Hello again everyone

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday. It has been a busy first week back- and we have loved seeing all the children and staff again!

This week, we have also been delighted to welcome our new Acting Principal Teacher to Netherlee, Miss Jennifer McCann.  Jennifer will mostly be working with Nursery and Primary 1 and we are certain that she will be a real asset to the Netherlee Community. Jennifer is looking forward to getting to know all of our wonderful Netherlee children and families in this exciting (and busy!) final term.

Nursery Play and Stay
Our Nursery Play and Stay sessions start week beginning 9^th May. Sign-up sheets will be made available from next week at the nursery doors for you to choose a suitable date/time to come along to join your child having fun playing with all the wonderful experiences we enjoy in Netherlee!

Please note: As per current guidance, please be reminded that face masks should be worn when inside Nursery (unless exempt).

Forest Adventures
We are looking to restart Forest Adventures for our pre-school children. Over the coming weeks, groups of children will be given the chance to explore our great outdoors within Linn Park. If your child is going to school in August, it would be great if you could please provide a pair of wellies (or similar), kept in your child’s bag each day.  We will provide other outdoor clothing if it is needed.

Local Resident Safety Concerns
I have been asked to send another reminder regarding safety around our school and nursery. Can I please therefore ask all parents and carers to always keep the safety of everyone, children and adults alike, our top priority at all times- thank you.

“Local residents of the nearby sheltered housing complex have raised concerns about the conduct of parents whilst picking their children up from Netherlee Primary and Nursery. There is double parking, parking on dropped kerbs and the situation was described as dangerous suggesting that a child or elderly resident was going to be injured or worse. When challenged, some parents do not take to this very well or kindly.”

Sun Safety
As we approach the summer months, we ask that you provide your child with sun cream (in-date) and a sun hat (e.g. cap or similar) in bags please. These items should be labelled with your child’s name please. On particularly hot days, it would be helpful if you could apply sun cream to children before entering the nursery if possible. We will keep your child’s sun cream in nursery for re-application and safekeeping.

Donations and Eco Friendly Recycling
As you know, we are always on the lookout for opportunities to make use of any old items that may otherwise be thrown away.  We would therefore kindly ask for any of the following items if you have them and are just about to dispose of them. Thank you.

• Newspapers
• Plant pots
• Junk Modelling materials (e.g. cardboard, cereal boxes). In particular, just now we are looking for toilet roll tubes to make bio-degradable plant pots.

Parent Council Meeting
The next Netherlee Primary School and Nursery Class Parent Council meeting is taking place on Zoom at 7pm on Wednesday 27th April.  All parents and carers are very welcome.  For login details please contact the parent council at netherleeparentcouncil@gmail.com.  Items to be discussed will include Head Teacher’s Report with discussion, Road Safety and annual School and Nursery Improvement Plan.” You can view the agenda here.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT), Lynn Sweeney, DHT, Jennifer McCann (PT)

Hello again everyone

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  It has been a busy first week back- and it has been lovely to see all the children and staff again, well rested after a much needed holiday!

This week, we have been delighted to welcome our new Acting Principal Teacher to Netherlee, Miss Jennifer McCann.  Jennifer will mostly be working with Nursery and Primary 1 and we are certain that she will be a real asset to the Netherlee Community. Jennifer is looking forward to getting to know all of our wonderful Netherlee children and families in this exciting and busy final term.  For Primary 1 parents, your point of contact until the end of term can either be Mrs Sweeney or Miss McCann.  Lynn and Jennifer are working very closely together throughout this term and either will be able to help you with anything.

Local Resident Safety Concerns
Unfortunately, I have been asked to send another reminder regarding safety around our school and nursery (please see below). I therefore must ask that all parents and carers always keep the safety of everyone, children and adults alike, our top priority at all times- thank you.

“Local residents of the nearby sheltered housing complex have raised concerns about the conduct of parents whilst picking their children up from Netherlee Primary and Nursery. There is double parking, parking on dropped kerbs and the situation was described as dangerous suggesting that a child or elderly resident was going to be injured or worse. When challenged, some parents do not take to this very well or kindly.”

Parent Council Meeting
The next Netherlee Primary School and Nursery Class Parent Council Meeting is taking place on Zoom at 7pm on Wednesday 27th April.  All parents and carers are very welcome.  For login details please contact the parent council at netherleeparentcouncil@gmail.com. Items to be discussed will include Head Teacher’s Report with discussion, Road Safety and annual School and Nursery Improvement Plan.” You can view the agenda here.

PTA Communication and Silent Disco
Please click to read the letter from the PTA with a very important update; and here for information regarding a Silent Disco for the children.

Uniform Update
You may remember that, just before the holiday, I had requested some parents to come forwards to meet with myself for an informal discussion in relation to school uniform.  I was delighted that I had a great response to this request and we met together for about an hour in school.   All who attended agreed that we had a really useful, positive and constructive discussion and I am very grateful to the approximately 20 parents who gave up their time to join myself, Mrs Roberts and Mrs Sweeney.

As described in my previous email to you, I’ll be back in touch with all parents in the next couple of weeks to ask for your thoughts on school uniform ahead of the new session in August.  I have already spoken to staff about this as well and again, in the next couple of weeks, the leadership team will be talking to focus groups of pupils from across the school to get their views too.  I do want to stress however that neither myself nor the staff in school feel that the current uniform in Netherlee needs to change very much at all and anything that is suggested or tweaked in any way would be a phased out approach with any existing uniform items being able to be worn until your children had outgrown or finished with them.  I am very much looking forward to receiving your thoughts on this in the coming weeks.

Please also continue to make use of our recycling rails each week where you can pop along to pick up many uniform items that are in very good condition.  Our rails are out every Friday at the Clarkston Road Gate at the following times P1-3 8.50am – 9am (smaller items) and 4-7 3pm – 3.10pm (middle and larger sizes)

We also have our uniform drop off BIG RED TUB at the front door near the main office. This is where you can help us to continue to be an environmentally conscious school by donating uniform items that your child is finished with and that are in good condition.  These can then become part of our uniform recycling rails.  The red tub is outside the front door, just at the top of the stairs and is there each day for your convenience.

P3-P7 Tuck
With restrictions easing, we are once again able to give our Primary 3-7 pupils the opportunity to purchase from the Catering Team’s Tuck Shop at morning interval. For more information please read here.

P4 Football Club
Please click on the link regarding an upcoming Football Club.

P5 Titanic Cabins
Please find information on our P5 children having the opportunity to create a cabin in a shoe box.

P7 Choir
For our final term this session, we would like to invite any Primary 7 pupils, who have an interest in singing, to join our school choir once again. Choir rehearsals will take place every week, on Tuesday mornings, beginning on Tuesday 26th April, and will be led by Mr Watson. We hope that many of our P7 pupils will enjoy the opportunity to sing together again and to perform for our parents and carers at our ‘Celebration of International Music Day’ on Tuesday 21^st June. Pupils who are interested in joining our Primary 7 choir for this term and are happy to commit to weekly rehearsals, should let their teacher know by this Tuesday morning please.

P7 Show
We wanted to update you with regards to the school show as there has been a change to the time for the during the day performance on 30^th May. The show will now be at 10am – 11:15am instead of in the afternoon. The timing of the evening performance has not changed.  More details on this event are still to follow.

That’s all from me this week, I hope you have a lovely weekend- I think, and hope, that the sun is going to continue to shine for us.

Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher

Dear parent/carer,

Scottish Government Update
Please see an update letter from Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director.

Blue House Event
Please see the letter from the P7 Blue House Councillors.

PTA Thank You
Our PTA have created a lovely Sway showcasing achievements over the past 2 years. You can view this here.   Please also have a read over the lovely words from Fiona, PTA Co- Chair, ahead of the AGM here.

Stepping Stones Program
ERC schools have been asked by the National Autistic Society to share the below with parents.

The Stepping Stones project was created by the East Renfrewshire branch and has been commended in the UK Parliament by MP Kirsten Oswald. Stepping Stones aims to support parents/carers in the early stages of learning about autism, helping them to support their child/young person and learn about local East Renfrewshire services that may be of interest to them. Your child or young person does not need to have received a diagnosis to attend as we understand the diagnostic journey can be long. If your child has received a diagnosis then this project is best suited to those who have received the diagnosis within the last 2 years or those on the diagnostic pathway.

When and where?
The programme lasts 4 sessions and will be run once a week using Zoom. To find out more and to register please click here. https://forms.office.com/r/yR9q8wh8rf

Dates for Your Diary for Term 4
Look out for this coming home next Friday- we are just putting the final arrangements in place.

P1a and P1c
Please see the letter regarding P1a and P1c, who will be given the opportunity to enjoy a French Café.

P2 Movie Afternoon
The children have all been working hard this term and to recognise their efforts, we are going to have a movie afternoon with an Easter-themed film, rated U.  We would also like to give the children a small bowl of sweet popcorn to eat while they enjoy the film.  Please let the office know if there are any changes to the allergy information we hold for your child in school, or if you would prefer that they did not have the popcorn.

P2c Spring Walk
An email has been sent to P2c parents.

P3 Pants
As part of the Health and Wellbeing programme in Primary 3 this term, our children will be ‘Talking Pants.’ Please click on the following link to read more information about this programme.

P3b Post Office Visit
An email has been sent to P3b parent/carers.

P5 Instrumental Lessons- New session-2022-23
We are pleased to let you know that we are going to re-open the application form briefly, between Thursday 24^th March until Monday 28^th March, to allow those who missed the initial deadline to still apply. Information about how the service works and the instruments that are on offer can be accessed within the form, via a link to a Music Service Sway, which is at the top of the form. The final deadline for all applications for next session will be Monday 28^th March. https://forms.office.com/r/ZFHptaFFnN

P5 Easter ServiceP5 Parents have been emailed about the Easter Service

P5 Football Club

Please click on this link regarding an upcoming football club offer.

P5-P7 Cricket Club
Please click on this link regarding an upcoming cricket club offer.

P5d Post Office Visit
An email has been sent to P5d parent/carers.

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher

Hello again

Another beautiful, sunny week for our nursery children! They have been exploring our outdoor environments and looking for signs of new life. The spring bulbs are beginning to flower, the leaves on the trees are budding and we have even seen some bees starting to buzz around!

Nursery Photographs
We’re delighted to share with you that Jane Henderson, a local photographer, will be coming to Netherlee Nursery Class to take individual photographs of your children. These photographs will be taken outdoors, whenever possible, so we’re hoping the sun will continue to shine! In the case of inclement weather, we will arrange for the photographs to be taken indoors.

Jane will be here from Monday 28^th March and will work through until Friday 1^st April. She will be in both the Acorns and the Saplings buildings every morning that week.

We will do our very best to include all children in the photographs but this may not be possible if a child is not at nursery during Jane’s time with us.

Once all the photographs have been taken, proofs will be sent home and orders can then be placed if you would like to purchase the photographs. Details regarding the ordering and cost of individual photographs will be sent home in due course along with the timescales for orders.

If you do not wish your child to have an individual photograph taken, please let the school office know via the usual nursery email by Monday 28^th March.

Netherlee PTA Newsletter
Our PTA have created a lovely Sway showcasing achievements over the past 2 years. You can view this here.   Please also have a read over the lovely words from Fiona, PTA Co- Chair, ahead of the AGM here.

Stepping Stones Program
ERC schools have been asked by the National Autistic Society to share the below with parents.

The Stepping Stones project was created by the East Renfrewshire branch and has been commended in the UK Parliament by MP Kirsten Oswald. Stepping Stones aims to support parents/carers in the early stages of learning about autism, helping them to support their child/young person and learn about local East Renfrewshire services that may be of interest to them. Your child or young person does not need to have received a diagnosis to attend as we understand the diagnostic journey can be long. If your child has received a diagnosis then this project is best suited to those who have received the diagnosis within the last 2 years or those on the diagnostic pathway.

When and where?
The programme lasts 4 sessions and will be run once a week using Zoom. To find out more and to register please click here. https://forms.office.com/r/yR9q8wh8rf

Upcoming Holiday
We would like to remind everyone that nursery closes for the spring holiday next week, with our last day being Friday 1^st April.  We are of course open until 6pm as normal however, should you wish to collect your child any earlier whilst picking up siblings from school,  we ask that you pick up either before 2.15pm or after the school playgrounds are clear from around 2.40pm.  Thank you for your help and understanding with this.

We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Mrs Lynn Sweeney (DHT)
Netherlee Primary School

Hello everyone

We’ve had another busy week in Netherlee Nursery!  The children have really enjoyed undertaking different learning experiences for British Science Week. They have been involved in lots of exciting experiments such as: listening to sound vibrations using spoons and string, making rainbow coloured unicorn noodles using cabbage, some lemons and bicarbonate of soda and creating mini volcanoes using play dough! Some children also made sweetcorn soup, which was “yummy” and some experimented with cous cous, making it “mushy” by adding water and watching it grow in size! Lots of engaging learning taking place! Please check out our school and nursery Twitter feed at @sand_nc to see some of this learning in action!  It’s also been really lovely to welcome the lighter evenings and see some of our children, who are in nursery after 3pm, continuing to enjoy playing outdoors.

Lost Property
If your child is in the Acorns building you will see that we have some lost property on display outside the entrance. Please have a look to see if anything belongs to your child. We will donate all uncollected items to charity at the end of next week.  We also have some preloved nursery polo shirts and sweatshirts in our Saplings building which are looking for a new home! We will put these outside the Saplings building every morning next week, so please feel free to take anything that would be suitable for your child. There will be a tub available should you be happy to make a very small donation amount of your choice- thank you.

Help Please
A gentle reminder to please collect your child on time at the end of their nursery session at 3pm or 6pm. Thank you, as always for your support with this.

School Uniform (only for parents who will have a P1 child starting Netherlee Primary in August)
East Renfrewshire Council’s (ERC) Dressing for Excellence Guidance: School Uniform

Schools across ERC follow the Education Department’s guidance on school uniform.  As it has been a number of years since the guidance was introduced, it has now been updated.  The timing of this is helpful as we continue to move on from Covid restrictions and look ahead to next session.

Below are a couple of extracts from the guidance given to Head Teachers:

School dress codes can play an important role in promoting equality, creating a positive ethos and nurturing a sense of belonging. In this respect uniform is another way in which East Renfrewshire establishments work to achieve excellence and equity for all learners. Uniform is a valuable tool in creating a school climate which advances our vision of Everyone Attaining, Everyone Achieving, through Excellent Experiences.

 Research undertaken by the Cost of the School Day Project, as well as consultation with children, young people and parents in East Renfrewshire, has found that families value school uniform as the most affordable option for school clothing, and that uniform is recognised by children, young people and parents as an effective way of minimising visible differences in pupils’ financial circumstances. Where uniform policies are planned and implemented carefully and sensitively, such policies can reduce the risk of stigma arising from clothing and help create an environment which promotes equality.

 In Netherlee, almost all of our pupils wear the school uniform items already, with an understanding that over the last couple of years there has been, quite rightly, a need to relax this somewhat due to Covid mitigations eg increased ventilation in classrooms.   However, I feel it is the right approach to still consider and revisit our uniform at this time in light of the new guidance given to head teachers. I feel it is important to stress at this point, that I personally don’t feel that we need many, if any, changes to the existing Netherlee uniform, including the wearing of our lovely Netherlee hoody which, due to Covid ventilation measures, has become a popular indoor uniform item, very much loved by us all.  However, I am still very keen to reach out to parents and want to hear from, and involve, you in this.  As a start, I would be very grateful if anyone had an hour to spare next Friday (25^th March) at 9.15am to come into school to have an informal chat with me about the latest ERC Guidance.  This would be a very informal discussion with the sole purpose and intention being for me to be able to talk to some parents and to hear your thoughts.  (As an aside I am so pleased we can now even think about having a small, in person, meeting again.)

In order to allow for social distancing, I am ideally looking for about 20 parents (max) if possible, roughly 2 from each stage (P1-6) of the school as well as 2 nursery parents.  I have also asked the Parent Council for a couple of members too.   Once the office staff have received sufficient responses (20) that represent each stage of the school, the form will then close so please do click on the link below as soon as possible if you are keen and able to come along at this time.  The office staff will be in touch thereafter to confirm details with those who should attend. Please complete the form here: https://forms.office.com/r/0q5Cf1cmYX i

Following this informal group discussion, I will of course share key points from this with all parents and will invite any suggestions or feedback from everyone at that time.

I am very keen to move forward with this just now so that the PTA can go ahead with the usual uniform sale next term and in plenty time for the new session in August.

Wishing you all a really lovely (and hopefully sunny!) weekend when it comes.

Netherlee Primary School

Hello everyone,

Pupil Work Samples

Today your child will have brought home some work samples for you to have a look at and discuss together.  We hope you will find this both useful and enjoyable ahead of receiving your child’s End of Session Report and your Parent/ Teacher Video Call, both in May. In order for your child to be able to use their jotters etc in class on Monday, teachers would be very grateful if you could please ensure that everything is popped back into your child’s school bag over the weekend and returned to school on Monday- thank you.

East Renfrewshire Council’s (ERC) Dressing for Excellence Guidance: School Uniform

Schools across ERC follow the Education Department’s guidance on school uniform.  As it has been a number of years since the guidance was introduced, it has now been updated.  The timing of this is helpful as we continue to move on from Covid restrictions and look ahead to next session.

Below are a couple of extracts from the guidance given to Head Teachers:

School dress codes can play an important role in promoting equality, creating a positive ethos and nurturing a sense of belonging. In this respect uniform is another way in which East Renfrewshire establishments work to achieve excellence and equity for all learners. Uniform is a valuable tool in creating a school climate which advances our vision of Everyone Attaining, Everyone Achieving, through Excellent Experiences.

 Research undertaken by the Cost of the School Day Project, as well as consultation with children, young people and parents in East Renfrewshire, has found that families value school uniform as the most affordable option for school clothing, and that uniform is recognised by children, young people and parents as an effective way of minimising visible differences in pupils’ financial circumstances. Where uniform policies are planned and implemented carefully and sensitively, such policies can reduce the risk of stigma arising from clothing and help create an environment which promotes equality.

 In Netherlee, almost all of our pupils wear the school uniform items already, with an understanding that over the last couple of years there has been, quite rightly, a need to relax this somewhat due to Covid mitigations eg increased ventilation in classrooms.   However, I feel it is the right approach to still consider and revisit our uniform at this time in light of the new guidance given to head teachers. I feel it is important to stress at this point, that I personally don’t feel that we need many, if any, changes to the existing Netherlee uniform, including the wearing of our lovely Netherlee hoody which, due to Covid ventilation measures, has become a popular indoor uniform item, very much loved by us all.  However, I am still very keen to reach out to parents and want to hear from, and involve, you in this.  As a start, I would be very grateful if anyone had an hour to spare next Friday (25^th March) at 9.15am to come into school to have an informal chat with me about the latest ERC Guidance.  This would be a very informal discussion with the sole purpose and intention being for me to be able to talk to some parents and to hear your thoughts.  (As an aside I am so pleased we can now even think about having a small, in person, meeting again.)

In order to allow for social distancing, I am ideally looking for about 20 parents (max) if possible, roughly 2 from each stage (P1-6) of the school as well as 2 nursery parents.  I have also asked the Parent Council for a couple of members too.   Once the office staff have received sufficient responses (20) that represent each stage of the school, the form will then close so please do click on the link below as soon as possible if you are keen and able to come along at this time.  The office staff will be in touch thereafter to confirm details with those who should attend. Please complete the form here: https://forms.office.com/r/0q5Cf1cmYX i

Following this informal group discussion, I will of course share key points from this with all parents and will invite any suggestions or feedback from everyone at that time.

I am very keen to move forward with this just now so that the PTA can go ahead with the usual uniform sale next term and in plenty time for the new session in August.

 Dates for Your Diary (Term 4)

You will be aware I’m sure that at last, almost all Covid restrictions will be removed after the upcoming two week holiday period.  This is such great news indeed and I am currently compiling a list of key dates and short events and opportunities for parents to be able to come into Netherlee throughout Term 4- this is an emotional but truly heart-warming moment and we can’t wait to open the Netherlee doors to welcome you.   My plan is to send this home to you next Friday, if I can, or most definitely the following Friday before we stop for the holiday.

Spring Holiday Camps
Please see information below from East Renfrewshire Council Culture and Leisure.

We are pleased to announce that our Spring Holiday Camps will run from Monday 4th – Thursday 14th April. We have Holiday Camps for children running on the two weeks over the Easter Holidays:
All Star Sports Camp at Eastwood High School
Mon 4th – Fri 8th April, 9am – 3pm each day
Mon 11th – Thu 14th April, 9am – 3pm each day

All Star Activity Camp at Barrhead High School
Mon 4th – Fri 8th April, 9am – 3pm each day
Mon 11th – Thu 14th April, 9am – 3pm each day

Play in a Week at Eastwood Park Theatre
Mon 4th – Fri 8th April, 10am – 3pm each day

Please use the following link to register to book on-line https://www.ercultureandleisure.org/sports-arts/holiday-camps/

P1a Tasting Session (only)
Miss Faulkner has been teaching the children all about their senses and would like to undertake a ‘tasting session’ with the class on Wednesday 23^rd March. For this lesson, the children would be tasting the following: white chocolate, fresh lemon, ready salted crisps and chocolate for baking.

We have taken into account all the allergy information we have on file but if there is any change to this then please just let the school office know. If you do not wish your child to receive any of the above, please contact your child’s class teacher (via the school office) by Tuesday 22^nd March.

Mrs Yvonne Donaldson

Dear parent/carer,

School Photographs
Please click on this link regarding class and individual photographs of your children.  The timetable for photographs can be found here.

House Councillors Event: Friday 18^th March

Our House Councillors have arranged a house event on Friday 18^th March. Please see more information about the fun run and food bank collection here.

Reduced Lunch Menu
A reduced lunch menu will be in place next week. Click here to see what is on the menu.

East Renfrewshire Culture & Leisure
We have been asked to send the below to parents on behalf of East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure.

We are delighted to announce that our 3^rd block of sports classes is due to restart Monday 21^st March until Sunday 26^th June and there is still plenty of time to join in. We have a range of sports classes available in athletics, badminton, basketball, football, gymnastics, hockey, netball and tennis. Use the following link to see the range of classes, register to book on-line or book if you have attended a class before https://www.ercultureandleisure.org/sports-arts/sports/kids-sport-classes/.  If the class you would like to join is fully booked, please add your name to the waiting list so that we know you would like to join. We are monitoring waiting lists daily and will add more classes to the programme where we can. All our sports classes run in blocks which must be booked and paid for in advance.

2b Science
This week, to complete our Science topic of The Senses, the children will be using their sense of taste to try some foods. We are going to have apple, potato and banana. Could you please let us know if there are any changes to the allergy information we hold about your child, or if you do not wish your child to take part.

P3 Instrument Music Lessons
If your child is interested in being considered for instrumental music lessons in the next school year please click on the link below and complete the e-form by 19 March.  https://forms.office.com/r/AaeYRnc5Hd

P4 Instrument Music Lessons
If your child is interested in being considered for instrumental music lessons at the Saturday Music Centre in the next school year please click on the link below and complete the e-form by 19 March.  https://forms.office.com/r/DDGY0bsBsD

P5 Instrument Music Lessons
If your child is interested in being considered for instrumental music lessons in the next school year please click on the link below and complete the e-form by 19 March. https://forms.office.com/r/ZFHptaFFnN

P6 Instrument Music Lessons
If your child is interested in being considered for instrumental music lessons at the Saturday Music Centre in the next school year please click on the link below and complete the e-form by 19 March.  https://forms.office.com/r/WEX8vH5cay

P6 and P7 Parent Consultation
We have been asked to send the below to parents on behalf of Williamwood.

The past two years have seen unprecedented changes to the ways in which we live, work and interact with one another. In light of this, we are revisiting our school values at Williamwood High School. A consultation is currently ongoing where we are asking pupils, staff and parents for values which we can adopt within the school.  We are asking parents of young people in P6 & P7 to be involved in the consultation as they will be part of the Williamwood Community in the near future. If you could please complete the attached Google Form to help with this ongoing consultation, it would be greatly appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend.

Netherlee Primary School

Dear parent/carer,

It’s been another busy week at nursery and all the children (and staff!) have enjoyed getting outside in the Spring sunshine! It’s so lovely seeing the children playing outdoors in their puddle suits, making mud pies, watering the spring bulbs, climbing the trees and role playing in our outdoor kitchen. Here’s hoping the nice weather will continue through next week!

Next week there will be a reduced menu, a copy of what is available can be found here.

As it’s British Science Week next week, the children from both buildings will be taking part in lots of exciting experiments, whilst learning about their favourite subjects and asking questions about the world around them.

Do you want to get involved at home? Please click on the helpful links below for lots of ‘sciency’ ideas!

This is the link to British Science Week:  https://www.britishscienceweek.org

There is a poster competition too if you are feeling creative! https://www.britishscienceweek.org/plan-your-activities/poster-competition

Here are some great ideas for some fun (and easy!) science activities at home https://www.weareteachers.com/easy-science-experiments..

A reminder please that children who have experienced sickness and / or diarrhoea should not attend nursery for at least 48 hours from when they were last unwell. Thank you for your support with this.

We hope you have enjoyed looking at your child’s Personal Care Plan this week. Please, if you haven’t already done so, could these be completed and sent back to nursery with your child so that we can continue to work on them…thank you!

We hope you all have a lovely weekend and we’re looking forward to welcoming your children back to Netherlee Nursery next week J

Mrs Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Mrs Lynn Sweeney (DHT)

Hello again everyone

Nursery News
The nursery has been in full swing this week and the children have enjoyed getting outdoors, in the fresh air and making the most of the sunshine. Spring is finally on its way and we will be making the most of our outside environments to explore the change of season. With that in mind, please could we ask that your child has a suitable change of clothes to wear, every day, as they often need to get changed out of wet, muddy or painted clothes! Thank you for your help with this.

Netherlee Nursery Contacts
As always, all of our nursery staff are on hand to chat with our parents and carers about any queries or comments you may have about your child’s nursery experience. Mrs Sweeney (Depute Head Teacher) and Mrs Greig (Senior Child Development Officer) are also a point of contact should you wish to discuss anything at all. Please feel free to get in touch via the school office on 0141 570 7260 or via nursery email to nurserymail@Netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk.

Parent Council Meeting Highlights
Please click on the following link which will take you to the Parent Council’s February Meeting Highlights.

Socks Please!
A wee appeal for any spare socks you may have at home. The children always enjoy splashing in puddles or playing with the taps and, with all those wet feet, we have very few spare socks! If you have any spare socks that we could use for changing children we’d really appreciate these. Thank you!

Recycling
Our children (and staff!) really enjoy creating 3D models using recycled materials and we are always on the lookout for more resources. We always talk with the children about looking after our planet, reducing waste and recycling. If you are able to hand in any more boxes, containers, buttons, bottle tops, clean milk cartons etc. we’d be delighted to use them. We would be extremely grateful if the children could also bring in any nets (fruit and vegetable bags would be ideal) as the children are planning on making their own fishing nets! If you ever come across anything else that you think we might find useful, please speak to staff at drop off or pick up or send us a quick email to nurserymail@netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk..

International School Meals Day
On Thursday 10th March, there will be a change to the menu for International schools meal day. The menu will be:
Quorn Chilli and Rice
Peach Melba and Ice-Cream

House Numbers – Acorns Building Only
The children in our Acorns building have been talking about house numbers and why there are numbers on houses. It would be really lovely if the children in the Acorns building would be able to bring in a photograph of the front of their house so that the staff can create a nursery village display! Many thanks.

Families – Saplings Building Only
The children in our Saplings building will be talking about their families. It would be lovely if the children could bring in a picture of any family member (including pets!), should they wish, to use in the small world area.

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Lynn Sweeney (DHT)

Dear parent/carer,

Holi
We will be discussing Holi during our Assemblies on Monday 14^th March. If you and your family will be celebrating Holi and you would like to share what you will be doing please email Mr Bryce to discuss this further.

Parent Council Meeting Highlights
Please click on the following link which will take you to the Parent Council’s February Meeting Highlights.

International School Meals Day
On Thursday 10th March, there will be a change to the menu for International schools meal day. The menu will be:
Lentil Soup
Chicken Tikka Masala and Rice
Chilli Quorn Dog and Wedges
Peach Melba and Ice-Cream

P1 Talking Pants
As part of the Health and Wellbeing programme in Primary 1 this term, our children will be ‘Talking Pants.’ Please click on the following link to read more information about this programme.

Primary 2 Stage Lead
As you will have read in last week’s Friday Bundle, Angela Kerr (PT) has moved to Cart Mill Family Centre. As a result, Lynn Sweeney (DHT) will now oversee the running of our nursery and Lorna Wharton (PT) will now be the stage lead for our Primary 2 pupils.  If you have any queries around your child’s Primary 2 school experience, then please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Wharton via the school office on 0141 570 7260 or via our email at SchoolMail@netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk.

P2 Talking Pants
As part of the Health and Wellbeing programme in Primary 2 this term, our children will be ‘Talking Pants.’ Please click on the following link to read more information about this programme.

P6 Bikeability
An information letter and map regarding Bikeability for our Primary 6 pupils was emailed to parents/carers.

P7 Netball Club
Please click on this link regarding an upcoming netball club.

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher

Dear parent/carer,

Staffing News
We’re absolutely delighted to announce that, following interview on Wednesday, Angela Kerr (PT) has been successful in securing an Acting Head Teacher post at Cartmill Family Centre. She will take up her new position from Monday 28^th February and we know that she will do a wonderful job in her new and exciting role! We will of course miss her very much but, as she isn’t far away and remains in the Williamwood Cluster, we will be able to continue to work closely together.  As this is an acting post, we will of course keep you informed of any future developments. All the very best, Angela!

Road Safety
Please could we remind all parents and carers how important it is to park responsibly during school drop off and pick up times. Recently, there have been incidences where cars have been parked illegally or dangerous, blocking roads and parked in bus stops. The Staff Car Park should also not be used for drop off or collection purposes. We would strongly encourage all families to ‘park and stride’, allowing adequate time to park your vehicle in a safe location, and walk your child / ren to and from school, thus reducing the volume of traffic and the potential for accidents to occur. Please remember that East Renfrewshire Council’s Community Wardens are contactable on ‘111’ should you witness any illegal or dangerous parking. Allowing extra time, in order to get everyone to and from school safely, is so important and, as always, we really appreciate your support with this.

World Book Day
Please click on this link regarding World Book Day on Thursday 3^rd March.

Pupil Parliament
Our House Councillors have created a Sway presentation which explains what our Pupil Parliament is and how it works. To see the Sway, please click on the link https://sway.office.com/IPO5CC0TvTIkb6Qn

Eco Elephants Enterprise
Please click on this link regarding our Eco Elephants enterprise to raise funds for a bench to go in Linn Park at the adventure playground.

(P1 ONLY) Pizza Making and Tasting
Please click on this link regarding pizza tasting on Friday 4^th March.

(P3b ONLY) Banana Bread
Please click on this link regarding P3b making banana bread.

(P4 ONLY) Gardening Club
Please click on this link regarding an upcoming gardening club.

(P4 ONLY) Pancake Day
All P4 classes are making pancakes next week to celebrate Pancake Day.   We have taken into account all the allergy information we have on file but if there is any change to this then please just let the school office know. The ingredients are:

• Plain flour
• Caster sugar
• Butter
• Baking powder
• Eggs
• Milk

The pupils will make the pancakes in class and take them home to enjoy. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

(P7 ONLY) Bikeability
We are looking forward to Bikeability starting in March. If you haven’t completed the online consent form please click the link below. Please note that your child will not be able to participate in Bikeability until this has been completed. https://forms.office.com/r/wG8r9Kqc6w

(P7b and P7c ONLY) Pancakes
Please click on this link regarding P7b and P7c making pancakes.

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher

Dear parent/carer,

Staffing News
We’re absolutely delighted to announce that, following interview on Wednesday, Angela Kerr (PT) has been successful in securing an Acting Head Teacher post at Cartmill Family Centre. She will take up her new position from Monday 28^th February and we know that she will do a wonderful job in her new and exciting role! We will of course miss her very much but, as she isn’t far away and remains in the Williamwood Cluster, we will be able to continue to work closely together.  As this is an acting post, we will of course keep you informed of any future developments. We are aware that this has happened very quickly and may come as a surprise but please do not hesitate to get in touch in the usual way.  All the very best, Angela!

World Book Day Thursday 3^rd February
We’re really looking forward to children sharing a book from home with their friends and special adults in nursery. We have paper copies of £1 book tokens available to give out next week. Please click on the link to use the digital version of the £1 Book Token. This voucher can be swapped for one of the £1 books for free or for £1 off a book of your child’s choice.

Spare footwear and socks!
Children have been squealing with delight as they’ve splashed in puddles, made snow families, gone fishing and sailed boats in our ‘Netherlee Loch’. All this play with water has meant that many children have needed to use our spare wellies, indoor shoes and socks. Perhaps you could think of us in future when you child outgrows shoes/wellies and socks?

Corks
Mrs Morton has been making play people from corks this week with children. We have now used all the corks we have in nursery. If you have any corks at home we’d really appreciate these.

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Angela Kerr (PT)

Hello again everyone

The blustery, rainy week certainly hasn’t stopped the fun in Netherlee Nursery as the children have all enjoyed experiencing and talking about all the different kinds of weather we have in Scotland!

Staffing News
From Monday 21^st Feb Mrs Joanne Greig, our Senior Child Development Officer, will move to Acorns Building and Mrs Jo-Anne Welsh will move to the Saplings Building. We want to thank all of our staff for their commitment and flexibility over the last few months. Staff have stepped in at the last minute to cover absence, changed nursery buildings, adapted plans and patterns of working to ensure that children are safely looked after and continue to have the highest quality experiences.

Congratulations!
A huge well done to Mrs Debbie Heron on passing her ‘Paediatric First Aid’ course.  Miss Melissa Doran is also attending an ‘Emergency First Aid’ course on Monday and we know she will do equally well in this (no pressure Melissa!).

World Book Day 3^rd March
Did you know? Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success, more than family circumstances, parents’ educational backgrounds or income? https://www.worldbookday.com. This World Book Day we encourage every child to be a reader and continue to develop their love of books.   Every child will receive a £1 Book Token that can be swapped for one of the FREE World Book Day books available from participating booksellers or used to get £1 off any book at all. To celebrate World Book Day, we will have plenty of fun activities taking place throughout the day including sharing stories with friends, cosy corner reading, den reading, making books, re-enacting stories and much, much more. Children can also bring a favourite book from home to share with friends on World Book Day. Thank you in advance for writing your child’s name inside the cover of their book to avoid mix-ups. We’re sure children will love to snuggle up with a good book and have a special snack of toast and hot chocolate too. More information on World Book Day can be found here: https://www.worldbookday.com/families.

We hope you have a lovely weekend with your family.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Angela Kerr (PT)

Hello everyone

Homework Survey
Mrs Sweeney and Mrs Roberts have been looking at Netherlee’s policy for Homework and are seeking the views of staff and children in relation to refreshing this. To support the refresh they feel it is very important to also gather the views of parents as well.  They are asking for a few minutes of your time to complete a Homework Survey Questionnaire as an electronic form, the link for this is below. https://forms.office.com/r/fvuTqibCCk   Thank you for taking the time to support them with this.

World Thinking Day
Please click on this link regarding World Thinking Day on Tuesday 22^nd February.

Pupil Celebration Menu
On Friday 25^th February, there will be a change to the ERC menu. You can find the menu here.

Football Sessions for Girls
Please click here to read a letter from Culture & Leisure regarding football taster sessions for girls.

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher

Hello everyone

Safer Internet Day
This year Safer Internet Day was on Tuesday 8^th February. As online features in our School and Nursery Improvement Plan for this session, we have decided to carry out activities related to this important matter throughout next week. As well as activities in class, our assemblies will also focus on staying safe online.

We understand that this is also a topic which many parents are possibly worried about and therefore we hope that the links below will be helpful for you to support your child at home with this.

Safer Internet Day Parents and Carers information and resources
Home Activity Packs for Early Years
Activities for 4 – 7 year olds
Activities for 8 – 10 year olds
Activities for 11+ year olds

P1 Height & Weight Checks
Please check in your child’s bag for an NHS letter regarding P1 Height and Weight checks.  These letters must be returned to the school office by 15 March 2022

P5-7 Cross Country Trials
Active Schools will be hosting the East Renfrewshire Schools Cross Country Competition on Tuesday 22^nd March in Rouken Glen Park. Schools can enter 3 teams, 4 boys and 4 girls per team, from P5, 6 & 7. We will be holding heats to pick the children for these teams during lunchtime on Thursday 17^th February. If your child is in P5, 6 or 7 and would like to try out for the team please ensure that they come to school with suitable clothing to participate in the heats.

P7 Bikeability
An information letter and map regarding Bikeability for our Primary 7 pupils was emailed to parents.

Parent Council (PC) Meeting
A little reminder that the next meeting of Netherlee’s Parent Council will take place virtually on Wednesday (16^th) evening at 7pm.  Please click on this link to find the agenda for the meeting and also information about how you can “come along” and join the PC, myself and school staff at these meetings.

Mrs Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher

Hello everyone

We’ve had a really lovely week at nursery as children shared news from their holiday weekend and re-engaged with their friends.

During our In-service Day on Friday we had a really full agenda as we talked about gender, took part in Breastfeeding Friendly Nursery Training and worked closely with colleagues in school.

Support for Families
Parents and Carers of East Renfrewshire (PACER) are a friendly group of families whose mission is to create a safe place for everyone. Some of the group are experienced parents of children with additional support needs, others are at the start of their journey or don’t know where to start.

Perhaps you’re looking for hints, tips or someone to just listen to the bad days or the achievements.  They can offer all of this and more.  They welcome everyone and are pleased to be getting back to meeting face-to-face.

Their Facebook page can be found here https://www.facebook.com/ParentsAndCarersofEastRenfrewshire/ and the link to their meeting (informal chat with coffee) on Friday 18^th February is here Facebook .com/events

Parent Council (PC) Meeting
The next meeting of Netherlee Parent Council will take place virtually on Wednesday 16^th February at 7pm. All parents/ carers who have a child in Netherlee are always welcome to attend any PC meeting. If you would like to come along to the next meeting, please click on this link to find out how to do so. The link will also take you to the PC section on the website where you will be able to view minutes of previous meetings.

Please find attached information about the Parental Employability Support Fund – PESF Disability Leaflet

We hope you have a lovely weekend with family.

Mrs Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Angela Kerr (PT)

Hello everyone

Book Sale
We are delighted to let you know that our recent Book Sale has raised more than £3,000 in proceeds for the school to spend on books and reading resources for our pupils. Many thanks to all our staff members who helped to co-ordinate the ordering and distribution of books, and of course a huge thank you to our parents and carers for supporting this. We hope all children who received a book, very much enjoyed reading it.

Parent Council (PC) Meeting
The next meeting of the Parent Council will take place virtually on Wednesday 16^th February at 7pm. All parents/ carers who have a child in Netherlee are always welcome to attend any PC meeting. If you would like to come along to the next meeting, please click on this link to find out how to do so. The link will also take you to the PC section on the website where you will be able to view minutes of previous meetings.

Tooth Brushing [P1/2 ONLY]
Please find attached a letter from Childsmile regarding the tooth brushing programme.

Choir [P6/7 ONLY]
Please find attached a letter regarding the school choir.
P6-7 Choir

Please also see separate emails sent earlier today regarding the East Renfrewshire Council parent survey and extra-curricular clubs [CLUBS TO P3-P7 ONLY].

I hope you have a lovely, long weekend holiday. We will be here, looking forward to seeing everyone back in school again, on Wednesday 9^th February.

Mrs Yvonne Donaldson
Head Teacher

Dear parent/carer,

If you have a child in the following classes: P3, P5 or P6c, there will be an additional email for you to read.

Bonjour, guten tag, buon giorno and dzien dobry!
We’re delighted to share with you that our school and nursery children and staff will be celebrating all things ‘languages’ during Languages Week Scotland which will take place next week, from Monday 31^st January until Thursday 3^rd February. We launched Languages Week Scotland at our whole school assembly on Wednesday, where lots of pupils and staff shared their multi-lingual talents with over fifteen different languages being spoken and shared! The children will also be learning about many different cultures and traditions as well as the many lifelong benefits that learning another language brings.  There is great excitement too, as we will be building our own Chinese Dragon to celebrate Chinese New Year on the 1^st February and can’t wait to see it dance its way around Netherlee! At assembly, we also thoroughly enjoyed 2 of our children telling us about their own family traditions during Chinese New Year and even showing everyone a Chinese lantern and the beautiful clothes they wear.  We always look for opportunities to link the learning experiences in Netherlee to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and children’s rights and Languages Week will therefore focus on “…children have the right to an education, a right to speak their own language and the right to belong to a country…”. It’ll be an exciting week full of fun and engaging learning opportunities including songs, games, quizzes, research tasks and much more! Please keep a look out on our school and nursery Twitter feed at @sand_nc next week to join in the fun!

Scottish Government Guidance and Advice
We respectfully remind everyone that current advice states “You are also advised to wear a face covering outdoors in crowded places, and especially in places where people gather.”  We of course appreciate that some people may be exempt from doing so however we very much appreciate your support with helping everyone to keep safe by wearing a face covering at busy drop off and pick up times.  We have had a couple of questions from parents in relation to when a PCR test should be taken.  The NHS guidance is, if anyone has Covid symptoms (new continuous cough; high temperature; or a loss of, or change in normal sense of taste and smell) then they should book a PCR test.  Lateral flow tests are used as a way of identifying positive cases in people who do not have symptoms and should be used routinely twice a week.  I hope this helps.  For ease, this link https://www.nhsinform.scot/  will take you to the latest COVID-19 guidance from NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government- thank you for your help and support.

Free Bus Travel for Children and Young People
An exciting new scheme launched in the New Year. From 31 January 2022, all young people living in Scotland aged between 5 and 21 years will be eligible for free bus travel within Scotland. You will need to apply for a Young Scot National Entitlement Card via ParentsPortal.  Parents who have yet to sign up can do so here. This video explains the process: https://youtu.be/p4F-G-kzbNo.

In-service Day and Holiday Weekend
Just a little reminder that we have an In-service day on Friday 4^th Feb (only staff to attend) and, like you I’m sure, we are looking forward to the long holiday weekend on Monday 7^th Feb. and Tuesday 8^th Feb.  We will look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Wednesday 9^th.

Enjoy the weekend everyone.

Netherlee Primary School

Hello everyone

As the mornings and evenings start to become lighter, in nursery we are all looking for the first signs of spring such as bulbs growing, birds singing and brighter weather. Some of the children on extended hours have noticed the difference in their evenings at nursery too- they don’t think it’s bedtime at 3.45pm anymore!

Recycling/Reusing
Have you had a clear out lately? We are always really grateful of bits and bobs that we can use for crafts in nursery. Children are so imaginative and use a variety of boxes, packaging, buttons etc. to create masterpieces. Your old shoebox may be rubbish to you, or a piece of old ribbon may no longer be useful at home but to a child these items may be a treasure chest or a fishing rod and are really appreciated by us in nursery.  Thank you.

Chinese New Year
We’re looking forward to lots of celebration during the week ahead as children learn more about Chinese New Year. We’ll try some stir-fried vegetables and noodles and will be challenged while using chopsticks
Netherlee Primary School’s pupil led Diversity and Equalities group has kindly invited nursery children to be part of a Chinese New Year Dragon Dance on Tuesday 1^st Feb.
Mrs Greig and Mrs Flower, our resident Bookbug leaders, will post on Google Classroom a special Chinese New Year Bookbug session on Thursday to celebrate the Chinese Zodiac ‘Year of the Tiger’.  Look out on Twitter to get a snapshot of all this fun!

Scottish Government Guidance
We would respectfully remind you that face coverings continue to be required in outdoor crowded places, such as school and nursery gates and entrances.
We of course appreciate that some people may be exempt from doing so however very much appreciate that, if you are not exempt, you help everyone to keep safe by wearing a face covering at busy drop off and pick up times.  For latest COVID-19 guidance from NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government, including ongoing protective measures, how to get a COVID test and how/ when to self-isolate. https://www.nhsinform.scot/

Nursery Menu
Nursery lunches are proving very popular with our children. We’ve even had children running after Michelle, our cook, to thank her for the lovely food! Michelle has really established herself as a very popular member of our nursery team in a very short time. We are so grateful for the time and thought she puts in to making sure that our hot lunches are both delicious and nutritious.  Our nursery menu is available: https://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/nursery-menu
The first day back after any holiday is always Monday’s menu for that week. Normal menu days follow thereafter during the week.
We would like to remind you that we have an In-service day on Friday 4^th Feb (only staff to attend) and are on holiday Monday 7^th Feb and Tuesday 8^th Feb.

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) & Angela Kerr (PT)

Good afternoon

Nursery Uniform
We will be ordering nursery uniform on Friday 18th Feb, this is of course entirely optional. If you would like to place an order, please complete the online order form here. If you are having any issue with the form please contact our office via NurseryMail@Netherlee.e-renfrew.sch.uk for a hardcopy. We also have some ‘lightly used’ age 3-4 uniform available to take from the table outside the Sapling Building if you would prefer this option- please just help yourself!

RSPB Big Garden/School Birdwatch 2022
We’ve been busy this week preparing for the Big School Birdwatch by making birdfeeders to attract lots of visitors. Our avid birdwatchers have been making their very own binoculars from cardboard tubes, ready for our birdwatching week.

You can join in Big Garden Birdwatch as it is for everyone, whether you’re a complete beginner or a birding expert. Simply count the birds you see in your garden, from your balcony or in your local park for one hour between 28^th and 30^th January 2022. Further information about the survey is available here: RSPB .

Children in nursery love this opportunity to identify different types of birds and learn about collecting information through crosses, ticks or marks to represent numbers.

Family First
ERC have the ‘Family First’ team who can signpost parents to helplines, advice, training or useful websites. Please click on the link to access more information. https://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/article/2573/Family-First-information-resource

Please remember too of course that we are all here as well, so please just speak to us if we can help with anything at all.

Holiday
We would like to remind you that Friday 4^th Feb is an Inservice Day (staff attend only) and Monday 7^th Feb and Tuesday 8^th Feb are holidays.

Coming Soon
Mrs Morton and Mrs Heron are preparing for our next block of Woodland Adventures, beginning in February. We’ll let you know shortly the dates your child will be going on an adventure in Linn Park.

Have a lovely weekend.

Yvonne Donaldson (HT) and Angela Kerr (PT)