Announcements
- We are delighted to congratulate Alberto Egea Meseguer as our new full time permanent class teacher for Owls in the ESB. Alberto has been teaching in Owls since August and is a passionate advocate for children with additional support needs. He will continue to be a positive, hard working member of the team.
- Nikki Godden, an specialist Early Years Teacher, will be working with us and Craigentinny Early Years Centre. Nikki will be working with children and staff in P1 and we are happy to have her on the team.
- Our EAL teacher Lucy Chetwyn-Cox, has returned from her recent secondment as a Depute Headteacher. Lucy will at Craigentinny on Tuesdays to support children and families who speak English as an additional language.
- As Mrs Collard will remain absent for the next few weeks, please see Mrs Galbraith for any issues relating to classes P1-P3 and Ms Craig for P4-P7. We continue to thank our parents and carers for their understanding and patience if we take a little longer than usual to get back in touch.
- Ms Craig will continue to be Headteacher on Mondays and Tuesdays when Ms Dean returns on 11th November as Headteacher on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. This arrangement will continue until the recruitment of a new HT for Mondays and Tuesdays has completed.
School News
Hoax Email
We all had an unsettling start to the term with news of ‘hoax bomb’ emails being sent to many schools across Scotland, Northern Ireland, Serbia, Hungary and Italy. This email caused fear and alarm amongst parents and carers across the whole of Scotland, which was undoubtedly the aim of whoever sent the email.
A number of Craigie parents and carers have been in touch this week to ask questions about the safety of their children whilst at school, which is very understandable. We have tried to answer many of the frequent questions we have been asked:
Did Craigentinny Primary receive the email with the bomb threat?
No, Craigentinny Primary did not receive any threatening communication including the email with the bomb threat that many other schools in Scotland received.
Why did Craigientinny not receive a bomb threat email when lots of other schools did?
We have no way of knowing why other schools received a hoax email and we did not, however it may have something to do with our website issues in recent months meaning we had less of an online presence. But it may just have been random.
If there was no email sent to the Craigentinny, why did all the staff have to go home?
All school staff were told to go home by the Director Education, Jackie Reid, to allow for Police Scotland to investigate the matter further. Staff continued their work online for the remainder of the day.
What would happen if there was a real bomb threat?
The police would be contacted immediately and children would be evacuated to the Craigentinny Community Centre. Prompt communication would go out to parents.
Are there other safety issues that schools prepare for?
Yes, safety is the number one priority for all school staff. There are policies and procedures that cover a range of safety issues for children in schools. These cover everything from asthma and allergies training, managing pupil behaviours of concern and fire hazards to scenarios like hostile intruders and bomb alerts.These procedures are regularly reviewed by staff who receive appropriate training. Policies are reviewed by the appropriate council departments, inspected by outside agencies and updated when national guidance is issued.
What about the possibility of a hostile intruder gaining access to the building? How would that be managed?
All the entrances can only be opened with an entry code from the outside. The main door has a video inter-com. Office staff often know who many of our parents and carers are and will open the door if they recognise and are expecting them to arrive. Otherwise, visitors must sign in and will be identified with a badge for the duration of their visit. Whilst our pupils should know not to open the door to any adults, some are very keen to be helpful! That is why we will be reminding them of the importance of telling an adult if they see someone at the door. You can help by reminding your child that this is a good rule for both school and home.
But what about the school gate? Could an intruder gate into the school playground?
Craigentinny Primary is set within a large playground with gates at three places. It is important that parents, visitors and contractors are able to gain access to the building during the day. All visitors to the school must sign in and wear a visitors badge. The gates at Loganlea Drive are locked from 9.30am until 2.45pm. This will be enforced more strictly from this week onwards. Please note: anyone arriving after 9.30am will need to enter via the gate on Loaning Road.
These procedures are to keep everyone safe which is our number one priority. It is also why we sometimes have to ask that pupils, parents/carers stick to rules that can sometimes seem petty, such as not allowing entry to the school after school hours eg; to use the toilet, or ensuring you inform school of a new person sent to collect your child. We thank you for your support with these measures.
End of the Day Child Pick Ups
We will be closely monitoring the end of the day procedures for the collection of children. It is vitally important that you collect your child at the correct finish time every day. We understand that occasionally there can be issues with traffic or other unexpected events however, repeated late collections are not acceptable and are beginning to have an impact on staff workloads.
It is also not appropriate to repeatedly ask the office to pick up your child early from school as we do not have the staff to facilitate this. It also causes disruption to the learning of other children. Please let the office know in advance if your child has a medical appointment they have to attend during school time and be prepared to show the letter of invitation to the appointment to office staff. We will arrange for your child to be ready for collection at this time.
End of the day arrangements from this week:
- P1-P3 class teachers will dismiss children to the adults who are on their approved list from their usual door.
- P1-P3 class teachers will not allow children to go home with friends or neighbours unless the school has been told in advance
- Teachers will not wait in the playground for parents/carers who are late to collect their child. They will instead, bring them into the office area where they will be supervised until they are collected.
- Whilst we do understand that sometimes things happen to cause parents/carers to be late, repeated late collections will be monitored and a member of the leadership team may be in touch to discuss how late collections can be avoided.
We really appreciate your support with this.
Winter Jackets
It is now that time of year when we ask that all our pupils come dressed for winter weather. Like all schools, children will be expected to play outside in all but very heavy rain or wind. We therefore expect that pupils will wear a jacket with a hood and shoes suitable for wet weather. If you require financial support with this, please get in touch with the school office as grants are available for jackets and footwear such as http://www.edinburghclothingstore.org or https://www.eltf.org.uk/funds/epfc/
Toilet Use
It was raised by our inspection team during the Supported Self Evaluation that we should review our policy on toilet use during class time. A larger than expected number of pupils were observed attending the toilet during class time, causing loss of learning time. Pupils requesting frequent visits to the toilet can be a safeguarding issue if class teachers are not fully certain that pupils are indeed visiting the toilet.
Children are encouraged to go to the toilet before they arrive each morning, at break time and at lunchtime. For the majority of our pupils, this is enough. However, a small number request many more visits every day. Low level issues continue to occur in the toilets during class time which can make them unpleasant for other children to visit.
With this is mind, class teachers will encourage all pupils to make less frequent trips to the toilet during class time, particularly those who may request more frequent visits than would be expected. If your child has a medical reason that means they need frequent trips to the loo, we can of course accommodate this. Thank you for your support with this matter.
Online Safety
As the nights get darker and colder, many children are choosing to stay indoors after school. Gaming using apps to chat to friends or going online watch videos are popular indoor options for many. Whilst parents and carers demonstrated understandable concern around the events of last Monday, statistically it is far more likely for harm to come to your child online in the virtual world than in the real world. Online bullying, access to inappropriate video content, grooming via gaming platforms, sending explicit photographs are all issues that Headteachers deal with from as early as P3 onwards. Even spending long amounts of time online scrolling can affect your child’s mood and behaviour so it is important for you to monitor this and be aware of what you can do to help.
Online safety concerns have been brought to the school’s attention over the last few weeks. Often, parents and carers have no idea what has been happening online and the issues come as a huge surprise to them. We urge all our parents and carers to monitor what their child is doing online by routinely checking their messages, looking through their browser history, listening to who they are playing with online and stepping in when there is a concern.
CEOP has a great website for parents and carers to help navigate this tricky aspect of parenting. https://www.ceopeducation.co.uk/parents/
EPIC Think Learn
EPIC Think Learn has received a grant from the Scottish Government to provide fully funded resources and support sessions to 1,000 parents of primary-aged children who are on the pathway to a neurodivergent diagnosis, who live in SIMD 1 and 2 or rural areas . [See funding announcement https://www.gov.scot/news/additional-investment-for-neurodevelopmental-support/]. If a parent signs up, their class teacher will also receive fully funded (free) access to EPIC Think Learn’s 12-month professional learning programme, worth over £1,000. The resources for schools include EPIC’s whole class executive functioning resource.
Families who do not meet the criteria can also access the resources which are heavily subsidised for £8 a month.
1, 2, 3 Play for P2 Parents
Dyslexia Master Class for Parents
We’re pleased to invite you to an online Parent Masterclass with Sharon Hall on Thursday 29 October from 6.30 – 8.30pm.
Full details and free tickets on Ticket Tailor:https://buytickets.at/dyslexiascotland2/2430188
Educational Wellbeing Service Drop In
Diary Dates & Reminders
Sharing Learning Coffee Mornings
Come along to hear what your child has been learning so far in class.
- 6th November – P4A
- 5th November – P4/5
- 2nd December – P3A
- 3rd December – P5A
- 13th January – P6A
- 14th January – P2B
- 3rd March – P6/7
- 4th March – P7A
- 12th May – P2A
- 13th May – P3B
- 9th June – P1A
- 10th June – P1B
Meet, Eat, Play
Come along to the Low Hall on these Fridays to meet up with friends, eat lunch together and play!
- Friday 23rd October
- Friday 20th November
- Friday 11th December
- Friday 15th January
- Friday 12th February
- Friday 12th March
- Friday 23rd April
- Friday 21st May
- Friday 18th June
Parent Council Updates
It’s still not too late to get your tickets for this Friday’s Halloween Party. You can get your tickets here: https://www.pta-events.co.uk/craigiecouncil/index.cfm
