Learning Overviews for Term 3 are now on our website: Click here to access them.

Scots Poetry – over the past two weeks all children are gaining the experience of learning and delivering a Scots poem.  Class  certificates (linked to our Achieve school value) will be presented on Friday.  The achievement focus is on trying hard, not giving up and delivering the poem with expression (children do not need to memorise the poem).  Well done to everyone!

Scottish Opera – P5-7 have begun learning songs from Scottish Opera and will be performing on the afternoon of  Monday 6th March.  More information to follow. click here to find out more about this learning.

Head Teacher Coffee Morning – you are warmly invited this Thursday 26th January  to drop by for a coffee/tea with Mrs Tweed to have a chat about school.  Come to the main office just after 9am.

New flooring –  We are delighted to be having new flooring fitted on both school staircases as well as in two classrooms.  To minimise disruption much of the work is being done over weekends, the inservice day and holidays, however week beginning 30th January may see some temporary reorganisation of entry/exit points at the start and end of day.  We will update families at the end of this week.

Learning Partnership Visit – On Monday 23rd a Fife Quality Improvement Advisor and two head teachers will visit Tayport PS and Ferryport nursery and engage in quality assurance activities such as class learning visits, pupil focus groups and staff focus groups in order to give us feedback on our school improvement priorities.

Anyone in need of support with food in an emergency from the Tayhead Foodbank  should call 07840 957039 .

We warmly welcome Miss Rebecca Irvine to Tayport Primary as our non-class contact teacher. Miss Irvine will work every Tuesday and Wednesday in a range of classes across the school.

The Reading Council proudly present their recommendations of some new texts which they have been reading for their classes: click here to find out more.

Industrial action – 18/01/2023 – an email confirming school closure on Wednesday will be issued later today.  The following link can support learning at home: learning at home link.

We have been asked to share the following information by NHS Fife:

Group A strep is a common bacteria which causes mild infections. These infections are usually easily treated, but on rare occasions they can become more serious.

At this time of year there are lots of viruses circulating that cause children to be unwell, and it is more likely a child is ill from one of these than group A strep. In this video, consultant paediatrician at the Victoria Hospital, Dr John Morrice, talks about what to look out for if your child is unwell, and when you may need to seek medical assistance.

More information and other videos can be found at: http://www.nhsinform.scot/strepA  and http://www.nhsfife.org/winterailments

YouTube – https://youtu.be/_kL5sgLqtXc

Survey Feedback from families – I have summarised your feedback in the following video in our stakeholder feedback section of the website: Stakeholder Feedback | Tayport Primary School and Ferryport Nursery (glowscotland.org.uk)

Please note that the weekly update sits on our website and, where possible, I add links to take you directly to information.  Weekly updates are posted on a Monday or Tuesday as sometimes I am expecting information from other places that needs to be shared and it does not always arrive at the beginning of the week!

Industrial Action –  Tuesday 10th January.  An email will be sent later on Monday 9th to confirm if the industrial action is going ahead. If it goes ahead please use the following link (from our website) to engage in learning at home:  Learning | Tayport Primary School and Ferryport Nursery (glowscotland.org.uk)

P1 and Nursery Enrolment –  Nursery enrolments opened on 6th January and close on 31st January. P1 enrolments for August 2023 opened today (9th January) and close on 15th March.  We would encourage families to apply as soon as possible.  Click here to access all enrolment links and information from our website.

School Calendar for Term 3 – please refer to the school calendar for planned dates for this session.  School Calendar | Tayport Primary School and Ferryport Nursery (glowscotland.org.uk) Some dates are subject to change – please contact us if you have any queries.

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.