Everything you need to know about starting school can be found on the Edinburgh City Council’s Starting School site including:
Requesting a school outside your catchment area
They should bring a water bottle and a nut-free snack small enough to fit into a pocket (and a packed lunch if they’re not eating school lunch). That’s it. They don’t even need a pencil case, because school provides all the stationery and equipment they need.
If you want to order Craiglockhart Primary branded items, you can do so from Border Embroideries (https://www.beuniforms.co.uk/ or in their shop on Dundee Terrace, where you can try on uniforms. They offer payment via Klarna). However, non-branded items in school colours are absolutely fine, and these can be bought from most large supermarkets and department stores.
Black trainers are perfectly acceptable as school shoes.
There is a nearly new uniform shop in school, and there is also a stall at the Summer Fair each year. There are suggested prices, with profits going to CPACC for use in the school, but just pay what you can.
The Uniform Shop can be accessed 8.30am-3.30pm and is on the first floor – look for the Uniform Shop signs. You can pay via your phone by scanning a QR code (the QR code is on a sign in the shop), or pay by cash in the school office.
Your child needs a white T-shirt, navy shorts or joggers, and trainers/gym shoes. Please name all the items in the PE kit in case items get lost.
PE kit is usually kept at school on your child’s peg and only sent home to be washed over the holidays.
You need to order them via ParentPay (https://www.parentpay.com/). School uses this for various payments, so please create an account. You can also log in with a MyGovScot password if you have one.
You need to order lunches even if your child receives free lunches, as there are different menu choices. All children are eligible for free lunches until P5. In P6 and P7, your child is eligible for free lunches if you get the Scottish Child Payment. See https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/food-clothing/free-school-meals-school-clothing-grants for details.
The lunch menus are usually posted for a couple of months into the future, and you can order for the entire period for which menus are shown. ParentPay will not send you a reminder when they post new menus or when you need to order again, so it helps to set a reminder on your phone…!
You also order and pay for milk on ParentPay.
Craiglockhart Primary does not set compulsory homework. However, the school is about to introduce optional extra work linked to the curriculum so that you know what your children are learning and can do something at home with them if you choose.
In P1 – P3, your child will bring reading books home each week. Please read them together and send them back to school the next week.
The main method is through emails sent using the ParentPay system. A weekly Friday Flyer summarises most of the information; there are sometimes also emails on individual issues. Urgent updates are sometimes sent out as messages to your phone.
CPACC also has a WhatsApp community with various chats in which we share information. If you join this community, you will get the announcements which we send out about things like school events or deadlines for booking lunches.
You will get “parent consultations” with the teacher in the autumn and spring terms. These are ten-minute appointments where you talk with your child’s teacher in their classroom, and see some of the work they’ve been doing. You will get a written report in the summer term. In P1, you will also get weekly updates via the Learning Journal app.
If you have any particular concerns at other times, you can try chatting to the teacher at drop-off (for quick questions) or get in touch with them via the school office. The WhatsApp chats for each year group are also a good way to check up on what’s happening day by day.
There are also some opportunities for parents and carers to come into school and watch performances by the children, such as at Christmas and at the end of the school year.
Breakfast club is run by the school, and starts at 8 a.m. each morning. Please contact the school office (admin@craiglockhart.edin.sch.uk, 0131-337-1407) to enquire and register.
Craiglockhart After School Club runs from the end of the school day until 17:45 (17:30 on Fridays). It is held in the school buildings, but run by a separate organisation made up of parents and carers. You need to register with them, and there are often waiting lists, so it’s best to do so as soon as you can. Their email is casc.feesandbookings@gmail.com, and they have a booklet with all the information that they will send you. They can look after children with various additional support needs – please contact them to discuss what support your child might need.
They also run holiday clubs.
You may be eligible for grants for free school meals (in P6 onwards – meals are free for all children before this), milk, and school clothing. Please look at https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/food-clothing/free-school-meals-school-clothing-grants to see if you qualify.
You do not need to spend a lot of money on school uniform – you can get second-hand uniform items cheaply from the school’s nearly new uniform shop, and you only need to pay what you can afford. There is also a “Share and sell” group in our WhatsApp community for children’s clothes, toys, etc.
If you struggle to pay for one-off items such as school trips, please talk to the school office. CPACC has a hardship fund that can help with these expenses; referrals come via the school, so we do not know who has asked for the money.
Craiglockhart staff are caring and do their best to support each child.
Your child’s support needs should be discussed as part of the transition process to school, but if you have concerns, or you are moving from outside Edinburgh, please contact the school (admin@craiglockhart.edin.sch.uk, 0131-337-1407) to discuss them.
CPACC also has a group of parents and carers of children with additional support needs where we can share information and experiences. You can join our WhatsApp group via the CPACC community, and we also have informal get-togethers every so often.
We realise that it’s a big change for you and your children.
Craiglockhart is a multicultural and multilingual school, and many children join from different places at different stages of their education. The staff work hard to make your children feel welcome, and can arrange support with learning English if necessary. Children moving from overseas are assigned a buddy, usually from their class, who will look out for them and explain how things work.
CPACC can also arrange an informal “buddy family” for you if you would like, to answer any questions you might have. Please get in touch at craiglockhartpacc@gmail.com if you would like one. We also have a group of parents and carers of children who have moved here from abroad, where we can share information and experiences. You can join our WhatsApp group via the CPACC community.
Children are each assigned to a house, and each house has a colour.
The Craiglockhart houses are:
Siblings will tend to be assigned to the same house.
Sometimes the school will organise Fun Fridays where children will take part in house activities, led by the House Captains. On Fun Fridays the children can come to school wearing something in their house colours. This can be as subtle as the colour of their socks or a hairband, a home-made or school made badge or a t-shirt.
We welcome all parents and carers to join the parent and carer council! There are plenty of roles to fill, both throughout the year and for specific events. Please come along to a meeting (dates and times are posted in our WhatsApp community) or email us at craiglockhartpacc@gmail.com.
If you’d like to help raise funds, as well as attending fundraising events there are a couple of things which you can do on a daily basis:
By signing up at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk and choosing “Craiglockhart PA – Edinburgh” as the cause you support, we get a donation every time you shop online with many retailers.
We also make money through RagBag – just bag up any unwanted old clothes, shoes, bags, or household linen (not pillows or duvets) and put them into the large green bin beside the gate by the nursery.
