Hello everyone,
What a lovely first week back we’ve all had, the warm sunny weather has certainly taken us all a bit by surprise and we have loved being able to get outdoors a great deal throughout the week. The children have once again settled very quickly after the holiday and all children and staff are working really hard on all aspects of learning whilst also, and of equal importance, having lots of fun being back together too. It has been really interesting to hear lots of discussions amongst the teachers about their plans for our Outdoor Welly Week next week- let’s hope this beautiful weather continues, the forecast looks a little mixed at the moment however this won’t stop my hardy staff and pupils from learning outdoors! 🙂 Across the week, from Monday 26th April until Friday 30th April, children should wear a warm jacket and bring “wellies”, trainers or other outdoor shoes (in a bag) to wear during outdoor learning please. To conclude our ‘Welly Week’ on Friday 30th April, children are welcome to wear their own choice of outdoor clothing and each class will work as a team to plant seeds in a class welly.
This is such a lovely, fun term in school however it is also an extremely busy one too and all teachers are now using a range of information, including their initial and ongoing observations and assessments of their children’s learning and wellbeing, to include in their End of Session Pupil Reports that you will receive home towards the end of May. I am also very pleased that, although we cannot conduct our Parent/ Teacher Meetings at the start of June face to face, we do plan on using video technology for these meetings this time around. This will mean that you and your child’s teacher will at least be able to see each other’s face which, I am sure you will agree, does make conversations and discussions just a little more personal. More information will come home about these meetings soon however I thought it would be useful to let you know the dates just now. These video discussions will take place on Tuesday 8th and Thursday 10th June, between 4pm and 7pm, and you will be able to use the online booking system to book a suitable, convenient time slot over the course of these two days.
Next Friday, you will receive more information in relation to our new Uniform Recycling System, this will be an ongoing, relaxed and regular opportunity for you to simply pop up to the playground to have a look at the uniform recycling rails and for you to take away any items that are suitable for your child. More information will be in next week’s update however, in the meantime, we would be very grateful if you could hold onto any uniform items that are in good condition but no longer fit your child as we will begin collecting these items for recycling soon. On the topic of uniform, and as we begin to think about the new session in August, please see the attached flyer from the PTA which includes information on how you can purchase new uniform items. The PTA have asked me to stress that this will be the last opportunity to buy badged hoodies, gym bags or ties from them before August.
As we now reintroduce homework for your child, please do get in touch with us if your child requires any help accessing their homework via Google Classrooms. Please be reassured that we all realise that we are still very much living in Covid times and as such, although school has more or less returned to normal, many of our lives at home are still busy and many people are still juggling working from home with all the other aspects of home and family life. Therefore, please don’t let your child’s homework add any pressure to your family at this time. Please encourage your child to simply do what they can each week. It continues to be really important that we all continue to look after our own, and our children’s, mental health. Having time to get outside to play or have a walk is always so very important and if, on some days, this is the right thing for your family to do and it means that your child hasn’t been able to complete all of their homework that week then that’s fine- we will, of course understand. As always, if you have any questions about your child’s homework then please just get in touch using the usual schoolmail email address and we will be happy to help.
Please remember to get in touch if you would like me to include information about a particular subject, event or topic that you would like more information about- I would be happy to include these items in my weekly update to help support parents to feel as informed and knowledgeable about life in Netherlee as possible.
P2 parents, please see information relating to a P2 Football After School Club,
P7 parents, please see information relating to our P7 Leavers events.
The next Netherlee Parent Council meeting will take place on Wednesday 12th May at 7pm. Please read the latest meeting minutes, from the meeting on 24th February.
I hope you enjoy the sunshine (fingers crossed) over the weekend and please continue to stay safe and well.
Mrs Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher
