Tag: Parents

Rocket Seeds from Space

Martha, Sam and Sophie were the first members of the Rocket Science team to water and turn the trays of rocket seeds. The seeds have to be watered every two days and turned so that they all get the same amount of light. Martha helped Sam and Sophie to measure out the same amount of water for each tray, 250 millilitres, and they used small watering cans with spray heads so the seed trays got a gentle watering! We’re all looking forward to the seeds starting to grow. Keep checking for the latest update on this page.

Day 3

 

Rocket Seeds from Space!

Rocket Science in Giffnock Primary

The Giffnock Primary Rocket Science team have taken their first steps in becoming space biologists. On Monday 18th April a package arrived in school containing rocket lettuce seeds. 100 of them have been in space on the International Space Station and the other 100 stayed on Earth. We don’t know which of the packets contained the seeds which spent several months in space!

The 24- strong team had all applied to be our Rocket Scientists and all think they are very lucky to have had their names drawn out of the hat. The BBC reported that 8500 schools, children’s clubs and societies have signed up for the experiment.

On Tuesday afternoon the team followed the experiment instructions very carefully and we now have 8 trays of seeds planted and ready to grow in P1b’s classroom.

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The Rocket Scientists will be taking turns watering the trays and turning them every two days.  Measurements and observations will be recorded on our experiment wall chart which will be hung in the bottom corridor for everyone to see. Check back here for regular updates and pictures!

What do you think will happen with the seeds which have been in space?

Find out more here:

East Renfrewshire Council News

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Show Racism the Red Card

DSCN0315Giffnock Primary School is through to the final of the Show Racism the Red Card Creative Competition 2016 with posters reflecting the idea that Scotland is a diverse country.

Lucy and Dougal are shown here with Miss Reid who helped organise the competition in school. Their entries have gone forward to the final and will be displayed at Hampden Park in May.

The competition was based on a series of seven short films entitled ‘This Is My Home’, exploring the issues of immigration and racism from the point of view of Scotland’s migrant community. Pupils developed their understanding that Scotland is a diverse country with a range of people from different religions from around the world. Children were able to discuss values such as fairness and equality and designed excellent posters showing a variety of nationalities and religions. This related to the health and wellbeing and religious and moral education curriculum as children learned to build positive relationships and respect the views of others.

You can view the films here:

http://www.theredcard.org/thisismyhome

 

Parent Pay – New online school payment service trial

New online school payment service trial

Following feedback from parents and carers, a new online school payment service is being trialled in four schools and one family centre in East Renfrewshire in the coming weeks.

Logo for the school online payments service (ParentPay) : This link opens in a new window

Paying for school meals and trips can sometimes cause last minute panics at home, especially when we all lead such busy lives and there’s so much else to think about.

East Renfrewshire Council believes it has now come up with an effective solution to help time-pressed parents and carers with this process and is trialling ParentPay from the start of the summer term (April 2016).

ParentPay is an online payments system already used in more than 6000 schools throughout the UK to facilitate convenient payment for products and services, eliminating the need for any money to ever change hands.

In October 2015, a survey was issued to parents and carers in East Renfrewshire to try to identify the sort of system they felt would be most beneficial. More than 1,400 responses indicate that ParentPay ticks all the boxes including:

  • ParentPay is easy-to-use and will offer the freedom to make online school payments whenever and wherever you like, 24/7.
  • Payments can be made by credit/debit card.
  • You will be able to pay for multiple items (meals, school excursions/trips etc.) in a single transaction.
  • You will be able to make payments for more than one child even if they attend different schools.
  • Parents can choose to be alerted when their balances are low via email.
  • Full payment history and statements are available.
  • Pupils will not have to worry about losing money.
  • Mobile optimised website, so you can access your account from a smart phone without the need to download an app or use a computer.

Where      

Over the course of the summer term, the council will implement the new system and monitor feedback at four schools and in one family centre before roll-out to all of East Renfrewshire on a phased basis in the new school session 2016/17.

The trial schools are:

  • Woodfarm High School
  • Thornliebank Primary School
  • Braidbar Primary School
  • Giffnock Primary School
  • Glen Family Centre

How to get started with ParentPay

Parents and carers of pupils at the four schools trialling the system will shortly be sent account activation details. Simply follow the instructions in the letter and you’re off and running!

Once the trial period is over, we will advise parents and carers of pupils throughout East Renfrewshire when the new system will be available for their child’s school in the new 2016/17 term.

For more information on ParentPay please visit:

Rouken Glen Reminiscence event

Rouken Glen Park is holding a reminiscence session to add local people’s memories to a new history booklet about the park called “Rouken Glen Park Rediscovered” being compiled by volunteers.

We are looking for people with memories and old photographs of the park to come along and talk about them.

  • Do you have a good story about Rouken Glen Park?
  • Did you visit Rouken Glen Park on a school or Sunday outing?
  • Do you remember events in the park during the 1950s -1990s?
  • Do you remember The Glen motorboat or the Rouken Rally?
  • Come and discuss your memories.
  • Individuals will be filmed as part of video about the park and  their words will contribute to a history booklet about the park.
  • Group transport available.
  • A buffet lunch will be provided.
  • Booking required

The event will take place in the Pavilion Visitor Centre, Rouken Glen Park, Rouken Glen Road, Giffnock G46 7UG on Friday 18 March at 11 am – 2 pm. For more information click on the link below.

Rouken Glen Reminiscence Event

Giffnock Primary School Book Fair 8th to 17th March 2016

Dear Parent/Carer

Our Annual Book Fair will be taking place here in the school on the above dates. The Book Fair is always lots of fun for the children, parents and teachers. It also provides another opportunity to encourage children to use and enjoy books, both fiction and non-fiction.

Children have been given a leaflet today – for further information please click on the link below.

Book Fair Letter March 2016

World Book Day 2016

Giffnock Primary had fun yesterday celebrating World Book Day. Lots of people came dressed as their favourite characters from books. P7 children read a story in Scots to all the classes. We also had a theatre workshop which everyone enjoyed.

Here are some pictures from the day.

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World Book Day Thursday 3 March

World Book Day LogoWorld Book Day is celebrated across the UK on Thursday 3rd March 2016. It celebrates the joy and value of books and reading, especially for children. We have asked the older children to share their love for the written word across the school. In keeping with the school’s Scottish theme for the day, groups of P7 children will read Scots language stories to each class.

A full description of all the books is contained in the document below:

World Book Day 2016

Sport Relief March 2016

Sports reliefDear Parent/Carer,

Your child will be participating in our Daily Mile Sport Relief event on Friday 18th March 2016.

Each class will be running/walking a mile that day in the school playground. Should the weather be inclement the event will take place indoors. Pupils can wear trainers on the day and can ‘jazz up’ their trainers for the event.

Sport Relief wrist bands will be on sale for your child to buy the week beginning Monday 14th March 2016. The wristbands cost £1 with all proceeds going to Sport Relief.

Nursery (am) and Primary 7a – 9:15am

Primary 1 (Both classes) – 9:15am

Primary 2 (Both classes) – 11am

Primary 3 (Both classes) – 11:20am

Primary 4 (Both classes) – 11:40am

Primary 5 (Both classes) – 12pm

Primary 6 (Both classes) – 1:30pm

Nursery (pm) and Primary 7b – 2pm

Yours Sincerely,

Fraser Thomson

Class Teacher

World Book Day

World Book Day 2016 has been kindly supported again by our Parent Council. We have organised storytelling workshops with a Scottish theme. The whole school will be involved in workshops on Friday 26th February in advance of World Book Day the following week on Thursday 3rd March 2016. World Book Day Logo

For World Book Day we are asking all children to come to school dressed as their favourite Scottish character from a book, poem or comic and to bring a piece of text about this character to read and share with their class. During the course of the day we will have various activities culminating in a whole school assembly for pupils to share their experiences.

World Book Day

Show Racism the Red Card Creative Competition

Show Racism the Red Card is celebrating the 12th year of its anti-racism/anti-sectarianism creative competition.

2015 was an exciting year at Show Racism the Red Card. In July the organisation launched a series of short films entitled ‘This Is My Home’ exploring the issues of immigration and racism from the point of view of Scotland’s migrant community. This is also the theme of the competition this year and it gives young people an opportunity to have their voices heard on a very current issue.

With the theme in mind, schools are being invited to develop a piece of creative work that gets across clear messages of anti-racism or anti-sectarianism and celebrates diversity in Scotland’s communities.

We are entering this competition as a whole school as part of our health and well being programme. If parents are interested in supporting their child with this then please view the materials online at the link below. We also have a Parental Inclusion and Equality working group so if you are interested in coming along please contact Kirsty Rawley, Depute Head, at the school.

You can view the short films here

http://www.theredcard.org/thisismyhome

 

Parent Interviews – online booking

Parent Interviews on Wednesday 16th or Thursday 17th March.

The school is trialling a new intuitive and easy to use online appointment booking system (please note that this does not include the nursery for the moment). This allows you to choose your own appointment times with teachers and you will receive an email confirming your appointments. We are confident this will be an improvement to the previous system and welcome any feedback.

Appointments can be made from Wednesday 24th February and the booking system will close on Sunday 13th at midnight. We expect that appointments will fill up quickly and advise you to access the system as early as possible, particularly if you have more than one child.

The links below provide access to the online booking system, a letter for parents and a guide to the booking system.

Booking website

Parent Online Appointment Letter

Online Appointment Guide