School Mascots

We have been pleased to welcome Snowie and Seaenna to our school this week. They are our new mascots and are going to help us learn about the Wellbeing Indicators and the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child. Each child will get a chance to bring them home to look after them and reflect on how they are looking after their wellbeing and rights. There is a bit of information for parents in the pack that comes with them. If your child can write a diary entry (or you can write it for them) then it will help them share their ideas with their class. This builds on the work already being done with Poppy and Henry in Nursery.

 

Toy Drive

The North East Fife Toy Drive is running again this year. Toy Drive collects  presents and gifts them to children whose parents or carers will struggle with the cost of Christmas this year. Donations can be dropped off at a variety of points including Wormit Primary School. If any parent wants to donate but can’t make it to Wormit, feel free to drop off at Balmerino and I can take it down for you. There is more info here: Toy Drive Poster.

If your family might struggle financially this Christmas, please contact me in confidence and I will arrange to refer you to Toy Drive – lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk 

 

Stars

Well done to Mya G, Ciaran and Sophie who have been living our school values of Effort and Perseverance this week.

 

 

House Competition

I have introduced a House Competition today – click here for more information.

 

Attendance

Everyone in Fife is committed to supporting school attendance. Please click here to read some information from Fife Council on attendance procedures for our school: Attendance – what you need to know

It’s Just One Day!  Random absences, not just those on consecutive days of school, matter. Before you know it – just one or two days a month can add up to nearly 10 percent of the school year.

#SchoolAttendanceMatters

Nursery attendance is not compulsory in law but Nursery parents should always tell us if their child will be off, just as primary parents do and we will be in touch to check all is well if we haven’t heard from you.

Building Blocks: Attendance matters as early as nursery. Children who miss too many days in nursery can struggle later with learning and friendships.

#NurseryAttendanceMatters

 

Our School, Our Future is our Vision for Balmerino PS. Click here to read it in full.

Our School, Our Future is what we all want our school to look like.

We know the school aims really well because they are our OWLS (Opportunities, Wellbeing, Learning and Support). Calling them the OWLS helps us remember them.

We all know and live our values for wellbeing and learning but we can’t always remember them all.

So…

…your challenge is to make a poster to show the values for learning or the values for wellbeing. You should design it in a way that will help us all remember the values. You can use the ideas I shared at assembly or come up with your own.

 

Values for Learning

Perseverance

Independence

Effort

Curiosity

Enthusiasm

Teamwork

We are all a PIECE of the Team!

 

Values for Wellbeing

Friendship

Inclusion

Respect

Personal Achievement

Picture your personal achievement if you climbed to the top of a tall Fir Tree!

 

Bring your entry to school by Friday 7th October (end of term). Put your name and house on the back. You will win house points for entering and more if your entry is the one chosen for us to display.

Assembly

It was a busy assembly today. We started by reflecting on the life of the Queen and the changes that are going to come now.

We spoke about the football match on Wednesday – what a pleasure it was for me to see the pupils from both schools playing so well together. I felt proud of both teams and we celebrated their success and teamwork at assembly today.

Well to our stars who have been spotted living our values of effort, perseverance and teamwork: Ava C, Holly, Jackson and Scott A.

Beatbox

P5/6/7 have worked with Beatbox today to write and record a school song – we will look forward to being able to share it with the whole school when it is finished.

Advance Notice

We have booked to take the whole school to see Snow White at the Byre Theatre on Wednesday 14th December in the afternoon. We will leave after lunch and be back by about 4pm. Due to the cost of tickets and transport, I will need to ask for a contribution of £10 per child. We will cover the rest of the cost through fundraising. Please don’t send any money yet, we will be back in touch about this. I am just getting in touch now so that you have as much notice as possible to plan financially. If any family can’t meet the cost of the outing, we will help – no child will miss out.

 

Well Done to these pupils who climbed West Lomond with Miss Bowman yesterday: Ciaran, Jess, Isla, Ross, Luis, Joshua, Lilly, Jenna, Lexi and Florence.

 

Football Match Next Week

We have a friendly match planned for Balmerino against Wormit on Wednesday 7th on the pitch in Gauldry. The team are: Sophie, Ross, Luis, Scott L, Jackson, Lola, Ruari, Jenna, Ciaran, Lilly R, Isaac and Joshua. Unless you’ve made a different arrangement with me, please bring your child to the pitch at 3.45 wearing their kit which will be sent home in advance. You can leave them in my care or stay to spectate. Please pick them back up at 5.15 or let me know if they can go home on their own. Any family who would like to come to spectate is welcome to do so. I am excited to be getting groups from the two schools together and am sure it will be a great game!

 

Stars

Our stars today have been living our values of inclusion, enthusiasm, respect and teamwork. Well done to Jenna, Joshua, Jack and Ander.

Assembly Today

We have discussed some up-coming opportunities at assembly today:

• 10 P6/7s are going to climb Wet Lomond and a Munro in September
• There will be a football match against Wormit in September (more details to follow)
• An AM Soccer Club will run after school for P2-4 (an email came home this week)
• P7s are going to have the chance to take on the role as Sports Leaders with the P2s
• The P5/6/7 Multi-Sports Club will be running again after school – details to follow
• Pupil Council will be starting again – details to follow

All our P7s have accepted the responsibility of being a House Captain. Well done to them all!

 

Outdoor Learning Clothes

P2/3/4 need their clothes on Monday and P5/6/7 on Tuesday. Many thanks

 

General Reminders

Please return data check, general permissions and flu letters on Monday, if you haven’t done so already.

 

Dates Coming Up

6th September – Apple Day – please come to school wearing apple coloured clothes (no uniform needed). Please bring £1 to donate to the day if you can. The focus of learning will be on Food Technology and Health and Wellbeing.

15th September – Rag Bag Collection

28th September – Tempest Photographer in school to take individual and sibling photos. Every child will have their photo taken unless you request otherwise.  There is no obligation to but. You can email lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk to request your child’s photo not be taken.

 

 

 

It has been lovely to welcome everyone back to school this week. Over the coming weeks and months we are looking forward to having parents come into school to work with us. We are giving ourselves an aim that every child will have at least one parent come into school for an activity at least once before Christmas. In the next week or so, you will receive a survey to tell us the times of day that are best for you and the sort of activities you would like to come into school to do.

 

Data Check and General Permissions – for action by all parents

These forms are coming home today. The data check shows the information we currently hold – please check it is still up to date and make any changes by hand using a coloured pen if possible (it helps us spot the changes if they are not in black!) Please sign the data check on both pages to confirm it is correct. The general permissions form needs to be completed so that we know we are following your wishes while your child is in our care. Please send both forms back in by end of day on 29th August at the latest. This will help us get all systems up to date.

 

Dietary Requirements Form

There have been changes to the school lunch menu. If your child has dietary requirements, you should check the menu (available here) and resubmit the form if any changes are needed – the form and information is available here.

 

News from Nursery

All the returners and our new pupils have settled well. There have been lots of learning opportunities both inside and out and the children have enjoyed playing together – Sharing Our Learning will start coming home next week.

 

Shoes at School (P2-7)

Please send your child to school in their school shoes (preferably black) each day. They should also bring a pair of shoes (preferably trainers – we recommend old ones) in their bag each day – they will wear these for outdoor PE and for playing in the garden if they might get muddy. They should bring these to and from school each day to avoid clutter and so that they can use them out of school. These are the only shoes they need for school this term.

Next term (after the October holiday) they will also need a pair of gym shoes or clean trainers to wear in the hall for PE. They will only need to bring these on PE days so they can also be worn at home or at indoor clubs.

We know that shoes are expensive and so are keeping the shoes needed for school to a minimum and not asking for them to be stored in school.

 

PE Kit 

P2-7 children should bring their kit to school on their PE day. We aren’t keeping the kits in school to avoid clutter and so that you can check them for washing and have the clothes at home for out of school time.

PE kit is: t-shirt, joggers or similar (not jeans), a hoody or fleece

PE days are:

P2/3/4 – Tuesday and Friday

P5/6/7 – Monday and Friday

Please can every child bring a waterproof coat with a hood to school each day. We play outside even if its a bit wet!

 

Outdoor Learning

P2/3/4 will do outdoor learning each Monday from 29th August

P5/6/7 will do outdoor learning each Tuesday from 30th August

Please send your child with outdoor learning clothes to change into at lunchtime. They need old trousers, t-shirt, jumper and a waterproof jacket. They can wear the trainers they bring to school anyway or wellies. They will come home in their woods clothes.

Outdoor learning will take place in the school garden, Waterloo Woods or Brownie woods depending on the content of the lesson.

Nursery parents will get information about Forest Kindergarten once arrangements have been finalised.

 

School Improvement 

At assembly today, we have shared our school improvement priorities with the children. They are:

• We are becoming a French Speaking School.
• We are becoming a Writing School – we know our strengths and next steps.
• We are becoming an Outdoor School – we know what subjects we are learning when outdoors and how our skills are building.
• Our Parents know about our Learning and they can help us Learn.

More information will come  home to parents about this in due course. The Nursery team and I will be also be engaging with Early Learning Documents around quality assurance and Personal Planning to ensure we continue to maintain high standards and follow national advice for our youngest learners.

Also at assembly, we reminded the children of our school vision, values and aims, our playground charter and how to get help with friendships. Click these links to find out more, it would be great to talk about them at home as well:

Our School. Our Future: Vision, Value, Aims

Playground Charter

Stand Up! Get Help!

 

 

 

It feels like a while since I have sent a weekly information sheet or an Assembly report. As you know this has been a busy term and I was off sick for a couple of weeks. We have sent a lot of emails because we felt you needed some information directly and quickly, rather than through the weekly sheet. This is a round up of what has been happening and is going to be happening before we break up for the summer.

Things we have done:

• Nursery have visited the library in Newport and the Urban Beach in Dundee to enhance their learning experiences. They have had a block of work at Balmerino Beach (thank you to parents who supported with transport).
• P1/2 and P3/4 have continued with regular forest visits to enhanced the curricular delivery through using the outdoor space.
• P7 have had three transition days to Madras.
• P1-6 have had a transition session where they met their new class and worked with their new teacher.
• 10 P6/7 pupils attended a football tournament at Leuchars PS where they competed against other pupils and lived our school values to the full.
• 8 P5/6 pupils attended a mountain biking competition at Lochore Meadows doing extremely well.
• We all thoroughly enjoyed Sports Day and Parent Council and Pupil Council supplied refreshments to raise funds.
• A P3-7 multi-sports club and a P3/4 football club have been running after school
• Pupil Council (supporting by Mrs Napier and Miss Diplexcito) have been running an Art Club and a STEM Club at lunchtimes.
• Our Girls Can (an initiative to encourage girls to continue to participate in sport) has been running in P5/6/7.
• P5/6/7 boys have been working on team building with P3/4.

 

Things we are looking forward to:

• Our Trip to Craigtoun Park – all permissions have been received and all relevant info has come by email.
• Another P1-6 (moving into P2-7) transition day to be held on Tuesday.
• Meeting Mrs Robertson who is joining the staff team next year and will work with P2-7.
• Our open afternoon (an email came about this last night)
• End of term celebration on 29th June – information has come home by email. Don’t forget your child does not need uniform (1960s clothing and/or bright colours are invited) and they will need a packed lunch.
• Fundraising – please send tombola and raffle donations in by Monday 27th June
• Nursery end of year celebration – a chance to celebrate the learning from this year and say goodbye to friends who will be moving onto new settings.
• Finding out who has won the House Cup!

Assemblies

P1-7 assemblies have continued each week and we have celebrated those children who have been spotted living our school values and they have brought certificates home. When I have not been able to attend assembly, the teaching staff have taken ownership and kept this going. We have also used Assembly to make sure the children know all the arrangements for our events this term and for next year. At the Queen’s Jubilee, P5/6/7 shared their learning on the events of the last 70 years in a timeline.

Parental Feedback

We have gathered P1-7 parents feedback on target setting and use of Seesaw. The results are collated here: Target Setting and Sharing Learning Survey 2021-22

Wednesday 1st June

Sports Day for Nursery-P7

Parents are invited to join us on the pitch from 1.30 onwards to spectate

The School Kitchens are serving a Jubilee Picnic Lunch which the children will eat in the school garden (weather permitting). Please order their picnic through iPayImpact or send them with a packed lunch. There will be no hot meals on this day.

Friday 3rd June

Additional Holiday for Jubilee. All children will bring home a flag and a crown on the Thursday to help with any community celebrations. We will have talked about the life of the Queen in school through the week.

Monday 6th June

School Holiday

Wednesday 8th June

Some P6/7 children will be attending a football tournament at Leuchars PS. You will receive separate information if your child is involved. This was going to be our back up day for Sports Day in case its rains on 1^st – we can’t use this day for sports now that it’s the football tournament. We’ll hope for a dry day on 1^st and if we can’t go ahead we’ll give you plenty of notice for a new date.

Tuesday 14th- Thursday 16th June

P7s to Madras for Transition Days

As long as staffing has been confirmed for next year, there will be some transition activities this week for current P1-6s.

Wednesday 22nd June

School Outing to Craigtoun Park. Your child will need to wear clothes suitable for a day outside and bring a water bottle, snack and a packed lunch. If you want them to have a school packed lunch, you must order it in advance. You will receive a text with details of how to do this. Please pay £5 contribution per child on iPayImpact making sure you choose the ‘trip fund’ not the ‘school dinner fund’. A consent form will come home next week.

Friday 24th June

Reports coming home (pre school Nursery Children and P1-7)

Wednesday 29th June

End of Year Events

During the morning, the children will run and take part in an Enterprise Fair. We will have a picnic lunch in the garden and then parents are invited to join us on the pitch at 1.30pm for our End of Year Assembly. There will be a raffle and tombola to raise funds for the school and nursery.

Your child should bring a packed lunch on this day or you should order a school packed lunch for them in advance. There will be no hot meals. You will receive a text with details of how to do this.

All staff and pupils are invited to come to school wearing bright colours or 1960s themed clothes on this day. No school uniform required.

Thursday 30th June

Last day of term – school and nursery finishes at 3pm

 

Ukraine Fundraiser

The girls and boys have smashed their 200 miles for £200 challenge. They walked a total of 354.8 miles and have raised a whopping £595 for the Disasters Emergency Committee. The Just Giving page will remain open for a few more weeks should anyone else wish to contribute.

 

Dates for Your Diary

Tuesday 17th May – a photographer from the Courier will come to take the P7 photo for the paper. As you have all given permission in the past, your child will be included in the photo unless you email me at lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk to request otherwise.

Wednesday 18th May – Madras Guidance staff visiting P7

Friday 27th May – P1 Eye Tests