Dear Parents and Carers,

• We say goodbye and best wishes to Ms Samaira Zuber as she starts her new life in England. We shall all miss you very, very much. Mrs Jane Jenkinson is taking over as School Administrator and we shall advertise for a new Clerical Assistant.
  Best of luck to Miss Niki Dunne, PSA, who is returning to her teaching course. We may very well see Niki back in school at some point! Thank you to Mrs Erika Alanis, who is taking some ‘time out’ to be with her family. PSA adverts will be placed in the new year.
• P5-P7 children are invited to join the Boroughmuir Pipe Band. Leaflets have been shared with the children. Some of the band, including two former pupils, played for the children in our playground and this was delivered live to the classes via Teams. Absolutely fabulous to hear the pipes and the drummers. Thank you.
• P5 Children will receive free school meals in January 2022. Information has been emailed to P5 parents and carers. If you have any problems, please contact our School Admin Team.
• Equalities: The Edinburgh Slavery and Colonisation Legacy Review:
  • The Review Group wants to hear from Edinburgh residents about the most constructive ways that their city could address issues of historic racial injustice and make Edinburgh a fair and welcoming place for everyone.
  • It is also seeking views about a selection of prominent public features including monuments, street names and buildings, which it considers illustrative of the many aspects of Edinburgh life and society shaped by the city’s legacy of slavery and colonialism.
  • The findings from the consultation will inform the Review Group’s recommendations and will feature in a report to be brought to Council committee for consideration in 2022. This will help the Council decide which actions it will progress, and what the priorities for change might be.
  • The online consultation is hosted on the Council’s website at: www.edinburgh.gov.uk/slaverycolonialism. It is open until 19 January 2022. Background information about the Review can be found at: www.edinburgh.gov.uk/edinburghslaverycolonialism
• Recycle your Winter/ Christmas Jumpers: if you have any winter/ Christmas jumpers you no longer need, please donate them to the school. We would like to keep a selection for anyone who would like one next year. Please send them to the school in January or before the winter festivities next year. 
• Covid Integrated Impact Assessment Group: if you would like to be involved in discussing the impact of C19 and planning solutions, please see the details in an email sent earlier today.
• Covid 19 Update: parents and carers have been emailed a letter from the NHS and it is posted on our website. One change is, if a member of the household tests positive, all the household members must isolate for 10 days. For us, this means if one sibling tests positive, their siblings must isolate too, regardless of their test result. This also means staff may need to isolate more, so it is really important we continue to do all we can to  transmission. Please continue to check NHS website for latest information, as it is changing quickly.
• We have done well, with your help, holding the number of positive cases in the school steady over the last few weeks. Thank you everyone for all you have done to keep the classes running smoothly. I do appreciate it.
• Resources and information for Parents and Carers from the NHS on Anxiety and Worry has been emailed to you and posted on our website. There are some really good links to help families. Please let us know too if we can help in any way.
• There are many mixed feelings as we come to the end of 2021. What a year it has been! We know how lucky we are to work with your children, they light up our day, every day of the year.
• Please remember Kidzcare do not run on the last day of term.
• School closing times:
  • P1 and P2 finish at 11.55am
  • P3, P4 and P5 at 12.05pm
  • P6 and P7 at 11.50am

Have a lovely break from the routine of early mornings for school and enjoy your time with each other. Look after yourselves, each other and if the days seem short and the nights long, keep in mind, it won’t be long before we see the snowdrops and look forward to Spring again.

Kindest regards,

Carol Kyle