Uniform can be ditched under new rules
Perth and Kinross pupils are being asked to wear clean clothes every day when they return to school.
But some might attend classes as little as once a week when they reopen. Education secretary and Perthshire North MSP John Swinney thinks being in just once a week is “not strong enough”. He wants to have pupils in school 50 per cent of the time.
Perth and Kinross schools have begun unveiling plans for how the blended mix of home and classroom education will be delivered, with some teachers returning to school this week to prepare for next term.
Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) said all parents and carers will be advised of what is happening at their child’s school before the end of term.
Perth Academy will temporarily ditch school uniform.
An update posted on its website last week said:“Risk assessment would require pupils and staff to wear a clean set of clothes to school every day.
“It is recognised that this will be easier if there is a relaxation on uniform insistence. You have enough to think about in these times without worrying about clean uniforms on a daily basis.
“Young people will be expected to wash clothing and/or attend school in clean clothing each day.”
Based on current guidelines and staff members who are shielding, Perth
Academy can accommodate about 30-40 per cent of its pupils.
The school plans to teach pupils on a 1:2 ratio basis such as one day in school/ two days at home or two days in/four days remote, but is consulting with parents as to how best to deliver this.
A draft timetable published on Blairgowrie High School’s website has S1-S4 pupils only being taught in school one day a week due to capacity issues. S5/S6 pupils will be taught in school twice a week.
The school’s update says:“We do not have the capacity to deliver two/three days per week, alternate weeks or a 50:50 split.”
On Monday morning Mr Swinney told Radio Scotland listeners :“I have made it clear that I believe trying to get 50 per cent of the time being able to be spent by a young person in school should be our objective to maximise that participation.”
He said pupils being in just one day a week was“not strong enough.”
Mr Swinney said the education recovery group had also agreed they had to be innovative and use“leisure facilities, public halls, town halls, church halls, vacant accommodation, other accommodation that was safe to use to try to maximise those opportunities.”
He said Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education would be scrutinising“all of the plans of all of the local authorities”to check councils had sought“every opportunity to use other accommodation to maximise the amount of time children and young people can be in school”.
Last month PKC’s director of education Sheena Devlin told councillors they would consider converting town halls, etc, into classrooms and look at“the entirety of buildings available to us.”
But on Monday, PKC revealed it had “no firm plans”to use other buildings.
A spokesperson said:“Transport, staffing and the requirements to deliver childcare may mean that we consider alternative buildings to deliver some of that provision but as yet there are no firm plans to do so.”
Letham PS headteacher Nick Thomson told parents that the school could meet social distancing guidelines if it had 50 per cent of the pupils in school at any one time, with each classroom able to accommodate around 10-12 pupils.
He told parents in a letter published on the school website: “We are also considering lunch provision, staggered start and finish times, drop-off point, movement around school and ensuring family groups and siblings can attend school at the same time as well as a host of other details to ensure all members of our school community stay safe.”
Mr Thomson said:“Given the guidance we will not be insisting children must wear school uniform when they do return.”
A spokesperson for PKC said: “The council will not be enforcing a blanket rule on school uniform. Schools will make their own individual decisions about whether pupils should wear uniforms.”