What a  fast term this has been!

Thank you to those who have attended our “Sharing our Learning” event this afternoon and hope you found it interesting learning about all the technology through the ages and how children have been using technology this term!

Our book fair was a great success and we hope that you will have a look at your children’s wish lists they have brought home and hopefully make a purchase.

Thank you to those who brought in donations for the food bank and well done to our Community Champions for organising it.

Parent Engagement Group

Many thanks to those who volunteered to be part of the Parent Engagement Group who met last week and discussed family engagement events and fundraising moving forward. It was extremely helpful!

We look forward to planning events to support you as parents but also to continue to make memories  for our children. We do have representation across the school but this is not exclusive and any parents wishing to join can get in touch with me at anytime.

I would like to stress that these parents are not your “go to” for any issues or concerns and we would always encourage you to give us a message or call if this is the case.

GLEE Competition

Our Grange Glee Gang sang and danced their hearts out last Friday evening in the Caird Hall. They were outstanding and in a very tough heat where they pipped at the post by Barnhill Primary.  Thank you to Mrs McIntosh, Mrs Simpson and Mrs Dempster for all their hard work in preparing the children for this event. It truly is amazing to see our young people have the confidence to SHINE!!

Netball Tournament

Our P7 netball club sent a team to the MHS cluster schools tournament this week at Carnoustie High School. The team played incredibly well together, tried their best and demonstrated great sportsmanship. They played against 6 other schools, won all of their games and won the overall trophy. We are super proud of them all. Well done Team Grange! Thank you to Mrs McInally and Miss Finnie for coaching the team.

Comic Relief & World Down Syndrome Day

Just a reminder that next Friday (21st) we are celebrating the above events. Children can wear a touch of red and are invited to “Rock their Socks” too. With the theme of “GO BIG” for Comic Relief we have something exciting planned in the afternoon that will be shared on Dojo next week. If you wish to make a donation then please click the link below:

Just Giving – Grange Primary

A FareWILL Event

We are delighted that Mrs Will will return to Grange for a Farewell Silent Disco on Thursday 3rd April to say goodbye. Year groups will be timetabled throughout the day as we have done previously. Let’s give her the send off she deserves

End of Term Events

Our “Fun Fundraisers” have organised an Easter Egg decorating competition. Cost of entry is £1.00. To enter pupils need to decorate a hard boiled egg as their favourite book or movie character at home. Bring decorated eggs to school on Monday the 31st of March. Winners will be announced at the end of the school day. There will be one winner in each year group. Winners will receive an Easter Egg.

I am delighted that our Parent Engagement Group will be running a chocolate tombola and Easter Trail on the last day of term. They are looking for donations of any chocolate bars (any size), Easter Eggs or anything chocolatey. These should be handed into the school office from now on please. Classes will be timetabled to visit the chocolate tombola throughout the day along with the easter trail. Cost to enter the chocolate tombola will be £1 for 3 tickets.

All proceeds from these fundraisers will go towards replenishing sensory and IT equipment

Car Park Barrier

Medication

Dates for Diary

Term 3

• Comic Relief – (Information above) Friday 21st March
• World Down Syndrome Day (Information above) – Friday 21st March
• Learn to Learn – Friday 21st March
• CBM Football Tournament – 21st March 9-12pm
• Golden Table – Friday 28th March
• CBM Girls Football Tournament – Friday 28th March
• MAD Groups (P2-7) – Friday 28th March
• Day of Dance – 31st March
• Autism Acceptance Day – 2nd April
• End of term 3 – Friday 4th April (3.00pm finish for ALL)

Term 4

• Start of Term – Tuesday 22nd April  – ( Easter MONDAY is a holiday)
• Golden Table – Friday 25th April
• MAD Groups (P2-7) – Friday 25th April
• CBM Netball @ Carlogie – Monday 28th April
• Cross Country Event – Tuesday 29th April
• Nursery Family Engagement Event (info to follow) – Thursday 1st May 2-4pm
• Learn to Learn – Friday 2nd May
• May Day Holiday – Monday 5th May
• CBM Girls Football – Friday 16th May
• Sports Day – Friday 23rd May
• “Onery Development Day” (info to follow) – Saturday 24th May 10am-2pm
• In- Service Day – Monday 26th May
• CBM Football – Wednesday 28th May
• P7 Leavers Event – Wednesday 18th June (evening)
• P7 Fun Days – Thursday 19th – Tuesday 24th June
• Nursery Garden Party – Friday 20th June 1.45pm
• End of Term & P7 Parade – 2.45pm Friday 27th June

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter break when it comes!

Many Thanks

Wow, who would have believed we have had our half term holiday already and that we are in the second part of the term! Hope you all had lovely time over the long weekend whatever you were up to!

Staff News

I am delighted to let you all know that Miss Palmer will be returning to Grange Nursery on Monday 24th February after a few weeks working elsewhere in the authority. Thank you to Miss Finnie for covering her key group whilst she was away.

We are over the moon that Miss Finnie has been accepted to Dundee University next year to train to be a primary school teacher. As much as we will be really sorry to see her go in June, we are so proud that, as a former pupil, she continues to “Reach for the Stars”. Huge congratulations Miss Finnie and very well deserved!

Curriculum Review

Thank you very much to those parents who completed both the curriculum review and parent surveys in the last few weeks. The feedback has been really valuable. We also had a parent group meet a few weeks ago to share how our current curriculum works, share the feedback and discuss thoughts about how the revised 3 year curriculum plan could look. The input from parents was extremely helpful and we will share more next term once we have reviewed all the thoughts and ideas and planned with the staff team.

Parent Engagement Group

We are wishing to have a representative from each year group who would be willing to join us once a term (early evening) to meet and discuss upcoming events, fundraising and improvement consultation and then to feedback to your Whats App groups. If you wish to put your name forward then please get in touch with me by messaging on Class Dojo by next Friday 28th February. Many Thanks.

Reporting

In response to your survey feedback, quite a few of you wish more clarity around how we report to you over the session on your child’s progress so I thought I would share this link that documents all the timings of reporting to you formally and informally through out the school year. I hope this helps and of course any further feedback is welcome by dropping me a Dojo message or email.

Reporting

Communication

It was also requested for some clarity as to the purpose of the different communication channels.

Groupcall: Communication comes in an email from a central system and is used for Parent Updates (link to the school blog), contacting your regarding absence and formal communication purposes.

Class Dojo: Class teachers will use their class story and messaging for reminders to share class news and home learning. The leadership team will use the school story to post whole school reminders and to promote information that we feel with be helpful / useful for parents to know about (e.g. NHS events such as sensory processing training, speech and language events)

School Blog: This is used instead of a school website and is continually updated with information about our school.

CAMHS NEURODEVELOPMENTAL PARENT PORTAL

Please see information below regarding the NHS Tayside CAMHS Neurodevelopmental Parent Portal which is now open to all.

UPCOMING EVENTS

World Book Day – Thursday 6th March

This year we will celebrate World Book Day by bringing our favourite stories into school to share with our class. We are hoping to have some mystery readers visit classes throughout the day along with some paired reading. We wish to be equitable and therefore there will be no dressing up.

Sharing Our Learning/Usborne Book Fair – 14th March 2-3pm

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on this afternoon to look around the classrooms and the walls in the corridor as the children show your their learning of “School of the Future” whole school topic. The main learning focus of this has been technological developments.

Children will visit the book fair on this day and will have created wish lists to bring home. Orders can be made online or can be made on this afternoon. Books at the fair are for display only. Any books bought will then be delivered to school in the coming weeks and given to children in their classes. The school get a percentage of the sales to purchase books for the school.

Our Community Champions will also be collecting for the Foodbank once again on this afternoon and donations can be made in the gym hall. Thank you!

Comic Relief & World Downs Syndrome Day – Friday 21st March

As it is Comic Relief’s 40th birthday this year we will join them to raise funds by having a “Ruby” day, where children and staff are invited to wear a touch or as much red as they like! The theme is “Go BIG” and so we have a plan in the making about how Grange can GO BIG. Watch this space! We will share the link for donations on Class Dojo nearer the time.

At Learn to Learn this week, we talked about our identity and what make you unique and that this can be multitude of things such as our personalities and behaviours but also our values that come from our beliefs. We will also celebrate World Downs Syndrome Day  on the 21st March and children are invited to “Rock their Socks” on this day in addition to their touch of red if they so wish.

Parking

We kindly ask that if you are using the side roads off Grange Road to park and drop off your children at school that you do not turn in or park over residents driveways. Your help with this would be appreciated!

Dates for Diary

Term 3

• Learn to Learn – Friday 21st February
• P7 Leavers Photo (Evening Telegraph) – Friday 28th February
• Golden Table – Friday 28th February
• MAD groups – Friday 28th February 1.40-2.25pm
• World Book Day (Information below) – Thursday 6th March
• GLEE Competition – 7th March
• CBM Netball Tournament– 12th March 9-12pm
• Sharing our Learning (for parents) & Usborne Book Fair – Friday 14th March 2.00-3.00pm
• Comic Relief – (Information above) Friday 21st March
• World Down Syndrome Day (Information above) – Friday 21st March
• Learn to Learn – Friday 21st March
• CBM Football Tournament – 21st March 9-12pm
• Golden Table – Friday 28th March
• CBM Girls Football Tournament – Friday 28th March
• MAD Groups (P2-7) – Friday 28th March
• Day of Dance – 31st March
• Autism Acceptance Day – 2nd April
• End of term 3 – Friday 4th April (3.00pm finish for ALL)

Term 4

• Start of Term – Tuesday 22nd April
• Golden Table – Friday 25th April
• MAD Groups (P2-7) – Friday 25th April
• CBM Netball @ Carlogie – Monday 28th April
• Cross Country Event – Tuesday 29th April
• Nursery Family Engagement Event (info to follow) – Thursday 1st May 2-4pm
• Learn to Learn – Friday 2nd May
• May Day Holiday – Monday 5th May
• CBM Girls Football – Friday 16th May
• Sports Day – Friday 23rd May
• In- Service Day – Monday 26th May
• CBM Football – Wednesday 28th May
• P7 Leavers Event – Wednesday 18th June (evening)
• P7 Fun Days – Thursday 19th – Tuesday 24th June
• Nursery Garden Party – Friday 20th June 1.45pm
• End of Term & P7 Parade – 2.45pm Friday 27th June

Many thanks for your continued support!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

I hope you all had a wonderful break and enjoyed time with family and friends. It was lovely to see all the children back last week and hear all their holiday stories!

Staffing Update – We were all sad to hear that Mrs Will has decided to move on this week. We are extremely proud of her achievements over her time here at Grange and wish her all the very best in her new role as Primary  and Early Years Service Leader.  We will all miss her but I am sure, in time, she will be popping in to visit us as she does view Grange as her home!

Mrs Shepherd has requested to be known as Miss McQueen from now on.

Whole School Topic – Our whole school topic “School of the Future“ kicks off this week and we are very fortunate to have Dave Smith join us for Learn 2 Learn tomorrow to talk to us and share images of the new Monifieth Learning Campus.  The main learning outcomes for this are computing science and social studies. We look forward to Sharing our Learning with you all in March.

Dates for the Diary:

• Learn to Learn – Friday 17th January
• Grange Gabbers (all parents welcome – to discuss school improvements as above) – Wednesday 22nd / Thursday 23rd January TBC
• Golden Table – Friday 24th January
• MAD groups – Friday 24th January 1.40-2.25pm
• Learner Led Conferences – Monday 10th and Wednesday 12th February 3.30-6.30pm. P4A Thursday 6th and Monday 10th.
• In-service day – Thursday 13th February – school closed to pupils
• Mid term holiday – Friday 14th and Monday 17th February
• Learn to Learn – Friday 21st February
• Golden Table – Friday 28th February
• MAD groups – Friday 28th February 1.40-2.25pm
• Progress Update 2 issued to parents – Friday 28th February
• GLEE Competition – 7th March
• CBM Netball Tournament– 12th March 9-12pm
• Sharing our Learning (for parents) & Usborne Book Fair – Friday 14th March 2.00-3.00pm
• Learn to Learn – Friday 21st March
• CBM Football Tournament – 21st March 9-12pm
• Golden Table – Friday 28th March
• CBM Girls Football Tournament – Friday 28th March
• Day of Dance – 31st March
• End of term 3 – Friday 4th April (3.00pm finish for ALL)
• Cross Country Event – Tuesday 29th April

Learner Led Conferences / Parent Meetings: A letter with information about our forthcoming Learner Led Conferences and P1&2 Parent Evenings is attached to this Groupcall message.

Parent Curriculum Group / Grange Gabbers – Thank you so much to those who have offered to join me to discuss curriculum, where we are currently, gather your thoughts and where we wish to go. From your responses the date that suited the majority of people was Wednesday 22nd January at 6pm in school. Any parent, who has not had a chance to respond, but wishes to attend is more than welcome. Please confirm your attendance by completing the form here:

https://forms.office.com/e/PG16CLhPQW

Stationary Replenishments: Thank you to those who have restocked their child’s/ children’s pencil cases over the holidays.
We are noticing that whiteboard pens and glue sticks are getting used more often and would ask that these are replenished more often.
Please could you check with your child regularly to ensure they have the following:

· Writing pencils x 2

· Small ruler x 1

· Eraser x 1

· Pencil sharpener x1

· White board marker x2 (minimum as used everyday)

· Glue stick x1

· Coloured pencils x 1 pack

· Fine felt tipped pens x 1 pack (not Sharpies/ permanent markers)

Please do not worry, if you feel this is a problem just contact us through DOJO and we will be able to help. We are finding that the children are using and respecting their own belongings more than when they were supplied by the school and the monies we are saving from not buying these resources are being used to enhance the learning for all children. Your help with this is very much appreciated.

Child Absences and Medical Updates: Just a reminder that if your child is going to absent from school, it would be really helpful if can call the school office and either leave a message or speak with Mrs Linton / Mrs McKee.

If you have anything medical that your child’s class teacher should know of a morning, please call the school office rather than using Class Dojo as this may be missed. Thank you!

Burns Celebration 2025
Our heritage is an important part of our curriculum and children across the school have already started learning Scots poems this week.
Burns Day is Saturday (25th) so we have decided to celebrate this Friday (24th) with a “Touch of Tartan”. This could be a hair clip or a piece of tartan ribbon pinned to their school uniform. There is no expectation for anything to be bought for this occasion. If you wish to dress with more tartan than this then please also feel free.

At lunchtime on this day, Scottish Country Dancing music will be played in the playground and some of our P6/7 dancers will be out helping and demonstrating a couple of dances for others to join in, if they wish.

The children will finish the day, after MAD Groups, with a piece of shortbread. If your child cannot have shortbread for any reason, please message your child’s class teacher by Wednesday so we can organise something as an alternative.

We hope that our nod to Robert Burns will be enjoyed by all!

Many Thanks

Pippa Landsburgh

Head Teacher (Acting)

• End of term 2 – Friday 20th December (3.00pm finish for ALL)
• Start of term 3 – Monday 6th January
• Learn to Learn – Friday 17th January
• Grange Gabbers (all parents welcome – to discuss school improvements as above) – Wednesday 22nd / Thursday 23rd January TBC
• Golden Table – Friday 24th January
• MAD groups – Friday 24th January 1.40-2.25pm
• Learner Led Conferences – Monday 10th and Wednesday 12th February 3.30-6.30pm
• In-service day – Thursday 13th February – school closed to pupils
• Mid term holiday – Friday 14th and Monday 17th February
• Cross Country Event – 18th March
• Learn to Learn – Friday 21st February
• Golden Table – Friday 28th February
• MAD groups – Friday 28th February 1.40-2.25pm
• Progress Update 2 issued to parents – Friday 28th February
• GLEE Competition – 7th March
• CBM Netball Tournament– 12th March 9-12pm
• Sharing our Learning (for parents) – Friday 14th March 2.00-3.00pm
• Learn to Learn – Friday 21st March
• CBM Football Tournament – 21st March 9-12pm
• Golden Table – Friday 28th March
• CBM Girls Football Tournament – Friday 28th March
• Day of Dance – 31st March
• End of term 3 – Friday 4th April (3.00pm finish for ALL)

Great Grange Learning!

What a fun few weeks we have had!

Our Halloween “Silent” Discos were a huge success and the children ( & staff) had so much fun. It really was a delight to see them all in their costumes! Thank you to all those who donated their £1 towards to cost of the silent discos. It is much very appreciated!

Our P7 sports teams have been successful in their football and netball tournaments coming 3rd and 1st respectively and on Friday past the Girls football team won their first ever tournament. Well done to all involved!

Staff News

I am delighted to say that Mrs Oldham and Mrs Strachan have both successfully been appointed as Acting Depute Head Teacher for the rest of the session and they will share the role between them.

Miss Laura Mackie has joined us in the nursery. She joins us from Inverbrothock nursery and she is already making  a great addition to Granger’s Gang!

Sharing Our Learning Event

We look forward to welcoming parents and carer’s from P1-7 into school to find out what your child(ren) has been learning since August.

Please join us on Wednesday 20th November from 6-7pm. You will be able to view your child’s jotters and see around their classroom.

With our improvement priorities this session being writing and children’s rights, we hope that you will “Have a Go” at some of the tools the teachers are using to support and plan writing this year that will on display in each class.

In the hall, children from the Fundraisers MAD Group will be collecting food bank donations such as tins, cereal, pasta and advent calendars. It would also be helpful if you have any Bags for Life you would be willing to donate to help us transport the donations.

Children from the Rights Respecting MAD Group will continue to collect gift items and empty shoeboxes for the Dundee Shoebox Appeal.

Following the success from last year,  we are also asking people to donate any winter coats that their child may have grown out of and we will set up a coat swap stall in the hall. Coats can be handed into the school office from Monday 18th November. Any coats left over on the night will be donated to charity.

This session we are also carrying out a curriculum review and we wish to involve you as parents. In the school foyer, we will be asking for your views, and we would appreciate your time for some feedback during the evening.

Cinema Trip

Just a reminder that payment for the cinema trip can now be made on Parent Pay and it allows parents to choose £5 or £8 per child. The deadline for payment is  Monday 9 December 2024, and please note, we cannot accept cash for this trip. 

Winter Weather

As the temperature start to drop, I thought I would explain what may or may not happen in adverse weather.

Within our towns, decisions about closure and early departure of pupils and staff will be agreed by the Burgh Co-ordinator. During working hours, we will share any decision to parents / carers via Groupcall and Dojo.

There may be some circumstances where decisions regarding closures or cancellations of transport need to be taken urgently or outside of working hours. Please keep an eye on the Angus Council school closure page for information and of course we will communicate information via Groupcall and Dojo at the earliest opportunity.

https://www.angus.gov.uk/schools_and_young_people/emergency_school_closures_and_transport_updates/emergency_school_closures_and_transport_updates

If schools are closed due to weather conditions online learning will be provided.

Please find that attached document with further information: What Can I Expect – Severe Weather Arrangements – 2024

Winter Clothing

We have reached the time of year when the grass is still able to be played on however, this has an impact on the corridor and classrooms inside. As in previous years, it would be so helpful if children could bring in a pair of indoor shoes for children to change into after being outside so that mud is not transferred throughout the school and classrooms. Your help with this would be very much appreciated! If, of course, there are any concerns with this then please get in touch.

Car Park Safety

It has been brought to our attention that some children are still coming through the barrier in the morning and walking across the car park. If dropping your child on Grange Road please ensure that they walk down to the main gate and down the steps into the playground. This is much safer, particularly when we still have staff coming into the car park after 9am.

Please can I request that no vehicles drive in the exit gate at any point of the day. Cars come and go from early morning to early evening and as the car park is on a slope it is difficult to see around the corner when exiting the car park if a car were entering through the exit gate. This would be appreciated for everyone’s safety!

Absences

Please can I remind parents / carer’s that if your child is going to be absent from school that you call the school office.  Please try to call us from 8.30am. If you call earlier than this, please leave us a message on the answerphone. We would ask that you do not use Class Dojo to report an absence. Class teachers check Dojo at different times of the day and are busy preparing for the day ahead and may not check Dojo first thing. Your help with this would be appreciated!

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the 20th!

What a lovely couple of days we have had back at school and hope you all had a wonderful October break!

Staff News

As you are aware Mrs Will has been seconded to support schools across Angus for the rest of this session. I can now share that I am delighted to have been appointed the Acting Head Teacher for the remainder of this session and look forward to continuing to work with you all.

We welcome Miss Briggs who will be covering classes across the school this term. Miss Briggs was a student with us previously and has taught classes last term and is familiar with our school and children.

We are delighted that Miss Rennie, one of our Early Years Practitioners in nursery, successfully secured an Acting Senior Early Years Practitioner post at Ladyloan Nursery just before the holidays. Miss Rennie is a former pupil at Grange and returned to complete her modern apprenticeship 8 years ago and has been with us ever since. She will be missed in Granger’s Gang and across the school however, we wish her all the very best in her new role! #believe

Dates for your diary:

• P7 Football Tournament – Thursday 24th October
• Netball tournament @ Grange – Wednesday 30th October
• Halloween Silent discos – Thursday 31st October
• MAD groups – Friday 1st November 1.40-2.25pm
• Rights Respecting Schools Class Meetings – Friday 8th November 2.00-2.30pm
• Book Week Scotland – w/c 18th November
• Sharing Our Learning – Thursday 20th November
• MAD groups – Friday 22nd November 1.40-2.25pm
• School photographer – Wednesday 27th November
• Flu vaccinations – Thursday 28th November
• Golden Table – Friday 29th November
• In-service days – Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th December
• Holiday – Friday 6th December
• Christmas school lunch – Friday 13th December
• Christmas Cheer – Friday 13th December
• Cinema trip – Wednesday 18th December P1-7
• End of term 2 – Friday 20th December 3.00pm finish for all children

We look forward to a busy but exciting term!

Kind regards,

Mrs Landsburgh

What a lovely term we are having so far! As always the weeks are flying by and before we know it we will be at the October holidays. Please find below some information and updates for the coming school year:

School improvements 2024-25 – please use this link to find out about our Standards and Quality report and priorities for improvement this session:

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/an/public/grangeprimaryschoolblog/uploads/sites/955/2024/08/25135352/Grange-SQ.docx

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/an/public/grangeprimaryschoolblog/uploads/sites/955/2024/08/25135354/Sketchnote-2024-25.docx

Car park safety – We have experienced a few near misses recently with cars entering the car park via the exit gate. The barrier at the entrance continues to lowers at 8.00am because this is when the car park starts to get very busy with staff arriving and we want to ensure the children’s safety. Where possible, children should not be in the car park after this time to keep them safe.

Turn off your car engine! – Across Angus  parents and carers are being encouraged to turn off their car engine while waiting at school and have a wee video (thanks to Ben, Aylah and Flo who were in P7 at Friockheim PS) which can be found on this link our YouTube channel

Playground security – To ensure our school grounds are safe and secure the playground access gates will remain locked until 2.55pm. This will still allow time for parents to come in for pick up at 3pm but will help us to monitor the school grounds for classes who are doing PE etc.

Medication – As we approach the colder weather it is worthwhile reminding everyone that school staff can only administer medication that has been prescribed e.g. a course of anti-biotics. Everyday medication for cold symptoms and minor ailments, such as Calpol or Piriton, should be administered before and after school.

Our school day – As a reminder the timings for the school day are as follows:

Nursery – 9.00-3.00pm

P1-4 – 8.50-3.00pm (break 10.30-10.50 and lunch 12.10-1.00pm)

P5-7 9.00-3.10pm (break 10.55-11.15am and lunch 12.40-1.30pm)

If children arrive after the above start times the doors will be closed and so they should come inside via the school office.

Absence procedure – If your child is absent from school please phone the office on 01382 768101 (please leave a message if the office is not yet open) or email the office grange@angusschools.org.uk. Please do not use Class Dojo to report absence.

Playground equipment – Our playground equipment is for children to use under the safe supervision of staff during the school day. We understand that parents/ carers might allow children to use the equipment from 3.00-3.10pm while they wait to pick up older children. If this is case please be mindful that parents/ carers are entirely responsible for supervising the children’s safety. The equipment should not be used after 3.15pm as the after school club then has use of the playground and the janitors need to secure the grounds. Your help with this is greatly appreciated!

Parent Council – We are hoping to recruit parents for our Parent Council in the near future. In the meantime I would like to extend the following invitation:

We would like to invite you to Angus Parent Voice meeting on Tuesday 24 September 2024, 6.30 – 8.30pm at Arbroath High School. This is a great opportunity for Parent Council Chairs across Angus to come together, hear from colleagues in Education and Lifelong Learning and contribute to discussions.

Agenda

• Angus Education Plan – Kelly McIntosh- Director of Education and Lifelong Learning
• Framework For Improvement – Neil Lowden – Service Leader – Education and Lifelong Learning
• Angus Parental Engagement Strategy – A Conversation – Jim Hammond- Service Leader – Education and Lifelong Learning

Anyone interested in attending should contact the school office.

School fund – Our school fund is used to provide resources and activities for the children. Money is raised by our MAD Fundraisers and by staff and parents. We have a committee of staff who oversee the income and expenditure and the minute of our most recent meeting can be seen here:

School Fund Finance Committee AGM 18.9.24

Dates for your diary:

• Settling in meetings – Wednesday 25th September and 2nd October 3.30-6.30pm
• MAD groups – Friday 27th September 1.40-2.25pm
• Golden Table – Friday 27th September
• End of term 1 – Friday 4th October normal finishing times
• Term 2 starts – Monday 21st October
• Netball tournament – Wednesday 30th October
• Halloween Silent discos – Thursday 31st October (during school day with more info to follow)
• MAD groups – Friday 1st November 1.40-2.25pm
• Rights Respecting Schools Class Meetings – Friday 8th November 2.00-2.30pm
• Sharing Our Learning – Thursday 20th November 6.00-7.00pm (tbc)
• MAD groups – Friday 22nd November 1.40-2.25pm
• School photographer – Wednesday 27th November
• Flu vaccinations – Thursday 28th November
• Golden Table – Friday 29th November
• In-service days – Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th December
• Holiday – Friday 6th December
• Christmas school lunch – Friday 13th December
• Christmas Cheer – Friday 13th December (see below for timetable)
• Cinema trip – Wednesday 18th December P1-7
• End of term 2 – Friday 20th December 3.00pm finish for all children

*Christmas Cheer timetable: 9.00am Nursery, 9.30am P7, 10.00am P6, 10.30am P5, 11.00am P4, 1.40pm P3, 2.10pm P2, 2.40pm P1 – please note that children P5-7 who play strings will perform just before their classes sing!

Thanks to you all for your ongoing support of our wonderful school. Your children make us smile everyday and we are grateful that we can all work together to ensure they all get the most out of being a Granger!

Lorraine Will and Pippa Landsburgh

It has been lovely to see everyone coming back to school looking so smart and happy! Thank you for supporting us to maintain high standards by sending your children to school in their uniforms, whether that be the traditional or relaxed version. To ensure that items do not go missing please label everything, more than once if possible! Given that the weather continues to be very changeable , it would be helpful if the children could bring a coat to school to avoid them getting caught in the many rain showers we are experiencing. Our new Primary 1’s are settling into school life very nicely and we have all been so impressed by their lovely table manners in the dinner hall. The children are all extremely polite and doing a great job using cutlery and tidying up. There will be lots of Golden Tickets heading their way, well done Primary 1!

Staff News – We have welcomed some new members to our staff team this term:

• Miss Simms – class teacher P5b
• Mrs Lekange – support assistant
• Mrs Gee – support assistant
• Mrs Cheape – class teacher (Thursday & Friday)
• Kim Norris – school crossing patroller
• Mrs Gardner – Senior Early Years Pracitioner (nursery)
• Mrs Regulska – Early Years Assistant (nursery)

Our school day – As a reminder the timings for the school day are as follows:

Nursery – 9.00-3.00pm

P1-4 – 8.50-3.00pm (break 10.30-10.50 and lunch 12.10-1.00pm)

P5-7 9.00-3.10pm (break 10.55-11.15am and lunch 12.40-1.30pm)

Pencil case – Thank you for sending the children to school with their pencil cases filled and ready for learning. As a reminder, where possible pencil cases should contain the following:

· Writing pencils x 2

· Small ruler x 1

· Eraser x 1

· Pencil sharpener x1

· White board marker x2

· Glue stick x1

· Coloured pencils x 1 pack

· Fine felt tipped pens x 1 pack (not Sharpies/ permanent markers)

Please do not worry, if you feel this is a problem just contact us through DOJO and we will be able to help.

Nut allgeries – We continue to have a number of children in our school with nut allergies. To ensure everyone’s safety it is greatly appreciated if snacks containing nuts are not sent into school. It is also worth noting that children only require one snack for their morning break.

Tayside Contracts – A short video has been produced to showcase the primary school dining experience.

Angus Schools Newsletter – Please use this link to access the most recent Angus Schools Newsletter: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKANGCO/bulletins/3ae4ce8?fbclid=IwY2xjawEq-jBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHY1_HCpJcp9y4A4BlGYF53xwo9PUmTclVxtR0ojjMh7SERVc4hUOLkqOBA_aem_I1P7fOINyqdvTnxRTuA53A

Dates for your diary:

• Friday 20th September 3.15pm – Colour Run (more information to follow)
• Wednesday 25th September 3.30-6.30pm – Settling in meetings
• Wednesday 2nd October 3.30-6.30pm – Settling in meetings
• Friday 4th October – end of term

We are all looking forward to a great term of learning at Grange and look forward to seeing eveyone either at the Colour Run or for the Settling In meetings. As always if you have any concerns at all please do not hesitate to be in touch with your child’s teacher, Mrs Landsburgh/ Mrs Simpson (Nursery & P1), Mrs Oldham (P2-4), Miss Strachan (P5-7) or Miss Smith (our coloured rooms). We are all here to help and only want to work together to make sure your children continue to ‘Reach for the Stars’ #believe

The holidays are fast approaching and we have enjoyed a busy term preparing for moving up to new classes and teachers. Here are a few updates before we head off into the sunshine (fingers crossed!):

Staff News – When we come back in August I will be working for 2 days each week for the Angus central team to support leadership across schools. On these 2 days Mrs Landsburgh will be Acting Head Teacher and she will continue to be supported by Mrs Smith and Mrs Oldham. Mrs Smith and Mrs Simpson will provide extra support as acting DHT and PT respectively for 2 days a week. I am confident that nobody will even notice I’m not there as they will all do their usual great job of keeping the school running smoothly. Their responsibilities will remain the same as follows:

Mrs Landsburgh – Nursery and P1

Mrs Oldham – P2-4

Mrs Smith – P5-7 (please note Mrs Smith will return as Ms Strachan in August)

Miss Smith, who is currently one of Additional Support Needs teachers (Yellow Room) has been appointed as Principal Teacher for Inclusion at Grange. This is a new post for our school and I am sure that Miss Smith will help to further improve our approaches to supporting children’s needs effectively. Miss Smith will be a helpful point of contact for parents who have additional support needs.

Miss Allison is heading off on maternity leave at the end of term. We wish her the very best of luck and look forward to meeting her little bundle of joy after the holidays. Enjoy!

Last but definitely not least, Mrs Davidson (School and Pupil Support Assistant) retires at the end of term after working at Grange for 23 years! In that time she has supported so many children and shown endless care and compassion and without doubt she will be greatly missed by all. She is a Grange legend and I am incredibly grateful for her hard work, loyalty and friendship. We have shared laughter and tears over the years and I am delighted that she will now have more time for her lovely family and for herself! On behalf of all the children and staff – Thank you Mrs D!

Our school day – As a reminder the timings for the school day are as follows:

Nursery – 9.00-3.00pm

P1-4 – 8.50-3.00pm (break 10.30-10.50 and lunch 12.20-1.00pm)

P5-7 9.00-3.10pm (break 10.55-11.15am and lunch 12.40-1.30pm)

Pencil case – As you are aware as a school we have been focusing on learning for sustainability and reducing waste. We would like to continue with this next year.

With this in mind we would like to ask if every child could bring in their own pencil case with some essential resources to use in class (we know many of the children already carry a pencil case).

What would be great to see in each pencil case is: –

· Writing pencils x 2

· Small ruler x 1

· Eraser x 1

· Pencil sharpener x1

· White board marker x2

· Glue stick x1

· Coloured pencils x 1 pack

· Fine felt tipped pens x 1 pack (not Sharpies/ permanent markers)

Please do not worry, if you feel this would be a problem just contact us through DOJO and we will be able to help. We always find that children use and respect their own belongings more so than when supplied by the school and the monies we save from not buying these resources can be used to enhance the learning for all children.

Uniform – Thanks to everyone who continues to support us by ensuring that the children are wearing the correct uniform. As a reminder, children can wear a traditional uniform of white shirt, gold tie, grey trousers/ skirt, grey jumper/ cardigan and black shoes. Alternatively, they can wear a relaxed uniform of Grange grey hoodie/ plain grey hoodies (no logos please), black leggings/ joggers, white t-shirt and trainers. The relaxed uniform should also be worn on PE days. If anyone has diffiuclty in providing uniform please do not hesitate to be in touch. We will also contact families directly if there are any ongoing issues with uniform.

Dates for your diary  –  a few dates for term 1 that might be useful…

Monday 12th August – in-service day – teachers will send a video to the children to give them a tour of the classroom before they come back to school. Any child feeling particuarly anxious can pop in between 2.30-3.00pm to out minds at rest.

Tuesday 13th August – first day of term – P1-4 8.50am and P5-7 9.00am start. Mrs Landsburgh has already been in touch with staggered timings for our new P1s via dojo.

Friday 6th September 3.00-4.00pm – Colour Run in the playground – tickets will be sold after the holidays for children who would like to take part. Children must be accompanied by an adult. P1-4 3.00pm and P5-7 3.30pm.

Wednesday 25th September and 2nd October 3.30-6.30pm – Settling in meetings

Friday 4th October – last day of term

Happy holidays! – I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the year. I never understimate what a privilege it is to work in such a supportive school community and I very much value the positive relationships we share. I am also ever grateful to my amazing staff team who are so committed to our children and school. Not forgetting of course, your wonderful children who make me smile and laugh every day, I really do have the best job in the world. I hope you all have a sunny and happy summer.

Happy holidays everyone!

The Easter holidays are almost upon us and I hope everyone has a lovely break when it comes. I thought it would be helpful to share a few updates before we head off to roll our eggs and eat lots of chocolate…

Staff News – Mrs Dempster welcomed the early arrival of baby Ellis at the start of March. Both mum and baby are doing well and we are absolutely deligthed for the family. Welcome to the world Ellis!

Miss Perry is getting married over the holidays and we look forward to welcoming her back as Mrs Perry-Smith. We wish her and her new husband every happiness for their future together. Congratulations!

Finally, we look forward to welcoming Pamela Brewster (Early Years Assistant) and Emma Palmer (Early Years Practitioner) to our nursery team after the holidays.

School uniform – Thanks to everyone who has continued to support our school uniform guidance. As a reminder children can wear a traditional uniform of white shirt, gold tie, grey jumper/ cardigan, grey trousers/ skirt and black shoes. However most opt for our relaxed uniform of a plain white t-shirt, grey Grange hoodie, plain black joggers/ leggings and trainers. I would ask that chilren do not wear football tops or designer logos as we want everyone to be ‘uniform’. I would also ask that children do not wear nail extensions as this presents a significant safety risk during sport activities and playtimes. Your support is greatly appreciated in helping us to maintain high standards of uniform which in turn helps the children feel ready to learn. Thank you!

Learning for sustainabilty – Reducing waste has a been a key theme across learning for all classes this year. We have been consulting with staff and children about ways to reduce waste across the school. A popular suggestion has been that we ask each child to bring their own pencil case to school each day which contains everything they need. The thinking is that the children will be responsible for their own belongings and this might reduce waste through pencils, pens etc being lost and broken. We are in the early stages of considering this approach, which would start from August. We would provide a list of the general items required and the school would support any families who would find this financially challenging.  As always, there would be a stock of supplies in school should they be needed. We will keep you updated next term and hopefully we will also be coming up with some other ideas for reducing waste – watch this space!

Dates for your diaries:

• End of term 3 – Friday 29th March normal finish time
• Start of term 4 – Monday 15th April
• MAD groups – Friday 19th April 9.30-10.20am
• Learn to Learn – Friday 26th April
• May holiday – Monday 6th May (school closed)
• P1 induction meeting – Wednesday 8th May 6.00-7.00pm
• MAD groups – Friday 17th May 9.30-10.20am
• Nursery induction meeting – Wednesday 22nd May 6.00-7.00pm
• Sports Day – Friday 24th May – nursery to P4 morning, P5-7 afternoon
• In-service day – Monday 27th May (school closed to pupils)
• Learn to Learn – Friday 31st May
• Transition week – week beginning Monday 10th June
• P7 activities week – week beginning Monday 17th June
• End of term – Thursday 27th June 3pm (P7 Parade 2.45pm)

Thanks to you all for your continued support and a special thanks to my amazing staff team for their hard work and commitment to our children.

Happy Easter!