A FAIFLEY mum has praised her daughter’s new primary school for making an extra special effort to help her little girl settle in.

Emma Speirs’ daughter Emily finds settling in to new environments particularly challenging – leaving her mum worried at the prospect of the transition from Auchnacraig Nursery to St Joseph’s Primary in August.

Emma’s concerns weren’t helped by the social distancing rule that meant she wasn’t allowed to take Emily into the school building, but instead had to leave her five-year-old daughter at the door to the classroom.

Lockdown regulations meant Emily could only go to her new school for an hour, immediately after her best friend Millie. But school staff arranged for Millie to stay on for an extra hour to ensure Emily had a friendly face to welcome her.

Emma said: “Lockdown has been incredibly difficult with Emily as I also have a newborn.

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“She’s a great kid, but she struggles with change, and that was obvious when she moved from Lennox Nursery to Auchnacraig. So I was really unsure about the transition visit.

“Part of me wishes she had gone for longer than the hour. But I was really grateful that Millie was there, as it would have made a big change to Emily’s experience.

“I just hope there is more of a routine in August as the way the government was planning on sending them back initially was a bit of a nightmare really.”

Emma had been studying at West College Scotland in Clydebank prior to the birth of her second daughter, Ella, and hopes to return to her studies in the next year if schools return as normal.

Emma said: “Emily had her birthday the other week and only a small amount of family could join us which was difficult to explain.

“She hasn’t said much about going to school and I reckon it’s because she hasn’t had the build up to it.

“She hasn’t been around her friends at nursery, and I don’t want her to get a shock when she needs to return to a routine.”