All posts by Mrs Jess

Weekly Info 19th May 2022

Well Done..

…to the P6/7 running club who have had a successful day out to a Cross Country Event in Kirkcaldy. Thank you to Mr Rose and the parent helpers who gave them this great experience.

 

Jubilee Lunch – 1st June

The children be having a picnic lunch on 1st June to celebrate the Jubilee. You can either send your child with a packed lunch or order the Jubilee School Lunch in the usual way (iPayImpact for P1-7 and in Nursery for those pupils).

P1-7 children are invited to come to school wearing Red, White or Blue. No uniform needed. They will eat on Big Park.

Nursery Parents will get details of the Nursery plans via Seesaw.

 

Parent Council

There will be a Parent Council Meeting in school on Tuesday 31st May at 6.30pm. All parents of the school and nursery are welcome to attend to share ideas and get involved.The Parent Council currently has co-chairs, a secretary and a treasurer but there are openings for ordinary members – if you are keen to get involved in the wider life of the school, please consider standing for membership.The Parent Council have recently set up a Facebook Page – please like it to follow their activities and news from the school. The Facebook Page is now embedded in the School website and you should be able to see it on every page and post including this one. Most devices will let you view the content even if you are not logged in to Facebook and don’t have an account.

 

Open Afternoons

Thank you to all who came along – it was wonderful to have you all back in school.

 

 

Weekly Information – 29th April 2022

Dates for Your Diary

Monday 2nd May – School Holiday

Thursday 5th May – In-service Day – school closed to pupils for staff training

Monday 9th May – Madras Guidance Staff Visiting P7

Monday 16th and Wednesday 18th May – Open Afternoons (more information below)

Friday 27th May – P1-7 Sponsored Run for Ukraine (more information below)

Friday 3rd June – Additional Holiday for Jubilee

Monday 6th June – School Holiday

During week beginning 7th June – House Sports Competitions

Tuesday 14th- Thursday 16th June – P7s to Madras for Transition Days – more info to follow

Wednesday 22nd June – 6.30pm – P7 Show in school hall – all P7 families welcome (subject to confirmation of restrictions easing by Fife Council)

Thursday 23rd June – Sports Day – parents are invited to come and watch at 1.30pm

Friday 24th June – reports coming home (pre school Nursery Children and P1-7)

Thursday 30th June – End of Year Service – details to follow – I am hoping to invite all parents but it will be dependent on us securing the right size of venue

Thursday 30th June – last day of term – school finishes at 3.05pm and nursery finishes at 3pm

 

Open Afternoons

*Please note: these will go ahead subject to Fife Council confirming we can invite parents into the buildings for events. They have not yet done this as the Scottish Government Covid Threat Level remains at Moderate not Low.*

On Monday 16th and Wednesday 18th May, Nursery – P7 parents and children are invited to come to drop in between 3.30 and 4.30 to walk through the school. In P1-7 you will be able to view the children’s work from their ‘Being an Artist’ theme and all parents will be able to visit the nursery which was refurbished in August. This will be a wonderful chance for you to at last see the inside of the building, your child’s class and work. There will be a one system to avoid any large gathering inside – information about this will follow. Staff will not be present to keep numbers at the right level but Mr Rose and I will both be there to make sure people know where to go. I am greatly looking forward to putting faces to name – please do introduce yourself to me when you see me.

Please note that you will need to use steps to access the classroom areas – if any parent has mobility problems and needs help with this, please contact me.

 

P1-7 Sponsored Run for Ukraine

On 27th May, all P1-7 children will be taking part in a sponsored run in support of Ukrainian Refugees. You are invited to come to school to watch your child run if you would like:

P1-3 at 10am

P4&5 at 1.30pm

P6&7 at 2.15pm

We are working as a team and aiming to raise £1000 for Disasters Emergency Committee. Please sponsor the team if you can. You can click on this link or use the QR code. Please share with friends and family who you think might like to be involved.

 

P1-7 School Values

At Assemblies on a Friday, we celebrate children who live our school values and give them a certificate. This includes children who have an achievement out of school. If your child has a personal achievement, please email me at lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk to nominate them for an award.

Weekly Information – 22nd April 2022

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)

I just wanted to pass on some information that I have received about a local SFA football session for pupils aged 4-9 years old at Waterstone Crook Sports Centre. I have attached the poster for reference for specific days and times.
Thank you,
Madison Garland

 

Information for Parents about Next term (Term 4 2022)

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

 

 

 

Weekly Information – 25th March 2022

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.

 

 

Weekly Information – 18th March

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

Weekly Information 11th March 2022

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

Dear Parent/Guardian,
I hope you are well?
I am getting in contact with you regarding an exciting opportunity for our pupils in P4-7. In partnership with Madras Rugby Club and Scottish Rugby, Active Schools would like to offer your child the opportunity to take part in an After School Cluster Rugby Club. These sessions are set to start on Friday 18th March at Madras College, in the games hall, from 4:15-5:15 completely free of charge. Unfortunately, we only have 20 spaces and these will be given on a first come first serve basis. To register please click the link below. 
If you have any questions please do just get in touch with me!
Thank you,
Madison Garland 

 

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

Building Works Update and changes to school access from Flass Road

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.

 

 

 

Weekly Information – 4th March 2022

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.

Parent’s Evening Booking System – March 2022

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:

  • Your first name and surname
  • Your child’s first name, surname and date of birth

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:

  • Apple iPhone/iPad (iOS 11+): Safari – avoid using Safari if possible
  • Android phone/tablet: Chrome or Firefox
  • Linux computer: Chrome or Firefox
  • Microsoft Surface: Chrome or Firefox
  • Mac computer: Safari, Chrome or Firefox
  • Windows computer: Chrome, Firefox or Edge (Chromium)

Troubleshooting Tips

  • Please log into the system 15 mins before your first appointment. If, at 10 minutes before, you are experiencing difficulties – either you can’t get logged in or the join button has not appeared, please contact the school office BY PHONE on 01334 659445. Please don’t delay calling us if you need help – this will help us get the meeting running on time or let us know we need to help by rescheduling it.
  • If you have more than one child in the school please ensure you enter the log-in details for the correct child at the time of their appointment.
  • In rare instances school computers may lose connection and affect your meeting time – if this happens we will contact you to let you know and arrange an alternative appointment.
  • When logging on please avoid Apple products if possible as, in our experience, it appears there may be a compatibility issue even though it is listed as a compatible device.
  • You can only log in from one device and so parents have to be together to both be on the call. We ask that wherever possible, parents either take the call together or one feedback to the other.
  • Please contact lucy.jess@fife.gov.uk by 3pm on 11th March 2022 if you don’t think your device will work to support a PEBS video call – we can set up a meeting by telephone instead if this is the case.