Each year we normally ask the children to decorate a hard-boiled egg in class.  These are then judged and a winner and a runner up from each year receive an Easter egg at our assembly.  Easter eggs for this are currently sitting in my office having been purchased before the school closures. To provide a bit of fun for our first week back, we are going to go ahead with our competition.

Decorate a hard boiled egg or Easter egg picture and send a picture of this to me – kerrie.laird@glenurquharthigh.org.uk or kerrie.laird@highland.gov.uk by Friday, 17th April. I will then work with class teachers to judge this and we will announce winners next week. Easter eggs will be given to the winners on our return to school. Have fun getting creative! Entries in previous years have been eggcellent!

Welcome back to term 4 of what is turning out to be a very different 2019/20 session. All staff and I are very much still looking forward to re-engaging with you all and hearing your Easter stories. We recognise that families will all be at different stages and this is okay as we all try to find our new ‘normal’ going forward. All of us at Glenurquhart Primary are great at working together, showing our school values of friendship and positivity as are the community around us in supporting each other. We also understand the need to be flexible as changes continue to happen over the coming weeks and I am in constant touch with Area Managers to ensure that we are following Council and government guidelines and passing on information as quickly as we can. We also continue to work closely with our Associated Schools Group – the High School, Glenurquhart Childcare Centre, Balnain and Cannich Bridge. Teachers will be in touch this week to provide ideas for continuing learning, checking in and encouraging. None of this should cause any concern so remember to spend time outside, enjoy family time where possible and do what you feel you can of the suggested learning. Teachers are there to help. We will be looking to continue our promotion of creativity and hope to start this with our annual Easter egg decorating competition – watch for more information later today. Whole school updates will continue through this News page and the Family Learning site with class work through class blogs and Google Classroom for P4-7.

Remember, staff and I are here for you all. Whether you have questions around work set, are not sure how to do something, need support in any way or just need a chat, this can be organised through email, online chat or phone call. Please keep in touch with your teachers and contact me at any time on kerrie.laird@glenurquharthigh.org.uk or kerrie.laird@highland.gov.uk.

www.facebook.com/6251868998/posts/10157547109793999/

Calling all parents, guardians and children to tune in at 10.15am tomorrow on Wednesday 1 April for Episode 1 of our brand-new series #WaterSafetyWednesdays, coming to you via Facebook Live!

Join Liam from the RNLI’s Water Safety team as he explains why it’s important to ‘Stop and Think’ around water. He will also share ideas for some fun RNLI activities children can do at home after the episode.

Today’s rainbows to cheer you up- thanks to Finlay and Ossian. Can you spot the pot of gold?

Look at Millie and her brother’s wonderful smiley faces to bring us hope and joy today with their rainbows.

Thank you Sam, Aoife, Seb and Miss Mullin. Love all of these 😍

Thanks to Aibhne for her rainbow picture today. I’ve also attached a template from Emotion Works that you can download, print or copy and decorate then sent back to me (if you are able to.)

Thanks to Rhys and Layla for our rainbows today.

We’d like to wish everyone a happy Easter break. Although it will be a very different one this year, we hope that you can enjoy some family time and that the sun keeps shining so that you can have great fun in your gardens and immediate outdoor spaces.

Work on class blogs will resume after the break as will communication with class teachers. These will not be checked or responded to over the Easter holiday. If you are getting bored and looking for inspiration try the Family Learning site https://sites.google.com/glenurquharthigh.org.uk/family-learning-gups/home There are pages within this for school closure -with a wide variety of activities, Literacy, Numeracy and digital help. There is also a link to the Highland Council Digital Hub https://sites.google.com/millburnacademy.org.uk/highlanddigitalschoolshub/home where you will find a huge variety of ideas and information.

If families need support over the break, a helpline number has been set up for anyone who is struggling and needing urgent help during this crisis. The single line number – 0300 303 1362 – will connect callers to relevant Council specialist teams and will operate Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. All calls are free. 

Take care, stay at home where you can and stay safe. Keep emailing me your rainbow pictures and I will aim to add them to this blog so that we can continue to spread a little hope and cheer. We’re thinking of you all at the moment and looking forward to hearing from you when we return.

Highland Council to launch e-vouchers for free school meals

Highland Council will be providing e-vouchers to families to support access to free school meals from week commencing 30 March 2020. 

This innovative and easy-to-use service will ensure over 4,000 school children will continue to receive support for school meals while schools are closed. For the majority of pupils, this will be delivered digitally through e-vouchers for food in local supermarkets.

Enabling choice will provide flexibility and also help to reduce waste, as food can be purchased according to need or preference in the household. Some restrictions do apply as the e-vouchers cannot be used to purchase age restricted products such as tobacco, alcohol, lottery tickets and fuel.

The impact of Coronavirus has caused many vulnerable families additional hardship and this process will ensure that the most vulnerable children can get food.

Highland Council continues to investigate other ways of providing food across the Highlands for vulnerable groups within the rapidly changing environment. This includes working closely with High Life Highland, Eden Court and our many partners including the Third Sector. Further information will be provided in due course.

Cllr John Finlayson, Chair of the Education Committee, said: “The provision of school meals is a priority service that we are committed to delivering including during when schools are closed in the current times. I applaud the Highland Council staff who are working hard to implement this service as quickly as possible and for e-vouchers to be issued next week”.

A helpline number has been set up for anyone who is struggling and needing urgent help during this crisis. The single line number – 0300 303 1362 – will connect callers to relevant Council specialist teams and will operate Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. All calls are free.