Snow-hit schools working hard to make up for lost time
Schools across east and central Scotland are slowly getting back to normal after some of the harshest winter weather for years brought the country's education system to a standstill.
- By Jonathan Watson
- Published in the Courier : 09.12.10
- Published online : 09.12.10 @ 02.19pm
Almost all schools in Angus, Fife, Tayside, and Perth and Kinross are open after pupils began December with a premature holiday.
But with the snow stopped for now and roads and paths slowly being clearing, the task of restoring lesson schedules, rearranging exams and covering absent teachers has already begun in earnest.
For many secondary pupils set to take prelims, the stress of revision has been increased by the uncertainty surrounding whether the exams would go ahead. However, despite some schools having to alter their timetables, most appear to be coping well.
Fife
In Fife, all but a handful of schools and nurseries are now open.
Head of education Bryan Kirkcaldy said, "I am delighted that our schools are almost all back to normal. Staff will now be settling children down after their unexpected break and it will be a concerted effort now to make up for any lost time.
"For secondary schools the priority will be exam preparation, and reorganising exam timetables which may have been disrupted during the closure period. Schools will individually keep pupils and parents up to date with any changes to the school diary.
"The weeks running up to Christmas are a busy time for all schools with preparations for school concerts, Christmas fairs and numerous activities but staff will do their best to make sure that the children do not miss out on anything.
"I'd like to thank everyone for the efforts they made to keep disruption to a minimum during this period."
However, mindful that more severe weather has been forecast for later in the month, Mr Kirkaldy warned there could be more closures.
Perth and Kinross
In Perth and Kinross, only one school has failed to open on Thursday — Auchtergaven Primary School has no heating — but there is still some disruption to school buses.
For those about to face prelims, Perth Academy has advised pupils to continue with their revision, while Perth Grammar has already rearranged the dates for its S4 pupils to sit their exams.
Perth High School started its prelim schedule as planned on Wednesday.
There was some disruption at St John's Academy earlier in the week, although these assessments have since been rescheduled.
Perth and Kinross Council said many schools have links from their websites to a range of national education resources which pupils can use if their school is closed. Secondary pupils already have coursework which they can continue at home.
The council also said that last week was a study week for many S4 pupils, so they would have been preparing for prelims at home anyway.
Angus
In Angus, pupils at Forfar Academy have been reminded to continue with their studies despite the temptation to frolic in the snow as schools in the area closed last week.
A spokesman for Angus Council said, "Decisions about adjusting the nature and pace of coursework are made by head teachers and teaching staff in light of the particular circumstances of each school and each cohort of pupils.
"It is open to head teachers to provide extra tuition including through additional study classes in secondary schools, if that were considered appropriate.
"Prelims affected by weather-related closures have been in the main S4 prelims in relation to Standard Grade courses. Head teachers are confident that these can be rescheduled or reorganised without major difficulty."
Dundee
In Dundee, some pupils have been back in classes for almost a week.
A Dundee City Council spokesman said, "All Dundee schools have been open for lessons from Monday, following the opening of six secondary schools last Friday.
"Work in the classroom continues. Prelim exams in some secondary schools are ongoing at the moment."
All of the councils said decisions over whether to allow youngsters out at intervals in the biting cold will be made at the discretion of each head teacher.
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