Grange Leavers 2022 The final countdown has begun for our wonderful P7s and we will be waving them off on Wednesday with mixed emotions. They really have been a great bunch and we have enjoyed celebrating their achievements with children, parents and staff over the last week. Huge thanks go to the parents who organised their party, you really did them proud! We look forward to giving them a Great Grange send off at our parade on Wednesday 2.45pm – bring your tissues! Good luck to them all at high school and please keep in touch. Keep Reaching for the Stars #believe
Staff News We are also saying ‘goodbye’ to some staff on Wednesday. Mrs Lodge and Mrs McAdam have supported our classes and ASN rooms over the year and we are all extremely grateful to them as they head off to take up teaching posts in other Angus schools. Miss Chalmers (SPSA) and Miss Sherret (EYA) are also heading off to take on exciting new challenges and we wish them the very best of luck! We look forward to welcoming Miss Catarina Hutchison as our Newly Qualified Teacher in P1. Last but not least Shonni Cullen (cleaner) is taking up a new post in Dundee and Mr Adam (school crossing patroller) is heading off into his well-earned retirement. Shonni and Mr Adam have both worked at Grange for many years and they have kindly agreed to hold the school banner and lead the parade on Wednesday so that we can give them a Great Grange send off too!
Lunch timings Next term we will trial a slight change to the lunch timings. P1-4 will remain the same, but P5-7 will start lunch 10 minutes earlier and return from lunch 10 minutes earlier. The new lunch timings for P5-7 will be 12.40-1.30pm. This will allow slightly more overlap for siblings to see each other at lunch time. We will review this at the end of term 1 and make any changes if required.
Playground Project There is new equipment scheduled to be installed over the summer so it will be exciting for the children to return to an improved playground in August. We are planning to hold a play festival ‘Grange Fest‘ on Friday 26th August 1.30-3.00pm to allow parents to come along and play outside with their children. This event will also serve as an opportunity to ‘Meet the Teacher’ and for your child to show you around their new classroom. Make sure you have the date in your diary and more information will be issued after the holidays.
Parent Council We are keen to recruit new members to our Parent Council and to appoint new office bearers. Being part of the Parent Council is a great way to get involved in school life and it really only involves attending 4-6 meetings a year (often which are online to avoid childcare issues). If you are interested in becoming involved please get in touch and dates for meetings will follow shortly.
Moving on up! Our transition activities have been very successful this year and the children all seem excited about moving up to their new classes and teachers in August. The new teachers will post a video on Class Dojo this Wednesday to wish the children a fun summer and then they will post again on Monday 15th August to give them a tour of the classroom. If your child is particularly anxious about returning to school they are welcome to pop in between 1.30-2.00pm on Monday 15th August to put their pencil case in their tray and to say ‘hi’ to the teacher. Please contact staff in advance so they are expecting you and come in via the office.
School improvements Our focus for improvement next session will be literacy and in particular the development of the Daily 5 and Sound Reading System. Our Pupil Equity Funding will be used to fund a team of teachers to take on Lead Specialist responsibilities in literacy and to provide additional support in classes for writing. These approaches will support improvements for all children in literacy as well as targeted support for children who require additional support.
Happy holidays! I hope that the sun shines and you all enjoy a lovely summer making memories with family and friends. Thank you all sincerely for your support of the school and thanks also to my amazing staff team who go above and beyond every day. It looks hopeful that next year will see a return to normal school life and I hope to share a calendar of key dates with you soon. Happy holidays and I look forward to seeing the children’s happy faces on Tuesday 16th August, ready to learn and to take new challenges!
Lorraine Will
