Laughter and smiles as pupils return to school
Youngsters see teachers and pals again
Strath playgrounds once again echoed with the happy sound of children playing as they reunited with their friends from across the age groups on Monday.
Pupils from primary four to seven returned to local schools on a fulltime basis, joining the country’s youngest pupils who had already headed back to the classrooms at the end of February.
A phased return to secondary school also began on Monday and it is the intention that all secondary school pupils will return to spend some time in school from this week until the Easter break.
All pupils are expected to return to full-time schooling after Easter, subject to continued suppression of the virus and the requirement for the two metre physical distancing between young people being removed.
Rachel Bell, headteacher at Muthill Primary School, told the Herald: “We were delighted to welcome our Primary 4-7 pupils back into the school building this week and to have everyone learning together again under our Muthill school roof.
“The school has seemed very quiet of late and has reverted to being just a little bit noisier with
Online worship all the learning activities and discussions taking place.
“I should like to say a huge thank you to all of our parents/ carers and staff for their patience, perseverance and sheer hard work in supporting and providing the
remote learning experience for our Muthill children.
“It has been lovely to see happy and excited faces arriving at the school doors again and we have been lucky with the bright, warm weather for some outdoor fun and enjoying the company of classmates.
“We hope the sunshine will keep putting in an appearance and allow us lots of opportunities to take our learning outside in the run-up to the spring holidays.”
Elizabeth Hunter, headteacher at St Dominic’s RC Primary in Crieff, also praised parents. She said: “Many thanks to our parents and carers for their outstanding contributions during remote learning.
“Monday saw everyone back together again. Let’s all stay safe and remember the current restrictions.”
Comrie Primar y ’ s joint headteacher, Ruth Billingham, commented: “It has been so lovely to see so many happy, smiley faces coming back into school and hearing the playground filled with laughter.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said that the extended period of remote learning and the phased return to school presented challenges for staff, learner and parental wellbeing.
They said: “Th e r e is understandable anxiety among staff about a return to school.
“Every possible step should therefore be taken by local
authorities and schools to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children, young people and staff in schools.
“The mitigations set out ... should be strictly adhered to.
“Local authorities and schools have significant support in place to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing.
“The Education Recovery Group continues to monitor carefully the incidence and prevalence of Covid-19 in Scotland and in school communities to inform future phases of return and updated guidance around safety and wellbeing in schools.
“Guidance will be kept under review and updated when necessary.”
It’s been lovely to see happy and smiley faces arriving at the school doors again Rachel Bell
The next steps as part of a drive to create a new five-year vision for Crieff are currently well under way.
Strath capital residents have been asked to have their say on key themes identified as part of the Crieff Community Action Plan.
In partnership with other groups, members of Crieff Community Trust (CCT) are carrying out a survey of locals’ views on key issues affecting the town.
The themes – grouped under the headings ‘local economy’, ‘town enhancement and traffic management’, ‘environment and heritage’, ‘community relations, facilities, activities and events’ and ‘ housing and access to services’ – were identified following a survey which concluded in January and received 316 responses.
The next stage sees anyone interested asked to prioritise the themes as part of a new online vote, which started on Monday this week and runs until Sunday, March 21.
Project co- ordinator Caroline Ness explained the idea was to incorporate as much feedback as possible into the final action plan.
She said: “All community action plans tend to focus only on five or six themes – under each of these themes will be actions to focus on and, when people vote, this will help us to understand what people’s top priorities are, which in turn helps us to write the plan.
“People won’t just be asked to pick one priority under a theme, they will get to rank all priorities that have emerged so we get a feel for that too.”
Caroline continued: “We’d like to say thank you to everyone who completed our online or paper surveys, or who took part in our stakeholder interviews.
“Now we need to find out which of the themes people think are the most important and the priority they would put on them in our community action plan.
“It doesn’t matter whether people took part in the first survey or not.”
The poll is available on the website www. menti.com and can be accessed by using the code ‘17 46 78 87’.
Caroline added videos have been produced in a bid to provide more information on each theme and are available on the CCT website, www. crieffcommunitytrust.org.uk, and YouTube.
In addition, a series of discussions is taking place using Zoom – including what has been described as a “catch-up” session on Saturday this week.
Caroline concluded: “The Zoom sessions are designed to draw out more detail about what has been said in the survey.
“For example , if you said ‘ improve facilities’ – what does that mean? Or what does ‘ better shops’ mean, or ‘different shops’?
“We are hoping to tease out more rich feedback, which will help inform the final action plan.
“Full details of the Zoom session timetable are available on the Crieff Community Trust website.”
A similar action plan was created for the period stretching from 2013-18.
Like its predecessor, the updated version will be used as a springboard to support things such as applications for funding.
• The remaining Zoom sessions are:
‘ Housing and Access to Services’ - Thursday, March 18, at 7.30pm; ‘Community Relations, Facilities, Activities and Events’ - Friday, March 19, at 10.30am; ‘Round-up session’ - Saturday, March 20, at 10.30am.
To sign-up, email crieffcommunitytrust@ gmail.com.
Now we need to find out which of the themes people think are the most important and the priority they would put on them in our community action plan Caroline Ness