Dear Parent / Carer

The Christmas cards and gift tags have finally arrived and they will be sent home in the school bags. Unfortunately if you ordered wrapping paper this is yet to arrive!

Until we receive ANY form of correspondence from APFS we don’t know what the cost of the cards will be. If you would rather not be left with this uncertainty, or no longer require the cards/gift tags given how late they have arrived, please return them in your child’s school bag and we will refund you the full amount as per our previous correspondence.

Thank you.

Merry Christmas from Giffnock Primary Parent Council

Nursery – P7

As part of our final week before the holidays, our choir will be singing a few seasonal songs in the playground at the end of the day, from around 2.45pm, on both Monday 19^th and Tuesday 20^th December.

As you are aware, our church service at Orchardhill Parish Church will begin at 1.30pm on Wednesday 21^st December.  This necessitates an earlier lunch in school and therefore if your child normally has a home lunch could you please make arrangements to collect them at 12.15 and return them to school by 1.00pm, alternatively perhaps they could take a school lunch that day.

All pupils will return to school after the church service to be dismissed at 2.30pm that day.

Dear Parent/Carer,

As per our correspondence of 14th Dec, we have managed to cancel the payment to APFS.  Should the cards still arrive, we will give you the option of keeping them but we feel this is unlikely at this stage and we cannot rely on the limited communication coming out from the company.

If you have lost money due to APFS not returning your Christmas Card order, please email giffnockpc@hotmail.co.uk with details of:

• your eldest child’s name and class
• the amount you have paid
• the name you wish the cheque to be made out to

We will collate all the responses and issue cheques after the next Parent Council meeting on 9th January.

Kind regards

Giffnock Primary Parent Council

We are pleased to announce that Mr Lawson has been confirmed as Head Teacher of Giffnock Primary School.

Please see attached letter.

Head Teacher Parent Letter Dec 2016

Primary 1 – Primary 7

You have been advised that your child will be having a “class party” in school before the end of term and we would confirm that pupils can come to school dressed in party clothes on the appropriate days.

Primary 7 pupils will also be going out of school for a Christmas lunch and to a Ceilidh at Woodfarm High School and they can come to school dressed in Christmas finery on those days.

Over the past fortnight P5A and P5B have been running a Fair Trade stall in the school. The stall has sold a variety of items which all support small farmers and producers through the Fair Trade scheme.

The children have ordered stock and run the stall, learning to keep an accurate record of items sold. Everyone had a great time and the stall proved very popular with other children. Thanks to everybody for their generous support!

Our final cash total was £1550.88 which includes a profit of £276.78 after we pay the cost of the goods. This money will be donated to charity.

We have attached the menu for the Christmas Lunch for pupils for Wednesday 7th December. If your child would like a hot meal that day, the kitchen staff have requested that pupils “pre-order” their selection and therefore your child should today bring home a “pre-order” slip which should be returned to their class teacher by Monday 5th December. Please do not respond to this email with lunch choices as you must use the slip which has been sent home with your child.

The menu can be read in the attached file:

Christmas Menu 2016

Our recent Dress Bright Day raised an amazing £223.90 for our road safety charity BRAKE.

Thanks to everyone who took part and donated so generously.

You can find out more about BRAKE here:

http://www.brake.org.uk/

From 5^th of December 2016, a person smoking in a car which is carrying passengers under 18 years of age will be breaking the law. Offenders could face a £100 fixed penalty fine.

The Smoking Prohibition (Children in Motor Vehicles) (Scotland) Act 2016, creates a new criminal offence, committed by any adult (aged 18 or over), where that adult smokes in a private motor vehicle in the presence of a child (under 18years of age), while that vehicle is in a public place. The aim of the legislation is to protect children and young people from the harmful effects of exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS) in a confined space.

Exposure to second-hand smoke in cars involves higher concentrations of health-threatening chemicals than in larger, open areas. Even if the windows are opened or air conditioning is used, harmful particles can remain in the atmosphere long after the visible smoke has disappeared. The restriction of a vehicle also means individuals are unable to move away from the smoke.

We all have an obligation to protect children and young people from the risks to their life and health, caused by the exposure to second hand smoke and ensure that every child in Scotland has the best start in life. Growing up in a smoke-free environment is an important part of that.

The Scottish Government hope that the introduction of this legislation will help their drive to cut the number of children exposed to second-hand smoke to 6 per cent by 2020. This is a momentous step in pulling Scotland on the path to becoming a tobacco-free generation.

For more information, visit the Healthier Scotland website.

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.