Good afternoon everyone,

This week I have the following links to share with you:

• August 2021 Teacher/ Class List (children will meet their new teacher on Tuesday of next week – document sent via email)
• August 2021 Room Plan (Children won’t be able to physically enter their new classroom this year but will be able to walk past it next week at some point.  We hope the Room Plan will also let you discuss the location with your child – document sent via email)
•  Useful Information for Parents for August Return: click to read
• PTA SWAY Newsletter Netherlee PTA 2020/21
• ERC Summer of Play Programme: Click to read

As there is already quite a lot of information contained within these links, I will leave my update here for this week.  There has been a great deal of exciting activities taking place this week in school and I hope that you can take a few moments to look on our Twitter Feed to enjoy these captured moments.

School will close early on the last day of term, Friday 25th June ahead of the summer holiday. Children in P1 and P2 should be collected at 12.45pm from their usual gates and children in P3-P7 should be collected at 1pm from their usual gates and collection points.

With regards to lunches on the last day of term, P1-3 will be offered a soup, or a cheese, tuna or chicken sandwich with some water. Any children eligible for free school meals in P4-7 will be offered the same should parents wish. Please contact us to let us know, if this is the case.

If you have ordered school photographs, your child will bring these home today. Please check your child’s bag. If your order was submitted late your photographs will follow from the photographer.

I will be back in touch again on Thursday of next week with a final update, including our last SWAY Newsletter for this session which is a round up and celebration of lots of the achievements, including some acts of kindness, that have taken place in Netherlee this year.

I hope you enjoy the weekend and are very much looking forward to an exciting evening of sport tonight!

Mrs Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher

Hi everyone

We have lots of news to share as we near the end of this school year.

Tie Ceremony
We invite you to watch our Nursery Tie Ceremony from Wednesday 23rd June at 10am. All nursery parents and carers will have access to watch as our children, who are going off to school in August, perform some songs and are presented with their school ties. The ‘Tie Ceremony’ video will be available to watch securely on Google Classroom until 13th August.
Those leaving to start P1 will be able to wear their school tie and ‘Class of 2021’ t-shirt home on Wednesday 23rd June. For those who don’t attend on Wednesday, they will be presented with their tie and t-shirt according to their attendance pattern throughout the week. We realise that, while it’s really lovely to see confident children ready to take the next step in their education, this can be an emotional time for parents as you see your child reach another milestone.

Staffing News
We are sorry to say goodbye to Shona Ramsay, one of our Child Development Officers as she makes an exciting move to Cross Arthurlie Nursery Class. Shona is really looking forward to this move and is looking forward to her new venture. Shona has worked in Netherlee Nursery Class for 20 years and has been a really valued member of our team. She has worked tirelessly to promote eco initiatives, cleaned many a skint knee as our First Aider and delivered lots of innovative learning opportunities. We all wish Shona every success in her new post and in her future career.
We will also be saying ‘au revoir’ to Lauren Weldon who will be returning to the school to take a class next session. Lauren has shown, through her enthusiasm, that she has loved the opportunity to work with the children, families and staff in the nursery. As Lauren goes, we will welcome Lewis Strang-Roy as our new nursery teacher. Lewis has a wealth of experience with his own young family and as teacher in the school and we are really looking forward to him joining our team from August 2021. Our Modern Apprentice Holly Neely will be leaving to move to Cartmill Family Centre for her last placement. We all wish her every success as she embarks on her career as a Child Development Officer from August 2021. Good luck Holly, you have been a fantastic asset to our team in Netherlee.

August 2021
We are so lucky that all nursery staff have a staff buddy, which means that your child has two keyworkers and that our staff work closely as one team to support all of the children. We can share that those returning in August will remain in their same coloured group, have one of their familiar key workers and lots of familiar faces. Next session, the Orange, Pink and Yellow groups will move to the Sapling Building. We are currently piecing together this complicated jigsaw and will be in contact next week to let you know further information regarding starting back in August.

Congratulations!
A huge thank you to one of our parents, Gayle Owens, for entering a competition to win a ‘You Can’t Take an Elephant on Holiday’ book and activity packs. We’re delighted to share that Gayle won a great prize of a copy of the book and 30 postcards. You can download a free, fun digital activity pack by clicking on this link: http://bit.ly/ElephantOnHolidayActivityPack Thank you Gayle!

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Angela Kerr (PT)

Hello again everyone,

PUPIL REPORTS AND PARENT MEETINGS
I hope you found your child’s parent teacher discussion helpful and this, combined with your child’s report, have provided you with useful and reassuring information around how your child is getting on in school.  From our end, the video system seems to have worked very well indeed and been a positive tool for conducting our parent meetings at this time.  As always, I would be very interested if you have any feedback that you would like to share with me, please do just get in touch.

TRANSITIONS
NURSERY to SCHOOL– We have thoroughly enjoyed welcoming the new children from nursery who will join us in school in P1 in August.  They have been truly amazing and came into school ready to meet their new teacher and friends.  They had a lovely time and it was heart-warming to see their happy, settled, smiling faces as they briefly visited their classroom, played outdoors and even had a garden picnic too!
P7 to S1– Our P7 pupils have also had two full day visits (Thursday and Friday) to Williamwood HS this week and we can’t wait to hear all about how they got on when they return to Netherlee on Monday.  I am sure they will have lots of exciting news to share with us and they will also have a great week ahead as they take part in a carefully planned “Activity Week” which my staff have organised for them, as an alternative to their week long residential trip which unfortunately couldn’t take place this year.
STAGE to STAGE– I am currently in the process of carefully matching teachers to classes for next session and I intend to share this information with all parents next Friday (18th) if I can.  I am also very pleased that, this year, we can also resume the valuable transition activity of pupils having the opportunity to meet their new teacher for August, in person, on Tuesday 22nd June.

ERC BIKE MARKING EVENT
This Saturday there will be a FREE bike marking event at Rouken Glen Park. This will be an opportunity for anyone (children or adults) to take their bike along to be marked and registered. Registering your bike helps police and retailers identify and verify the legitimate owner of bikes that have been stolen or are being resold.  Rouken Glen Park @ The Pavilion   Saturday 12th June 2021, 1030-1600.

• HOUSE CAPTAINS AND PTA SPECIAL DAY (FRIDAY 18TH JUNE)
  
• PARENT COUNCIL NOTICE (ELECTION of OFFICE BEARERS and MEMBERS)
• P1 H&W PANTS LETTER
• P2 H&W PANTS LETTER
• P7 ACTIVITY LETTER 

Enjoy the weekend everyone.

Mrs Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher

Hi everyone,

Tie Ceremony
We’ve had a great week at nursery as we’ve worked together to make our Tie Ceremony videos. Children have been amazing while singing and we’re sure these videos will bring a smile to your face and fill you with pride. Videos from each of our zones will be available for viewing on Wednesday 23^rd June.

Time Capsule
Netherlee House Captains have shared information about creating a Time Capsule for each year group in the school and nursery. Please read the attached information to find out how your child can help us include items for our nursery time capsule.

P1 Visits
This week our children leaving to attend school have been visiting P1. These visits have given the children time to visit their class, meet their teacher and get to know some new friends. We have been so proud of how our wee Netherlee children have embraced meeting and chatting with children from a variety of different nurseries.

Google Classroom
Please remember to have a look at your child’s Google Classroom as this is where you’ll find our most recent planning. If you require the login details, please just ask.

Beach Party Week
We will have lots of fun water related activities, dancing and games as well as afternoon snack of ice cream (dairy & non-dairy) and juice. Children are invited to dress for Summer during this week, if they would like to, and let’s all hope the weather is kind to us.

ERC FREE Bike Marking Event
This Saturday there will be a FREE bike marking event at Rouken Glen Park. This will be an opportunity for anyone (children or adults) to take your bike along to be marked and registered. Registering your bike helps police and retailers identify and verify the legitimate owner of bikes that have been stolen or are being resold. Rouken Glen Park @ The Pavillion Saturday 12th June 2021, 1030-1600

Parent Council AGM and Meeting
Please find attached the agenda for the PC AGM and next meeting on 16^th June at 7pm.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Angela Kerr (PT)

Good afternoon everyone,

Nursery Tie Ceremony
During week beginning 7th June we will be making recordings for our ‘Nursery Tie Ceremony’ and although we can’t invite parents or carers to join us in person, this will be shared on Google Classroom on Wednesday 23rd of June for you to enjoy at home.

The children will sing some songs, be presented with their ties for starting primary school and proudly wear their individually designed ‘Class of 2021’ t-shirt.

We are sure that you will really enjoy taking time to watch this together as a family.

P1 School Visits
Some children will be excitedly visiting their new school over the next few weeks. We ask that you collect your child prior to their visit or go straight to their school with them and drop them back at nursery afterwards. We are very flexible with hours of attendance during times like this and want you and your child to have a happy, smooth visit.

ERC Self Evaluation
As part of East Renfrewshire Council Education Department’s ongoing process of self-evaluation, they would like to seek your views on your experience of the school/ nursery.  As Covid has unfortunately placed many restrictions on what could and couldn’t be done over the past year, ERC would ask that you consider your responses over the last two or three sessions if possible.  We would therefore be very grateful if you could please complete this survey by Friday 11^th June 2021. You can access it here.  https://bit.ly/3bKWfKP

Please find the following information as attachments above:

• Parental Employment Support Fund.
• ERC Holiday Dates
• Parent Council Meeting Agenda | AGM Meeting Minutes
• Administration of Medicine

Many thanks

Yvonne Donaldson & Angela Kerr

Hello everyone,

Please find the following attachments this week:

• Parent Council AGM and Meeting Agendas
• Scottish Government and ERC’s Parental Employment Fund
• School Holiday Dates for 2021/22
• Important Information regarding Administration of Medicine in School

ERC LIBRARIES
I am delighted that, as we continue to move forwards in our return to a more normal life, East Renfrewshire libraries are now open and are welcome customers back for book browsing at 7 libraries- Barrhead, Clarkston, Giffnock, Mearns, Eaglesham, Neilston and Thornliebank. Please check each library page for operating hours and contact details. In line with this reopening, the children’s SUMMER READING CHALLENGE “Wild World Heroes” will begin on Monday 21st June and end on Monday 30th August. https://www.ercultureandleisure.org/YourLocalLibrary.html Twitter: www.twitter.com/ERCL4

SCHOOL UNIFORM
Please continue to drop into either the front playground (near the Pavilion) or Clarkston Road playground, just after 9am each Monday morning, to browse through our recycled uniform items. This continues to be well used by many families and we would encourage you to make use of this initiative whenever it would be useful to you.  We will continue to run this next session from August too.

ERC SELF EVALUATION
As part of East Renfrewshire Council Education Department’s ongoing process of self-evaluation, they would like to seek your views on your experience of the school/ nursery.  As Covid has unfortunately placed many restrictions on what could and couldn’t be done over the past year, ERC would ask that you consider your responses over the last two or three sessions if possible.  We would therefore be very grateful if you could please complete this survey by Friday 11^th June 2021. You can access it here.  https://bit.ly/3bKWfKP

USEFUL DATES NEXT SESSION
Many of you will remember that, in normal school years, I compile a list of “useful dates for your diary” for all parents/ carers which details key dates of events and activities within the school eg Sports Days, Report Cards coming home etc.  I am currently negotiating the school calendar for next session and I am very hopeful, fingers and toes crossed, that we will be able to return to a more normal year in school which will hopefully include being able to once again welcome parents into the building.  Therefore, all being well, I look forward to being able to share this “Useful Dates” list with you, near the start of the new school session, so that you can have an overview of everything that will be happening and when.

PARENT INFORMATION SESSIONS
In line with the above, also at the start of the new session, I will ask for suggestions from you in relation to the kinds of information that you would like us to include in any Information Sessions for you.  This could be about very many  topics, for example, how progression is made by pupils through the various Curriculum for Excellence Levels (Early- Fourth) or how children learn through play in the Early Years. Please do look out for this request from me early in the new session and please do have a think about the kinds of information we could share and would be useful and of interest to you.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with myself or any member of staff at any time- remember no question or query is ever unimportant, or too small for us to listen to and help you or your child with.

I hope you and your family enjoy the beautiful sunshine and spending time together over the weekend.

Mrs Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher