PUPILS at North Berwick High School received a letter from their headteacher last week confirming the arrangements for their return to school next month.

In the letter, headteacher Lauren Rodger confirmed that the school was preparing to reopen and expected to welcome all pupils back full time on August 12, assuming it was safe to do so.

She was unable to share information on details such as physical distancing and school transport, saying that this information would be made available during the summer holidays.

Mrs Rodger said that the school also had a contingency plan, or what Scottish councils are calling ‘plan B’, should incidents of the virus increase again and mean full-time schooling is not possible.

Throughout last month, the school worked on a recovery plan which took account of two and one-metre physical distancing.

Mrs Rodger said: “While I hope we will never have to put our plan B into action, I think it is important to share that plan with you.

“Doing so means that you will know the impact on your household should health and government advice change over the summer holiday, necessitating a move to a blended learning model.

“It will also enable you to plan for any impact, should that be required.

“Again, I emphasise that the reason for sharing these contingency plans with you now is so that you know what the impact would be only if the Scottish Government decides that full-time schooling will not be possible in August.

“We all hope that this will not be the case as we are looking forward to welcoming all our young people back to school full-time after the summer.”

Some aspects of ‘plan B’ include cleaning classrooms at the start and end of each day, with each of them well ventilated; outdoor learning will be encouraged.

Should two-metre distancing still be in place, classrooms will have a maximum of 10 people; one-metre distancing will allow 15 pupils.

Under plan B, teachers may move between classrooms instead of pupils, with a one-way system in place and staggered lunch times. Only S6 pupils will be allowed to leave the school at break times.

Home learning will take place alongside school learning and pupils will return to the school in phased stages.

Pupils will also be asked to bring their own resources as much as possible, as sharing resources will be minimised and shared areas, such as changing rooms and water fountains, will not be available.

Mrs Rodger described planning the return in August as “challenging”.

Classrooms had already been restructured, hand sanitising stations introduced, managed break and lunch times planned and cleaning regimes put in place. In addition, for the first few weeks of the new term, school meals will be packed lunches only.

Pupils and their parents will continue to be updated during the summer break, including those whose health would mean a return to school in any form is not safe.

Mrs Rodger finished her letter by thanking the school community for its support, resilience and patience over the last term.

She added: I know that the staff, like me, are looking forward to welcoming our pupils back into the school building in August, as well as welcoming our new S1s to NBHS for the first time.”

Full details of the school’s ‘plan B’ can be found at bit.ly/3iydjoR