Literacy and English

Our writing this term will focus on letter and report writing.  Children will be writing formal letters to local businesses and writing reports about events that have taken place such as the Bring and Buy sale. Most of the writing will be linked to our topic – Micro Tyco.

Group reading sessions will be carried out twice or three times a week, involving the children reading either in pairs, with Mrs Smith, the teacher or classroom assistant.

Spelling and phonic lessons and activities will continue twice a week and children will continue to receive weekly spelling homework tasks. To help pupils learn their spelling words they can either write them out twice and ask someone to test them or if they learn the words better by being creative then they can do so.

Listening and Talking will play an important part in this terms topic. Pupils will be encouraged to listen to the suggestions and ideas of others then make group decisions

Eco Schools / Enterprise

Mrs Ferguson and Mrs Lawson will continue to work with the pupils every Tuesday on Eco Schools. Climate week starts on the 4^thMarch. We will be having lots of related activities. To begin with pupils will design badges which will represent super powers. These will help pupils be aware of climate change and encourage them to think about how it can be reduced .On every second Tuesday of the month pupils will make a healthy snack. The first one will be on Shrove Tuesday and pupils have decided to make fruity pancakes.

Science / Engineering

Inveravon will be taking part in the National Science and Engineering week in March this year.  The theme for this week is Inventions. Children will be taking part in lots of related activities throughout the week and there may even be some new inventions created!

As part of their continual learning, pupils will participate in weekly science challenges in which they will be encouraged to observe, predict and investigate. The aim is for pupils to learn how science relates to our everyday lives and inspire our budding scientists with fun and participative activities.

Numeracy and Mathematics

Mental maths strategies will continue to be a major focus this term where children will be actively encouraged to explain their thinking.  The children are learning about time and then moving onto the topic of money.  All pupils have identified areas they feel they need to focus on and get better at when learning about time. To support their learning, pupils could read clocks, watches and calculate durations at home.

Technologies

Children will be given daily opportunities to enhance their learning through ICT.  Pupils are developing their literacy and maths skills through Education City at home and school. If there are any difficulties accessing this at home please inform us.Sumdog has been a very successful programme in challenging pupils to improve their numeracy skills. As part of the Mico – Tyco challenge pupils will record evidence of their progress by using the school’s digital and flip cameras. The photos and videos will be downloaded onto the school blog so that we can all share in the excitement.

Health and Wellbeing /

The P7s have recently returned back from a fun-packed and snowy trip to Abernethy. Much fun and new experiences were had by all. After listening to all the stories the younger pupils can’t wait for their turn! The topic for this term will be Micro –Tyco. Attached to this letter is a leaflet explaining what Micro-Tyco is! In short it is an enterprise challenge, which takes place during the month of February. After much discussion and research the pupils held a vote on whether they would like to participate. The pupils voted overwhelmingly in favour.  They thought it would be a good learning experience and the money raised would go towards helping others in the developing world. So far the pupils have registered and received their £1. With this seed £1 they have to think of and carry out a fundraising event. Hopefully a profit w ill be made and the £1 will grow. For further information the website to access is

http://www.wildheartsinaction.org/microtyco

For this to be a success we desperately need your help. If you have any good fund raising ideas or could offer your services in any way we would be delighted to hear from you. We would like to raise as much money as possible!

All pupils will continue to receive P.E. lessons with Mrs Mitchell every Friday and with Mrs Wright every Tuesday. Please ensure pupils have an appropriate change of clothes and a water bottle every day at school.

In addition, P5s will continue to receive recorder lessons from Mrs Gillis every Tuesday and all pupils will receive music lessons from Mrs Cook every Thursday this term.

January 2013

Dear Parents and Children

Happy New Year to you all and I hope it will be a good one for you. It has started well in regard to the weather and I hope it continues although we could do with a few heavy showers up in the Lecht and Cairngorm area over the next week. That would suit our skiers very well indeed. Apparently there is word of low temperatures and snow at the weekend so do remember to check the phoneline on Monday morning if there has been snow. I do try to update it before 7.15am.

Traffic Lights

You will all be aware of the delays Colin is experiencing due to the traffic lights. Whilst very frustrating there is little we can do other than be patient for the duration.

The children have been full of their Christmas news and telling us about all the things they got. Very exciting for them all!  Can I just remind everyone who got a mobile phone that they are best left at home. We really do prefer children not to be texting etc from school. If anyone needs to get in touch with home we are only too happy to let them use the school phone.

Events

The diary is surprisingly empty but I do know that there are a few dates coming up in February and March which I will list in a “Dates for the Diary” page  at the end of this newsletter. Please keep it handy for reference.

Dance – Pamela Younie will start again with us next Thursday  for  a six week block of dance so please make sure that PE kits are brought in to school every Monday. Pamela really motivates the children and they thoroughly enjoy learning new dance skills and taking part. I am excited to see all the different things they will be learning this time. If you would like to join in just come along every Thursday morning from 9am – 9.45am

Enterprise – Mrs Mailer will shortly issue information about the topic the children will be undertaking throughout February which is a Social Enterprise Activity raising funds for third world countries. It is still in the planning stage and sounds very exciting. I do hope you will all manage to get involved in some way. Two dates that have  been fixed are, a Bring and Buy Toy sale on Friday the 8^th of February which  will give everyone a chance to clear out the toy cupboard and a Coffee Morning on Friday March 1^st. This will be the culminating event of a month of fundraising activities which we hope the whole community will get involved in.

If you have any fundraising brainwaves then please let Mrs Mailer know.

Science – We will be taking part again in the national Science and Engineering week from March 15^th – 24^th so if anyone wants to come in to school to take part in, or lead an activity then we would be delighted to see you. This year the theme is “Invention and Discovery” and we have been awarded a grant of £200 pounds to use for this event.

Annual Reports

Once again we will be inviting you in with your children to have a discussion about progress and achievement on March 14^th. These discussions together with further input from the children will form the basis of the yearly reports which we hope to have ready to give you by the end of April. I look forward to seeing you on that evening. However, as you know, you are always welcome to come in to school to discuss any issues you may have with me or Mrs Mailer at any time.

Chill and Chat

On that same note you are all invited to come along to the school on Thursday February 14^th at 2pm. It’s just an informal  opportunity to get together with myself to chat over a coffee about this, that and the other and the direction you would like to see the school taking and / or things you would like to see introduced. These opportunities to talk about the school are invaluable to me and I would really appreciate seeing as many of you there as possible.

Parent Council

The next meeting is at the school on Wednesday February 27^th at 7pm.

Please come along.

I know you will all join with me in wishing the skiers a great week when they head off to the slopes on Monday January 21^st. Mrs Laing will accompany the children and I know she is looking forward to it just as much as they are.

Only eight children will be left in school that week so Mrs Mailer, Mrs Ferguson and Mrs Duncan won’t know what to do with themselves……………(I am sure there is a cupboard or a shed that needs clearing out or sorting so rest assured they will be kept busy!)

In the meantime take care of yourselves and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Kind Regards

Head Teacher

                    Dates for the Diary    January  2013

January

21^st – 25^th              Ski Residential

February

Friday 8^th              Bring and Buy Toy Sale

Thursday 14^th         Chill and Chat 2pm

Friday 15^th             Mid term holiday

Monday 18^th           Mid term holiday

Tuesday 26^th Childsmile Fluoride Varnishing

March

Friday 1^st               Coffee Morning

Thursday 14^th         Parent and Children’s  Appointments 3.30pm – 6pm

Friday 29^th            Good Friday Holiday and start of Easter Holidays

December 14^th 2012

Dear Parents and Children,

So far so good and we have not had to have a snow closure yet. Keep your fingers crossed though as we have a few things to get done before term ends and snow would make it just that little bit trickier.

Thankfully the weather behaved itself yesterday and we were able to get to the Panto and back even although we had to take the long route to Inverness. The panto was good, the costumes sparkly and the children enjoyed it greatly.

School Bus delays

You will be aware that the traffic lights are making a bit of a nuisance of themselves at the moment and causing delays for Colin getting the bus through at his usual time. Thankfully they do seem to be getting the work done quickly so hopefully we won’t have to be held up for much longer. Thank you for your patience and understanding in the meantime.

Press Release

The recent article in the Press and Journal highlighting the running costs of Inveravon Primary compared to those in larger towns may have unsettled you a bit. I can assure you that I was completely unaware that this was going to be printed and although factually correct (for the most part) I felt that the article would have been improved if it had also mentioned that Inveravon is still the only primary School in Moray to have received an excellent award from HMI.

On that note I was recently invited along with Mr Laurence Finlay (Head of Schools) to the national conference held in Livingston for the launch of the “Its My Future” DVD which includes three film clips about Inveravon. You may recall that this was filmed last June to capture what we do at Inveravon to be shared nationally as an example of excellent practice.

You can find this at www.journeytoexcellence.org.uk

Christmas Lunch 

This was enjoyed by us all again today and thanks go to Mrs Cornes and her team in Aberlour Primary for doing all the cooking  and also to Mrs McBain who is our dinner lady and who always serves us with a smile.

Christmas Concert

I am looking forward to our own concert next Tuesday night December 18th

This year we have taken a different approach and have opted for amore traditional theme with some well known songs, carols and Christmas poetry recitations so you will have plenty of opportunity to join in. There will be the usual raffle and festive fayre after the show is over which is one of our Inveravon traditions……….(I can remember the first one!) It’s a good chance for our school community to get together in a happy and relaxed environment and I always the chance to catch up with you all.

Many thanks to Mrs Allison Gillies who has given up her spare time over the last six weeks to come into school to teach the children the songs.

The show will start at 7pm and children should aim to be in school at about 6.45pm so that they can calm their last minute nerves.

School Uniform should be worn (quite a few children expressed a desire to wear uniform including our two senior pupils John and Neil so we are respecting their views as this will be the last concert for them). The children should wear something sparkly or festive on their heads e.g antlers, baubles etc.

The Parent Council have already contacted you requesting some food and nibbles etc for the “after concert party” and I would appreciate it greatly if some of you could help with setting out the food and clearing away again. I know how good you all are at getting stuck in at these events.

Carol Service  Wednesday December 19th

This is yet another Inveravon tradition that I really enjoy and look forward to and I hope to see lots of you there. Once more we will welcome the staff, children and parents from Glenlivet Primary who will join us as usual for the service which starts in the church at 10am. This will be followed by Teas, Coffees etc back at the school. Reverend David Whyte will officiate as minister.

Christmas Party Thursday December 20th

I am really looking forward to the school Christmas party again as it’s always such a great afternoon. Even after all these years I still really enjoy sharing this special time with the children and it is the highlight of my year. Hopefully Santa will be able to make it again as I know how good the children have all been. The party food will be prepared by staff next Thursday morning in school and school lunch will be earlier that day so that we can get the party started promptly.

Please note that all the children will go home together on the bus at 3.15pm 

School will close at the usual times for the Christmas Holidays on Friday December 21^st.

All of the above will of course be weather permitting and I will keep the phone line updated should there be any changes. In the meantime keep warm and stay safe if you are out and about on the roads.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at Inveravon Primary

Kind Regards

Mary R Smith

 Head Teacher