To celebrate St Andrew’s Day on Wednesday 30th November 2016, we have organised a variety of activities for our children to be involved in to support learning across the curriculum. Across the course of the week beginning Monday 28th November 2016, we have planned an exciting mix of experiences for our children.

Full details are in the enclosed letter:

st-andrews-day-learning-activities-nov-16

East wood park Theatre has a programme of events for the run up to Christmas. Celebrate the holidays with a seasonal programme of winter warming activities to gain some sparkle, peace and magic at Eastwood Park Theatre. There’s something for everyone whether it’s getting excited about Santa, joining in with some festive activities, a trip to the Panto or a break from all the hustle and bustle.

Advanced booking is required for all activities. To avoid disappointment book a space for any of our activities by calling 0141 577 4956 or visit Eastwood Park Theatre’s website

Nursery – P7

Dear Parent / Carer

Switch Off Fortnight begins on Monday 14^th November and the Eco committee are going to be leading the monitoring of energy usage within the school. There are many things you can do at home to save energy and the attached factsheet will give you some ideas and fun facts too.

Energy Factsheet

You can play the online interactive games which are all about saving energy, recycling and generally helping our planet! Click on the link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/sysm/eco/flash/flash.shtml   

If you’d like to learn more about Switch Off Fortnight and other Eco matters click on the following link:

http://jointhepod.org/home

Keep an eye on the school and nursery Twitter feeds for more information

https://twitter.com/GiffnockNursery

https://twitter.com/giffnockprimary

Primary 1 – 7

This term P5 are learning all about Fairtrade. As part of our learning we have decided to organise and run a Fairtrade Stall in our school. This will help us to raise awareness of, and money for, the Fairtrade charity. Prices range from 50p to £4.00

From Tuesday 22nd November until Thursday 1st December we will be running Fairtrade Stalls in the Achievement Hall during the day and all of the classes have been timetabled to visit.

Week 1

On the first two days all children will be given a chance to look at the products and also buy if they wish. On the second two days, children who have money for a product will be given an opportunity to visit the stall and buy their product.

Tuesday – P1, P2, P3, P5

Wednesday  – P4, P6, P7

Thursday – P1-P7

Friday – P1-P7

Week 2

In this week children from all classes with money will be able to visit the stall each day. The last day of the stall is Thursday.

Please find letter attached with more details.

fairtrade-stalls-letter-to-parents-nov-16

Nursery – P7

Dear Parent / Carer

As you are aware individual and family photographs were taken in school on Tuesday 15th November 2016.  Your child should have brought home his/her photograph and order envelope.  If you have a sibling in the nursery (or in the school) it may be that the family photograph will be sent home with them rather than the eldest child.

Instructions as to how to place an order are given on the proof order form but for clarity you can either do this yourself online or you can return the order form to the school by Wednesday 23rd November 2016.  If you are paying by cheque this must be made payable to Tempest Photography.

Please note that if you wish to place an order after 23rd November you will have to personally send a late order directly to Tempest Photography (details on proof order form) and you should include an extra £4.00 for this service.  We will be unable to accept late orders at the school office.

Please ensure that your child’s name, class and order value are clearly marked on the proof envelope before returning it to the class teacher.

Thank you for your co-operation.

National Road Safety Week begins on Monday 21st November and the JRSO committee at Giffnock Primary are going to be leading a number of events. One of the events will be a ‘Dress Bright Day’ on Wednesday 23rd November, where pupils will be encouraged to wear their brightest, most colourful clothes to school!

Full details of the events can be seen here:

National Road Safety Week 2016

Young Person Services are urging people across East Renfrewshire to challenge themselves as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) Diamond Challenge.

They are holding this special 60th anniversary event to help raise funds to transform lives of disadvantaged young people across the UK.

As part of the 60-inspired challenges, locals can choose to join a team of 60 people in a relay to cycle, run, swim and walk 60 miles, or pick a challenge more personal to you.

They are looking for 300 people to join in and make East Renfrewshire’s challenge the biggest one in Britain.

People of all ages and abilities can get involved and for those who don’t want to take part in a physical activity there is the opportunity to bake, learn an instrument, hula-hoop, sing or do yoga.

The East Ren Diamond Challenge event takes place on Friday 25 November 2016 from 3-7pm at Eastwood High School, Newton Mearns, G77 6NQ.

For more information and to sign up for the event, go to the Duke of Edinburgh website. If you are coming along to participate on the day please email Paul.Tulloch@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk and he will send you a time slot and more information.

Rocket Science seeds experiment complete results released

At last we have the full results from the experiment Giffnock Primary took part in last session.

In April the Rocket Science team of volunteers planted rocket lettuce seeds which had been in space and seeds which had stayed on Earth. We didn’t know which was which and we had to make sure that both sets received the same amount of sunlight and water and were treated exactly the same. Our results can be seen in the picture below.

We found that the seeds which came from the blue packet grew slightly less well than the ones from the red packet. When Tim Peake came back to Earth in June he revealed that it was the blue packet of seeds which had been on the International Space Station with him.

Earlier this week the Royal Horticultural Society and UK Space Agency gave BBC News exclusive access to the results. You can read the full article by clicking on this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37826704

And the results are…seeds that have been in space grow almost as well as those that have stayed on Earth. Overall more than 320,000 individual measurements were collected – making the experiment scientifically robust and one of the most detailed of its kind ever carried out. The results will be useful to scientists trying to find ways of growing food in space.

At Giffnock Primary we are really proud to have taken part in such an important real life science experiment.

During November, we have planned some whole school themes that will involve different activities and events across the stages of the school. You can find out more information in the attached newsletter:

Contexts for Learning November 2016

We hope that this information helps to give more insight into learning this term.

P1 – P7

Dear Parent / Carer

We would like to remind you that the Flu Immunisation Programme will be taking place in school on Wednesday 9th November 2016.

This week is Dyslexia Awareness Week in Scotland and Giffnock Primary school is showing supprt for the week by wearing blue ribbons.

The theme of Dyslexia Awareness Week is: Dyslexia: did you know…?

Find out more about Dyslexia Awareness Week by going to www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk/dyslexia-awareness-week