Dear Parents and Carers,

Firstly, happy new year to you and your families and I hope that January has been kind to you. It’s a relief to see the snowdrops beginning to appear and it does give us hope that brighter days are to come.

I do hope that you are all getting into the swing of home schooling and the current restrictions. I’m sure that every family has a very different approach to this given access to devices, space and time with everyone juggling a wide range of commitments. There will be an update from the FM on Tuesday which reviews the current restrictions and hopefully may give us an insight into the thinking on the return to school.

Remember that next week – from the 8th of February – we are on the half term break and there will be no materials provided from school. There are however many other resources which will hopefully keep everyone amused during this week. Many of these are shared to the private Facebook group, so please come and join if you haven’t already.

It is becoming more apparent that our activities in terms of events and clubs are unlikely to see a return to any sense of ‘normality’ during this academic year. Our clubs team have begun to work through what we will need to have in place as and when we can recommence but this may take a very different shape than before. For example access to the school may continue to be restricted. I am sure that as we progress through Spring, we will work through the options and see where it leads.

With regard to events and fundraising, again our large scale events such as the Summer Fare are unlikely to go ahead in their previous form. By May, we may be able to hold some form of outdoor event and our fundraising team will begin to plan for both remote and real life events. We are hopeful that we will be able to hold a fundraising online quiz and this may be something for us to look forward to in spring time. More information on this as we work through the coming weeks.

Our next meeting will take place next week on Wednesday 3 February. As per the last meeting, I have shifted the time to 7.30pm to allow for small children to be settled and hopefully this is convenient for most of you. I have removed the need for registration to make this meeting more accessible.

I am hopeful that Ms Kyle will be able to join us to talk in general about the approach to home learning. Unfortunately she will not be able to answer class specific questions and if you have anything you need to raise, please contact the office team who will direct your comment or question to the person best able to answer.

Please let me know in advance if there is anything you would like to raise at the meeting so that I can ensure we are able to answer it for you.

Stay safe and stay well.

Karen Galloway
Chair
Bruntsfield Parent Council