Fife school's lockdown P7s to be given special send-off

The parent council at Lundin Mill Primary School in Lundin Links has organised a special celebration for this year’s P7s, one year after organising a similar send-off for last year’s class.

The celebration will be held on June 24 – the final day of the academic year – with a fun BBQ on the beach, depending on the weather.

Parent council member Carla Gold, whose daughter Faryl was among the P7s last year, said that after missing out on a lot over the last year, they wanted to make sure pupils were able to celebrate their final day of primary school.

"Normally they would go away for three or four days to meet P7s from the other schools,” she said.

"They get to know who will be in S1 with them. That’s not happening this year.

"They’ve missed out because of Covid. Last year, we organised a walk from outside the school gates to the common with a piper and a banner. It was really successful.

"We wanted to do it again, because there’s nothing else we can do.

"It just felt like they have missed out on so much. They can’t interact as usual – hanging out with the other kids. It’s our way of showing them we know that they’ve had it hard and appreciate them.”

This year the P7s will be walking down to the beach at Lundin Links and enjoying a BBQ down on the sand.

Last year, a message was posted on the local Facebook page urging folk to stand outside their homes and cheer for the pupils to make them feel special on their final day.

Many did, and so the call is being put out again. Pupils will begin the walk following the end of school at 3pm.

Parents were also concerned last year about the lockdown rules and contacted Police Scotland to make sure the event could go ahead. Not only did the police give the event the green light, but two officers even attended the celebration to show their support.

"The last year has been incredibly difficult for them,” Carla added. “They don’t get a real transition into S1. They’ve not been able to meet the other S1 kids. They’ve missed out on school and the social interaction. It has been hard.”