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Thank you to all the parents who responded to the consultation ref kit for PE activities. The consultation closed at the end of April and the results are as follows. 91 Returns were made and 38 agreed that the dress code should be a plain t-shirt and shorts 53 disagreed.

So for next year there will be no change to the type of kit that the children can wear for PE at school. Thank you for taking the time to respond to this consultation your voice is important to the way we shape the future of Millbank Primary.

Tomorrow the 13th May there is an opportunity to attend an information session about the refurbishment at Millbank Primary. There are 2 identical sessions the first is from 3.30pm-4.30pm then the second from 5.30pm -6.30pm. These sessions will be let by the project manager Mrs Fiona Grant.

Millbank Nursery News                                 22^nd April 2015

Dear Parents and carers,

I am writing to let you know about changes to our service. As you are aware Millbank Primary School is part of the Moray Council refurbishment scheme.

To enable this refurbishment to go ahead it is necessary to decant pupils to other buildings or classrooms.

The nursery will be the first to move. The Nursery will be located in Lady Cathcart from Tuesday 26^th May 2015 for approximately 90 weeks. During the in-service days on the 21^st and 22^nd of May the nursery will move. We will need to close our service on Monday 25^th May to allow time for the staff to set up the areas for the children to use for their learning. We appreciate your understanding at this challenging time.

Those of you who are familiar with Lady Cathcart will be aware of the restricted car parking areas and I would ask all parents to use caution when driving near the building.

If you need to contact the nursery for any reason please continue to use the school number.

Kind regards,

Mrs Garrity

Head teacher

Welcome back after the holidays the first informal tea/ coffee and a chat was held on Wednesday 15th April 2015  and was attended by 4 parents. The topic was “changes in our school”. There will be open meetings for parents led by Fiona Grant (Project manager) on the 13th May 3.30pm-4.30pm and 5.30pm -6.30pm this will be an opportunity for parents to hear first hand about the refurbishment. There will be opportunities to ask questions about the refurbishment.

Playground

This week Mr McQuaker and I met with all support staff. We talked about their roles in school and ideas to make things better. The high vis vests are working and they would like to have them to wear each day. Next step to order new high vis vests.

The next issue is the contact between the staff in the playground- staff have suggested that they would like walkie talkies. Next step would be to order new walkie talkies.

Nursery

To allow building work to start, the nursery will be relocating to Lady Cathcart house from the 26th May until the end of the building project March 2017. On the 25th May the nursery will be closed to allow staff the opportunity to set up . I know that parents will understand and please if you have any issues let us know.

Staffing

Mrs Scott has returned to work and we are pleased to see her back. She has indicated her intention to retire in October 2015 so we will be advertising for a new deputy head.

Swimming

As part of on going consultation here are some of the issues raised  by the pupils of Millbank Primary.

The pupils council said that it isn’t fair that if you are the last class in the school dinner queue you only get 1 choice

Following discussion with the cook and the school meals service coloured bands were introduced.

impact- this has resulted in all pupils getting their meal of choice and less waste most days in the canteen.

The pupils asked if they could have a longer playtime in the morning

As part of the consultation before Christmas 5 minutes was added to morning playtime.

impact children say they enjoy playtime more

The pupils asked if they could have a Christmas Light as all the other schools had one in Buckie.

This was raised at a recent Parent Council meeting and they are considering it. A recent vote around the school confirmed that the pupils would really like to have a light.

impact the pupils feel listened too.

A focus group of pupils and parents visited a  Banff Primary to pick up new ideas for our school.

They fed back ideas which I feedback to the design team.

Some of their ideas such as the storage cupboards opening into the hall have been added to the design

Impact- children have a say in the future of Millbank School

 

 

 

Since taking over the head teachers post at Millbank I have been asking for feedback from parents and carers. I am pleased to say that some people are eager to make suggestions.I want to update you on progress

You asked if a meeting could be arranged for parents to discuss the refurbishment

 Fiona Grant (project manager) will hold 2 meetings at Millbank Primary on the 13th May one from 3.30pm-4.30pm and the second is from 5.30pm-6.30pm. These will be identical meetings and an opportunity to ask questions about the refurbishment of the school.

You asked if the adult helpers in the playground could wear highvis vests at break and lunch times.

On Tuesday 17th March  it was announced at assembly that all playground helpers would wear high vis vests from now on.

You asked if there could be more adults in our playground.

The DHT and I are looking at ways we can reorganise existing staff to facilitate this if at all possible.

You asked if all the children who behave at Millbank can be rewarded.

Accepted behaviour is what we expect at Millbank; since I arrived we have introduced the golden ticket system and revised the behaviour policy. This is something that we will as a school have to return to in the future to ensure that we are encouraging all children to be tolerant of each other.

Please keep your suggestions and ideas for improving our school coming in.

Working together means that we achieve more.

 

Millbank Primary School was opened in 1974. The school is semi open plan in design  There is classroom accommodation for 12 classes, and an additional support needs base which caters for pupils with profound and complex needs. Each class bay is comprised of a carpeted area and a tiled area which is suitable for practical activities. The school hall is a multipurpose area which serves as a well equipped gymnasium/games hall and dining room. The school has a general purposes room which is used for music and a range of other activities such as home economics and drama. There are 2  libraries, and a pre-school unit. Pupils enter at the rear of the school, where there is a large playground area. This is made up of a large tarmac area and a grass playing field.

However since 1974 teaching and learning has moved on whilst the interior of the school remains firmly in the 1970’s. The Moray Council have secured funding to refurbish 4 schools to a B standard condition, one of which is Millbank which will enable the Authority to ensure the building is warm, safe and secure for pupils in the present day. This is an opportunity to improve the building which largely has been in the same condition for 40 years. However there is a need to be able to improve the building ambience both for teaching and suitability to enable 21st Century education to be carried out.

The design team have used the information from myself and the focus group to look at ways of improving our school. the plans below are also on view at the entrance to the school.

This is an exciting opportunity for Millbank pupils and parents. The building work will start in June 2015 and last for approximately 90 weeks. this will inevitably be a disruptive time for all however I am sure the end result will be worth it.

Proposed Entrance

Proposed Plan of School

Contact details

Can I remind those of you who haven’t done so already to ensure you advise the school office of changes to any contact numbers as on the back of this page you will see our procedures for Adverse Weather. It is vital that we have the most up-to-date information for all emergency contacts.

P7 Abernethy trip

May I wish the P7 pupils a fun and exhilarating experience from their upcoming trip to Abernethy. I’m sure they will have lots of fun and have plenty of stories to share with us on their return.

Absence reporting

It is important that you call everyday that your child is absent from school. If you know your child will be off more than one day please state this when you call.

Resources

We are trying to raise money for new resources in school if you have any fundraising ideas please join our parents council sub committee. There is a meeting on the 18th February at 3pm.

Welcome back to school after the Christmas holidays. I hope that everyone had a good Christmas and an enjoyable holiday.

I received feedback from several parents in December and a common comment from many parents was that they felt that there was insufficient communication from myself as Head Teacher. Some made particular reference to the recent parental consultation on the change of school hours. I have taken these comments on board and looked at other schools and the communication methods used. As a result I have  decided to start a regular blog through the medium of Glow Scotland. Teachers  will also be using this to communicate on a regular basis about work in the class.   Please remember that” Millbank Matters”  the site run by our active parent council is also available for information

As a staff we are focussing on improving the Behaviour of the children at Millbank and making sure that all children have a clear understanding that inappropriate behaviour will lead to consequences. This will be shared with parents and the previous behaviour policy re launched. As  Head teacher the majority of complaints I received last term were from parents about inappropriate behaviour of other children. As a result of this I feel sure that parents will support and reinforce what we as a staff are doing at Millbank to support the Better Behaviour Better Learning agenda.

The planned refurbishment of Millbank school is going ahead and hopefully there will be plans available soon. The parent council have been invited to send representation to a focus group.  This is a fantastic opportunity for us to have a say in the refurbishment and improved layout of the school.

As a school we are always on the look out for volunteers. if you would like to help in school please let myself or Mrs Stronach know. I am sure that many of you have skills, talents and time. Possible areas of help are hearing reading, playing board games, helping with art and craft, etc.

Term starts on Monday 5 January at the new start time of 8:50am.

School hours:
8:50am (All stages)

Interval Break:
10:30 – 10:50am (All stages)

Lunch Break:
12:10 – 1:00pm (P1-3)
12:30 – 1:20pm (P4-7)

School ends:
2:30pm (P1-3)
3:00pm (P4-7)

Nursery
Morning session: 8:50am to 12:00noon
Afternoon session: 12.30pm to 3.40pm