Dear Parent/Carer

Coronavirus (Covid-19)

I am writing to update you on Coronavirus (Covid-19) as it relates to you as a family and your children as pupils in our schools.

Dundee City Council’s Children and Families Service is working with head teachers across the city to deal with the impact of the situation as it develops.

The Scottish Government have said there is no need at this stage to close schools. I shall notify you immediately if this advice were to change.

The latest advice from Health Protection Scotland recommends that all educational settings remain open unless we have been advised by the local Health Protection Team to close.

I would ask that you and your family closely follow national health guidance.

If you've developed a new continuous cough and/or a fever/high temperature in the last 7 days, stay at home for 7 days from the start of your symptoms even if you think your symptoms are mild.

If you live with others, then the person who has symptoms of COVID-19 (new continuous cough and/or fever/high temperature) should stay at home for 7 days from the start of their symptoms and all other household members who don’t develop any symptoms should stay at home for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day illness began in the first person to become ill.

If others in the household develop symptoms within the 14 days, then they will need to stay at home for 7 days from the day their symptoms began, even if this takes them over the 14 day isolation period.

There is a self-help guide available: https://www.nhsinform.scot or phone 0800 028 2816. 

Please see the most up-to-date advice from the NHS:  https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19

We are adopting precautionary measures to protect members of our school community and ensure the effective running of our schools.

To help support these measures:

• We are regularly reminding young people of the importance of hand washing and basic hygiene procedures outlined by the NHS.
• Water fountains should only be used to fill water bottles. 
• All visitors MUST wash their hands when they come into the school.

Teachers at primary and secondary schools have been talking to pupils about using their Glow account for online learning.

Nurseries will also be advising about learning at home options.

All evening and after school activities and events prior to Easter have been postponed, along with Parents’ Evenings, concerts, shows and sports fixtures.

All school trips have been cancelled in the meantime.

Please be assured that we are taking all reasonable precautions in our schools and are liaising closely with Dundee City Council and NHS staff.

Yours sincerely

Head Teacher

Message from Mr Neeson.

There’s a heating problem in St Andrews, requires a part that might not be there by tomorrow, nothing serious but it means no hot water for tomorrow. School will be OPEN as usual. Robertson’s will provide all hand wash sanitisers and Tayside contracts cold food for lunch and breakfast club. The issue should be fixed tomorrow and normal service will resume Wednesday. Please spread the word, thank you.

My name is Helen Collins and I work at the University of Dundee and am doing a PhD in collaboration with Edinburgh University on physical activity in children. The ‘Active Strength’ research project is looking at the effect of resistance training on physical activity levels. I am conducting a pilot study at the University (as an after school initiative) after Easter (hopefully starting the week beginning the 23^rd April) and I have attached some further details. In particular, I am looking to recruit 8-10 year old children who would benefit from being more active. The sessions are free and your child would be part of a very important research project which aims to improve health. If you are interested in your child being involved, please email me at h.m.collins@dundee.ac.uk or call me on: 01382 385674

Active Strength Research Project Flyer

Please Dundeee see attached flyer giving details of Easter Holiday Football Camps organised by Leisure & Culture Dundee.

Easter Holidays Football Camp

P6/7 are piloting Bring Your Own Device to School.  They will be using their own device to enhance their learning.

BYOD

BYOD Rules

Dear Parent/Guardian,

As part of the I Bike project at St Andrew's Primary School, all pupils are invited to take part in a Make it Bright day on Wednesday 7th February  2018.

Pupils are encouraged to come to school dressed  as brightly as possible. Neon colours, reflective wear, lights, glow sticks and sparkles are some great ways to brighten things up.

The Bike Crew will be hosting a Make it Bright Assembly. These events aim to raise awareness of the importance of wearing high visibility clothing, when cycling, walking or scooting  in the dark. We also encourage walking, cycling and scooting to school on this day!

Laura Smith
Cycling Officer, Dundee

Details of the P7 Transition Day at St Paul's Academy

At Macalpine Fire Station, some of our children took part in a Young Firefighter Course. They took part in six sessions where they learned about:

• Road traffic accidents
• Using breathing apparatus to rescue a casualty from a smoke filled building.
• How to run out a hose and attach it to a hydrant.

Over the six-week Firefighter course, the children developed different types of skills such as teamwork, problem solving, communication, awareness, listening skills. Taking responsibility, as well as showing a positive attitude.  All of these skills are very important for being a firefighter. 

Here are some other things they were involved in:

Touring the fire station and learning about the fire engines.

How to put out different types of fires using a hose and fire extinguishers.

Learning about fire safety and how to keep themselves and others safe.

In the final session they took part in a fire drill where they used all the skills and knowledge they had developed over the 6 week course.