Some more news about the way our capital is coping with the white stuff. We will again update this article throughout the day so keep coming back!
If you have any information for us then please get in touch with us at theedinburghreporter@gmail.com
Here is the news from The City of Edinburgh Council about schools for Monday 6 December 2010.
All secondary schools are set to open for some pupils and 55 primaries are set to open on Monday.
The situation remains changeable so parents so parents should check the Council’s website on Sunday afternoon for confirmation/updates on the situation below.
All staff should continue to report to work. If staff cannot report to their usual place of work then they should go to the nearest City of Edinburgh Council school. Staff should not go to Prestonfield Primary.
Home to School contract bus companies will provide transport for registered students. This is of course subject to change if the weather impacts on the service.
City Education Leader Cllr Marilyne MacLaren talks about getting to school:-“We are trying our best to get schools and nurseries open again and but we want parents to be assured that we don’t expect that everyone will be able to get to school. We know that nowadays most pupils really enjoy their school experience and will be keen to get back into the swing of things.
“Our aim is to open as many schools as possible so we can get Edinburgh’s education service up and running. We understand that, in some circumstances, it may be very difficult or nearly impossible to make the journey to school. In these cases it is of course for parents to make a judgement about whether to send children to school.
“We run a vital service and we want it be as available as possible. We don’t expect schools to be full at this stage but we are confident, that as we move forward, more and more schools should open and more and more pupils will gradually make it along until eventually things get back to normal.
“Until then we’ll keep working with the Council’s gritting teams and with contractors who we’ll bring in to make routes to school and school grounds as safe and accessible as possible.”
The current situation
Secondary Schools
All secondary schools are set to open for some pupils. Some schools may open to more pupils so be sure to check the council website on Sunday. Current details as follows:
Balerno S4-S6 – No transport for pupils who take private bus from Livingston & Mid-Calder
Boroughmuir S4-S6
Broughton S4-S6
Castlebrae S4-S6
Craigmount S4-S6
Craigroyston S3-S6
Currie S4-S6
Drummond S4-S6
Firrhill S4-S6
Forrester S3-S6
Gracemount S3-S6
Holy Rood RC S4-S6
James Gillespie’s S4-S6
Leith Academy S1-S6
Liberton S4-S6
Portobello S4-S6
Queensferry S5-S6
St Augustine’s RC S4-S6
St Thomas of Aquin’s RC S4-S6
The Royal High S4-S6
Trinity Academy S4-S6
Tynecastle High S4-S6
Wester Hailes Education Centre S3-S6
Lunches will be provided.
Primary Schools
The following 55 (of 87) primary schools will be open on Monday as well as the nursery at Clovenstone. Clovenstone Primary will be closed.
Abbeyhill
Balgreen
Blackhall
Bonaly
Broomhouse
Broughton
Bruntsfield
Castleview
Clermiston
Corstorphine
Craigentinny
Craiglockhart
Craigour Park (No breakfast club)
Craigroyston
Crammond (No nursery class)
Dalry
Davidson’s Mains
Ferryhill
Flora Stevenson
Forthview
Granton(No nursery class, will re-open Tuesday)
Gylemuir
Hermitage Park
Holy Cross RC
James Gillespie’s
Leith
Leith Walk(No nursery class)
Liberton(No nursery class)
Longstone
Lorne
Murrayburn (Language class open on Monday, no nursery class)
Oxgangs
Pirniehall
Preston Street
Queensferry
Roseburn
Sciennes
Sighthill
South Morningside (Fairmilehead annex closed – no nursery class, no breakfast or afterschool clubs. Cluny annex will be open but no bus service until further notice.)
St Catherine’s RC (No nursery class)
St Cuthbert’s RC
St David’s RC
St John’s RC (No nursery class)
St Joseph’s RC
St Mary’s RC – Edin
St Mary’s RC – Leith
St Peter’s RC
Stenhouse
Stockbridge
The Royal High (No nursery class)
Tollcross
Towerbank
Trinity(No afterschool club)
Victoria
Wardie
Lunches will be provided.
The rest of Edinburgh’s Primaries will remain closed
Special schools
The following special schools are set to open on Monday
St Crispin’s
Braidburn
Pilrig Park
Wellington
Rowanfield
The Panmure St Ann’s service will continue to operate
Nurseries
The following nurseries will be open on Monday:
Cowgate Under 5’s Centre
Tynecastle
Calderglen
Balgreen
Stanwell
Cameron House
St Leonard’s
Grassmarket
High School Yards
Hope Cottage
Princess Elizabeth
Greengables
Lochrin
Spinney Lane
Liberton
Queensferry Early Years Centre
Fort Early Years Centre
Craigroyston Early Years Centre
Other Council nurseries are closed.
Community Centres
The following City of Edinburgh Council community centres will be closed:
Ratho
Roseberry Hall
Inch
Jack Kane
Bingham
Castleview
Magdalene Rannoch
Kirkliston
Norwood Wing
Craigmount Wing
Juniper Green
All other Council community centres will be open. Day adult education classes will run next week but evening classes will not.
Other Children & Families services
All Child and Family centres will be open with a reduced service. Please contact the centres direct for information.
Anyone looking to attend external events normally hosted in schools, e.g. councillor surgeries or community groups, should check if they are going ahead.
City Libraries are open this weekend. Tales of One City the library blog tells us:-“Almost all our libraries will be open as normal this weekend (Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 December).
The only exception is Ratho Library which will be closed.
As we’ve been saying all week – things could change depending on the weather. Our advice remains to phone ahead if you are thinking of visiting a library to make sure it will be open when you get there.
Remember you can also renew books by logging on to your account or over the telephone (contact details on our web site).”
The City of Edinburgh Council are concerned to ensure that all vulnerable people are looked after at this time. They said:- “Vulnerable people in Edinburgh affected by the severe weather are set to benefit from emergency supplies being organised by The City of Edinburgh Council.
The supplies will be available for those who are assessed as having an urgent need and are unable to get to their local shops or don’t have family members or neighbours who can help.
The items are coming from the local Tesco in Colinton and the Council’s own staff are helping out with deliveries. Volunteers are also on standby from the Red Cross.
Councillor Paul Edie, Health and Social Care leader, said the Council was making sure the most vulnerable citizens of the Capital continued to receive support throughout the severe weather.
He said: “The freezing conditions are making it almost impossible for some of our most vulnerable people to buy their essential daily shopping items.
“These emergency supplies will help them in their time of need and I’m delighted that we have so many committed volunteers helping us with this very worthwhile cause.
“I would also urge people to show their community spirit by checking with their elderly neighbours if they need any help with their shopping.”
The parcels will contain items such as UHT milk, tinned vegetables and fruit, teabags, biscuits, tins of corned beef/ham and other essential household goods.
Anyone who is worried or needs advice should contact Social Care Direct for advice on 0131 200 2324 or in the evenings and at weekends contact can be made with the out of hours service at 0800 731 6969.”
The Foodies Festival gets under way today at noon at The Assembly Rooms.More details here.
There has been an enormous drop in temperature in Scotland overnight and in Edinburgh the mercury has gone down to -15 degrees at the airport. Many roads are affected by ice. Check the condition of the roads with sites like the AA which has useful advice for driving in the wintry conditions or with BBC Travel News.
Edinburgh Airport seems to be open and most flights are displayed as expected to arrive as scheduled.
Scotrail is trying to maintain its services where possible but these have been cancelled this morning:-
West Highland Line
Far North Line
Aberdeen – Inverness
Perth – Inverness
Glasgow Queen St – Inverness
Lothian Buses have maintained most services although some have been subject to diversions. These are the buses which are running normally:
Services operating FULL ROUTE with no diversions – 4 7 11 12 14 19 21 25 X25 26 X31 32 45 61 AIRLINK 100
Other information on their website.
The City of Edinburgh Council report that all secondary schools are set to open for some pupils and 44 primaries are set to open on Friday.
All staff should continue to report to work. If staff cannot report to their usual place of work then they should go to the nearest City of Edinburgh Council school. (Staff should not go to Prestonfield Primary)
Home to School contract bus companies will provide transport for registered students. This is of course subject to change if the weather impacts on the service.
With colder temperatures and more snow expected, the situation remains changeable so parents are urged to continue checking the Council’s website and Radio Forth for updates.
Secondary Schools
All secondary schools are set to open for some pupils. Details as follows:
Balerno S4-S6 – No transport for pupils who take private bus from Livingston & Mid-Calder
Boroughmuir S4-S6
Broughton S4-S6
Castlebrae S4-S6
Craigmount S4-S6
Craigroyston S3-S6
Currie S4-S6
Drummond S4-S6
Firrhill S4-S6
Forrester S3-S6
Gracemount S3-S6
Holy Rood RC S4-S6
James Gillespie’s S4-S6
Leith Academy S1-S6
Liberton S4-S6
Portobello S4-S6
Queensferry S5-S6
St Augustine ‘s RC S4-S6
St Thomas of Aquin’s RC S4-S6
The Royal High S4-S6
Trinity Academy S4-S6
Tynecastle High S4-S6
Wester Hailes Education Centre S3-S6
No lunches will be provided – pupils may wish to bring a packed lunch.
Primary Schools
The following 44 (of 87) primary schools will be open on Friday as well as the nursery at Clovenstone. Clovenstone Primary will be closed.
Abbeyhill
Balgreen
Broomhouse
Broughton
Bruntsfield
Castleview
Clermiston (No nursery class)
Corstorphine
Craigentinny
Craiglockhart
Craigour Park (No breakfast club)
Dalry
Davidson’s Mains
Ferryhill
Flora Stevenson
Forthview
Granton
Gylemuir (No nursery class)
Hermitage Park
Holy Cross RC
James Gillespie’s
Leith
Leith Walk
Lorne
Murrayburn (No nursery class, no language classes)
Oxgangs (No nursery class)
Preston Street
Roseburn (Nursery closed)
Sciennes
Sighthill
South Morningside (Cluny and Fairmilehead annexes closed, no nursery class, no breakfast or after school clubs. P1 and 2 to be collected at 12 noon.)
St John ‘s RC (No nursery class)
St Joseph ‘s RC
St Mary’s RC – Edin
St Mary’s RC – Leith
St Peter’s RC
Stenhouse
Stockbridge
The Royal High (No nursery class)
Tollcross
Towerbank
Trinity
Victoria
Wardie
No lunches will be provided – pupils may wish to bring a packed lunch.
The rest of the Council run primary schools will remain closed.
All special schools with remain closed with the exception of the Panmure St Ann’s service.
Nurseries
The following nurseries will be open on Friday:
Cowgate Under 5’s Centre
Tynecastle
Calderglen
Balgreen
Stanwell
Cameron House
St Leonard ‘s
Grassmarket
High School Yards
Hope Cottage
Princess Elizabeth
Greengables
Lochrin
Other Council nurseries are closed.
Community Centres
The following City of Edinburgh Council community centres will be closed:
Ratho
Roseberry Hall
Inch
Jack Kane
Bingham
Castleview
Magdalene Rannoch
Kirkliston
Norwood Wing
Craigmount Wing
Juniper Green
All other Council community centres will be open. Day and evening adult education classes are cancelled for the rest of the week.
All Child and Family centres will be open with a reduced service. Please contact the centres direct for information.
Anyone looking to attend external events normally hosted in schools, e.g. councillor surgeries or community groups, should check if they are going ahead.
The situation differs with universities and colleges in Edinburgh, some of which are open and some are not.
The Edinburgh Campus of Heriot Watt University will be open today, Friday 3 December. Their website states:-
“Given the continuing poor conditions for travelling, staff and students are advised to use their own judgement in instances where it may be unsafe to do so.
The use of public transport onto the campus is strongly advised wherever possible. While considerable progress has been made with clearing much of the snow from the car parks, they remain icy and parking is restricted.
The Library re-opened on a 24 hour basis from 9.00 am Thursday and this will be a continuing service.
Normal catering service will be available in the Hugh Nisbet Building.
The School of Textiles & Design will be open today, Friday 3 December, from 9.00am to 3.00pm.
The roads around Galashiels are extremely treacherous and we recommend that you should only make the journey to the Campus if you feel that you can travel safely given the current road conditions. If you are unable to travel, please continue with your studies and work on your assessments where possible from your home. The Edinburgh-Borders Campus shuttle bus will not be running until further notice.”
Stevenson College is closed till Monday 6 December according to its website.
Telford College is to be commended on the plentiful advice it has on its website for students. The college is closed till Monday 6 December.
Edinburgh University has useful information on its site for staff, but also confirms that exams have been rescheduled. “All exams scheduled for Monday 6th December have been cancelled due to the impact of the adverse weather conditions. The intention is to reschedule all cancelled exams, and hold them between Saturday 11th December and Friday 17th December. Please check the Registry website regularly as details of your rescheduled exams will be published there.”
Also at Edinburgh the inaugural lecture by Professor Alistair Lawrence scheduled for Tuesday 7th December has been cancelled.
Jewel & Esk College is closed. According to their website Edinburgh & Midlothian campuses are closed to students and staff on Friday 3 December.
Queen Margaret University said that the campus will be closed “for the remainder of this week due to continued poor weather conditions. The LRC continues to be open on a 24/7 basis for students resident on campus.” They are to issue an update on their website by 6.30pm on Sunday 5 December and will also use Facebook and Twitter for this news.
Edinburgh Napier have a lot of information for students on their website. The university is open on Friday 3 December. They said:-“We are endeavouring to operate a full range of services on campus, at least between 10.00 and 16.00. All of our virtual services (WebCT, email, websites) are currently operating normally. The JKCC continues to operate 24/7, but technical support is limited.
There will continue to be some unavoidable staff shortages due to travel problems for the remainder of the week. Consequently, some timetabled activities may have to be re-arranged. If so, Schools will manage this locally.
The examinations scheduled from Monday 6 December to Friday 17 December 2010 will proceed as planned. Students who are able to travel to Edinburgh to sit examinations in the formal slot within the examinations timetable should do so.
We are aware that some students will be unable to travel to Edinburgh to sit assessments in the formal slot within the examinations timetable. We are seeking to support students to ensure their progression is not adversely affected by the adverse weather and travel disruption.”
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