Transition Events

On Wednesday 14^th June and Wednesday 28^th June, there will be chance for next year’s P1-7 children to meet their new teacher and work with their new class.

On these mornings, the children who currently go to Nursery but who will be in P1 in August should line up with Miss Diplexcito’s current class at 9am and the current P4s should line up with Miss Bowman’s current class. The new P1/3/4 class will be brought in by Mr Pellow and will have some time getting to know him, the new P5/6/7 class will be brought in by Miss Diplexcito and have some time getting to know her. The nursery children should bring a school bag, snack and water bottle as they will in P1. They will go out to play with their new class and then come back into Nursery at the end of playtime.

The current P7s will be at Madras on 14^th and will use the time to do a separate transition activity with Mrs Robertson on 28^th.

Message from Active School

Dear Parent/Carer,

I am delighted to say that for the first time the Madras College cluster are running a cluster running event for all pupils Primary 1 to 7. This event is set to take place at Newport Primary School on the 20^th June from 15:50 to 16:45. This event will consist of 3 races , P1-2, P3-4 and P5-7 and it would be great to see pupils from every school in our cluster at this event.

If this is something that your child would be interested in attending please fill out the below registration form no later that Monday 19^th June.

https://forms.office.com/e/Buh1aZP7HB

Please note that pupils are to make their own way to and from the event and should be supervised throughout by an adult – there may not be staff from your school at the event and if there are, they will be there to organise not to specifically supervise – this is a community event.

If you have any questions please do just get in touch with me

Thank you,

Madison Garland

Active School Coordinator

madison.garland@fife.gov.uk

Newport Festival

Dear Parent/ Carer,

The Rio Centre is organising a RagTag Parade on Saturday 24th June as part of Newport Festival celebrations. Betty from the Rio has been in to tell all the pupils about this event and the challenge of creating a costume or outfit to wear in the parade.

Anything goes, it’s all about reusing and recycling! Wear a favourite costume or create a new one. The pupils are invited to come into the thrift shop, now located in the Rio Centre and select 10 items for £1. They can use these to make their own creation.

The parade will be led by local piper ‘Joe’ and will start in the Rio at noon. It will progress down the High St and the lower road, before returning back along the upper road to the Rio. There will be prizes, creativity and lots of noise! We look forward to seeing you there.

Best wishes,

Newport Festival Team & Betty at the Rio

Visitors at Assembly

Betty from the Rio joined us at assembly today to explain the Bag Tag parade on 24^th June.

Last week – Pauline from the Library came in to tell us about the summer reading challenge – this is great and FREE(!) event running in the summer holidays. It is a super way to keep your child’s interest in reading high during the holidays – you can visit any Fife Library to get involved.

The week before that, Lesley from Wormit Boat Club visited to tell the children about the club and gather some ideas from them on how the club can be developed.

It is lovely to be widening our community links in this way.

Attendance/Know Your Number

As you will know, we have placed a big focus on monitoring attendance this session to ensure best attendance and engagement for all pupils as part of Covid Recovery. I have used ‘Know Your Number’ to monitor attendance for all Primary children and to share their attendance rate with their parents. The average attendance across the whole school is now 96.6% which is above the National Average and is an improvement on last year’s rate of 94.8%.

Moving forward, I will no longer be using ‘Know Your Number’ for all primary children, only those whose attendance rate on their report is below 95% and therefore falls into the satisfactory or cause for concern categories. If your child’s attendance is just below 95% it will be recorded as satisfactory but I will not continue to use ‘Know Your Number’. There will be a note on yoru child’s report to let you know if I will continue to use ‘Know Your Number’ for them next year.

As we get towards the summer holidays, it is tempting to think that attendance is less important but we encourage all children to ‘Attend to the End’. The last few weeks of term may look different but there are lots of important events which support their transition into the next year of learning and which build team and a sense of belonging. Click here for a message from Fife Council: https://sway.office.com/CVMxE7TzCOeaWWEG?ref=Link&loc=play

Summer Fair

We are looking forward to this event on 29^th June (an email came out earlier this week) but it can only go ahead if we have parent helpers. Please contact the school office if you can help.

Community Event

Click here to find out about a production of Joseph and the Technicoloured Dreamcoat.

Wormit Boat Club are having an open day on Saturday the 20th May and would love to see as many families there as possible? They will have the opportunity to try out any and all of the watersports on offer i.e. sailing, rowing, kayaking, paddle boarding and even be able to ride on a high speed rib, there will also be food, singing and games – all sports are free to try out. The open day starts at 12 and will go on all afternoon.

Message from Active Schools

Looking for a fun family day out this summer? Aged 1 or 101 everyone is welcome for some family yoga in the beautiful walled garden at Cambo. Get all the family together to stretch, get active and laugh with yoga. Family yoga provides kids & adults a chance to embrace their playfulness and spend some great quality time together. Work together with your children creating shapes and moving through playful practices combining movement, breath, meditation and relaxation. This is time to let go of expectations, engage your imagination and find connections. These sessions are open to all ages, from 0 – 100. Any family members are welcome, the more the merrier!

Book your spaces online at https://www.warmheartsyoga.co.uk/summer-yoga

Tickets cost: £15 for a family of 2, £20 for a family of 3 or 4

Price includes: Yoga session, Partner and family postures, Songs and games, Movement, Mindfulness, Breathing, Relaxation

Half price garden entry for adults at Cambo for the day.

Wednesday 26th July, 11am – 12.15pm

Wednesday 2nd August, 11am – 12.15pm

You’re very welcome to bring your own picnic and stay for a play in the nature playground, enjoy some of the family friendly walks on offer or take advantage or half price admittance for adults to the walled garden for the rest of the day (children free).

Coronation Lunch

Weather permitting, we will have a picnic in the garden on Thursday 4th May. Usual school uniform please. If you have not pre-ordered the School Lunch Party Box for your child, please send them with a packed lunch from home. There will be no hot meals. if the weather is too poor to eat outside, the children will eat inside as usual – though still the party box or their packed lunch.

Assembly Today

We have celebrated two stars living our values of perseverance, effort and enthusiasm – well done to Lilly K and Lilly R. Thien An has been nominated by the sports leaders for living our value of effort at Sportzone and scoring a goal!

We had a particular talk about safety today. All the children know that the keeping them safe is the most important parts of my job. We talked about:

Safe places to cross the main road when you walk to school. I have advised children to cross at the traffic calming chicanes as these help them take a direct route across the road and help them avoid crossing by the entrance to the village hall from which cars might be turning out. Staff will remind children of this safe crossing point when they are out on woods trips and it would also be helpful if you went over that with your child if they walk to school on their own (or to help them identify another safe place).

Safe play by the hall and on the pitch (out of school time). Some anti-social behaviour in these areas has been brought to my attention in recent weeks. For example, there has been fly tipping at the recycling point and a microwave left there has had the door kicked in by young people. There has been evidence of fire setting and vaping. I have advised our pupils that if they see something happening that they don’t like when they are out playing, they should go home and tell an adult and then play elsewhere on that day. If your child regularly plays out by themselves, it might be worth having a chat to them about this.

Staying Safe by Staying in the School Grounds. I have reminded children that once they arrive on school grounds in the morning, they can not leave unless a member of school staff says they can. It is very tempting for older children to nip home if they remember they’ve forgotten something and the 9am bell hasn’t rung yet but this can lead to a situation where parents think a child is at school and we think they are off. If your child walks to school on their own, I would be grateful if you could remind them of this rule. I am also grateful to all parents and family members for remembering to come to the school office as their first port of call any time they come onto school property.

P7 have all achieved Level 2 Bikeability and P6 will start their sessions next week.

• P7 can access Thursday Cafe next week. Usual arrangements! If your child is not in the Thursday Cafe group but would like to attend please email lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk to make arrangements, they can only attend without your permission.
• Bikeability has restarted – P7 are in the process of finishing level 2 and P6 which start Level 2 shortly.  Look out for info on Seesaw.
• Now the better weather is here, the garden will be opening up at playtimes again. The garden will be for children who want to climb on the Trim Trail or do a quieter activity e.g. art, reading , games. The tarmac area also remains available for more boisterous activities look football and tig.

P2-7 STEM Afternoon

P2-7 Parents are invited into school on Tuesday 28th March at 1.45pm to do a piece of Science/Technology/Engineering/Maths learning with their child. We have space for one adult per child to come. If you have more children in the school than adults available to work with them, you can move between the children so that you see what everyone is doing! P2 and 3 will work in their classroom with Miss Diplexcito, P4 and 5 will work in the P5/6/7 classroom with Mrs Purves and P6 and 7 will work in the Morison Duncan Hall with Miss Bowman. Please come to reception when you first arrive and we will direct you to the learning areas from there.

Assembly

We have celebrated pupils who have lived our values of perseverance, effort and curiosity this week. Well done to Sebastian and Edith.

Several pupils have met our behaviour expectations as Secret Pupils and earned points for their house. Well done to: Sebastian, Vega, Luis, Isla, Lilly R, Evie, Mya, Ava and Ola.

We have celebrated some personal achievements which have been shared on Seesaw.

If your child has not had a personal achievement shared on seesaw yet, please encourage them to tell us about one or email me to tell me. Our aim is for every child to have an achievement shared by the end of the school year. Not only does sharing an achievement give your child a self-esteem boost, it also helps us to know more about their interests and talents.

End of Term

Thursday 30th is the last day of term – we will look forward to seeing everyone back at school on 17th April.

Assembly Today

We have celebrated the achievement of the Rotary Quiz team on Wednesday evening. While they weren’t the winning team, they were commended for their teamwork and we are so proud of them for living our school value at a community event.

Hugo has been living our school values of independence and enthusiasm this week – well done to him.

We have had quite a few Secret Pupils who have met our expectations and won points for their house this week. Well done to: Florence, Ciaran, Theo, Mya, Ross, Kaia and Maya.

P1-7 Parent Teacher Meetings

Please complete the form which came home earlier in the week,, if you haven’t already, to let us know when you would like your appointment to be.

P5/6/7 Caird Hall Trip

The class had an amazing time at the Caird Hall yesterday seeing art set to music. They have had a go themselves in school today.

Woods Trips

Please make sure you child has plenty of clothes to keep them warm and dry at the woods – it is still quite wintery. They should have several layers as well as a warm, waterproof coat and boots. Please send waterproof trousers if you have them.

Assembly Today

We celebrated everyone’s success at living our value of teamwork on World Book Day and a special well done to Jess and Lachlan who were chosen for an award after working particularly well together.

Four Secret Pupils have met our expectations and won points for their house this week. Well done to: Ross, Scott L, Nora and Lewis.

We have celebrated some personal achievements and shared them on Seesaw.

We have also had another discussion about the impact of our School Improvement priorities as more children have added ideas to the wall. Click here for details.

There is a French challenge this week – can you say ‘merci’ instead of thank you every time you say it? See if your child can do this at home as well!

Upcoming Inspection

There is a last chance over the weekend to complete the pre-inspection survey if you haven’t done yet. We would really value your views being included – the link has come by text and email so you should all have it but I can easily resend if you need me to – just get in touch at lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk 

We are looking forward to inviting Inspectors from Education Scotland into our school in week beginning 13th March. We discussed this at Assembly today and I asked the children what is good about our school which they would like to share with the Inspectors when they are with us. The children told me:

• Writing
• French
• Maths
• Our Opportunities – the children thought about Dalguise, Snow White, After School and Lunchtime Clubs.
• Our Values – children thought enthusiasm and effort were most important to show.
• Our aims – Opportunities, Wellbeing, Leaning, Support

I have told the children I will make sure their ideas are included in the paperwork I will submit to the inspectors.

Next week, children in P4-7 will have chance to complete a survey in school to share their opinions and experiences with the Inspectors.

Parents – please take 10 mins when you can to also complete your survey which came out by email on Wednesday (and today for Nursery parents). I am keen that all parents’ voices be included in the Inspection and completing the survey is a way for your voice to be heard.

If you might be available to meet with the inspectors when they are in, please indicate this on the survey and they will contact you to make arrangements.

We celebrated three stars who have been living our values of Inclusion, Friendship, Respect, Enthusiasm and Effort – well done to Ola, Finlay and Jackson.

Beetle Drive

Please click here to find out about the Beetle Drive to be held in the village hall. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If anyone misses out this time, they will be given priority at the next Beetle Drive as the Hall Committee plan to hold another one before too long.

Fife’s Neurodevelopmental Webpages – Launch

Fife Council are launching a website to signpost staff and families to. The purpose of the site is to clarify what we mean by Neurodevelopment, and to provide information on referral, diagnosis and the support available. Going forward, this will be a crucial tool in how we share information on our processes and the advice we can make available to families. The site has very recently gone live, and the Test of Change project team have asked if I would share it with staff and  families. Importantly, the project group is looking for feedback on the site content and structure as part of its future development. Users can leave feedback using the link that is included at the foot of each page. https://girfec.fife.scot/

P7 Transition to Madras

The P7s had a great visit from Mr Wishart (DHT at Madras yesterday). We have made this display to help them track their steps from now to starting S1 on 16th August and to see all the support that will be in place: Transition Display

Assembly

I couldn’t be at assembly today but the teachers led it together giving the children a reminder about the importance of handwashing and celebrating stars who have been living our school values of effort and perseverance . Well done to Annie and Nora.

Next week – Don’t forget!

School and Nursery are closed on Wednesday 15th for the Inservice Day and Thursday 16th and Friday 17th for the February Holiday.

Dear Parents,

I am writing to share the information about Extra Curricular Clubs running at Balmerino PS so you know all the opportunities which are available.

Tuesday
P3/4/5 Football after school from 3-4pm run by Active Schools

Wednesday
P4/5/6/7 Multisports after school from 3-4pm run by Active Schools

Thursday
P2/3/4 Lunchtime Sportzone run by our Junior Leaders (P5/6/7 pupils) in conjunction with Active Schools – your child will be able to tell you if they attend this club – it runs in the playground

Friday
P2/3/4 Lunchtime Dance Club run by our Junior Leaders (P5/6/7 pupils) in conjunction with Active Schools – you will have received an email if your child opted to attend this club as it runs in the Morison Duncan Hall

After School Multi-Sports is full but there are still places in the P3/4/5 Football on a Tuesday and if you are interested in your child joining this club you should contact the office to sign them up. Please speak to the office, not to the coach directly and please note it is only for P3/4/5 at this time. We may open it to P2 at a later point if space allows.

I am also pleased to tell you that, through our delivery of PE and extra curricular clubs, we have been awarded a Bronze Sports Scotland Award and we are now working towards Silver.

If any parent is interested in getting involved with running a lunchtime or afterschool club, please contact me to discuss.

Kind regards
Lucy Jess
lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk