16 August 2021
Dear Parents and Carers,
NEW SESSION AUGUST 2021
I trust you and your families are well, and that young people have been enjoying the last few days of the summer holidays. We are looking forward to the new term and to welcoming the young people back to school on Wednesday. I write with some more detail to help you prepare for the return.
Arrival at School
As we are continuing with our COVID mitigations, we will be controlling entry to the building in the morning as we did last session. There will be staggered start times for Wednesday only. Each year will start the day off with an assembly. Year group start times are as follows:
| S1 | 8.30 |
| S2 | 10.25 |
| S3 | 11.00 |
| S4-6 | 11.40 |
S1 Lunches
Our new S1’s will not be permitted to leave the school grounds at break or lunchtime. They should either bring a packed lunch or use the school canteen. You can credit their parent pay accounts for them to use in school. If you have not received your letter for registering with parent pay please get in touch. Anyone who receives free school meals will have their account credited daily. Any amount that is unused is removed at the end of the day.
iPads/Laptops
Some devices and/or chargers have still not been returned from last session. If your child has a device/charger at home please ensure they bring it to school on Wednesday. Pupils who do not bring outstanding devices/chargers back to school will be sent home to collect them.
School uniform
A reminder that pupils should come to school in school uniform. Our changing rooms will be in use and those pupils who have PE should attend in school uniform and change into kit at the appropriate period. Pupils must not come to school wearing their PE kit. Our uniform consists of black skirt/trousers (NO leggings unless wearing a skirt over them), white shirt, school tie, optional black jumper/cardigan and black shoes (laced shoes must have black laces).
Lateral flow COVID tests
All staff and pupils are encouraged to undertake twice weekly Lateral Flow Device (LFD) testing at home and can collect kits from the school office. In June I wrote to suggest taking LFD kits home to allow testing to take place in the holiday prior to pupils returning to school. For those who did, I recommend taking a test on Tuesday or Wednesday morning.
SQA results
Congratulations to our pupils in last year’s S4, S5, and S6 on their excellent SQA results. Our young people worked incredibly hard in extremely difficult circumstances, and deserve credit for their achievements. I’m grateful to the Castlebrae staff for supporting them through these assessments.
Facemasks
A gentle reminder to ensure that your child comes to school equipped with a mask. Re-usable ones are more robust and longer lasting than the disposable paper ones. Ideally, each pupil will bring a mask and a spare to school.
Water
Our water coolers are still out of use due to COVID regulations so we ask that our young people bring a filled water bottle to school.
If you have a question that has not been addressed here please do not hesitate to contact the school office on 0131 661 1282.
Castlebrae Community Campus 