Dear Parents

As we move towards the end of the academic year, I am tempted to count my blessings. I am not going to follow the example of an excellent public school that, in October 2020, congratulated itself on managing the school through the first half term with no COVID cases, only to be decimated in November and December. Our good fortune at having just about all of our children currently here is no more than that and I only hope that this will remain the case by the time you read this article.

I do, however, count myself blessed in the way that this whole community has responded to difficult circumstances this year. Everyone has raised their game and made the best of a bad lot. While we have missed so many things that are a part of normal life at Cargilfield, everyone had done well to plug the gaps, to keep the teaching and learning going, and to make the most of what we have been allowed to do. A cheerful good sense has characterised my dealings with so many colleagues, parents and children and I remain proud to be part of that excellent Cargilfield community.

Before I indulge in too much congratulation, however, I have in mind the words of a boy in P1 who told me yesterday that his mummy was very sad that she could not come to watch him at Sports Day. I know he was also disappointed that she wouldn’t be there. Children (and parents) have missed a good deal this year and we must be determined to bring things back towards normality as soon as we can, albeit we shall also make some changes to learn from what has gone well in the last year or so.

I can only imagine that having to keep your child home while a sibling has a test or endure another period of isolation because of close contact with another positive case is extremely frustrating. For the Taylor family, this has meant two occasions where our children could not come home from school or university because of the potential risk to the school in which we live. These sacrifices and other efforts to abide by the wider rules, even when they don’t seem to be entirely logical, are helping us to stay at school and will help us do more in due course.

I intend to write to all parents on that theme at the end of term and to update everyone – probably in early August – when a much clearer picture of what the return to school can look like is apparent.  In the meantime, I do hope that the summer will allow families some holiday, an opportunity to see friends and family who have been neglected during the pandemic, and a chance to count your blessings in these difficult times.

As always, you can keep up to date with things here at Cargilfield by following our various social media channels which are constantly updated; the links to these are at the bottom of this newsletter. Our news page on the website is updated daily and can be accessed here.

Rob Taylor