Life @ EA
Rector’s Blog
29 October 2020
Dear Parent/Guardian
It was wonderful to welcome our students back to school after Half Term and to once again enjoy their energy, excitement and sense of fun. A full two week Half Term was certainly much deserved given the hard work and commitment of the first half of term and of course the earlier start date for our staff and many of our students. The Senior Leadership Team are currently discussing the benefits of this fortnight break in the middle of the longest term of the year and would continue to welcome any feedback from parents via the EAPA about how this full fortnight worked for Edinburgh Academy families. Thank you to those parents who have already submitted their feedback regarding this longer half term period. Many thanks indeed to all those members of the EAPA who attended the meeting of the Parents’ Association prior to Half Term. These are enormously important meetings where a good deal of school business is discussed and we are very grateful indeed for dedication and interest that this group show in the running of the school.
An item on the agenda at this meeting was the cancellation by the Scottish government of the National 5 examinations this summer and what this would mean for our current 5ths. As parents of students in the 5ths will have seen, we are continuing on with our programme of November testing, as this is the real first opportunity for members of this year group to sit formal examinations that will help to prepare them for the all-important Higher year in the 6ths. These November tests will then be followed up with a fuller and more realistic prelim at either the end of the spring term or the very beginning of the summer term. In between these periods we will complete the necessary assessment materials that our students will need so that grades can then be submitted to the SQA in the summer. The SQA have still to confirm a number of details for the assessment requirements for this cohort. At the time of writing of this News Sheet the GCSE, Higher and Advanced Higher and A Level exams are still on schedule for May 2021 but will have a later start and finish date.
As we regather for the second half of this term I would encourage all families to review the current Covid protocols to ensure that they are fully aware of the actions required should either symptoms become visible or a positive test be received. It is clear that the infection rate is going up across Scotland and so continued vigilance is still very much the order of the day. We would also encourage the limitations of large group gatherings in a social setting for our senior students and, in particular, when these social engagements involve senior students from other schools, as well as recent leavers from the Edinburgh Academy. At this point in time, staying safe and reducing opportunities for the transmission of this virus are hugely important and significantly outweigh the benefits of a fun weekend of social engagements.
Looking ahead it is already becoming apparent that some of the most loved and enjoyable social events of the school will be curtailed in the second half of this term. It is highly unlikely that events such as Division Music, Speakers' Dinner, the Christmas Fair or indeed the Carol Concert will be able to occur in a traditional face-to-face manner this term. The school is already making plans to move some of these events onto an online platform and try as best we can to replicate these important events. We are also having to bring forward our traditional Admissions testing morning for those students hoping to enter into the school in August 2021. Rather than in the first week of January, this event will take place on Saturday, the 12th of December so as to minimise transmission risks and also try to complete this Admissions cycle earlier, in case of any future lockdown events.
Can I also remind parents, and indeed students, that Friday, the 30th of October is an optional Own Clothes Day with a Halloween theme. Students who wish to wear their own clothes make a £2 donation to the school charities this year. Given Halloween ‘trick and treating’ is being discouraged due to Covid transmissions risks, students are welcome to wear their Halloween costumes instead.
Best wishes
Barry Welsh
Rector
