Life @ EA
Headteacher’s Blog
2 September 2020
Dear Parents and Guardians
Normality felt a step nearer on Saturday with our P6 girls and boys coming in for Games sessions. We are not quite at the stage of full contact on the rugby pitch yet but the skills on display would suggest that this should be a team worth watching once we are back to playing matches. Contact Hockey looks like returning more quickly and we will write out to parents about this once fixtures are arranged. As the Rector has mentioned previously, and also in the letter to parents from the National Clinical Director, Jason Leitch, there are certain key things that we should be looking out for when deciding whether a child should be staying away from School or Nursery as a result of COVID. The question I have been asked more than any other in the last week has been about runny noses. I would reiterate the final sentence in Professor Leitch’s letter, “If your child does not have symptoms of COVID-19 but has other cold-like symptoms, such as a runny nose, they do not need to be tested and they and you do not need to self-isolate. Your child can go to school if fit to do so”. There are certain children I have known over the years who would never be at school if a runny nose meant a definite absence. Normality also came to mind this afternoon when I cycled to Stockbridge on a quick errand and forgot to wear my bike helmet. I heard three different children commenting on this. Sadly, even Head Teachers forget things sometimes. And finally, as mentioned last week, we are looking to replace our usual Welcome Evenings for parents. These will take the form of filmed messages from me and the teachers and will be sent out via Firefly over the course of next week. As part of that communication there will be a form where any pertinent questions you may have (subsequent to watching the video) can be posted. We will then put out a document containing the answers to frequently asked questions. Any questions that are applicable to only one child or family will be answered directly by the appropriate member of staff.
Kind regards
Gavin Calder
Headteacher
