Calside Courier

Calside Primary School, Dumfries

December 19, 2024
by Mrs Gamble
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Merry Christmas from Calside Primary

At the end of a very busy, but very enjoyable Christmas countdown in school, I have great pleasure in attaching the end-of-term newsletter: Christmas Card 2024 Some wonderful things have happened in school during December! I particularly enjoyed the concerts, but also local businesses praising the manners and communication skills of P7 during their enterprise activities.
The fun continues today with the inter-house quizzes, as well as parties for the Nursery as well as P5-P7.
On behalf of the children and the staff, may we wish you a very Merry Christmas, and we will see the children back on Tuesday 7th January.
Definitely a ho, ho, ho!
Mrs Gamble.

December 13, 2024
by Mrs Gamble
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Friday email 13th December

Good morning all.
It was lovely to see so many of you for the Christmas shows this week: we hope they got everyone into the festive spirit. Putting on three different shows is a huge amount of work, both in terms of the production and in terms of the administration. Many, many thanks go to all of the staff who have been working so hard to get these all ready.
We have a lot of children in Calside who find performing difficult for many different reasons and, as a staff, we are impressed by their willingness to give it a go. We are delighted  with all the performers, and they should be very proud of themselves. Photos of all the performers can be found on the class Sways: please see email for the Christmas QR codes!
The winners of the hamper raffle and the Parent Council raffle were notified by separate email, and should collect their prizes from the office.
Next week, we have more festive fun, albeit with less pressure for the performers:
  • Monday 16th December: P3 and P4 at the Ice Bowl/Queen of the South in the morning;
  • Tuesday 17th December: Movie Afternoon in school, with refreshments provided by the Parent Council (please do not send additional treats, there is no need);
  • Wednesday 18th December: Christmas Dinner day;
  • Wednesday 18th December: P1 and P2 Christmas party in the afternoon;
  • Thursday 19th December: Christmas assembly 9.30 a.m;
  • Thursday 19th December: P3 and P4 Christmas party in the afternoon;
  • Friday 20th December: Inter-House Quiz P1-P3 9.30 a.m. and P4-P7 11.15 a.m;
  • Friday 20th December: P5-P7 Christmas party in the afternoon;
  • Friday 20th December: Nursery party 2pm in Nursery.
For the parties, children should bring their party clothes with them, and they will get changed after dinner. This should avoid any distress should clothes get dirty over lunch or playtimes!
Definitely time for a ho, ho, ho!
Mrs Gamble.

December 6, 2024
by Mrs Gamble
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Friday email 6th December

Good morning all, at the end of our first festive week. Concert practices abound everywhere, and the Christmas jumpers are multiplying. A wee reminder that we have Christmas jumpers to pass on: if your child wants one, let us know.
The Pupil Council are delighted with the hampers so far: donations and entries need to be in by Monday so they can organise the draw.
Please find the wider achievements for this term attached: a lot of busy children, and a lot of busy parents driving them about, I think!
Next week is Show Week! P1& P2, P3 & P4 will be at the church rehearsing on Monday, and then the whole school will be going to watch the afternoon performance on Tuesday afternoon. Children will be released from the church at the end of the day. With it being a performance, the end time can vary. If your child needs to be collected promptly, please speak to a member of staff near the entrance, and we will get them for you.
Have a good weekend with lots of festive fun.
Mrs Gamble.

November 29, 2024
by Mrs Gamble
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Friday 29th November email

Learner conference notes for all classes will be sent out in the maildrop today. If you do not receive a maildrop, these will be sent out shortly. P5 parents will receive a learning update: please see the separate email for more detail.
If you have requested tickets for Christmas shows, these are also in the maildrop, and we will then be looking at the additional ticket requests to see what we can offer. We do however have a large number of families who have not requested tickets. Due to fire regulations, we will not be able to allow anyone to attend if they do not have a ticket. If you still require your allocated tickets, you must let us know immediately or all the tickets will be allocated.
Christmas begins for Calside tomorrow, with the Parent Council Christmas Fair between 1 and 4. It is sure to be lots of fun!
Too early for a ho ho ho, I think.

November 22, 2024
by Mrs Gamble
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Good morning.
A bumper maildrop today as we start the roll towards Christmas! You should have the Festive Arrangements newsletter: Festive Arrangements 2024 Newsletter: there are a lot of dates and things to remember, so hopefully this will help. There is also a P7 specific letter as they have a plethora of activities and dates in the next few weeks: P7 Parental Reminders Nov 2024!
A plea that you pass on Christmas jumpers if your child has grown out of them so that all children who wish to join in can do so.
The Parent Council’s fundraising is invaluable in this time of budget cuts. So far this session, they have subsidised P7 hoodies and the festive cinema trip, as well as providing prizes/refreshments for the Christmas parties and Movie Afternoon. The Christmas Fair is usually a lovely festive afternoon as well as raising money: however the Parent Council are still needing volunteers to help for an hour or too, as well as bottles and raffle prizes. You will find a request from them in the maildrop: Parent Council Christmas Fair. Please help if you can!
The Pupil Council are organising their hamper raffle again this year, and you will find a letter from them in the maildrop as well. There are usually some amazing hampers thanks to the donations from parents and families.
You will also find the November Wider Achievements reply slip: Celebrating Wider Achievements reply slip if your child has achieved success during this term (October onwards), please let us know about it so that we can celebrate these successes in school. Replies should be sent by the end of November so that they can be included in the December Wider Achievements.
Next week, we look forward to seeing you at our Come and Join Us on Thursday afternoon from 2pm onwards.

November 19, 2024
by Mrs Gamble
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P5 Learner Conferences

Unfortunately due to staff absence, we have to cancel the learner conferences for P5. These will be rescheduled when possible.

If you have an urgent query, please contact Mrs Gamble who will assist.

Learner conferences for all other classes will still go ahead.

November 15, 2024
by Mrs Gamble
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Children In Need- Best Day Ever

What a great day we had yesterday with Steel the Gladiator and Pudsey Bear visiting us for Children in Need: lots of photos and videos on the Class Sways. Look out for us in the papers, on social media and on the television! Watch some here:

BEST DAY EVER!

November 1, 2024
by Mrs Gamble
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Friday email 1st November

Good morning and welcome back for Term 2.
In the maildrop today, you will find the diary dates for this term as they currently stand. This can also be found here: Diary dates 2024-2025 Term 2 as well as on the Dates page on the website. Term 2 is always busy and I am sure there will be further additions!  Coming up in the next few weeks: the Pupil Council will continue to sell poppies for Poppy Scotland until Remembrance Day on 11th November. We will celebrate Children in Need on Friday 15th November: everyone is invited to come in their jammies, if they wish to, and we ask for donations to Children in Need.
Also in the maildrop for the primary pupils, you will find details for the learner conferences on 19th and 20th November. It can also be found here: Learner Conferences Nov 2024 Please return your appointment request slip by Tuesday 5th November to allow the staff time to co-ordinate appointment times for families. Your allocated appointment will then be sent out to you.
P7 parents will receive a separate email with details from Dumfries High School for the Health & Wellbeing day: DHS HWB Day ParentCarer letter 2024

October 11, 2024
by Mrs Gamble
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Friday 11th October

Please find the wider achievements newsletter for this term attached: October 2024 Wider Achievements Newsletter. What a lot of very busy, very successful children we have. The Digital Leaders have also set up a Wider Achievements Sway which will build up over the year to show how we are all developing a wide range of interests and skills:
We suggest that you bookmark it.
We finish today for the October holiday, and school will reopen on Monday 28th October. During the first week back, we will celebrate Halloween on Thursday 31st October. Your child/ren are invited to come in their spooky costumes should they wish to. The Pupil Council have also invited families to carve pumpkins over the holidays and they will judge them on Halloween.
We will also be selling poppies for Poppy Scotland in the run up to Remembrance Day on 11th November. These are at the office, and we ask that a donation is made to Poppy Scotland for these poppies.
Have a lovely holiday, and we will see you all on Monday 28th October.

October 4, 2024
by Mrs Gamble
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Friday 4th October

A few reminders today as to lots going on next week:
  • On Monday, the school photographer will be briefly revisiting to take photos of those children who did not get their photo taken when he visited a couple of weeks ago.
  • P4 start their swimming lessons on Tuesday, and will be swimming again on Wednesday and Thursday.
  • P7 will also be going to DGOne on Wednesday, but not swimming! They will be attending Operation Safety.
  • On Thursday, the NHS will be visiting to undertake the flu vaccinations.
  • On Friday afternoon, there will be Stay and Play in the nursery.
A further reminder (in case you need it) that the school closes for the autumn holiday next Friday 11th October, and returns on Monday 28th October.
In the maildrop today, you will find a letter from the Pupil Council who are organising our Halloween activities on Thursday 31st October. This is to give you chance to organise costumes and/or carved pumpkins over the holidays should your child/ren wish to participate.
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