Thank you for your support! The parent council Christmas raffle was a great success. The final amount raised will be updated in the new year. We still have a supply of coloured pupil designed 2022 Calendars for sale at £6. Please contact the office ASAP.  Again we appreciate your support.

Congratulations and a huge well done to Ciara, Ava-Ruth, Zoe, Poppy and Hamish who performed in the Tayport Amateur Dramatic and Musical Society show “Nativity The Musical” from 8^th to 11^th December. We are proud of their dedication and commitment over the previous months, resulting in being part of a great community event.  #community  #inspire

Mid-session reviews and Learning Steps home – please return learning step jotters asap (with your signature and comment).  #progress

Draft School Calendar for Jan – April 2022 – has been updated on the website but is a work in progress! Please keep checking here. https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/fi/tayportps/school-calendar/jan-april-2022-draft/

From 6^th January 2022 – We continue to operate with various Covid-19 mitigations in school. We had hoped by the New Year that we would have more flexibility with children mixing, however, this is not the case. For various reasons we plan to make one change to the current bubble structure operating at breaks and lunchtimes. On our return to school in January Primary 4 will switch bubbles with Primary 2/3.  For your information lunch times are structured as so (first 20 minutes in the dinner hall):

Bubble 1 – P1, P1/2, P2/3 –Lunch 12:00 – 12:45

Bubble 2 – P5/6, P6/7, P7 – Lunch: 12:25 – 1:10

Bubble 3 – P3, P4, P4/5 – Lunch: 12: 50 – 1:35

Vacancies at Tayport Primary:  There are a number of cleaning posts in North East Fife schools available. Our recruitment advert for another pupil support assistant has been extended too. https://ekmu.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX/

All the boys and girls have worked hard to prepare and deliver their Christmas 2021 performance. Please enjoy!

Click here to view Tayport and Ferryport’s Christmas 2021 Cheer Performances

Mid-session reviews and Learning Steps home – please enjoy sharing your child’s learning together. Jotters should be returned by end of week with comments from you and signed.

Parent Council Raffle Tickets – still available. Check their Facebook page for an impressive list of prizes. https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/fi/tayportps/parental-involvement/parent-council/

Class Christmas Parties – Just a reminder of plans for this week and the start of next:

School 2022 Calendar For Sale– Envelopes with order slips were sent home last week. Please get back to us ASAP.

Covid-19 Safety – with ongoing concerns around the new variant, where possible adults should avoid entering our playground, physically distance from each other and wear a face covering at all times. There are some changes to isolation rules if anyone in school becomes infected with the new variant. We will update families if this happens.

Christmas Cheer Videos to be shared on Friday 17^th – Classes are finalising their Christmas cheer song and we hope to share this, via the website, on Friday.  A link will be emailed to first contacts on Groupcall.

Refreshed School Vision and Values – After a lot of collaborative work, our young Learning Leaders have finally agreed our updated school vision and values. We will trial these next session and make any improvements before finalising during term 4. A short video will be created to explain this soon. In the meantime, you can view details here: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/fi/tayportps/

Class Christmas Parties – Dates have been set for class Christmas parties below. Although two classes are against a date, due to ongoing Covid-19 mitigations classes will use the gym hall separately. If desired, on party days children can come to school in “party wear” .  All children will receive a selection box to take home following their party.  Please remember the Parent Council is funding the parties and selection boxes through its fundraising work and would welcome families’ support for the Christmas raffles through ticket purchasing and prizes.

Tues 14th – P4

Thurs 16th – P5/6 & P4/5

Fri 17th – P6/7 & P7

Mon 20th – P1 & P1/2

Tues 21st – P2/3 & P3

Click here for other dates for December

2022 Designed School Calendar Fundraiser –

Please expect an order slip and envelope sent home with pupils this week.

P6 Ardroy Residential information Evening – Ardroy staff will host an information evening for P6 families on Tuesday 7^th December at 6 pm on Teams. The link has previously been emailed to all families.

Link to Tues 7th Dec meeting on Teams at 6 pm

 Nursery Deferrals – Fife is part of a pilot programme giving parents the option of deferring children whose birthday is after 17^th August 2022. All information will be emailed to families or can be accessed on our website here: Nursery Deferral Information

Pupil Support Assistant Post – closes midnight 9 December.  PSA vacancy has arisen in school. Please share around the community. PSA at Tayport PS Advert

 Tiny Tangerines Programme at Dolphin Centre – Michael Anderson, the Early Years Development Officer from Dundee United Community Trust is running the Tiny Tangerines programme, a physical literacy programme that is for nursery aged boys and girls. He currently runs sessions at the Dolphin Centre in Tayport every Friday from 1pm – 1:45pm and 2pm – 2:45pm. All information can be found at their website  here

Winter Fuel Discounts – You usually get a Winter Fuel Payment automatically if you receive the State Pension or another benefit, such as Pension Credit (but not Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support or Universal Credit). If you qualify, but don’t get paid automatically, you’ll need to make a claim:  here

Perth Christmas activity – Information can be found on the Community section of our website. Note there is a 10% discount code if you book before 8th Dec (excludes Saturdays).

Fife’s Virtual Library Links for w.b 6^th December: https://sway.office.com/Bpzc5xYmuFMbkY2L?ref=Link

The children and staff are proud to share their anti-bullying learning with you via an online Sway. Please scroll down to see all content.

Click here to share in our whole school anti-bullying learning

Anti-Bullying Fortnight and sharing our learning

We will be sharing our learning from anti-bullying fortnight later this week. In the meantime here is a little sneak peak!

 Tayport Heritage Trail – All children will bring home a brochure about Tayport’s Heritage Trail as well as a rubbing sheet, this week. During 2022 we plan to use the trail as a whole school outdoor learning experience. In the meantime, we have added a link to the community section of the website: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/fi/tayportps/community/tayport-heritage-trail/

School Photo Survey – Thank you to those who completed the short photo survey last week. 22.2% of families responded and of this group the results were:

53% – would like both a class and an individual/ sibling photo if possible later in the year.
42% – would like an individual/sibling photo only.
5% – did not want a school photo at all.

Based on these results we will contact Tempest and find out what they can offer next term.

Nursery Newsletters – We have added a section to our website to allow easy access to nursery newsletters: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/fi/tayportps/nursery/newsletters/

Learning Leaders – Pupil participation in decisions affecting the future direction of our school is crucial to ensure we are making the right changes for the correct reasons. This week Mrs Tweed is meeting representatives from every class to review the suggestions for the refresh of our School Vision and Values.  More updates to follow.

Parent Council Christmas Raffle Tickets – raffle tickets were sent home last Friday and should be returned to school with payment as soon as possible.  You can drop off any prize donations at the school office (please do not send in children’s bags).

Toy Drive Self-Referral – Final call to anyone who would like to self-refer their children to receive a gift from the Toy Drive (information about this was emailed last week) Complete this form by 1 December

P7 to S1 High School Enrolment –  It has been agreed to trial an online enrolment system for Primary 7 pupils due to start secondary school in August 2022. Please see information letter sent to all P7 parents/carers.  P7S1 Online Enrolment

Fife Virtual Library: Online focus this week is  Hannukah as well as the usual story times, Bookbug, crafts and more. https://sway.office.com/gFeQMbAWp4nbE5TN?ref=Link

An enormous thank you for your generosity! We raised £312 for children in need on Friday 19th November!

The parent council has donated £600 to support development of our outdoor learning space (£400) and Room 7 “The View” (£200). More details to follow.  We appreciate the school community’s support in improving our learning offer in school.

Anti-bullying Focus – Week 2 – After a very successful first week focusing on kindness we continue our work on making our school a welco

ming, safe and happy place for everyone. This week children will practise using our “Being cool at Tayport School” script. Please keep an eye on our twitter feed for updates:  https://twitter.com/tayportps

We look forward to sharing our whole school learning around this very important subject next week.

Covid-19 Mitigations – Existing COVID-19 safety mitigations in schools are to remain for now, following advice from senior clinicians. This has an impact on plans for the festive period.  If you wish to read details around Covid-19 safety expectations in schools please follow this link: https://www.gov.scot/news/covid-19-safety-in-schools/

Christmas:

• The parent council has generously donated £1.50 per pupil to support Christmas Parties. Teachers will confirm party dates w.b. 6 December. Every child will also receive a small selection box from the parent council too.
• To support the parent council’s great work they will be running an Adult and Children’s Christmas Raffle from 1 – 14^th December with the draw taking place live over the weekend of 18^th/19^th .If you would like to donate please contact the parent council click here for contact details. Prizes can also be dropped off at the school office (please do not sent items in children’s school bags). Information on purchasing raffle tickets will be sent home shortly.
• School Christmas Lunch and Christmas Accessory Day [wear usual school uniform with a Christmas jumper or head band or…] is Wednesday 15^th
• Each class will prepare and perform a Christmas song (linking to expressive arts curriculum) this will be recorded and shared online with our Tayport Community as a “Christmas Cheer” event on Friday 17^th

Pupil Designed 2022 Calendars – The children have been busy preparing their designs for our school calendar fundraiser. The calendars will be £6 a piece and we are ordering 150 to be printed. Details of how to order will be released shortly.

School Photos – Thank you for your patience while we investigated alternative options for school photos. After much consultation we have decided to stay with Tempest Photography as we are satisfied with their product and the level of PVG and GDPR. Currently, Tempest will only do group photos outside, not individual. Our hope is in the new year restrictions will be lifted.  In the meantime, I am asking you to complete a very short form by 12 noon on Thursday 25^th November to understand if there is demand to purchase school photos during this academic year: https://forms.office.com/r/qieZEQQc7J

Fife’s Virtual Library have some great dianosaur activities available this week:  https://sway.office.com/F7ymd7ncVGtmvYeH?ref=Link

Antil-Bullying fortnight Please keep an eye on our Twitter feed for updates on our OneKindWord focus fortnight.  We have set up a new area on the website with helpful links and resources for parents which we will continue to add to. Click here to go to the anti-bullying section of our website

The staff and children are also trialling “Being Cool at Tayport School” scripts and we plan to share these is this area too once they are finalised.

Children in Need – Dress Down this Friday 19^th.   Please donate £1 if you can.  We have created a Just Giving Page, directly linked to Children in Need, to avoid cash coming into school. If possible please donate here: click here to donate on just giving 

• Please note £2 is the minimum donation on JustGiving. If you wish to donate less this, it is no problem, just send cash into school on Friday. Apologies for this inconvenience.

Parent Council Meeting on Teams on Thursday 18^th November at 7:15pm.  Here is the Teams Link to join: Join parent council meeting 18 Nov at 7:15 pm

If you wish to contact the parent council go to their section of our website here

Our Community section of the website has information about the local toy drive and also some of our primary seven pupils laying our poppy wreath at the Tayport War Memorial. Later in the day a group of primary ones also visited the Memorial Garden to lay miniature poppies on crosses in the grounds. #lestweforget

An Ardroy 2022 Information evening has been arranged for current P6 families. Click here to find out more on the website.

Ardroy – Miss Narauskaite, Miss Gallacher, Mrs Heggie and myself attended the first P7 Ardroy residential in over 2 years with 33 children last week. The trip was a huge success and provided unique learning experiences, not just physical activities such as abseiling, but also developing independence and life skills. I was very proud of everyone who attended, they supported one another, had great humour and fantastic manners throughout the week. I would also like to thank the staff who gave up their own time to make the trip possible. There are some photos on our Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/tayportps

November is always a busy time with important national events often overlapping each other. Here is a rundown of how we are doing things at Tayport this year!  There have been a few changes to dates so please check the calendar section of the website here

Flu Vaccine in school Tuesday 9th Nov

Poppies are for sale in school this week.

Inservice Day 3 – Friday 12^th November – School closed to pupils.

Anti-Bullying fortnight commences Monday 15^th November with an Odd Socks Day.  Children and adults should come to school sporting their oddest odd socks. No donations please as we are supporting Children in Need later in the week.

Over the fortnight the whole school will be sharing learning and key messages around bullying.  We will ask our families to join the ‘5 Days of Kindness’ challenge.  The ‘5 Days of Kindness’ challenge is a social media campaign which runs alongside Anti-Bullying Week. It’s a simple and impactful challenge for schools and everyone across Scotland to participate in to help share kindness – no matter how big or small, kindness helps to spread kindness. . By spreading kindness, we champion how kindness can halt hurtful behaviour in its tracks.

 Need some inspiration?: 

• Donate to a foodbank
• Start a conversation with someone new
• Tell someone they are doing a good job
• Hold a door open
• Ask someone if they are okay

Children in Need – We have moved the dress down day for Children in Need to Friday 19^th November. Please donate £1. We have created a Just Giving Page, directly linked to Children in Need, to avoid cash coming into school. If possible please donate here: Click here to go straight to Just Giving

Book Week Scotland also runs from 15 – 19^th November. P1-3 will receive their Read, Write Count bags during this week.

Fundraiser – Calendar for 2022 – All children will contribute to designing a whole school monthly calendar which will be on sale shortly. The calendar is a month to view and in colour. It will cost £6. We plan to order 200 calendars and will be available on a first come basis.  More details to follow.

Halloween: Tayport Primary children have been preparing Halloween art this week to hang in a window at home to create an informal Halloween trail.  Over the weekend, you may wish to get active as a family and spot the spooky pictures around the town (look up high at school and you might spot a spider or too!).

A Halloween goodie bags is coming home today. Children have been asked not to open these before you check the contents at home. All items are vegan. These have been generously prepared and filled by your Parent Council.  The next Parent Council meeting has been arranged on Teams on Thursday 18^th November.  Click here to see Parent Council information on website

P7 Residential to Ardroy – 1-5 November – Mrs Tweed, Miss Gallacher, Miss Narauskaite and Mrs Heggie will accompany the learning visit to Ardroy. Mrs Peterson will be first point of contact for all parents during these dates.  The bus will depart from school at 9:00 am on Monday so we anticipate that the main entrance will be extra busy on Monday.  In our grounds all adults are politely reminded to wear a face mask and to maintain 1m distancing from each other.

Flu Vaccine – The Immunisation team continue to delivery flu vaccination in schools, if you haven’t returned your child’s consent form, please do so immediately.  Tayport’s session is on Tuesday 9^th November.  If your child misses the school session, please contact the team on 01383 565456 Fife.immunisationqueries@nhs.scot to make an appointment at a community clinic. Evening clinics will be available the week of the 1st of November.

Calendar updates: Click here to see school calendar section of website