Tag: Parents

Pumpkin pandemonium

PUMPKIN PANDEMONIUM!

The Parent Council are hosting an afternoon of spooky fun in the blue hall on Friday 26th October from 3pm – if you’re popping into the Community Café, come in and see us for some Halloween fun and games – prizes to be won!

Remember and bring £1 to school on that day for crazy/spooky hair day! Best crazy/spooky hair on the day wins a prize! All funds raised will go towards funding activities and equipment for the children at Giffnock Primary School.

Here’s a taster of what we will have on the day…………

Slime factory – make your own gooey slime to take home with you! Yeuch……

Bring in your carved pumpkins for “The Best Carved Pumpkin” competition – the scarier the better.

Guess the number of Spooky Spiders in the jar.

Good old fashioned “dooking for apples”.

Guess the name of the witches pet for the chance to win her pet – a life sized cuddly version of it.

A “Spooky Stories” area with a chance to blind feel spooky items………

Halloween would not be complete without having a “Party Piece” – tell us your best joke, sing a song or even dance – whatever you want – prize for the best on the day!

 

Nursery Uniform

Gilmour Sports have asked us to send an apology on their behalf to any parents/carers who have experienced delays with the delivery of nursery uniform items.  They have had problems with suppliers but have assured us that they have now taken steps to ensure that sufficient stock should be available in future.

 

seasons for growth

 

Seasons for Growth is an educational programme which aims to build the resilience of children and young people who are dealing with significant loss or change

The death of a loved one, parental divorce or separation, moving to a new house or school… big changes like these can cause confronting and confusing emotions. Seasons for Growth helps children and young people to develop the language needed to express their feelings, and gives them a safe place to talk about them.

Seasons for Growth was designed with reference to developmental psychology, ensuring that activities are appropriate and relevant to the age and stage of participants. It has been adapted to a learning framework to be an educational programme. It is not therapy, but it is therapeutic.

In Giffnock Primary we have trained companions who can run small groups for children and a separate one for adults who wish to find out how to best support their child.

If you are interested in this programme for either yourself or your child (or both) please contact us at the school.

If you would like to know more about this programme you can follow the link:-

http://www.seasonsforgrowth.org.uk/

 

Parental session

 

There will be a parental session on, ‘Social and Communication Difficulties – Supporting Anxieties at Home’ for any interested parents: Thursday 4th October, 2-3pm in the library. The Support for Pupils team look forward to seeing you there.

 

Active School Tennis

Dear Parent/Carer

P4 Tennis Club in partnership with Giffnock Tennis Club

Your child has the opportunity to attend a new block of tennis coaching sessions, based at Giffnock Tennis Club. All sessions will be delivered by qualified coaches from the club with full details being as follows:
Venue: Giffnock Tennis Club, 4 Percy Drive, Giffnock, G46 6PA
Day: Monday
Dates: 1st Oct, 8th Oct, 22nd, 29th Oct, 5th Nov (5 weeks – Not on 15th Oct due to Oct Holiday)
Time: 3:45 – 4:30pm

Cost: £10 (to be paid to the club on week 1, tennis rackets can be provided if required)

Places are limited so if your child would like to attend, please email Schools@giffnock-ltc.co.uk by no later than 5.00pm on Tuesday 25th September to register your child’s interest. Please include the following information when emailing:

Name of child
Child’s Date of Birth
Reference – Woodfarm Cluster P4 Monday
A confirmation email will then be sent from Giffnock Tennis Club with a copy of the tennis club’s safeguarding children form, which must be completed and returned prior to the start of the first session.

Parents/carers will have sole responsibility for dropping off and collecting their children from each session. Children should bring a filled water bottle and wear appropriate clothing for outdoor activity (e.g. tracksuit bottoms, jumper, sports shoes and a waterproof jacket).

Please note that these sessions are run through a close partnership between Giffnock Tennis Squash & Hockey Club and ERCL Active Schools and therefore Giffnock Tennis Club will share your child’s name and school for statistical purposes with us.

Yours faithfully,
Marie Baxter & Craig Gordon

Active School Co-ordinators

GPS parent council AGM

The Annual General Meeting  (with Cheese & Wine) of the GPS Parent Council will be held on Thursday, 4 October in the School Library at 7pm.  ALL WELCOME!  It would be great to see you, so please come along.

If you would like to join the Parent Council or have a question regarding what it involves, then please reply and let us know.  It is important that you are able to attend at least 3-4 meetings a year in order to contribute to discussion around school issues.

The GPS Parent Council meeting schedule for the year is as follows.

Wed 21 Nov – Staffroom 9am

Fri 11 Jan – Staffroom 1.30pm

Mon 25 Feb – Staffroom 7pm

Wed 17 Apr – Staffroom 9 am

Fri 7 June – Staffroom 1.30pm

If you are not able to commit to the PC meetings, then you may be able to support in other ways e.g. through volunteering as a helper at fundraising events or helping organise events.  If you would like to be added to the volunteer mailing list or have an idea about a fundraising event, then also let us know!

Thanks for your support to date.

Regards
Giffnock Primary Parent Council

judo club

Pro Judo- JUDO CLUB.

Fantastic trial Offer for all pupils across the Woodfarm Cluster.

Schools have recently received some Judo taster sessions from Pro Judo Head Coach, Brian Long. The idea of taster sessions within schools is to give children an opportunity to experience a new sports/activity that they may have not participated in locally. The children really enjoyed the judo session and were enthusiastic about the prospect of joining a judo club in East Renfrewshire. Pro Judo has been established since 2006, with 19 clubs across the West of Scotland it is the largest judo provider in Schools.  All coaches are fully qualified and the organisation has a pathway in place to progress children from grass roots to performance athletes.

After the recent taster sessions in schools and enjoyment of the children, Pro Judo are looking to offer pupils the chance to take part in a 4 week trial offer of Judo at one of their classes.

There are a number of clubs running across East Renfrewshire. The closest classes to your school are below.

Venue:             The Maccabi Youth and Sports Centre, Giffnock

Time:               3:45-4:30pm

Cost:                £4 for the trial block for 4 weeks.

You can email: bookings-eastren@projudo.co.uk

Or  Book via link:   https://projudo.class4kids.co.uk/term/20/East+Renfrewshire+After+School

If your child is interested in attending please book on by clicking on the appropriate link above or email: bookings-eastren@projudo.co.uk to get the link.Please book the trial offer. This is only £1 per week for the 4 week trial.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us at baxterm1@ea.e-renfrew.sch.uk or gordonc4@ea.e-renfrew.sch.uk or call us at 07800 629690.

 

annual consent forms

Thank you to those families who have already returned their annual consent forms to class teachers.

If you have not as yet returned the forms to your child’s class teacher could we ask that you do so as soon as possible as children will not be able to take part in certain school activities without your written consent.

 

Scottish government parenting plan

The Scottish Government has produced a new resource designed to provide guidance for families going through separation or divorce – Your Parenting Plan.

First published in 2006, as the Parenting Agreement for Scotland, the Plan has been refreshed by the Scottish Government in conjunction with a number of key agencies, and will be promoted over the coming weeks to help as many families as possible access practical advice.

You can download or request a copy of the Parenting Plan here:mygov.scot/parentingplan

There is also a Charter for Grandchildren that sits alongside Your Parenting Plan – mygov.scot/publications/parenting-plan-charter-grandchildren.

 

free school meals

 

Can we please remind parents / carers that entitlement to free school meals only applies to the academic year in which you apply and will cease at the end of June that year.  As a goodwill gesture our school kitchen have been providing free school meals to those pupils who had applied for session 2017-18 to allow parents / carers sufficient time to reapply for session 2018-19.

We would advise you however that with effect from Thursday 30th August the school kitchen will be unable to provide a free school meal to any pupil who is not on the current register.  If you have not already made an application for the current academic year may we recommend that you do so as soon as possible as your child will be charged.  You may like to send your child to school with a packed lunch until confirmation is received of entitlement.

To register for free school meals you need to follow this link www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals

This information does not apply to current P1 – P3 pupils who are entitlement to free school meals without having to make an application.

Finally, please see the attached note with regard to guidance on free school meal entitlement and Pupil Equity Funding.

PEFFMErequestFlyerver5apr17 PupilEquityFundParentalLetterAug18

flu vaccination change of date

 

We have been advised by the NHS that there has been a delay in the supply of the intranasal spray flu vaccine and therefore they have had to reschedule the flu vaccination delivery plan for our school.  The new date for the delivery of the flu vaccination plan is shown below:

FLU VACCINATION PROGRAMME will now be held on MONDAY 10TH DECEMBER 2018

We recently issued envelopes from the NHS regarding the programme which they requested be returned to the school by Friday 31st August.  These envelopes will still be collected by the NHS next week and therefore if you have not already returned it to your child’s class teacher could you please do so without delay.

 

P7 Residential Information Evening: Tuesday 28th August 6.30pm reminder

 

For our annual Primary 7 Residential next session, we have booked to go to Lockerbie Manor on the week beginning Monday 4th March 2019. The children last year had such a great time at Lockerbie Manor that we felt it was the right choice for our 2019 excursion. Many of the schools in East Renfrewshire use Lockerbie Manor and it is of course fully approved by our authority.

As was the case this year, next session’s residential will be a cluster event, with children from Braidbar and Thornliebank Primaries attending at the same time as us. This worked very well for our children in terms of being part of their wider transition experiences in the move towards High School, so I am pleased that we are able to continue this. I am writing to you at this early stage as we have organised a presentation to parents/carers to give you more information about the trip. This will be held on Tuesday 28th August 2018 at 6.30pm.

 

Woodfarm Cluster – Primary Ski Programme

 

Woodfarm Cluster – Primary Ski Programme

We are delighted to offer another block of skiing to all pupils in P4-7 across the Woodfarm Cluster. This programme is a partnership between ERCL Active Schools and the Glasgow Ski & Snowboard Centre.

The programme will run for 5 weeks and is open to at all abilities. Please see below for block information, as well as details required to register your child for the club.

SkiLetterSep2018

 

 

Meet the teacher reminder

 

We are pleased to extend an invitation to you to come along and meet your child’s teacher on the evening of Wednesday 29th August 2018.

This evening is designed as an informal opportunity for you to meet your child’s teacher and find out more about their time in nursery and school. The teacher will be available to chat to you about what knowledge and skills your child will be learning, along with important class routines and tips. You will have the opportunity to view some of the class resources and look at children’s displays. The classrooms will be open between 6 and 7pm.

The teacher will not be discussing individual children’s learning and progress. An opportunity for this will be available during our formal parent/ teacher meetings (November and March), or indeed, if you have any particular concerns or matters to discuss, through a pre-arranged appointment or at one of our Friday morning drop-in sessions with our Senior Leadership Team.

We look forward to welcoming you into school on Wednesday 29th August 2018.

 

Mary’s Meals Backpack Project

Mary’s Meals Backpack Project

Collection Date: Tuesday 4th September

(bags can be brought to school from Monday 3rd Sept)

Once again, as requested by the children we have chosen to support Mary’s Meals Backpack Project which helps children from poor families to attend school in countries like Liberia and Malawi. Very often these families cannot afford to buy basic things like pencils and notebooks, or even suitable clothes to wear to school and so children miss out on an education.

Mary’s Meals will send the backpacks to the children, enabling them to receive an education that will help them escape poverty in later life. When children attend school they also get one meal a day which the mums make while their child is learning.

We would be grateful if you could help us and help others, by adding items below in a rucksack that you no longer use.

Could you please make sure each backpack is labelled with boy or girl and an age.

Good quality second hand items are great!

The only items that must be new are soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste.

  • pens, pencils, felt tips, rubber, sharpener, ruler
  • soap (not liquid), towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb
  • t-shirt, shorts, socks, skirt
  • sandals, flip flops
  • soft toy or a ball
  • a little note and maybe a photo of themselves

If you can’t fill it completely or choose to send some items, all donations will be greatly received and sent.

Thanking you for helping us, help others.

RRS Committee and Mrs Sibille

https://www.marysmeals.org.uk/get-involved/campaigns/the-backpack-project/what-to-pack

 

Flu vaccination

 

You will already be aware that the flu vaccination programme will take place in school on Tuesday 2nd October 2018.

Your child has brought home information from the NHS who have requested that the consent form be completed and returned to your child’s class teacher by Friday 31st August – even if you do not want your child to be immunised.  If you have any queries you should contact the NHS directly – full information is provided in their envelope.