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

 

 

Diary Dates:
Monday 14th Oct – Friday 25th Oct	October Holidays
Halloween Party 1.15pm-3pm	Pupils will bring costumes to school and change at lunch time.  The party will be organised by teachers and supported by parents.  It will be held in the Village Hall.
Wednesday 13th Nov from 3.15pm-5.15pm	Parents Evening (EARLY) Appointments will be given nearer the time.
Thursday 21st Nov from 5.30-7.30pm	Parents Evening (LATE) Appointments will be given nearer the time.
Friday 13th Dec at 2pm	Achievement Assembly All parents and families are invited to the village hall so that pupils can share their achievements in learning within and out with school.
Friday 20th Dec at 2pm	Christmas Service Parents and families are invited to join us for our Christmas Service in Gelston Village Hall.

 

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.

 

 

New Websites and Blog

We now have a new website for the partnership schools and separate websites and blogs for each school. Our previous website had a costly subscription whereas these websites are free.

 

It is our aim to update our blogs weekly so that we can share our weekly news with you. We will have a group of pupils known as the ‘Gelston Bloggers’ to help gather information for our blog.

 

Our weekly newsletter and minutes of Parent Council meetings will also be included on blogs attached to the website. (We will also be sending letters home via email so if you haven’t already signed up then please note your email address below and send the slip back into school. All email addresses will be ‘BCC’ meaning that you will not be able to see other parents’ email addresses and vice versa.)

 

Check out the three websites:

Crossmichael and Gelston Partnership Primary Schools: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/dg/candg/

Crossmichael Primary School: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/dg/crossmichael/

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.

 

Paper Free Communication

We would like to encourage parents to receive communication electronically.  This should help to reduce our carbon footprint whilst also saving money on printing costs.  Please provide your email address by returning the attached sheet to school so we can set up electronic correspondence.  All email addresses will be ‘BCC’ meaning that you will not be able to see other parents’ email addresses and vice versa.

 

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.

 

(Newsletter continues overleaf)

ELECTRONIC CORRESPONDENCE

Please return to school:

 

 

 

Name of child:______________________________  Name of parent/ guardian:_______________________________

 

Email address(es) you wish school to use to communicate electronically:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Parent Council

Our Parent Council have been asked to brainstorm ideas about how to find solutions to providing high quality education for our children in the face of the 10-15% cut to the Education budget by 2021. If our parents wish to provide feedback then we can hold a meeting to draft a letter to D&G Council to support them in ensuring that our children continue to receive the education they deserve.

 

Two consultation days are happening at the Bridge in Dumfries.  One is today and the other is on Friday 11^th October.  Parental representatives are invited to attend if they wish.   Please get in touch with Jim Campbell (Chair of the Parent Council) if you wish to find out more information or alternatively contact the school.

 

Our Parent Council AGM will take place on Monday 7^th October at 7pm

 

Parental Volunteers

We are looking for parents to volunteer to help out in class.  You could help to prepare resources, photocopy, sit with groups of pupils to help them concentrate on their learning, read to pupils, etc.  We would welcome more parental involvement in class.  In terms of Child Protection, you will always be in class with the teacher present and I will explain D&G procedures to you to ensure that safeguarding procedures are followed.  If you are interested then please contact the school.

 

Best wishes,

Mary E Lidstone-Scott

Partnership Headteacher

 

Diary Dates:

 

Friday 4th Oct at 2pm	Achievement Assembly All parents and families are invited to the village hall so that pupils can share their achievements in learning within and out with school.
Tuesday 8th Oct at 12pm	Lunch and Our Sponsored Autumn Walk Parents and families are invited to join us for lunch in the dining hall followed by a sponsored Autumn Walk to raise funds for the school.  P1-3 and parents will meet in the dinner hall at 12pm and P4-7 pupils will meet parents in the dinner hall at 12.30pm.
Monday 14th Oct – Friday 25th Oct	October Holidays
Wednesday 13th Nov from 3.15pm-5.15pm	Parents Evening (EARLY) Appointments will be given nearer the time.
Thursday 21st Nov from 5.30-7.30pm	Parents Evening (LATE) Appointments will be given nearer the time.
Friday 13th Dec at 2pmam	Achievement Assembly All parents and families are invited to the village hall so that pupils can share their achievements in learning within and out with school.
Friday 20th Dec at 2pm	Christmas Service Parents and families are invited to join us for our Christmas Service in Gelston Village Hall.

 

Our P7s from Crossmichael and Gelston participated in  a variety of workshops provided by the emergency services to teach them about internet safety, fire safety, electrical safety, first aid and firework safety.  The children were a credit to our schools and were fully engaged in their learning.  Thanks to all involved and to parent, Susan Hall for accompanying the children with Mrs L-Scott.

GELSTON PRIMARY SCHOOL’S AMENDED DIARY DATES:

 

Friday 4th Oct at 2pm	Achievement Assembly All parents and families are invited to the village hall so that pupils can share their achievements in learning within and out with school.
Tuesday 8th Oct at 12pm	Lunch and Our Sponsored Autumn Walk Parents and families are invited to join us for lunch in the dining hall followed by a sponsored Autumn Walk to raise funds for the school. P1-3 and parents will meet in the dinner hall at 12pm and P4-7 pupils will meet parents in the dinner hall at 12.30pm.
Monday 14th Oct – Friday 25th Oct	October Holidays
Wednesday 13th Nov from 3.15pm-5.15pm	Parents Evening (EARLY) Appointments will be given nearer the time.
Thursday 21st Nov from 5.30-7.30pm	Parents Evening (LATE) Appointments will be given nearer the time.
Friday 13th Dec at 2pmam	Achievement Assembly All parents and families are invited to the village hall so that pupils can share their achievements in learning within and out with school.
Friday 20th Dec at 2pm	Christmas Service Parents and families are invited to join us for our Christmas Service in Gelston Village Hall.