Transforming Learning

Following the email I sent yesterday, two sessions will be held for Wormit and Balmerino parents to learn more about this project. A face to face meeting in the school hall at Wormit at 6pm on Monday 1st December and a Teams meeting on Thursday 4th December at 4pm. If you are going to come to the face to face meeting, please sign up here.  The link for the teams meeting will be sent to all parents at about 3.30 on the day of the meeting. Any questions about the project can be submitted here.

Christmas Fair

The Christmas Fair will be held on Monday 8th December at 1.15 in the school. All are welcome. We could do with parents to help the children running their stalls – if lots of people volunteer we can set up a rota so that everyone gets time on a stall and time shopping and playing the games. If anyone would like to pay for a table to run their own stall they are welcome – £5 per table plus a contribution to the raffle. Please email balmerinops.enquiries@fife.gov.uk if you would like to book a stall.

Following the fair, at 2.15, there will be a performance of Traditional Christmas Carols in the Morrison Duncan Hall.

Reading Challenge – £500 for 500 Books 

Please support our challenge by supporting your child to record their reading here:  Reading record

And collect sponsors here: Sponsor Form

We have £40 donated and 93 books recorded. All funds raised will be used to enhancing learning experiences and reduce the cost of the school day impacting positively on all children. Sponsor money can be paid online of dropped into the school office – the details are on the sponsor form.

Click here to check you have all the dates for this term:

Calendar 2025-26 | Balmerino Primary School

Apologies that I have not included the time for the P1-4 Literacy/Numeracy event. It is 2pm

Parent Council News

Please click here to read the recent minutes of Parent Council meetings.

Message for P7 Parents from Madras

Panto Payment

Please remember to pay for your child(ren)’s tickets following the information sent in an email on 27th October. Or contact Mrs Jess directly if you can’t meet the cost. No child will miss out. Many thanks

Planetarium Visit – 19th December

The Community Council have organised and funded a visit from a planetarium for a Christmas Show on the last day of term. All children will  attend with school staff in the Morison Duncan Hall.

Click here for more information

Football

A parent has asked me to share this:

School Report and Improvement Plan

Our Standards and Quality Report and School Improvement Plan have been published on the website this week. A quick read summary for families is available here: Balmerino-Summary-for-Families.pdf

The full documents are available here: School Improvement Plan and Standards and Quality Report | Balmerino Primary School

Your child will bring home a paper copy of the quick read summary today and I have sent a MS Form to gather your thoughts and ideas for parental involvement.

Dates to Remember

Thursday 9^th – P1-7 Flu Vaccines – your child will only receive the inoculation if you have returned the NHS permission form.

 Friday 10^th – Last Day of Term – School Uniform as usual please

 Monday 13^th October – Friday 24^th October – School and Nursery closed for October Holiday

Monday 27^th – First Day of Term 2

Friday 31^st – All children invited to come to school in a Halloween costume – no masks or weapons please! We will hold our usual Pumpkin Carving Competition – bring your Pumpkin to school at 9am. Please contribute £1.50 per child to the cost of the day if you can.

Message from Active Schools

Byre Theatre Panto

Apologies that when I sent the dates for the year out I omitted to include the Byre Theatre Panto Trip:

Wednesday 17th – Whole School going to the Byre Theatre for pantomime – leaving just after 9am – more info will follow nearer the time.

The page on the website is now up to date: Calendar 2025-26 | Balmerino Primary School

Food in School

Just a reminder to send your child with a snack for playtime each day to keep them going until lunchtime. Please send them with something they can easily eat in the playground and within the 15min break. It is a parent choice what snack to send but we do ask that children do not eat sweets at school (ie something made purely of sugar and flavourings – haribo, moam etc). More information is available here: A-Z for parents

The children do not take snacks outside at lunchtime – they eat their lunch inside and then go out to play.

If any parents has concerns or questions about food in school – please feel free to contact me at lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk or through the school office.

Dalguise Trip

P6/7 parents – if you have not signed up or paid yet, I sent you an email yesterday. Please act upon this email by Sunday evening at the latest as I will be confirming numbers of Monday and the deposit is due. If your child is swithering about if to go or if you need help with payment, please email us and we can help.

Drug Awareness Workshops for P7 Parents

Later in the year, our P7s will do a workshop delivered by Barnado’s. The charity now offer workshops to P7 parents as well. Click here to find out more

Reading Challenge – £500 for 500 Books 

Please support our challenge by supporting your child to record their reading here:  Reading record

And collect sponsors here: Sponsor Form

We already have £30 pledged and 35 books recorded. All funds raised will be used to enhancing learning experiences and reduce the cost of the school day impacting positively on all children.

Message from Kingsbarns Primary re Cambo Cup

Reading Challenge

The reading challenge Sponsor Form is now live. Please click here to access the form and share the code with friends and family members who might support this. The children will all bring home a QR code poster on Monday.

Please support your child to log their reading/listening here – we are aiming to read 500 books as a team by Christmas.

Upcoming Dates

Thursday 11^th – Harvest Day – no uniform required, your child can wear harvest colours (red, orange, brown, yellow, green). Please send a contribution of £1.50 if you can to help cover the cost of the day. All children will have opportunities to cook with the produce grown in our school garden. Please make sure any allergies info is up to date as they will be tasting.

Friday 12^th – P1-7 Targets shared with parents

Friday 19^th – Tempest Photographer in school to take individual and sibling photos. All children will be included unless you have stated ‘No’ to photos on their General Permissions or unless you opt them out by telling the school office. If you have a pre-Nursery child you would like included in a family photo, please bring them into school at 8.30. If you would like a different group shot taken (e.g. a cousin’s group) please contact the office to make an arrangement.

Christmas Fair

As you know from the dates sent home last week, we are holding a Christmas Fair this year to develop and extend Enterprise and Craft stall. We are inviting parents and members of the public to buy a table to run their own stall at the fair – £5 per table plus a contribution to the raffle. Please email balmerinops.enquiries@fife.gov.uk if you would like to book a stall. at the fair on 8th December.

Enforcement of pavement parking ban, parking at dropped kerbs and double parking – message from Fife Council

Enforcement of this new legislation will start on Monday 1 September 2025 and Parking Attendants will issue Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) from that date.  The PCN level is £100, which is discounted to £50 if paid within 14 days.  Click here for more information

Photograph Policy

This has been updated slightly, following the recent consultation. Please click here to read it and so that you know what ticking Yes or No means on the General Permissions Form.

School Safety

All visitors to the school should ring the buzzer by the front door and speak to office staff in the first instance. Please don’t enter the school by any other door and please understand that children know they should not open the door to a visitor even if they know them. Nursery parents can drop off and collect from the Nursery gate but all P1-7 must be signed out and back in at the school office if you are dropping off late or collecting early. Please don’t go into the playground and approach your child – if you need to see them during the school day, come to the office in the first instance. If you come to collect your child from Nursery or from the school office, please be prepared for the fact that staff might ask you for ID if you are not someone they know. If you are collecting your child early for any reason, please call ahead to let us know. This is particularly important if some one is collecting your child for you, so we know that we are following your wishes.

Class and Year Group Photos

Thank you to everyone who completed our survey on class and year group photos. The majority consensus was that we will stop the tradition of submitting photos to the local press and instead we will gift a free, colour printed and laminated photo to each P1 and P7 family in term 1 as well sharing photos of all classes and year groups on the password protected class pages in term 1. This will allow you to discuss your child’s classmates with them. In term 4, we will have a professional photographer in to take photos of all classes and year groups – no obligation to buy. More information will follow.

Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood

All P1-7 parents should familiarise themselves with the teaching of this important curricular area which is ongoing through the school year. Please click here to find out out more. And here to view the learning and resources your child will be using. Any concerns or questions can be directed to me at lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk

School Improvement Planning

We are currently working on our school improvement plan and it will be ready to share with parents very soon along with last years’ Standards and Quality Report.

The Nursery team are going to be working with Fife Council’s Inclusive Practice Team to enhance their understanding of universal strategies to support all learning. This will enhance our provision of ways to make children feel accepted and supported and it will impact positively on all children. The Inclusive Practice Team will support our by providing training and sometimes will work directly with children in order to free a staff member up to attend training.

In P1-7, we are focussing on reviewing our School Values and Relationships and Behaviour Policy and Anti-Bullying Policy. This term, we are going to take a close focus onto our value of Respect. We have started to discuss Respect this week and are focussing on:

Respect for Self

Respect for Others

Respect for the Environment

Respect for Property

Respect for Safety

It would be good to talk to your child about this at home.

Click here to find what Active Schools are offering: https://sway.cloud.microsoft/QYn3DMyFYCw5CrZy?ref=Link

Activities at the Rio

tote bag poster 31st july

Fun at the rio poster 29th july

WEDNESDAY 16TH JULY POPPY BUBBLES POSTER

animal man 9th july poster

LETS DO LUNCH 17 JULY POSTER

Café Inc. Returns!