A Victorian Day is planned for Moniaive on Saturday 18th December when there will be a variety of activities throughout  the day, all with a Victorian theme, to get you into the Christmas spirit.  In the evening there will be a candlelight procession to the church where there will be a carol concert.

If you would like to get involved, or simply want to know more, then there is an open meeting in the Craigdarroch on Wednesday, 27th October, at 7.30 pm.  All welcome.

We hope you’ve been finding our new blog useful and many thanks to everyone who has left comments so far – we’re glad you like it!
We’re sure you’re keen to find out the latest goings on at the school, but it can be easy to forget to log on regularly to our blog. So why not subscribe to the blog and have the most up-to-date entries highlighted on your home page?
All you need to do is visit our blog page and scroll to the very bottom of the screen. There you should see the text ‘Entries Feed and Comments Feed’. Click on ‘Entries Feed’ and you will be taken to a screen that allows you to subscribe. You will be asked to select the application you want to use to subscribe from a drop down menu. Simply choose the one you use most frequently, for example your internet browser or even Google. Then each time you open that application you will have a section on the screen that will show the headings of the most recent posts.
It’s really that easy!

As you may know, the children have Golden Time after assembly each week as a reward for good behaviour the previous week.  During this time they can choose what activity they would like to do in their own classroom.

Next term we would like to be able to offer a more structured programme of activities that would allow children from different classes to work together on something fun and perhaps a little different.  For this to work we really need a few more helping hands.

Would you, or someone you know, be able to spare an hour or so on a Monday morning to come in to school and share a hobby or interest with a small group of children?  Perhaps you’re a keen bird watcher or chess player.  Maybe you’re interested in arts and crafts or country dancing.  If so we’d love to hear from you.  We would only ask you to take a small number of children, and we don’t expect you to commit for the whole year. 

If you would be willing to help, please get in touch with Mrs Moyes.

If you haven’t already made plans for the October break you might be interested in the following courses.

Organised by The Glenkens Community & Arts Trust these two inspirational art workshops are part of the first Dalry Bird Town festival, celebrating the work of Donald Watson, the renowned bird artist and writer who lived in Dalry for over 50 years.  And it is free thanks to the generosity of Scottish Natural Heritage, Room 13, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and Gaelforce,

Workshop 1 is an Environmental Art Taster Day which will be run by the Room 13 community arts project in association with the Royal Society of Edinburgh.  The workshop will provide a taste of different techniques for creating environmental art. Participants will be working in Dalry School and outdoors in the nearby countryside to produce their own works.  It will be on Monday 18 October 2010,  10am-4pm.

Workshop 2 is entitled “Creative Explorer” and is an exciting four day workshop for participants to explore the connection between art making, the local environment in Dalry and themselves. Again the workshop will be run by the community arts project Room 13 and will take place in Dalry school and outdoors on the hillsides and in the woods.  Creative Explorer is about looking at and thinking about the world in different ways, about having freedom to experiment creatively and having fun.  Participants will be supplied with sketchbooks and materials, but will also use objects from the environment.  The course runs from Tuesday 19 October 2010 – Friday 22 October 2010, 10am-4 pm each day.

Both courses are based in Dalry School and suitable for young people aged 10-16.  You will require a packed lunch, warm and weatherproof clothing and suitable footwear.  Booking is essential as places are limited.  If you are interested contact CatStrand on 01644 420374 for further information or to book a place.

If you would like to know more about Room 13 you can visit their website at www.room13scotland.com.

Our Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSOs) have been busy organising a competition to design a logo for the JRSO noticeboard.  There are prizes for the best in each class, but you’ll have to be quick as the closing date is tomorrow.

The JRSOs have also been involved in Walk to School Week, by carrying out a daily survey of how pupils are travelling to school.  It will be interesting to see the results which we will publish in November’s newsletter.

A Halloween Party to raise funds for Moniaive Gala is being held in the Institute on Saturday 30th October from 7pm.  Tickets cost £3.00 for adults and £2.00 for children.  There will be prizes for the scariest pumpkin and the best adult and child’s costume.  Ghoulish games and monstrous music.

For more information contact Julie on 01848 200257.

You can’t fail to have noticed that the shops are filling up with Halloween goodies. 

To join in with the fun, we will be having a dress-as-you-please day on Friday 29 October.  Pupils can pay £1 to wear what they like for the day and we hope they will join in with the spirit of the day and come in Halloween themed fancy dress.  Mrs Moyes already has her outfit looked out!

There will be prizes for the best costume in each class and fun activities throughout the day.

Just a reminder, that Football Coaching won’t be running for the next 3 weeks (9th, 16th & 23rd inclusive).

This week is Walk to School Week and we’re delighted to see so many pupils making the effort to walk to school despite the weather.

It was certainly pretty miserable this morning when our surprise visitor, Dougie the Doonhamer, joined children on their walk to school.  Dougie, the mascot for the Queen of the South football team, had come along to encourage everyone and despite the rain there were big smiles all round.

If your child hasn’t walked yet, why not encourage them to do it tomorrow.  Even if walking all the way from home isn’t feasible you could always drop your child off a little earlier so they can walk the last part of the journey.

We have been delighted to see our P7s taking on additonal roles around the school, and as the eldest pupils in the school we do look to them to set an example to the others. We thought it was only fair to allow our P7s some extra privileges in acknowledgement of these extra responsibilities.

Our P7s discussed this with Miss Henderson and asked if they could be allowed: chairs at assembly; to help out in P1-3 on wet playtimes; to eat their packed lunches outside in nice weather; and to have a ‘Chill Out Tuesday’ where they can stay in the library at lunchtime. We thought these were all excellent suggestions and have already begun to implement them.

They also asked if it would be possible for them to have their own sweatshirt, in a different colour and design to the rest of the school. This is certainly something which has been done in other schools, however we are aware that it has cost implications for parents. Currently we are investigating potential costs, and once we have this information we will be seeking the opinion of all parents before we make any final decision.

We’re sure our P7s will be keen to keep these privileges and continue to be young people we can be proud of.