Saturday Football (for Information)
Please remember the sessions are back at Wormit PS on Big Park from tomorrow. Further info came by email earlier in the week.
Message from Active Schools (for Information)
Dear Parents,
A few things for you to know about in advance, for next term:
P1-7 Cloakrooms
All children will be keeping their belongings in a cloakroom from 18th April onwards. For P3 and P4, this will mean a change to the door they come in and out of. P3 will use the same door that P1 and P1/2 currently use (the one by the main entrance) and P4 will use the same door that P5 currently use. Click here to view a map to show the doors all pupils will use. Your child’s teacher will go over this with them this week. There is no change for Nursery yet.
P1-7 Shoes
Please continue to send your child to school in a pair of shoes that are suitable for all day wear including outdoor play and PE. They should also bring a pair of shoes for indoor PE, with their PE kit. We are going to get everyone used to the cloakroom routine before we starting having them changing shoes each time them come in. We are getting new carpets in the summer so this will start in August. There is no change to shoes for nursery.
Drop Off/Pick Up – Parents on School property
I have not yet had confirmation from Fife Council that we can invite a greater number of parents onto school property so, at this point, I need to continue to ask that only Nursery, P1 and 2 parents come into the grounds. I am hopeful that this will ease into next term and I will communicate this to you when the change can happen. But for 18th April, please assume this mitigation is still in place – I won’t contact you in the holidays with a change, only once term has begun.
Face Coverings/Social Distancing on School Property
For 18th April, please assume these mitigations are still in place. My understanding is that once the legal requirement for face coverings in public places is removed, there will remain contexts (including schools) where the guidance will be that face coverings still be worn. I am expecting, therefore, to need to advise you to keep wearing a face covering on school property (including at drop off and pick up) and I will continue to ask you to maintain distance from those not in your household. But I will share changes to this advice when I get them.
P1-7 Theme: Being an Artist
All primary classes will be working on this theme in the first weeks of term, learning about an artist and their work. We will be preparing displays of work to share. We are hopeful that we may be able to invite parents into school to tour the building and see the displays but if not we will share them virtually. We are awaiting guidance about this and will share further details early next term.
Nursery
We are hopeful that things will ease next term so that we can invite you inside. This will likely lead to changes for drop off and pick up which we will share with you as soon as we can but please assume things will stay as they are on 18th April.
Ukraine Fundraising
We are going to hold a fundraiser for Ukrainian refugees next term. Details will follow but I am letting you know about this now because I know many of you might want to discuss this with your child before it is discussed in school. Our discussions will be about how we can help those who have needed to leave their homes, we won’t focus on warfare or the political situation in any depth.
Sports Day
Will go ahead next term and we expect to be inviting parents to attend – we will set and share a date for this early in the term to give you good notice.
I am going to post these details on the school website for reference. I am sending them today so that there is time for you to come to me with any questions before term ends on Friday. I will be in touch with updates on or soon after 18th April.
I wish all our families a happy holiday, when it comes, and would like to extend a sincere thank you to you all for your support of the school and understanding during the Covid period. While guidance and mitigations remain in place, I am very hopeful that things will ease next term and I look forward to being able to meet many of you and get to know your family a bit better.
Kind regards
Lucy Jess
Child Protection – for information (all families)
On the in-service day, all staff had child protection refresher training. Our updated policies and procedures are available here. All children will bring home a copy of the leaflet in their school bag today.
School Car Park – for information and action (all families)
A polite reminder that the school car park is only for staff use. Parents dropping off and picking up should not drive into the car park as space is very limited. There is no pedestrian access to the car park – please don’t walk through it and please don’t allow your child to. There is always a risk of moving vehicles.
Easter Library Activities next week – for information (all families)
Please click here to find out more.
Covid Restrictions Easing – for information (all families)
All parents received a copy of the latest letter from Jason Leitch yesterday. In light of restrictions easing there will be changes next term and I will be in communication with you about these from next week onwards.
P1-7 have had a fun day today supporting Comic Relief as fundraising Superheroes and working together on creating Superheroes to represent our school values. Click here to find out more. We have raised £258!
P3 and P4’s entries for the Courier Mother’s Day supplement will be published over 21st, 22nd and 23rd March. Your child’s work was submitted if you gave permission for us to do so.
Please remember that the building work on the modular unit starts on Monday and the upper gate from Flass Road will closed as a site entrance. P1, P1/2 and Nursery parents should all come in the lower gate from Flass Road. P1 and P1/2 are now both using the door beside the main door for drop off and pick up. Nursery parents should go up the steps to the nursery gate – please let us know if you need help with a buggy. P3 children should come in the lower gate and go up the steps to reach their playground area. They all feel confident doing this as they do it already at playtime and lunchtime. Until the Scottish Government announces a change to school restrictions, P3-7 parents still can’t come onto school property to drop off and pick up and I have to ask all Nursery, P1 and 2 parents to wear a face covering on school property (unless exempt) and to maintain 2m distancing from others not in their household. I also need to ask that you leave the grounds promptly after drop off and pick up and not to make use of the grounds socially. I am hopeful this will ease soon.
Change to Covid absence reporting: From Monday 21st March, all Covid absences should be reported like any other absence, by calling the school office (01334 659445) or by email to wormitps.enquiries@fife.gov.uk. There is no need to contact me separately. You must still tell us if your child has tested positive for Covid and we will still issue Warn and Inform emails. All school email addresses are now only checked during office hours on school days and if you email the school or me you will only get a response during office hours and on school days. I am grateful for your support over this. Kind regards, Lucy Jess
Parent Council
Thank you to everyone who supported the Parent Council meeting this week. It is lovely to have PC back up and running. The minutes and contact details for the Parent Council are available: Click Here
Building Work
Work on the new Modular Unit will start on 21st March 2022. This will have minimal impact on the running of the school but the upper gate from Flass Road will be closed off as a site entrance. This will affect P1 parents and Nursery parents with buggies. P1 will start using the same door as P1/2 from that date and we can help anyone with a buggy who needs it. Please click here for full information.
Big Park
The grass on Big Park is getting damaged by people playing on it wearing football/rugby boots with studs. When the grass is dug up, the field gets more muddy and it makes it harder to drain meaning we are less likely to be able to use it at playtimes, which I know everyone values. Our pupils never wear studs so this is happening out of school time. If you know people who come and make use of Big Park in evenings and weekends, please can you pass on a message to request they don’t wear studs to stop damage to the grass which could them impact on our use of the space. I am grateful for support over this.
Our 5 Ways Work (P1-7)
We are continuing to have a focus on the 5 Ways to Wellbeing
This week, we have been able to start Assemblies again – this is part of our work on Connect. Earlier in the week, P7 sharing their learning and ways they were Active at Ardroy with the whole school and on World Book Day, every class learnt together. On Friday 18th, P1-7 are invited to come to school dress as a Superhero and to bring a donation for Comic Relief – Give. There will be a special learning task on the day linked to our school values.
Safe Parking
The community Police Team are continuing to monitor parking at the school at pick up and drop off times. They have provided us with posters which you will see displayed by the yellow zig zags:
Rugby Taster Follow Up – Message from Active Schools
P1 Parents Survey
Did your child receive the P1 Bookbug bag last year? Taking this survey will help the Scottish Book Trust understand how to make Bookbug better and how parents and children use their Bookbug bags. As a thank you, you will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 book token from Bookbug! BBP1 parent survey: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/B66G6CP
Work on the new modular unit will begin on 21st March 2022. It will be built on the flat ground between the two Flass Road gates.
From 21st March until the work is completed, the upper gate from Flass Road will be out of use as it will be a site entrance.
From that date, P1 parents and children should come in the lower gate on Flass road and the class will line up at the same door as the P1/2 class (beside the main entrance to the school). The children will go in that door at 9am and back out at 3.05pm until further notice. Mrs Steven will meet them there in the morning and see them back out at the end of the day.
Nursery parents and children and P3 children should come in the lower gate and walk up the steps to access the upper school playground.
If you are a Nursery parent with a buggy and you will struggle with the steps, please let us know and we will help.
Out of School Club drop off and pick up should not be affected by this work though parents should note that all children should be accompanied to the club and picked up by an adult. There may be moving vehicles on site at OOSC drop off and pick up times.
Sections of the grounds on the Flass Road side will be fenced off from the 21st March onwards with no access at all for reasons of safety. The upper fenced off area is where the modular unit will be built and the lower area is where drainage is being installed. The lower area will remain fenced off for a while after the drainage work is completed to allow the grass to recover.
The unit itself will be delivered in the Easter holidays and work will continue to fully install and clad it with it being completed by 31st May 2022, all going well.
Parent Council
We are looking forward to the Parent Council meeting next week. It is at 6.30pm on Tuesday 8th March on Teams. We will send out a link for the meeting and an agenda on Tuesday via groupcall email. The meeting will be led by Nissa and Lorna. Those who are new to the school or not familiar with the workings of a Parent Council, might be interested in a little explanation and there is information here: Wormit Parent Council Information. As the Parent Council is being re-formed, post Covid, this is a great opportunity for new parents to get involved. The Parent Council needs a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer as well as ordinary members. Please contact wormitparent@gmail.com to express an interest in taking on one of these roles or in joining the council as an ordinary member or to raise an agenda item.
Best wishes,
Lorna Tasker (outgoing PC Chair), Nissa Finnie (PTA Secretary), Lucy Jess (Headteacher)
Free Meal Entitlement and Clothing Grant
If your financial circumstances have changed recently, it is worth checking if you can register your child for free school meals. Click here to find out more. If your child is in P1-5, they get a free school meal anyway but it it is still worth registering them because they also get free milk and a clothing grant.
Please read this information below in full so that you know what to do and expect for your parent teacher appointment in March.
You must sign up for your appointment by the end of the day on Friday 11th March 2022. It will not be possible to schedule any appointments after that date. We will reschedule any appointments which don’t go ahead due to technical difficulties but we won’t reschedule if the appointment is missed or not booked in time. The system does not seem to cope well with appointments which are added after the booking end date and booking by then gives the teachers time to prepare for the interviews.
We do want to support every family to be able to speak to their child’s teacher so please contact me at lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk if you need help or an alternative arrangement. You should contact me by 11th March 2022.
You can use the comments space when you book to let the teacher know if there is anything you particularly want to speak about. Your child will bring their jotters home on Friday 11th to show you and you should return them to school on Monday 14th.
The appointments will be held on these dates and times:
Tuesday 15th March 3.30-5.30pm
Thursday 17th March 3.30-5.30pm
Wednesday 23rd March 3.30-5.30pm
At this point, we can’t offer meetings later than 5.30pm due to the need to ensure the building is cleaned after staff leave. Staff need to be in the building to conduct the meetings so that technical support is on hand and so that you can contact us if you experience difficulty accessing the call.
We will be using the The Parents Evening Booking System as our main platform for these virtual meetings. This system automatically pulls your details through via Groupcall to set the meetings up, minimising admin workload.
Previously you could only long into the call via one device but this is no longer the case. You can now click to choose to invite another parent to access the call. you can do this at the time of booking or afterwards by logging back in, finding your booking and choosing to modify it.
The bulk of our families will use Parents Evening Booking system for their meeting but we recognise that some families may need a different arrangement so that all parents are involved and we can help – either by using Teams or by setting up two meetings. We can also use Teams where a parent needs to meet with two teachers for any reason. If the technology doesn’t work for you, we can use phone call for your conversation with your child’s teacher. If you need an alternative arrangement, please contact me at lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk at the start of next week (beginning 7th March 2022). I would ask parents to be mindful that there is an additional workload for admin staff and teachers in setting up an alternative arrangement and only request one where strictly necessary but we are very pleased to help where it is needed.
We can’t make any use of Zoom as it is not GDRP compliant.
Parents Evening Booking System (PEBS) will be open for you to sign up for your child’s appointment from 9am on Thursday 3rd March and will close at 3pm on Friday 11th March. To make your appointments please login at: https://parents-booking.co.uk/wormit
To login you will need to enter:
The login details you enter must match those we have on record for you.
After you have made your appointments you can choose to print or e-mail a confirmation but you don’t receive an email with a link for the meeting as you would for Teams or Zoom. On the day of your appointments, you need to re-login at the website address above. We recommend you do this 15 before your first appointment. 10 minutes before your first meeting you will be able to join the video meeting room, where you can wait for your appointment(s). Please note that the meeting will start and finish automatically as scheduled – the teacher has no control over this. You will only get your full 10 minutes if you join the meeting room before the start time. If you join the meeting late, it will still end as scheduled. We will reschedule a meeting if it is cut short due to delays at our end or if the parent has called us in advance to say they are experiencing difficulties. We won’t reschedule a meeting if it is cut short due to the parent joining it late (this is to protect teacher workload) so please get set up in good time for the meeting.
A more detailed guide is available here: Parents-Evening-Booking-System-Guidance
Internet Browser Compatibility:
You must use one of the below devices and internet browser combinations for the video meeting technology to work:
Troubleshooting Tips
Rugby Tasters
P4-7 children will be having a rugby taster session on 11th March – please send them with outdoor PE kit on that day. These sessions have been organised by Active Schools.
P1 Enrolment – Final Reminder
Please enrol your child by the end of the day on Monday using this form: Enrol a child into Primary 1 | Fife Council You must enrol your child even if they already attend our nursery.
World Book Day – Reminder
P1-7 will be celebrating World Book Day on the 3rd March 2022. All children will take part in fun activities in school to promote a love of books and reading. We are not having a dress up day because we want the focus to be on the reading activities and because we are going to be dressing up on 18th March for Comic Relief. We recognise that not all families find a dress up day easy and so prefer not to have two in one month. We are opting for the Comic Relief dress up day as it is an easier one to find a costume for! Nursery Staff will confirm on Seesaw what their children are doing on this day.
Big Park – Reminder
Now that the weather is brightening up, the P1-7 children will begin accessing Big Park again at lunchtimes. From 28th February onwards, lunchtime play will always be on Big Park unless it is too wet and muddy. All children should come to school wearing shoes that are appropriate for outdoor play on tarmac and grass. They will stay in these all day but change into indoor trainers or gym shoes for PE. We are not currently changing shoes routinely as not every class has a cloakroom space (due to Covid).
World Book Day
P1-7 will be celebrating World Book Day on the 3rd March 2022. All children will take part in fun activities in school to promote a love of books and reading. We are not having a dress up day because we want the focus to be on the reading activities and because we are going to be dressing up on 18th March for Comic Relief. We recognise that not all families find a dress up day easy and so prefer not to have two in one month. We are opting for the Comic Relief dress up day as it is an easier one to find a costume for! Nursery Staff will confirm on Seesaw what their children are doing on this day.
Comic Relief
P1-7 will be supporting Comic Relief on 18th March. All children are invited to come to school wearing a super hero costume, or wearing their own clothes. You are invited to send a donation to Comic Relief in with them. Nursery Staff will confirm on Seesaw if their children are doing anything on this day.
Big Park
Now that the weather is brightening up, the P1-7 children will begin accessing Big Park again at lunchtimes. From 28th February onwards, lunchtime play will always be on Big Park unless it is too wet and muddy. All children should come to school wearing shoes that are appropriate for outdoor play on tarmac and grass. They will stay in these all day but change into indoor trainers or gym shoes for PE. We are not currently changing shoes routinely as not every class has a cloakroom space (due to Covid).
Good Luck…
…to all our P7s who are off on residential on Monday. And to the staff accompanying them! 😀
