February 2015

Dear Parents and Children,

How brilliant is this weather! The lighter mornings followed by sunshine and longer days certainly cheers us all up and brings a smile to our faces. We all have much to be thankful for as we look around and appreciate the beautiful countryside we live in and our community which it nurtures. Bring on Spring!

Baby News

My newest granddaughter Isabelle Islay Cooper was born two weeks ago today so I am a grandma all over again. She is totally adorable and I am smitten! Hopefully she will make it up to Inveravon in the not too distant future to meet everyone here.

Life and Work of the School

We are going to be installing a new interactive whiteboard during the Easter holidays in order to ensure we keep abreast with the latest technology. Our dilemma is that we are not sure which is the best classroom as that would be the room we would install it in, so we asked the children to help us decide. They have used the Tug of War thinking routine (ask them about it!) to try to help them work out the pros and cons and come to a conclusion……..they are still debating it. Have you any opinions? Please let us know!

Starting after Easter we have organised for the children in P4-7 to have a block of swimming lessons at Speyside High School. Colin will drive them down and depending on the day we are allocated they will be accompanied by either Mrs Reid, Mrs Laing or Mrs Duncan. More information will follow but this is an exciting addition to our curriculum.

Our Unicef come as you please day raised about £15 which is great. The children were very thoughtful as they became aware of all the different reasons why so many children across the world don’t have access to education and their reactions and empathy were commendable. Well done everyone.

As part of our study on Sustainability we are in the process of organising a visit to Tesco to find out where our food comes from using their resource called Farm to Plate. More information will be provided when we have finalised all the arrangements.

Getting Out There

Earlier this month Inveravon Primary was yet again the venue for an Outdoor Learning training day which was attended by over 20 teachers from different schools across the authority and indeed some teachers from Highland were present. The content of the day was good and the delegates were able to make good use of our amazing local environment to plan what Outdoor Learning would look like back at their own schools. All were greatly envious of the wonderful opportunities we have right on our doorstep here where I think it’s fair to say that outdoor learning is embedded. The excellent behaviour of the children was commented on along with the bright and colourful wall displays and overall happy ambience within the school. Big tick for Inveravon!

Progress and Achievement

On Tuesday March 3^rd we are looking forward to seeing you all in school with the children to talk to Miss Smith about progress and next steps in learning. This will take the usual format of approximately ten minutes for each child. Can I ask that you all try to take heed of the time allocation in order to avoid the evening running late. (I know how tricky it can be!)   I am sure everyone will have lots to say as there is so much evidence on the walls, in the pukka pads, weekly reflection logs and home/school diaries about the fantastic learning which is taking place in the school and I can’t wait to read the reports. Mrs Bassett will send out appointment times with this newsletter.

Sharing our Learning

Finally there will be an opportunity for you to come along to school on Thursday March 26^th as the children want to share with you all that they have found out about Sustainability. I have loved seeing how this study has evolved and how interested and motivated the children are by it. It will be good to get together just before the end of term.

With only five weeks until the Easter holidays I am left wondering where on earth the time is going. In the meantime I have attached a dates for the Diary for you to keep and refer to. I hope life is treating you well and that you are happy and content. I look forward to seeing you all over the next few weeks.

Kind Regards

Dear Parents and Children I hope this newsletter finds you all well and surviving the gloom of November and the darker nights. I can’t believe that we are already more than half way through the month and got a shock yesterday when someone mentioned that we only have four weeks of term left after this one. That is a bit scary but we are launching the Christmas show today (aaaagh!) which is exciting for us all. I can guarantee that we will all be busy, busy, busy! Disco Regretfully I have taken the decision to cancel the disco which had been due to take place tomorrow night at Inveravon. There was little interest from other schools which made it unviable both financially and from a social interaction point of view. Maybe we can try again in the Spring term. Obstacle-athon Well what a great afternoon we had and the children were very wearied but happy by the end of it. It was great to see so many parents in school supporting the children and generally making the event the enormous success that it was. Thank you so much…all of you! If there is any sponsor money outstanding please try to get it back to us as soon as possible. So far we have collected just over £300 which is awesome. Winter Weather We recently issued all the Winter Weather information about school closures due to adverse weather etc and I do urge you to keep it all near to hand as the horrendous snowfall in America could well be coming our way in the next few weeks. It is the season for it so we must be prepared. As always I speak to Colin about road conditions before I make a decision in the morning and if either of us are in any doubt then I don’t open the school as the health and safety of the children is my utmost concern. However quite often we open when other schools don’t so on these occasions if you feel strongly that you don’t want your child travelling in snowy conditions the final decision about that will rest with you. Can you also make sure that if the conditions are wet and or snowy, that the children wear suitable clothes and footwear as we do encourage them to be outside if it is fair and dry above. Sledges can be brought to school on really snowy days as long as they are named. If children are sledging they must have waterproofs on as well. Parents Evening I think this should be renamed family night which was what one of the children described it as. It was certainly lovely to see everyone chatting together and sharing experiences over coffee and the lovely cakes. I am sure that you were all just as proud of the children as we were, as they took you through their learning over the last few months. It was impressive to see them conversing so easily in German and I have been particularly inspired by some of the comments and observations the children made about their “Community” study. Thank you all for coming and making it such a special evening. Festive Arrangements From now on we will be constantly rehearsing the Christmas Show aptly called “ Not Such a Silent Night” I think you can guess some of the main characters but once again there is a slightly different slant. Last year it was all about a profit driven donkey seller finally getting the message and this year sees Larry Lamb (nil points for originality there then) causing a bit of chaos by getting lost on his way to Bethlehem. The children are up for it and so are we. Happy days ahead I think! The show will be performed in the school on Tuesday December 16th starting at 7pm with the usual Festive Fayre afterwards. All are welcome and please bring along family and friends as it is always such a great night with everyone together. Panto Thursday Dec 11th Our trip to the Panto usually heralds the start of the silly season and this year will be no different I am sure. Aladdin will be up to his usual tricks at Eden Court in Inverness and I know the children will love it……..they always do. They will all be home later than usual that night and will be collected by parents from school…..usually the back of five but it varies depending on weather etc. We will issue an information flyer in the next few weeks along with a permission slip. The children will need a packed lunch on the day which they eat on the bus just before they go in to Eden Court. This year we are requesting £3 from each child to help with the cost of the bus which is being paid for by the parent Council along with the entry charge. Christmas Lunch This has been arranged for Friday December 12th Church Service We will continue with our tradition of joining with the staff, children and parents from Glenlivet Primary School at the End of Term Service in Inveravon Church on Thursday Dec 18th at 10am. You are all warmly invited to join us as we celebrate Christmas together followed by a “fly cup” back up at the school. Children’s Party Party frocks and glad rags are the order of the day for the afternoon of Thursday 18th as the children and staff let their hair down together at our annual Christmas Party. Parents are invited to join us later in the afternoon along with another special and very seasonal visitor at approx. 2.30pm but more information will follow nearer the time. All children will go home that day at 3.15pm. I think that just about rounds up the next few weeks and of course in between all that we are still expecting the children to work hard and be the best they can. We look forward to reading your comments in the blue home –school folders as they tell great stories about what the children are learning and of their successes and achievements. I have attached a brief version of all the dates for the diary for you to use as a reminder of what is happening. As ever I really look forward to seeing you all over the coming weeks as we share in the “magic” that is Inveravon Primary

 Kindest regards

Mrs Smith Head Teacher

September 2014

Dear Parents and Children,

What a lovely start to Autumn we are having and the countryside is beginning to adorn itself with its spectacular colours which I always look forward to. The children are enjoying the mild days so they can get outside to play and have fun together.

Our little school community is settling in well and we have welcomed three new pupils to our midst. Jade, Flora and Iona have brought their own special talents and wonderful personalities to the class and we are enjoying having them all with us.

The other week our Parent Council held its annual AGM where Tim Rogers was re-elected as chairperson, Stuart Cockram bravely volunteered to become secretary and Chris Roberts courageously took over as treasurer. Many thanks to these gents for volunteering their time and effort. Thanks also to our outgoing office bearers Brian Robinson and Emma Maguire who served us well in previous years!  It was good to see some new faces at the meeting and I can recommend the parent Council meetings to all of you. They are informal, friendly and informative. More importantly they work for the benefit of all the children in the school.

At the meeting it was agreed to purchase two i.pads for the children to use in school and I think this is already underway. Eventually these will be linked to the Moray Council Intranet but for the moment they will be used as standalone devices.

It was decided to hold a Beetle Drive as a fundraiser and also as a night where the school community can get together. The date was set for Friday October 3^rd and it would be really great to see all the children there with their parents. Beetle drives are a laugh! Please come along as now more than ever we need to ensure we raise funds.

Next week Miss Smith and myself are going to the Scottish Learning Festival in Glasgow where we have been asked to represent the authority and present our approach to Interdisciplinary Learning. This has been a major focus for our curriculum development for the past two years and we are still working hard to develop it. We have created a display which maps out our approach using the Big Ideas (Creativity, Community, Communication etc) and will present this to colleagues from across Scotland. It’s good to know that Inveravon is still recognised as being a centre of very good practice in Moray and that they have confidence in what we do here in our wee school. Mrs Bremner will teach on Tuesday followed by Mr Watson on Wednesday and Thursday. Mrs McCann will finish off the week by covering the class on Friday.

I know the children will enjoy themselves and will have positive experiences from these different practitioners.  Hopefully Miss Smith and myself will come back with good and invigorating ideas which we have heard about from other people too.

The school estate review is now drawing to a close and the proposals which have been drawn up will be announced next week.

School Fundraising Events

We have decided to hold another sponsored obstacle- athon on Wednesday  November 5^th  from 1.15 -3pm.

This will ensure that we as a school have sufficient funds to enable us to cover expenses throughout the festive season. The children will be issued with sponsor forms next week giving them plenty of time to get them filled up over the next few weeks. PLEASE don’t just put in your own names and then forget about them. Spread the load and involve extended family, neighbours and people who work with you.             The school fund balance is currently at zero!

We will have another Smartie Tube Challenge running over the next few months as well so check your change for 20p coins and pop them into the empty smartie box. When it’s full bring it to school. I thank you for your support in this matter, always remembering of course that it’s your children who benefit.

I have added a dates for the Diary Section at the end of this newsletter for your information.

I hope you are all well and I look forward to seeing you all soon