Please complete the short survey on reporting (link in today’s update email).

Final reminder of dates in our Countdown to Christmas for Christmas parties and Christmas Cheer at the church on Wednesday at 10am, to which everyone in the local community is warmly invited.

Thank you for supporting the Parent Council raffle which, not only, heavily subsidised the cost of the school trip to the panto, but also, is ensuring every child leaves with a selection box on Wednesday.

School will finish at 3pm on Wednesday afternoon.  Wishing all our families a safe and happy two weeks.  We will welcome children back on Thursday 5 January 2023.

Please refer to the Countdown to Christmas file which has the remainder of dates up to Christmas.   Remember we have the school Christmas lunch on Wednesday (14th) and children can wear a Christmas accessory or jumper with their uniform.

On Monday evening our impressive P5-7 Choir performed at Tayport’s Auld Kirk to a packed audience. They were brilliant! Wonderful to be involved in such a lovely Christmassy community event again (first time since 2019). Thanks go to Mrs Heggie for leading this talented group!

Primary 4 were very excited to learn that Miss McDonagh got married at the weekend!  Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs Hamilton!

We have ongoing issues in a number of classes with recurring cases of head lice.  Please check your child’s hair regularly.  You might find the following advice helpful: Head lice and nits – Illnesses & conditions | NHS inform

An online survey has been emailed to families to gather feedback on how we share your child’s progress.  Please respond.

We are attending the Byre Theatre, St Andrews, to watch Snow White:

• Wednesday 7th – P3, P4, P4/5, P5, P6
• Thursday 8th – P1, P1/2, P2/3, P7

We will be leaving promptly just after 9am.  Your child must arrive on time, as if late, they risk not attending.

Everyone should wear school uniform on their panto day.  If your child usually has PE on the Wednesday or Thursday they should come in uniform, not gym wear.

The parent council is organising a drink and biscuit for the intermission so no snacks or water bottles will be taken with us.

Lunch arrangements for panto days were sent out last week.

We are all looking forward to this special Christmas outing. Thank you again to the parent council whose fundraising over the year is significantly contributing to the overall cost of the trip.

Our Community Champion MAD group are sending a huge thank you to the Tayport community for the generous NE Fife toydrive donations.

As you know the Parent Council is heavily subsidising the P1-7 school panto trip in December.  Please support their Christmas Raffle fundraiser by donating prizes and buying tickets (which will be sent home very soon).

Serious Nut Allergies – we have a number of children in school with serious life threatening nut allergies.  Therefore, other pupils should not bring snacks for break or lunch that have any nuts as an ingredient. We appreciate your support with this.

The Tay Bridge Head Foodbank has contacted us to say they are in need of donations.  While we will not be organising another Foodbank collection before Christmas please remember that you can support  by donating at Tayport’s Co-op (please see their website for ideas: Taybridgehead Foodbank – Helping the community).

A wee reminder of our Countdown to Christmas dates.  Please send in £5 per pupil for the panto trip ASAP.  We invite families into school next Friday (9th) 1:45 – 2:45 pm to share our learning around the whole school “Celebration” topic.  * P4 (Miss McDonagh’s class) are invited on Thursday at the same time.

Planned school closure for industrial action on: Thursday 24th November.  A message will be sent to families confirming this on Wednesday.  If the planned closure goes ahead the following link can support learning at home: go to Learning section of website.

Children in Need – Our dress down day last week raised £153.  Thank you!

Bookbug and Read Write Count Gifting Ceremony – this Friday in P1-P3 classrooms from 2:15 pm – 3pm.

Queen’s Jubilee Commemorative Book – all pupils were gifted a copy of this special book last week as part of our Book Week Scotland celebrations.

Outdoor Learning – Here’s a sneak peak of our P1-3 Outdoor Learning space: click here.

Cost of Living information for families: We have added a new page to our website with useful links for families: Support For Families

Countdown to Christmas: Here is a snapshot of the key dates leading up to Christmas: Countdown to Christmas

Panto money – please send in the £5 donation to the cost of the panto as soon as possible.  If there are any issues around paying please email Mrs Tweed in confidence: tayportps.headteacher@fife.gov.uk

Toy Drive Drop off point here at school. Thank you for all your donations so far.  We are still accepting donations and self-referrals too but this closes on Friday 25th November.  self-referral form

P5-7 Choir performing at Auld Kirk on 12th December. See poster in in Community News section of website.

Dress down for Children in Need – bring £1 to donate to Children in Need on Thursday 17th November. The theme is “Be Spotacular”. No football strips to be worn.

Remembrance Day – Our P7s demonstrated great respect when they visited Tayport’s War Memorial and laid their wreath on Friday 11th. click here for Twitter link.

Learning Steps Jotters – these were sent home last week and should be returned to school now with your comments.  We will be consulting with you shortly about the effectiveness of the learning steps in sharing your child’s progress.

Panto Visit – our Parent Council is generously supporting the cost of the P1- 7 panto visit in December.  As a result all families are being asked to pay only £5 per child – a separate email has been sent with full details.  Please contact Mrs Tweed either by phone or email if this cost is a barrier to your child attending: tayportps.headteacher@fife.gov.uk.

Attendance – Everyone in Fife is committed to supporting better school attendance. 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.     A letter regarding our school’s focus on improving attendance will be emailed this week – please read this carefully.

Exciting news! As part of our focus on Scottish Book Week and developing a love of reading, P1-3 families are invited to come and join some Bookbug and Read, Write, Count activities in classes on Friday 25th November from 2:15 pm until 3:00 pm.

Week beginning 21 November is our Anti-Bullying Focus Week. The national theme of Anti-bullying week is “Reach Out” which fits in nicely with our whole school building resilience programme and current focus of “Keep Connected”.  We will share the learning with you over the week.

Toy Drive Drop off point here at school. Thank you for all your donations so far.  We are still accepting self-referrals too.

Diversity Survey for school families from Fife Council: Please complete this form

Head Teacher Coffee Morning – this Thursday (10th) you are warmly invited to stop by for a coffee in “The View”, with Mrs Tweed from 9 – 10 am.  This is an informal opportunity to have a chat about what’s going on in school.

Learning Overviews are available for this term: on our website

Halloween Goodie Bag – thank you to the Parent Council who have organised treat bags for the school children to bring home as well as some spooky treats for the nursery boys and girls today.

Poppies – are still available in school .

The Queen’s Jubilee commemorative book – Every child at Tayport PS will receive their own copy of this special book during Book Week Scotland.

Toy Drive Collection Point –  buy an extra gift this Christmas and support the NE Fife  Toy Drive.  Our Community Champion MAD group will be supporting the Toy Drive this month as our school is a drop off point. Gifts should be unwrapped, suitable for boys or girls aged 0- 18 and NEW.

Toy Drive Referrals – As a school we will make referrals for our families to receive gifts from the Toy Drive.  If your family need a little support with Christmas and would like to be considered please complete the following short form: Toy Drive Self-Referral Please complete the referral ASAP and know that any self-referrals will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Welcome back! It was lovely to see everyone yesterday and looking so smart in school uniform too!  As more children begin to wear coats and sweatshirts it is even more important that names and classes are on all items. The learning overviews for each year group should be with you next week, and these will have reminders about gym kit and gym days.  Children need to bring their own water bottle daily.

We are delighted to share that over the holidays Miss Farrell (P2/3 class teacher) became Mrs Murray.

Mrs Avery has decided to take a break from teaching to try something new and her last day will be next Tuesday (1st Nov).  Mrs Avery has been a valued member of the Tayport teaching team since 2013 and we wish her well.   Until a permanent replacement is found for Mrs Avery’s two days, we have a supply teacher called Mrs Hutchinson who will work with a number of classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Poppy Appeal – every year we participate in the Royal British Legion’s poppy appeal.  We have a supply of poppies and a collection box in school from today.  Our house captains will visit classes daily to give all pupils the opportunity to take part.

School Calendar – Please remember to check the school calendar for dates for your diary for this term.  We have our first informal Head Teacher and Family coffee morning on Thursday 10th November at 9am in our small hall.  Please come along for a chat and a cuppa.

The school calendar has been updated: click here.  

Thank you for supporting our Macmillan coffee morning – an impressive £377 was raised.

Our dress-down French day was a big success and drew in lots of food donations for the Community Fridge. Mrs Dykes and some of the Community Champion MAD group delivered our school donation today.  Thank you again for your support.

We are delighted to share our learning around our whole school topic theme of Vive La France:

Cafe Inc will be running over the holidays (both weeks) 11:45 – 13:00 offering hot and cold lunches for all the family. Just come along.

Wishing all our families a safe and happy October break.