THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCILDepartment of Children and Families

Holy Cross R.C. Primary School Craighall Road Edinburgh EH6 4RE

Telephone: 0131 552 1972 Email: admin@holycross.edin.sch.uk Website: https://holycrossrcps.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @holycrossrcpsHead Teacher: Mr James McDevitt

M.A. (Hons.), P.G.C.E.(Primary)__________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEWSLETTER No 2, September 2020HEALTH ADVICEWe all have to continue to be extremely vigilant at the moment, so please do not send your child to school if they are displaying any COVID-19 symptoms, the most common of which are a new persistent cough, and/or a high temperature, and/or a loss or change in taste or smell, and remember that if your child or anyone in your household has these symptoms you should ALL stay at home. You may find the following FAQs for parents/carers helpful https://www.nhslothian.scot/Coronavirus/Parents/Schools/Pages/default.aspx

NOTIFICATION OF ABSENCESWhen your child is absent from school, it is really important that you contact the school office and let us know the reason for absence. This applies not just to COVID-19 symptoms but to other illnesses like sickness/vomiting, which means that your child should stay off for at least 48 hours after they have last been sick. Another illness which has to be reported is Slapped Cheek Syndrome (or Parvovirus B19) which can be harmful where a child with this illness has come into contact with pregnant women, people with weakened immunity or people with blood disorders who need regular check-ups by a doctor. Please help to keep us all safe and healthy by always notifying us of the reason for absence. Thanks for your cooperation with this.

HOME LEARNING ACTIVITIESDuring September our Home Learning activities have placed a strong emphasis on Health and Wellbeing. Topics covered were Rights Respecting Schools, Building Resilience, Nurture and the Importance of Play. All of the activities have been posted on Class Notebook and children have been uploading their completed tasks onto Class Notebook in the Home Learning Section. In addition, each class teacher has posted Literacy and Numeracy activities for their own class with the tasks to be completed in the same way. Health and Wellbeing tasks should be completed by Friday 2 October, with Literacy and Numeracy tasks completed by Friday 9 October.

REPORTING TO PARENTSDue to the current restrictions on access to the school it will not be possible to have any of the usual events by which we report to parents, such as Open Sessions and Parents’ Consultations. We are therefore using the Focus Child model which was successfully piloted in Primary 1 last session and which proved very effective for both staff and parents. Each week, two or three children in each class are Focus Children who will be closely observed by the class teacher and spend some time talking about their learning with their teacher. Photos of work and snapshots of conversations about learning will be shared with parents/carers on Class Notebook. Our experience of the pilot last session highlighted the many benefits of this approach, which included increased pupil awareness of their own learning, greater personalised feedback for each child and stronger links between home and school. We will review these arrangements in December and inform you should we make any changes between January-April 2021.

PE KITFor all PE lessons, please note that appropriate PE kit should be worn, i.e. T-shirts, shorts, tracksuit tops/bottoms and sweatshirts. Inappropriate PE kit includes football jerseys, designer T-shirts, cropped tops, sleeveless vests and denim shorts. Thank you for your cooperation with this.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION FOR P4 CHILDRENMany of our Primary 4 children will soon make their First Confession at Holy Cross Church at ceremonies specially arranged by Fr Hand. In order to meet current social distancing requirements, and comply with the reduced capacity of Holy Cross Church, we are unable to invite parents/carers to these celebrations.

However, the children will be accompanied and supported throughout the celebration by Miss Hogan and by Mr. McDevitt or Mrs Burnett. Thank you to Mis Hogan and Miss Sloane for all their hard work earlier this year in preparing the children for the Sacrament. Thanks also go to Fr Hand for making special arrangements for our children.

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION FOR P5 CHILDRENMany of our children were due to receive their First Holy Communion in May but unfortunately this had to be cancelled due to the Government’s efforts to delay the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Our Primary 5 children who will now have the opportunity to receive their First Holy Communion in Holy Cross Church on the following dates:

Mon 7 Dec, Tues 8 Dec, Mon 14 Dec and Tues 15 Dec (all at 7pm)A small group of children will receive their First Holy Communion on each of the above dates. This approach is necessary to meet current social distancing requirements and comply with the reduced capacity of Holy Cross Church. Please note that these restrictions also mean that each child will be strictly limited in the number of guests, which will include only parents (or carers) and their brothers and sisters.

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME FOR 2021The following is a general indication of when further Sacramental celebrations will take place in 2021:

Primary 3- First Confessions to be celebrated in March 2021 Primary 4- First Holy Communions to be celebrated in May/June 2021 Primary 7- Sacrament of Confirmation to be celebrated in May 2021

The main change to note is that the Sacrament of Confirmation will now be celebrated in Primary 7, after many years of being celebrated in Primary 4. In the coming months, we will be in contact again separately with parents in all of the above classes to discuss the programmes of preparation and to confirm actual dates.

SCHOOL LUNCHESPlease note that the new menu for school lunches will come into effect from Tuesday 27 October. This menu will run until the end of Term 2 on Tuesday 22 December and includes a hot food option. Parents/carers will be able to order from this menu on ParentPay towards the end of next week. Full details will be issued separately by the school office to remind parents/carers as soon as orders are able to be placed on ParentPay. Please note that school dinners will continue to be eaten in classrooms until further notice, in order to comply with social distancing guidelines.

OCTOBER HOLIDAYSchool will be closed for the October holiday from Monday 19 October to Monday 26 October (inclusive). All children should return to school on Tuesday 27 October.

James McDevittHead Teacher28 September 2020

“There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving”

(Letter of Paul to the Philippians 4:6)