Link below is for the updated school meals for Primary 1 to 7 for this term.
School Lunches – New Halal menu and information about medical diets
If your child requires a special diet for medical reasons, you should obtain a Medically prescribed diet registration form, from the school office and send with an accompanying letter from a medical practitioner or dietician confirming the specific details of the diagnosis to your school office. Once the form has been received you will be contacted by one of the catering team to discuss your child’s dietary needs and outline the process ensuring a suitable meal is provided.
For pupils wishing to access the Halal menu then a Cultural diet request form should be completed and for any pupils wishing to access the Vegan or Vegetarian menu then a Lifestyle request form should be completed, both forms are available from the school office.
New lunch menu.
Please note that it’s your responsibility to inform us about changes in your child dietary needs
Young Carer Grant
In recognition of the invaluable contribution that young carers make to society the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security, Ms Somerville MSP, has announced that Social Security Scotland will start to deliver the new Young Carer Grant from 8 am on Monday 21 October 2019. The Young Carer Grant is a new yearly cash payment of £300 for 16-18 year olds which carers can spend as they choose. Young carers can claim if they are at school, in further education, employed or unemployed and may be eligible if they meet all of the following criteria:
- they live in Scotland
- they are 16, 17 or 18 years of age when applying
- caring for an average of 16 hours per week, over a 13 week period
- care for someone normally paid a qualifying disability benefit
- they have not applied for or receive Carer’s Allowance
- they are not paid or volunteer to care
People will be able to apply from 21 October online at https://www.mygov.scot/benefits/ or through our Freephone helpline at 0800 182 2222. Our helpline is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm. A paper application will also be available and can be requested via our helpline or downloaded direct from our website.
We are also interested in hearing feedback on how the Young Carer Grant is helping young carers. So if there are any stories that you can share to help us highlight the difference the grant is making, and possibly encourage others to apply, please let our Communications team at Communications@socialsecurity.gov.scot know.
We’re also keeping people updated through our social media channels @SocSecScot on Twitter and Social Security Scotland on Facebook
Out of School Care Consultation
The consultation on the draft framework for Out of School Care in Scotland is now live. The consultation period starts today and will run until the 6th December 2019. https://consult.gov.scot/children-and-families/out-of-school-care
Please take a few minutes to give your views.
Amazing colour in Carlibar Park
In June Primary 7 planted a wildflower patch on the hill behind the Foundry in Carlibar Park. It has bloomed well and adds a fantastic splash of colour to the local area.
Making school food healthier : More fruit and vegetables, less processed red meat and sugar on the menu.
https://www.gov.scot/news/making-school-food-healthier
The Scottish Government and all local authorities are jointly committed to providing the healthiest food to children and young people. This commitment is underpinned by a duty to provide school meals that meet strict nutritional requirements, including encouraging the use of fresh, local and sustainable produce
School food regulations will be amended to ensure:
- a minimum of two full portions of vegetables and a full portion of fruit are offered as part of a school lunch, with full portions of fruit and or vegetables also available in, for example, tuck shops
- a minimum weekly amount in the school menu of red and processed red meat provision – such as bacon, ham and pepperoni
For Primary schools – Ensure no more than 175g of red and red processed meat can be provided over the course of the school week, of which no more than 100g should be red processed meat. All of the 175g amount can be used for unprocessed freshly prepared red meat.
This is a new standard and is based on the Scottish Dietary Goal for red and processed meat which is supported by scientific evidence based dietary recommendations to limit intakes of these foods to 70g per day with the purpose of protecting the health of children and young people. Therefore if a child is to have processed meat in their diet this can be managed at home by parents/carers.
Dietary advice highlights red meat as a major source of iron and zinc which can contribute to meeting the recommended nutrient intakes for primary school lunches removal of fruit juice and smoothies from primary and secondary schools to help reduce sugar intake.
The measures follow extensive consultation and advice from a working group comprising health, nutrition and education experts.
- Currently all East Renfrewshire school meals are nutritionally analysed and comply with the existing regulations laid down by the Scottish Government.
- All medically prescribed diets will be accommodated on receipt of an Acute Services Division referral form from a hospital dietician or a Doctor’s letter detailing dietary requirements.
Primary 6 Summer Maths Challenge
Deputy First Minister’s Summer Maths Challenge
Look out for the booklets coming home to all P6 children before the end of term.
Community Event – Please join us
MAY DAY HOLIDAY 2020 – Change of date
As you may be aware, the UK government has recently announced a change to the date of the Early May Bank Holiday 2020.
The first May Bank Holiday has been moved from its usual first Monday in May ie 4 May 2020 to Friday 8 May 2020 to coincide with celebrations for the 75th anniversary of VE Day (See https://www.gov.scot/publications/bank-holidays/ ).
East Renfrewshire Council’s Education Department have made the decision to change the In-Service day for May as follows;
Monday 4 May 2020 Open to pupils
Tuesday 5 May 2020 Open to pupils
Wednesday 6 May 2020 Open to pupils
Thursday 7 May 2020 In-service – staff only
Friday 8 May 2020 Public Holiday – School closed
Additional in-service day granted by the Scottish Government in May will be Tuesday 26 May 2020
Free Swimming Lessons at the Foundry
Dear Parent / Carer,
Swimming Development Programme: Free Taster Swimming Lessons
East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Swimming Development are looking for children again to come along to FREE Lessons.
Our existing swimming teachers are upskilling to a higher level of qualification run by the National Governing Body Scottish Swimming. If you are interested in bringing your children along to our free taster swimming lessons at Barrhead Foundry, please see dates and times.
Dates are as follows:- 15, 16, 22, 23 July, 5 & 6 August.Times as follows:- 11.30 – 12.00, 12.00-12.30, 12.30 -1.00 or 1.00 – 1.30. Please choose which time slots you would like your child to attend.You can either contact Barrhead Foundry direct or pop into the centre and put their name down on the list.
We look forward to welcoming your children to these FREE taster lessons and we would also like to inform you that if your child enjoys these lessons, then please feel free to sign up for lessons in our Learn to Swim Programme
If you would like to take advantage of any of these lessons, please follow this link, https://www.ercultureandleisure.org/swimminglessons – which will take you directly to the application on our website.
Yours Sincerely,
Swim Development Team
Parental Involvement and Engagement Census
East Renfrewshire Council and its educational establishments undertake regular periodic surveys of parents and carers. Such surveys support school and local authority improvement planning and provide an opportunity for parents to share their thoughts on current and future involvement and engagement with schools.
Similar practice is undertaken by all local authorities in Scotland and educational establishments under their control. In order to rationalise this approach to surveying parents/carers and in order to allow comparable consistent data to be collected nationally, which will assist in evaluating the impact of interventions and programmes and support future policy development, every parent/carer of a school pupil in Scotland is being invited to take part in the national Parental Involvement and Engagement Census pilot.
Only one parent/carer per child will receive an email which will include a link to the survey and it is only necessary to complete the survey once per family, per school. The survey should take no longer than ten minutes to complete and will remain open until 27 June 2019.
The data gathered will be used for statistical and research purposes and will provide East Renfrewshire Council and its schools with information to help:
- plan, monitor and deliver better policies for the benefit of all,
- identify and share best practice,
- better understand some of the factors which influence parental involvement and engagement with our schools,
- further enhance positive relationships with parents to secure positive outcomes for our children.
The information collected will also be securely shared with the Scottish Government to assist in evaluating the impact of national interventions and programmes and to support future policy development at a national level.
Further information on the collection and how the Education Department and Scottish Government will process the data collected is provided in the Council’s privacy statement and Scottish Government website:
https://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=24585&p=0
https://www.gov.scot/publications/parental-involvement-and-engagement-census/
Should you have any further questions, please contact the Education Department:
Education Department
Council Headquarters
Eastwood Park
Giffnock
East Renfrewshire
G46 6UG
0141 577 3229
customerservices@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
Thank you for taking part in this survey collection.
Primary 4-7 Beach Trip – change of location
Dear Parents we have had to change the location of the trips from Lunderston Bay to Ayr. The following link will give you a copy of the letter that will be in school bags for Primaries 5 to 7 tomorrow. The letters are in bags today for Primaries 1 to 4.
Please ensure that you check the details on the paper copy of the letter as this will let you know the number of places we have reserved for you. if you no longer require the places or your child will not be in school that day please let us know as soon as possible.
