Parents & Carers

School lunch menu

Our school prepares meals on site. The school meals service aims to provide children with a high quality and varied diet. All pupils in Primary 1-5 are automatically entitled to a free school meal as part of a Scottish Government initiative. This will be rolled out to include P6 and 7. Some pupils outwith this age group may also be entitled to free school meals depending on their family circumstances.

Updated 21/08/24:

OIC Free school meal and clothing allowance webpageClick here

Clothes for school

Dress code

The school does not have a compulsory uniform. Our dress code is that pupils should wear comfortable and practical clothes that are suitable for all school activities. They should take a jacket to school and make sure they can be warm in winter and cool in summer. 

The school encourages the wearing of school uniform as it offers a sense of identity and belonging, as well as being a cost effective way of providing clothes for the children. 

The uniform consists of a red polo shirt, sweatshirt, rugby shirt, cardigan or fleece.  Items bearing the school logo may be ordered at the office or from Leviathan International at the Pier Head Stromness.  

A protective apron or an old shirt should be worn for art and craft activities.  

Appropriate footwear is essential – high heels are always a hazard and should not be worn to school.  

PE kit

For health and safety reasons, pupils will need a separate PE kit for school to get changed into. The appropriate clothing and footwear for PE is a T-shirt, shorts and gym shoes / trainers with non-marking soles. No jewellery please that could get caught in anything.

Please ensure that all items of clothing are clearly labelled, particularly sweatshirts and PE kit, which are often lost.

School term dates

OIC School Term Dates: Click here

Emergency closure procedure

In the case of our school closing, we will complete the following actions

  • Phone the bus companies for bus pupils (Stagecoach)
  • Put a message on Seesaw and Email all parents
  • Phone parents (starting with bus pupils)
  • Pupils will gather all of their belongings and remain in their classrooms until collected by a parent or carer/family member or other adult
  • A member of staff will have a checklist: all pupils MUST leave by the classroom door to they can be marked off

OIC emergency closure procedures can be found here

School transport

The local town service which operates each weekday morning will incorporate the school into its daily route.  The school car park will be used as a drop off zone to ensure safe arrival for pupils. The times of this bus coincides with school opening times.

OIC School Transport information can be found here.

Health checks in school

  • National Child Measurement Programme

Child health assessments (commonly known as screening) are carried out in schools and with consent, on all Primary 1 pupils. This involves a height and weight check (they only need to remove shoes for this).

  • Annual Flu Vaccinations. This happens in term 2, with consent from parents.
  • Dental checks and twice yearly fluoride varnish application.
  • Nursery to P4 pupils receive free daily supervised toothbrushing by the Childsmile team. 
  • For more information on toothbrushing at school click here.

First aid & the administering of medicine

The school has trained staff who deal with any incident requiring first aid. They will also deal with toileting ‘accidents’, e.g. as a result of a tummy upset; when this occurs, children will be cleaned, given a change of clothes and parents contacted as soon as possible.

If you would like the school to administer medicine to your child, please contact the school office. You will be asked to complete a form with relevant details and we will support the administration of medicine for your child. Any medicine administered to a pupil will be recorded and the member of staff administering this will also sign that they have done so as part of the recording. Please ensure that you keep the school informed of any changes to any administration of medicine that is required.

Absence and attendance

Parents have a legal responsibility to ensure their child attends school. However, there are of course a range of circumstances in which absence is “authorised” by the government – these include illness, family illness or bereavement etc. Family holidays during term time are not “authorised” unless in very exceptional circumstances. Children’s attendance is monitored regularly and will be followed up by the school if attendance is low. It is important that children attend school regularly to give them the best chance to succeed in their learning.

If you know your child is going to be absent, please contact the school to let us know. We will contact you if your child is absent and we haven’t heard from you. Please continue to contact us daily if your child continues to be absent unless you have informed us that they are going to be off for a number of days.

Support for parents for additional support advice

Visit the Enquire website. Enquire is the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning.