Clerical Assistant

We are delighted to announce that Georgina Benson is our new Clerical Assistant on a Tuesday and Friday.   We are waiting for paperwork to be processed so that she can start working with us soon.  Miss Vicky Campbell, although based at Crossmichael, will continue to receive telephone calls on a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Communication

We are always keen to keep in touch with you.  Here are the main methods of communication:

• write a note in your child’s homework diary
• post comments on the Blog under ‘Recent Posts’
• telephone the school office on 01556 502415 and make an appointment to speak to your child’s teacher
• email the school office: gw08officegelston@ea.dumgal.sch.uk
• contact the Headteacher directly on 07741 686730

P4-7 Feis Rois Ukulele Performance in Gelston Village Hall

At 11.30am on Monday 25th November, P4-7 pupils would like to invite their family and friends to listen to them as they perform some of the pieces that they have learned on the ukulele.  We wish to thank Feis Rois for their enthusiasm and support over the weeks.  The children have really enjoyed learning a new instrument.

P7 Open Evening at Castle Douglas High School

P7 pupils and parents are invited to attend an open evening at Castle Douglas High School on Tuesday 26th November at 6.30pm.

PE Kits

We have noticed that some pupils are forgetting to bring a full PE kit to school with them.  A PE kit should consist of a separate T-shirt, shorts/ jogging bottoms/ leggings, socks and PE shoes (PE shoes can also be used as indoor school shoes).

Clothes and Personal Items

Please label all clothes and shoes with you child’s name.  Also, please check that your child has not accidentally brought home another child’s clothing.  We have a few missing cardigans and jumpers at the moment.

Snippets of Learning in School

Pupils in P1-3 are learning to use interesting verbs in their poems, which they wrote collaboratively with Mrs Stevens.

P4-7 have been enjoying playing more complex songs on their ukuleles.

P4-7 Feis Rois Ukulele Performance in Gelston Village Hall

At 11.30am on Monday 25th November, P4-7 pupils would like to invite their family and friends to listen to them as they perform some of the pieces that they have learned on the ukulele.  We wish to thank Feis Rois for their enthusiasm and support over the weeks.  The children have really enjoyed learning a new instrument.

We had a fantastic time at our Halloween party this afternoon.  Children played games such as ‘Mummy’s Brains’, a spooky version of ‘Kim’s game’, pin the spider on the web, eat the rings on the string and they were doukin’ for apples.  They also played team games where they used a broomstick to dribble a balloon and played hoopla with witches’ hats.

Special thanks to our parent helpers ‘Creepy’ Clare and ‘Poltergeist’ Pam!

PLEASE CLICK ON INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS AND LEAVE COMMENTS IF YOU WISH!

Welcome Back

Welcome back to Term 2 at Gelston Primary School.  I hope you had a wonderful holiday and are looking forward to this term.  Last term, we raised an amazing £811 on our Sponsored Autumn Walk so thank you very much to everyone who contributed.

Halloween Party

We are having our Halloween party on Thursday 31st October in the afternoon.  Pupils can change into their costumes after lunch.  They may wear non-uniform instead.  It should be SPOOKTACULAR!!

P4, P5, P6 and P7 Biosphere Explorers!

The Galloway & Southern Ayrshire Biosphere has a vision to make life in our Biosphere better while caring for the natural environment. A key strand of this is the education of the next generation biosphere residents in sustainable development, increasing awareness and connections with the ‘working countryside’.

The Biosphere Explorers project, run by the Crichton Carbon Centre and funded by the Hollywood Trust and the Galloway Glens Scheme, is working towards this aim with an education programme delivered in schools consisting of a series of workshops aimed at increasing knowledge of the local natural environment and human interactions with it. This project will run for two years and will be focussed on school age children, with elements for all residents of the area.

Our P4, P5, P6 and P7 pupils will be participating in these workshops each each Thursday afternoon (from 7th November) led by the Biosphere Explorers Officer, Shalla Gray. The sessions will include:

Please ensure that pupils have brought their outdoor clothing with them on these days.

Paper Free Communication after the Holidays

Please remember that after the October holidays, we will be sending out weekly newsletters via email and they will be available on our website under the heading ‘Recent Posts’:

Gelston Primary School: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/dg/gelston/

Please let us know what you think and feel free to leave comments under posts. (All comments will be checked before being made public.) We are keen to provide you with more information about your child’s learning and hope that the websites will evolve with your help.  We are aware of children whose names and photos will not appear online but please contact the school if you have any questions.

Sponsored Walk

Thank you to everyone who joined us on our sponsored autumn walk around Gelston Castle Estate on Tuesday.  We have a lovely time and we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.  We have received many sponsor forms and would like to thank you for raising so much money.  We will share the total amount raised after the October holidays.

October Holidays

We hope all pupils have a wonderful October holiday and we look forward to seeing you again on Monday 28^th October for the new term.

Indoor Shoes

After the holidays we ask that all pupils change into indoor shoes at the start of the school day (not slippers) to help keep carpets clean.  Indoor gym shoes will suffice as pupils wear these for PE lessons anyway and it will save extra expense.

Halloween Party

Teachers are organising a Halloween party in school on Thursday 31^st October from 1.15pm-3pm.  Pupils are invited to bring in their costumes and will change into them at lunch time.  Our Parent Council have kindly agreed to contribute to the cost of apples and other items.  Teachers will be in touch after the holidays to arrange parent helpers.  We would appreciate it if parents could help decorate the village hall from 2pm on Wednesday 30^th October.  Thank you for your support.

Staffing

We welcome Mrs Amanda Kirkpatrick who is studying for her HNC in Childhood Studies and will be with us each Monday and Tuesday in P1-3.  We also welcome Abbie who joins us from Castle Douglas High School as a work experience student for a few hours each week.

ALDI Fundraising Campaign

ALDI have launched a fundraising campaign where parents receive a sticker for every £30 they spend in store.  We are collecting the stickers at Gelston and Crossmichael schools.  When we have a poster full of stickers we can enter a prize draw to win £20K for each school.  Please start saving your stickers for us!

‘Scottish Football Association’ After School Club

The SFA continue to run two after school clubs on a Friday at Crossmichael Primary School from 3-4pm and from 4-5pm.  These are open to pupils from both Crossmichael and Gelston schools.  For further details and to book sessions, please contact Castle Douglas Swimming Pool on 01556 502745.

Parental Volunteers

Thank you to everyone who has contacted us to help out in school.  I plan to set up a timetable soon and we will get in touch with you after the holidays.

Special thanks go to Holly Young for helping to cut the hedge beside the path.  I am hopeful that the Community Payback Team will be available to cut internal hedges and bushes in the October Holidays.  Nevertheless, if any parents are available to help trim some bushes/ hedges then we would welcome your support too.

Clerical Interviews

I am interviewing for the Clerical post on 11^th October and we hope to have someone in post soon.  Thank you very much for your patience this term.  I know that it has been difficult to contact the school at times.  In case of emergency my Headteacher’s mobile number is: 07741 686730.

Best wishes,

Mary E Lidstone-Scott

Partnership Headteacher

Please vote for Crossmichael Primary’s land art for the Tour of Britain. We are down to the final eight in the UK and are the only Scottish entry left!

Click on the photo of our art work on this website  to vote. Be careful not to accidentally click as you scroll down.

https://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/community/land-art/

Thank you for joining us for lunch followed by a lovely walk around Gelston Castle Estate.

Special thanks go to Clare Fenwick who provided us with a delicious selection of soups and sweets.

We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we  did.

Please come along to our Parent Council AGM tomorrow (Monday 7th October) at 7pm.

Pupils in P1-7 were preparing for their Achievement Assembly which is happening at 2pm today.  They are explaining what and how they learning in numeracy and maths.

Pupils in P1-3 have been learning all about ‘People who Help Us’.  This week they were visited by the Paramedics.