Life @ EA
Rector’s Blog
24 September 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians
It’s sad to think that we haven’t sung as a school since March. I know I have missed it. So much good is done by assembling our students together, whether it is in listening to Mr Calder telling the Junior School a story about some mad cycle he did at a weekend, or listening to some senior Ephors energising the teenage throng about a community project or charitable venture. I am certainly looking forward to getting our students back into the Main Hall and listening to Mr Tully working his magic in getting the school to sing again. Covid-19 has put a great many restrictions on our music programme and I have to thank all our music teachers for their understanding and perseverance in these very difficult times. I know that the restrictions in the movement of some peripatetic staff will have disrupted our ability to provide some lessons; but I do feel that in these difficult times of increasing infection rates across Scotland, it is important to do everything we can to limit pathways for the virus. It was very sad to hear Mr Gray’s exciting news about his new role in the Oman following his appointment as the Bagpipe Instructor to the Royal Air Force of Oman, in the Middle East. It is a fantastic opportunity for him but we will be very sad to see him go at the end of this term, and I say that most selfishly as the father of a young piper. The search for Mr Gray’s replacement is already underway.
The recent increases in restrictions will mean that those students who are aged between 12 and 18 are allowed to only meet outside in groups of up to six from six different households. I do hope that house parties and sleepovers for students in the Senior School abide by Covid-19 restrictions. We are again reminding all our students about the importance of wearing their facemasks on public transport and school buses on the way to and from home. We are finding that we are having to give out between 30–40 facemasks every day to students who have forgotten theirs. Your help with this matter would be very much appreciated, please. We are well into the necessity for facemasks now and so these items should be as important as books, iPads and school uniform!
Looking ahead, my sincere thanks to those Class Reps who have volunteered to work in the EAPA this year and act as a link between the Parent Association and the School. This is a vital interface for the sharing of information and I look forward to our meetings before Half Term. With luck, we will soon know more about how the Government and the SQA are hoping to shape education for the exam years in 2021, and, should any information be released in time, I will aim to share it fully at these meetings. Half Term begins at the end of the school day on Friday 9th October. As this is our first full fortnight for a Half Term, I do hope that this will lessen the early departures for a Half Term holiday.
Best wishes,
Barry Welsh
Rector
