Category Archives: Latest News
ERC Money Advice and Rights Team
East Renfrewshire Council’s Money Advice and Rights Team (MART) are working with St Mark’s Primary as a result of some community engagement which took place last year. This showed that awareness of our service is low and that further assistance may be required to help apply for free school meals and clothing grants. We have attended events at the school and ran drop-in sessions so that parents can access advice.
We are now looking for more feedback from parents on whether you would be likely to attend a further event during the summer holidays and if so what type of event you would want.
https://getinvolved.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/corporate-community-services/mart-auchenback
If you need assistance to complete the survey please contact 0141 577 8420 and provide MART with your contact details.
National Children’s Day
National Children’s Day UK
Sunday 15th May
National Children’s Day UK is all about the importance of a healthy childhood and how we need to protect the rights and freedoms of children in order to ensure that they can grow into happy, healthy adults.
www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/barrheadfoundry
East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure are marking national children’s day by hosting a showcase of local classes, activities and services for children in Barrhead Foundry. The day will feature free sample classes from Relax Kids, Baby sensory, Cheer Pom and Showcase stage school. Local author Lindsay Littleson will be visiting to read from her book The mixed up Summer of Lilly Mclean as well as a free book bug session for wee ones. The day will host Pedalwise ER a local initiative to encourage cycling to school and children are encouraged to bring along their bikes for a free safety check. Additionally we will have face painting bouncy castle and swimming for families ALL for free.
Choir Open Day
Neilston Cattle Show 2016
Neilston Show: Saturday 7th May Order of Events 2016
| 8.00 | Sheep Dog – Continuing throughout the day | ||
| 8.45 | Hunter Class | (Horse Ring 1&2) | |
| 9.00 | Educational Dome Opens | ||
| Mountain & Moorland Ponies | (Horse Ring 4) | ||
| 9.30 | Unaffiliated Working Hunter Pony & Horse | (Horse Ring 1) | |
| Gun Dog Scurry (Continuing throughout the day) | (Next to Tree Line) | ||
| 10.00 | Judging of all Sheep Classes | (Sheep Rings) | |
| Judging begins of Dairy, Highland & Simmental Cattle | (Main Ring) | ||
| Open Tug O War Competition | (Tug O War Ring) | ||
| Shetland Ponies | (Horse Ring 3) | ||
| Neilston Pad Run | |||
| 10.00 | Judging of Homecraft Section – Tent Closed 10am until noon | (Homecraft Marquee) | |
| 10.30 | Judging begins of Other Beef Cattle | (Main Ring) | |
| Judging of Clydesdale Horses | (Clydesdale Ring) | ||
| 11.00 | Tam Parker Memorial Terrier Competition | (Top of Show Field) | |
| Pet Show | The Dome | ||
| 11.30 | Dog Show | (Dog Ring) | |
| ‘Come & Try’ Dog Agility | (Activity Ring) | ||
| 12.00 | Pet Lambs | (The Dome) | |
| Homecraft Tent Open to Public | (Homecraft Marquee) | ||
| 12.30 | Champion of Champions | (Main Ring) | |
| 12.45 | Equine Champion of Champions | (Horse Ring 2) | |
| 1.00 | Family Ponies | (Horse Ring 4) | |
| 1.15 | Parade Through Village led by Neilston Pipe Band | ||
| Dance Classes & Fancy Dress Competition | (Main ring) | ||
| 1.30 | Veteran & Coloured Horses/Ponies | (Horse Ring 2) | |
| 2.00 | Junior/Senior Unaffiliated Show Jump | (Horse Ring 1) | |
| 2.00 | GRAND PARADE & | ||
| PRESENTATION OF TROPHIES | (Main Ring) | ||
| 2.45 | Pig Racing | (Main Ring) | |
| 3.15 | School Event – Tug O War, Relay Races | (Main Ring) | |
| 4.00 | Vintage Tractor Display | (Main Ring) | |
| 4.00 | Grand Prize Draw | (Secretaries Office) | |
| 4.00 | Dome Closes at 4.00pm | ||
Photography Exhibition and Articulate 2016
Sports Day
Please note a change of date: Sports day will now be on Tuesday 14th June instead of Friday 17th June.
P1-3 will take place from 11-12.30
P4-7 will take place from 1.30-3pm.
School Holiday Dates 2017-18
Parent Equalities Forum
The final Parent Equalities Forum of this session will take place on Thursday 12 May in Mearns Primary School at 7pm.This will take the form of a ‘showcase’ event with some schools presenting on the work they have been doing around equalities.
Kind Regards,
Maureen Sneddon
Quality Improvement Officer
Fair trade
The Fair trade Committee have been busy continuing to promote Fair trade throughout the school. We organised a raffle with a wonderful prize donated by Sainsburys. This was won by Amy in P3a.
We also had a whole school competition to design a Fair trade Fantasy Fruit. The winners were P1- Charlotte
P2 and P3 – Sophie
P4 and P5 – Kiara
P6 and P7 – Kieran
All four children were delighted with their prize of a Fair trade Easter Egg.
Primary 4B and the Fair trade committee also ran a very successful pancake shop which raised over £130. The Fair trade committee used the money raised to pay for the Fair trade Speaker, who came in to speak to the whole school about Fair trade.
Amber, Luisa and Reagan went to a Fair trade workshop organised by the Scottish Fair trade Forum. The workshop focused on the Fair trade Cotton and they heard from Pamela, a woman who works in a cotton factory and has directly benefited from Fair trade cotton sales.
dyslexia Scotland eVENT
Holiday Reminder
The school will close at 2.30pm on Friday 1st April for Spring Break and re-open on Monday 18th April.
May I take this opportunity to thank everyone associated with our school for your continued support and wish you a very happy Spring Break on behalf of everyone here at St Mark’s Primary School.
Natalie Fitzsimmons
Acting Head Teacher
Scottish Ballet
SCOTTISH BALLET is looking for primary school children to audition for their Junior Associate Programme!
Auditions will be held in May – closing date Monday 25 April 2016.
Children who are currently in Primary 5 or Primary 6 are invited to apply. No previous dance experience necessary. Every child who applies will be offered an audition. Full details can be found HERE – Scottish Ballet
Parents Action Group
ERC Money Advice & Rights Team
Staff from the Council’s Money Advice & Rights Team will run a drop-in at St Marks every Wed from now to Easter holidays, at 9-10 and 2-3. Please feel free to come along.
Bikeability
Do you remember how much fun you used to have cycling as a child? We want to ensure that children today have the same opportunities and independence that our bikes gave us.
You can read the Parents’ Guide to Bikeability Scotland here.
Earth Hour
East Renfrewshire Council celebrates WWF’s Earth Hour
On Saturday 19 March 2016, at 8.30pm East Renfrewshire Council and ‘Think Green’ will join millions across the world to celebrate WWF’s Earth Hour and switch off their lights for one hour to show they care about the future of our brilliant planet
By joining the global celebration, East Renfrewshire Council and ‘Think Green’ will take part in a symbolic moment, not designed to have impact through an hour of energy saving, but to help put a spotlight on the issues facing the planet and to remind us that, together, we have the power to make change happen.
The future of our planet is at risk, particularly from the effects of climate change. Many of the world’s most threatened species like tigers and orang-utans live in areas that will be severely affected by climate change. For many, WWF’s Earth Hour is a chance to show they care about our brilliant planet and is the first step to helping to protect its future.
To celebrate the global event, we will be:
- Switching off non-essential lights at 8.30pm, Saturday 19 March:
- The Clarkston Tree in front of the Library, Clarkston.
- The floodlight at the Cenotaph in Mearns Cross.
Encouraging residents of East Renfrewshire to do the same via our Social Media channels.
- Request an Earth Hour ‘Selfie’ from residents to be sent to our Facebook and Twitter Channels.
Organising a ‘Switch-Off for Earth Hour’ campaign across our council estate and schools. For the week running up to earth hour and beyond, we have developed a campaign to remind everyone to switch off lights, appliances, chargers, screens and computers, when leaving their home or work.
- Distributing Earth Hour and campaign posters and materials to all council buildings and request that they place them in their staff rooms, class rooms and foyers.
Jennifer Clements, spokesperson for WWF-UK, said: “We’re thrilled that East Renfrewshire Council and ‘Think Green’ will be taking part in WWF’s Earth Hour this year and hope that they’ll inspire many others to get involved. By taking one simple step to switch off, WWF’s Earth Hour is a chance for all of us to come together and send out a global message about protecting our planet.”
Over the last decade, WWF’s Earth Hour’s unique display of darkness has become a global phenomenon with hundreds of millions of individuals coming together each year. In 2015, a record-breaking 172 countries and some of world’s most famous buildings including Big Ben, Hong Kong’s skyline and the Sydney Harbour Bridge joined the global celebration. In the UK alone, over 10 million people took part, along with over 4,800 schools, 200 landmarks and thousands of businesses and organisations
Everyone can join the celebration for WWF’s Earth Hour on Saturday 19 March 2016. For more information and to sign up please visit wwf.org.uk/earthhour
Fair trade Raffle
There will be a Fair trade Raffle at Parent’s Night.
Job Vacancies: ERC Facilities Management
Job Vacancies: ERC Facilities Management require cleaning staff 10-20hr posts in various locations. Please come to Barrhead Foundry on 9/3/16 between 9.30am to 11.30am and 1.30pm to 3.30pm for more information.
