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!

Summer Fair and End of Year Event

The arrangements for this came home in an email earlier in the week. All are welcome! The games at the fair will be free. The stalls selling items and the Tombola will be paid. You child can bring some spending money if you’d like them too but there will be lots to do for free as well. Coins rather than notes would be appreciated.

Thursday 4th July

This is the last day of school.  The new term starts on 18th August for staff and 20th August for pupils.

Playing Out in the Village

A member of the public has made me aware that she has seen children/young people playing in a dangerous manner in the hall grounds, breaking up stones and rocks and causing damage. We have also had an issue that some of the newly installed handrails have come loose from the ground the day after their were safety tested and found to be sound. The contractor feels is is likely that they had been kicked or hit repeatedly with some force – they would not have come loose because of a primary aged child swinging in them.

I am making the Community police team aware of this damage on school property. Please can I ask that if you live near the school you keep an eye out and report/address any anti-social behaviour you may see. If you allow your child to play out unsupervised, I think it might be worth having a chat with them about this to make sure they are not seeing older children/teenagers behaving in a way that worries them.  Many thanks

Community News

gauldry gala poster 1

Free cafe inc 2025

Free Family Activities St. Andrews – Summer 2025

Archeology workshops

The Wardlaw Museum invites you to their  upcoming free family activity day ‘Future Makers’ being held at the Wardlaw Museum on Saturday 12^th July 12pm – 4pm: Future Makers Family Day. I’m also pleased to invite families to our free summer holiday workshops, running alongside our current exhibition, Rewrite the Future. These interactive sessions are a great way for children to get creative, explore new ideas, and have fun during the holidays! Sessions run on Tuesdays and Thursdays for 4 weeks throughout the summer holidays.

2-2.45pm Ages 3-7 years

3-4pm 8-12 years

• Week 1: Hack the Future       15^th & 17^th July
• Week 2: Build the Future        22^nd & 24^th July
• Week 3: Animate the Future Tuesday   29^th & 31^st July
• Week 4: Travel to the Future     5^th & 7^th August

All sessions are free, but booking is essential due to the limited capacity available for each session.

Bookings can be made on the University website:
Exhibition-related | Events

A parent l has asked me to share these:

Blue and White french lesson Flyer

Latin and Lore-4

In the summer months, we recommend you check your child regularly for ticks as occasionally, a child can pick one up.  If your child should have a tick which we notice at school, we would contact you to come and remove it or seek treatment.

Next Week

Monday – no woods for P1/2/3

Tuesday – P7s going on Mountain Biking, P1-6 will be going to the woods in the afternoon. Please bring woods clothes.

Wednesday – P4/5 are doing PE today as they missed yesterday

Thursday – P1-7 woods day. No need for uniform come dressed for the woods. Your child will need a packed lunch – please send them with one or order cold.

Playground Update

We had a really positive assembly today with the children doing great collaborative work to discuss what works and what could be better in the playground. Everyone is really well aware of the playground charter and the need to play in a way that is fun but doesn’t get rough. The children agree that tig can cause problems if people fall out over who is ‘it’. We are going to buy some tag rugby belts as a way to make it more clear. The children don’t have to use these for tig but they will be available if they want. The children have also suggested that balls games should be on the grass pitch only and that there should be days for different groups. E.g. a girls day, a boys day, a competitive day and a non-competitive day. We love this as a way to let children play with like minded peers and promote sport for everyone so we are going to begin to put that in place. Finally, the children have asked that we have a no judgement playground e.g. no one is made to feel bad by other children if they miss a goal. Everyone has agreed to this and we will continue to promote our playground charter with an emphasis on King and Gentle. I have reminded the children that Mrs Cargill and Mr Brown are in charge in the playground – they will make decisions to keep children safe and having fun. Both of them are in the playground each day except for a Tuesday when it is only Mrs Cargill. This staffing change happened while I was off. Until the end of term, I will provide cover so that there are two adults in the playground each day and from August 2025, Mrs Cargill and Mr Brown will both be working full time.

Job opportunities

There are two Pupil Support Assistant Jobs at Wormit PS currently being advertised. Please share this link with anyone who is interested: Search Jobs – Fife Council Jobs and Careers Careers

Community News

Click here to find out about the Rotary Sandcastle Competition

Click here to find out about the Gauldry Charity Afternoon Tea

Click here to find out about the Future Makers Family Day

Newport Festival Information

Girl Guiding

 First Meeting: 28th August 2025  Regular Meetings: Thursday evenings (term time)  Time: 19:00 to 20:30  Where: Wormit Parish Church

Staffing News

Next week will be Mrs Mitchell’s last week in post at Balmerino and Wormit. She will be returning to her substantivate post in Dunfermline for the remainder of the term.

“It has been a pleasure to serve the children, families, staff and communities of both schools and their nurseries.  I have loved getting to know the children and playing a small part in their education. Thank you to everyone for making me feel so welcome. I wish you all a wonderful happy and healthy summer”.   Mrs Mitchell

“I  want to take this opportunity and place on record the thanks of Fife  Education Service to Mrs Mitchell for providing ongoing leadership and stability over the past 6 months” Donnie Macleod, Executive Director of Education

I would also like to extend my great thanks to Katie Mitchell for leading the schools while I was not well enough to do so. I also want to thank her for the support she has given me to phase back to my full role. I am delighted to be back at work full time but will miss working with Katie and I wish her well for the future.

On Monday I will be able to confirm the arrangements for classes and staffing for the new school year in August and later in the week, the children will have a chance to meet their new teacher as part of the transition process.

Best wishes

Lucy Jess

Our Playground Charter

I have been over the playground charter with the children today and made a couple of practical updates. Click here to read it: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/fi/balmerinoprimaryschool/our-playground-charter/

We have spoke about the adults in the school having a responsibility to keep all children safe as this is a right which is protected by law in Scotland now that the UNCRC has been incorporated.

I have asked the children to agree not to play tig for one week. The game is tending to get a bit rough. We are going to trial some ‘non-contact’ games through the week and then on Friday, Mr Rose, Mrs Cargill and Mr Brown will work with the whole school at assembly to agree games we play and rules for contact activities like tig to keep things safe.

If your child complains about not being allowed to play tig, please remind them it is only for one week and it is to make sure everyone gets their right to play while still feeling safe.

P7 Transition

Next week is an exciting week for our P7s as they will have their 3 day visit to Madras on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I look forward to hearing how it went on Friday.

Information from The Communities in Cupar Team

The team have asked me to share the following:

Christmas Shows

A reminder both the dress rehearsal and main performance of the Christmas shows will take place on Monday 16th December. The dress rehearsal will start at 9.30 and the afternoon performance will begin at 1.30. If you have tickets for either performance we will look forward to seeing you then!

Party Day

No need for uniform on Friday 20th, children can come to school in their party clothes!

Polite Reminder

We are asking for a donation of £10 per child towards the cost of the panto trip on 11th December. Please pay for your child when you are able by using the ipayimpact fund called ‘Byre Panto’ – the fund will stay open until the date of the performance.

Mrs Mitchell

We are happy to welcome Mrs Mitchell to our schools on Monday 9th December. She is very much looking forward to meeting everyone in our school communities!

Pantomime Trip

Thank you to every one who has paid for the panto trip. If you haven’t done yet, please do so before 11th December using the ipayimpact fund called ‘Byre Panto’ – the fund will stay open until the date of the performance. If you want to order a cold packed lunch for your child for this date please order on iPayimpact.