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)

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

The News (Making a Difference) Team this year have the responsibility for gathering and reporting on all our other MAD Groups. This could be their learning, their activities, their visitors etc. The News MAD Team  have been busy creating questionnaires and gathering news and have compiled the attached report to share with you all.

Term 2 Blog Posts

Please find the letter sent out by Mrs Will today regarding arrangements for tomorrow and an update from Angus Council as of today.

Many Thanks

#believe #positivity

Letter to Parent 22.3.20

https://www.angus.gov.uk/schools/coronavirus_outbreak_schools_and_learning_updates

Please follow this link to support your child’s learning at home.

Home Learning Guidance for parents

Any technical issues please contact Mrs Landsburgh on dojo

Please find a link to letters issued today by Angus Council

Letter to Parents-Carers 170320

Apologies but this site is under maintenance due to the blog template being removed.

Apologies for any inconvenience

Please follow this link to access the letter for parents/ carers sent on behalf of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education.
https://education.gov.scot/media/t0cckfpe/grangepsncins210120.pdf
I am sure you will agree that the report captures the features of outstanding practice that make Grange great! To find out more please follow these links:
https://education.gov.scot/media/tmsc3s1y/grangepssif210120.pdf – primary
https://education.gov.scot/media/gfvohwhg/grangepsncsif210120.pdf – nursery
Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support of our fantastic school and I look forward to celebrating with the children on Friday afternoon at discos P1-4 2.00-2.30pm and P5-7 2.30-3.15pm.
The children are invited to ‘dress down’ on Friday and to being a snack/ drink…it’s party time!!
#timetoshine #believe #superproudHT