Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Session 2021-22 ! I hope you all had a great summer and that the children are as excited at the prospect of returning to or starting school as you are !

Remember you can find the starting times and line up locations on the school website.

A warm welcome to all our new families – those joining us in P1 but also further up the school. We hope that you find a welcoming community in Bruntsfield and have found answers to the many queries you may have.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks we will be asking for volunteers to come forward from the new P1 classes to act as Class Representatives. Traditionally this has been an informal role acting as a liasion between the teacher/school and parents as well as undertaking important jobs such as arranging social events to allow parents to get to know each other. We do think that the role of the class rep is important in helping get information *to* parents but also back to the PC and the school on what you need us know.

Our closed Facebook group is a great way to learn from families who have been in our school for some time. Please search for Bruntsfield Parent Community. We do realise that social media is not a choice for everyone and so we are hoping to make more information readily available via your class reps and our website.

Although restrictions have been lifted across Scotland, schools are being asked to continue mitigations for at least the next 6 weeks. This means that children will continue in year group bubbles and staggered break times until the September long weekend. Please understand that this means that parents will continue to be asked to wait outside the school gates and will not be allowed into the playground. You may want to consider continuing to wear a face covering whilst in more crowded spaces.

We also ask that you consider an active travel option to get to and from school. There remains no parking or vehicle stopping outside the school building and the junction with Montpelier/Montpelier Park remains closed to cars. Cycles and scooters will still be able to use this junction. if you do require to drive your children to school, please park in an adjacent street and walk the last few meters. For older children, you may want to team up with friends and neighbours to escort the children to school – this reduces congestion around the school and encourages responsible road safety.

Our first meeting of the session will take place on 25th August via Zoom (link to follow) and a key objective of this meeting is to have an open discussion about the role and focus of the PC for the coming session and our need to involve more people in order to lighten the load for all. There remains a huge job of work to be done to get Clubs back up and running, even in a small way. We are still waiting to hear when we will be able to use the school building and are working with MUC on availability and access. We also have to consider our fundraising activities between now and Christmas including tea towels and events such as the P5/6 Halloween Party.

The last two years have seen our activities with other PC’s and the Council grow whilst our key local activities around clubs disappear due to COVID restrictions. We need to find a better balance for the coming session and ensure that we are in a good place to represent your views and deliver activities you want.

This meeting will be followed by our AGM and the election of the new office bearers and parent council on 22nd of September.

These will be my last two meetings as Chair as I step down after five years as an office bearer in the PC. I am looking forward to welcoming a new team on board to take our strong community into the new session and to cheer from the sidelines for my final year as a Bruntsfield parent.

I hope you all enjoy the last day of the holidays tomorrow and that we enjoy a full and uninterrupted school year.

Best wishes,
Karen Galloway
Chair
Bruntsfield Parent Council