Community Links
At Dens Road Primary School, we are value the links we have within the community and other agencies.
Radio Tay – Cash For Kids
Over the years, we have raised a lot of funds for Cash For Kids. This has been done in a variety of ways – Sponsored Walks, Dress As You Please days, Bring a Pound to Work day etc. Some of our children have been successful in their bids to get financial support from Cash For Kids.
In the past, parents of Primary 7 children have been given support to allow their children to go to Dalguise. CHildren have also received funding to allow them to follow their sporting dreams. Children have been given laptops to assist them with their learning at school where a disability has been identified.
Dundee United – Gussie Park
We are lucky to have a positive partnership with Dundee United Football Club. They allow us the use of Gussie Park every Friday afternoon as part of our Activities. We also get use of the park for after school and lunchtime clubs and in the Summer Months for our Sports Days.
Tesco
We have links with Tesco Riverside, who have an appointed Community Champion. In April 2011 we held a Street Meet in line with the Royal Wedding and we were grateful to Tesco for donating the strawberries for this event.
Tesco have also offered the services of the Community Champion who can advise on various aspects of the curriculum eg links to Fairtrade, finance and employment.
We are also thankful to our many parents who collect the Tesco Vouchers for us to exchange for resources to help enhance the curriculum.
School Community Support Services (SCSS)
We recognise that some families may experience difficulties in their lives which may inhibit their child’s ability to attend school or to maintain positive behaviour.
As detailed on Dundee City Council website, the School Community Support Service is seeks to provide “a community approach to effective learning and teaching and the management of disruptive behaviour.”
The service aims to:
Improve attendance and raise achievement for young people.
Provide vulnerable and disadvantaged children and their families with support.
Enable more children to remain in mainstream education.
Enhance existing community support strategies in partnership with partner agencies.
In Dens Road Primary School, we work closely with SCSS to ensure our children maintain
their attendance at school and support families where this can be an issue.
Bilingual Pupil Support Services (BPSS)
At Dens Road we embrace the diverse culture of all our children. We are priveledged enough
to have up to 10 different languages spoken amongst our children. As a result, a vast
majority of our children have english as a second or additional language. To enable these
young people to access the curriculum, we work closely with the BPSS who provide in school
support for our children. Our Key Workers are as follows:
BPSS Teacher – Mrs Wilda McKinnon who works Monday & Friday mornings
BPSS Bilingual Assistant – Polish – Mrs Kornelia who works with us on Thursday afternoons
BPSS Bilingual Assistant – Urdu – Mrs Batchu who works with us on Thursday mornings
Speech and Language Therapy (SLT)
Children who display speech and language difficulties can be referred to the Speech and
Language Therapy Services. This referral can come through the child’s GP or through the
class teacher. Most children will be seen at the SLT clinic but a recommendation may be
made by them for a child to receive their support in school. At present, our Speech and
Language Therapist in Miss Laura Affleck who works in school with some of our children on a
Thursday morning and Friday afternoon.
Dundee Education Psychology Service. (DEPS)
Sometimes things can be difficult at for children home or in school and the adults around try
to help. An educational psychologist is part of a team of people who work in schools to
support children who are experiencing difficulties in their lives.
When the educational psychologist is asked to be involved they gather information by:
Speaking to the parents/carer of the child.
Talking with the class teacher.
Spending some time in the classroom to observe the young person working and
interacting with others.
Speaking with the young person and work on some games or other activities with
them.
Once the educational psychologist has collected more information they will talk with the
young person and adults about what everyone can do next to help things to be better.
At Dens Road, our Educational Psychologist is Fiona Ewing.
Minister
As a non-denominational school, we embrace the many cultures and religions of our young people and families. Children are encouraged to show tolerance towards each others differences and beliefs and learning is done for the five main religions of the world – Sikhism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. Our children enjoy sharing stories of the festivals they celebrate with their families – Eid, Birthdays, Christmas etc and children enjoy learning from others.
At Dens Road Primary School, we have always had close links with Clepington and Fairmuir Parish Church. In December, the children, staff and families go to the church for the Christmas Service. The children also have the opportunity to visit the church and have a look around at the architecture and internal layout, as part of their RME learning.
Mr Tony Thornthwaite is currently the minister at the church and is very involved with the school. He has given whole school assemblies for Remembrance Day, Christmas and Easter and will be working in classes for various aspects of religion. Tony now joins Mrs McDonald and Mrs Heffell for our whole school assemblies every other Friday.
