Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope this update finds you well as we reach the final weekend of February. There’s more light in the day and the crocuses and daffodils are showing their heads – it really lifts the mood.

It feels rather surreal to think that it was 12 months ago that I was in Ms Kyle’s office on a daily basis discussing the the range of scenarios and potential of schools closing and keeping parents are up to date as possible. What a time to be Chair and I hope you feel that we have done so.

It was lovely to walk past the school this week and see the P1-3s in the playground clearly loving being back with their friends. Let’s hope we can get the P4-7s back in a couple of week and we can enjoy some stability over the coming months.

I have just one or two things for you this month.

Term Dates

  • Christmas 2021: One of the papers being presented at the Education, Children and Families committee this week is recommending a change to the term dates for Christmas 2021. The proposal, which is highly likley to be approved will see the school holidays change. Currently the Christmas break is scheduled from Friday 24 December 2021 to Monday 10 January 2022. If approved, this would change to Monday 20 December 2021 to Tuesday 4 January 2022. I will of course let you know the outcome of this meeting, as will the Council and the school, but I thought prior warning would be welcome.
  • Term Dates Sessions 2022-2025: Every three years, the Council consults with parents on the term dates and structures for the coming years. This consultation will launch on Monday 1 March for sessions 2022/23, 2023/24 and 2024/5. It is unlikely there will be a significant restructure of the terms but this is your opportunity to feed into the process. I will share the details with you when I have them.

Funding Requests

  • Smartboards: Ms Kyle has requested the Parent Council fund two smart boards to replace aged versions in the school. (Note this was previously discussed in November 2020 and February 2021). The Parent Council have agreed to fund 50% of this with the balance being met by the school. The PC will fund a little over £2,500. Thanks to PC members for their speedy response on this one.
  • Other funding requests: Currently we have no other funding requests.

Events

  • Art Auction: Sadly there will be no summer fair again this year and our fundraising activities have been severely constrained. There was a suggestion that we rerun the successful art auction in June as a lovely way to end the school year and if we are able we could add on tea and cakes if social distancing rules are eased. If you – or a small group – think you are able to commit to organising this, it would be great to start the ball rolling on this one. Please get in touch with any of the Office Bearers and we can talk you through what is involved and put you in touch with previous organisers.
  • Teddy Bears Picnic: We are hopeful that we will be able to run the welcome event for the incoming P1s in August which, sadly, we were unable to do this year. We would need a P2 (or any other) parent or parents to step forward to make this happen. Again, we can explain what this involves to anyone that thinks they can commit to it and the previous organisers can advise and pass on extensive hand over notes.

Roads and traffic

  • The job advert for crossing patrol guides has been published. Please share this widely with those you think may be interested. The advert can be found here [ADVERT IS NOW CLOSED]
  • The Greenbank to the Meadows quiet route has now been installed which you will discover if you try to drive down Whitehouse Loan. The details of this route can be found here.
  • City of Edinburgh Council have launched a consultation on the future of the Spaces for People project and whether some of the measures should be made permanent. More information can be found here.

The date of the next Parent Council meeting has been changed and will now take place on Wednesday 31st March at 7.30pm on Zoom. Joining details will be circulated before the meeting. If you would like to raise something at this meeting, please let me know.

Now it’s Friday night, the sky is blue and I’m switching this computer off. I hope you can too.

Stay safe, stay well and look after each other.

Best wishes,
Karen Galloway
Chair
Bruntsfield Parent Council