complies with Covid 19 risk assessments and clear records and registers are kept, to allow for effective tracing through Test and Protect. Although we are keeping class bubbles separate within the school day, blended placements to support families for childcare are permitted when necessary and where risk is mitigated. If numbers remain at 30 or under we can keep the pupils in one group. Over 30 and we will be required to split groups and spaces used. Pupils within a group of 30 or fewer children are not required to attend every day and can attend on those days that suit parents. We will seek to maximise the use of the designated space outside the breakfast club for outdoor play wherever possible too. In terms of access, the main door will be open from 8am and all pupils attending should be dropped at main school entry gate by parents/carers. The exception being, parents/carers of pupils in P1-3, who may enter the playground and drop pupils at the front door. Breakfast Club will be in operation from 8 am until pupils’ respective start times. I would appreciate if you could email admin@st-cuthberts.edin.sch.uk if you wish to use this service for week beginning 14th September. Cost will be £1.50 per day for the first child and £1 per day for any additional children. Once your child’s place is confirmed, money should be handed into the office on the Monday of each week in a sealed envelope marked with pupil names and amount of money enclosed. These costs may change in the future. Thank you.

After School Club Update from Gingerbread

Please note that our after-school care provider/partner Gingerbread are now able to offer their services again. Gingerbread After School Care have spaces available in their club. If you are interested in further information please contact Carole Anne/Janice or Andy on 0131-478-1391/07825925846 or e-mail us here at gingerbread12@outlook.com

Our Learning This Week in St Cuthbert’s Primary School

One of the enjoyable things about writing the newsletters last year was sharing details of the pupils learning. I am delighted to be able to start doing this again as of today. Please see details below:

P1 – Have been learning to recognise m and write a. They have also been learning to recognise domino number patterns. Finally in art, P1 have been learning to mix paint colours when painting our portraits

P2 – Have learnt the oo sound, in Maths they have been counting to 100 in decades. They have also been learning about countries around the world; focusing this week on China.

P3 – Have focused on developing their handwriting skills, using the outdoor learning context to learn problem solving skills and naming and describing a range of 2D and 3D shapes.

P4 – P4 have been enjoying learning about the 5 oceans of the world, listing them from biggest to smallest and finding out where they are and the creatures that live beneath them. In our reading we have learned about different types of dolphin and how they hunt for food differently from each other. In our writing this week, they have created fact booklets based on all that they have learned so far.

P5 – in Numeracy, Primary 5 have been learning to use what they know about place value to read, write, order and partition numbers. They have been learning about family trees in the context of the Stuarts and Mary Queen of Scots. In Literacy, they have been using drama to develop their understanding of a character’s thoughts and feelings.

P6 – Have been learning to write imagined personal responses in diary form, using the context of their class novel based on the story of the Titanic. They have also been learning to round 4 and 5 digit numbers to the nearest 100 and creating a class charter of rights and responsibilities.

P7 – Have been learning to use slogans, verbs and hooks to create advertisements. In Maths, they have learnt to use BODMAS to solve equations and in RERC have been learning about St Augustine and his calling to the priesthood.

LCC1 – Have enjoyed listening to Jack and the Beanstalk. They are learning to take turns, work together in a small group and in Maths are continuing to learn 1:1 correspondence through touch counting.

LCC2 – have enjoyed making and writing cards, they have continued to use their knowledge of capillary action to do some chromatography and they have also looked at place value to thousands.

Head Teacher Availability

As above, please continue to feel very welcome at any time to contact me by phone or arrange an appointment with me in person if you have any questions or if I can help in any other way.

Mass Times at our local Parish – St. Cuthbert’s, Slateford

Fr Duffy passes on his best wishes to all of our families on their return to school. Attendance at Mass can now be secured by booking online. Please see details on the parish website. http://www.stcuthbertschurch.com

Saturday 6pm – Vigil Mass

Sunday 10am – Parish Mass

Sunday 5pm – Additional Mass

Finally

Thanks again for your support in these challenging times. I hope that you and your families have a great weekend!

Kind regards.

Mr P Brack, Head Teacher

Dear Parents and Carers

There has been some understandable confusion relating to the issue for parents/carers of deciding: when children are displaying symptoms that require a Covid Test, as opposed to symptoms of a common cold.  Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director, has written to parents/carers to clarify answers to both of these questions. I hope the contents of this letter will be of help to you. Please see letter attached.

Coronavirus – Jason Leitch Letter on testing and common colds – 31 August 2020

Kind Regards

Pat Brack, Head Teacher