Monthly Archives: February 2018
Free Swimming Taster Session
LONG WEEKEND
FEBRUARY HOLIDAY
A reminder that the school will be closed on Friday 23 February and Monday 26 February for a long weekend.
Pupil Drop In
On the first Monday of every month Mrs Wadley and pupil council members hold a drop in session. Pupils discuss what they think is going well and come with the suggestions for improvements. This month lots of pupils attended this session and suggestions are being taken forward. 
Lunchtime Bowling
This week our Primary 5/6 pupils had the opportunity to go along to the lunchtime bowls club. Pupils had fun learning how to bowl and for the next five weeks they will play bowls in teams. Everyone had great fun.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
xin nian kuai le!
Some Primary 4S pupils helped their Mandarin Teacher, Mr Lei, to tell the P4-7 classes about Chinese New Year at assembly this morning. We found out why red is such an important colour – it’s all to do with those scary monsters, the Nian! Merran and Oliwia helped set the scene with a tree and flowers. Meanwhile Mayah and Paul made fantastic monsters who tried to eat the villagers (Ania, Kian, Kyja and Joshua) but a very wise old man (played by our own Tyler Coutts) advised them to wear red clothes and make lots of noise with firecrackers and drums. The trick worked and they frightened off the evil Nian. So every year people in China wear red and chase away the monsters.
The pupils did a splendid job, particularly as they only had 2 rehearsals at lunchtime and one afternoon. They made or brought in costumes and masks and Mr Lei brought in lanterns and firecrackers. They had great fun.
A big THANK YOU to Mr Lei for teaching us all so much about Chinese New Year. We hope all have a great new year!
Looking for litter
Four of our P5s pupils watched Newsround and were very interested in a report about litter. They decided that they would try to make a difference and spent their lunchtime gathering up all the litter that had blown below the fences in our P5-7 playground. They got a whole black bag full.
They have now asked if they can regularly look out for litter in both playgrounds. It is great to have young people who are proactive and look after the environment.
Bell’s Brae Early Learning and Child Care Inspectorate Report
The report of the inspection of the Early Years Department, carried out by the Care Inspectorate has been finalised. The department has received a grading of ‘Very Good’ in both areas assessed.
The report is a fantastic result for the children, parents and staff here at Bell’s Brae who have all contributed to this great achievement!
You can view the report by logging in to the Care Inspectorate’s website or by clicking on the link below.
Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA)
Scottish National Standardised Assessments (SNSA)
As you may be aware from the National Press, the Scottish Government have, this school session, introduced National Standardised Assessments in literacy and numeracy at the P1,P4,P7 and S3 stages of your children’s education.
School staff have recently received training in their implementation and we will conduct the assessments with pupils before the end of March this year. The assessments are online in format and will be administered as part of normal classroom activities.
The results are diagnostic to provide teachers with information about children’s learning rather than simple “marks”. Teachers can then tailor teaching and learning activities appropriately. No results will be sent home but teachers will probably refer to these within the normal school reporting cycle or during parent/teacher appointments.
Finally, it is important to note that the assessments will not be used to compile league tables of schools.
If you would like further information about SNSA there is a section specifically for parents on the SNSA website at:
Busy Week in P7S
P7S had an extremely busy week last week! We went to the street to see this year’s Guizer Jarl, Stewart Jamieson and his squad on Tuesday for Up Helly Aa day and were lucky to get a visit from them in the afternoon. We had a visit from Jill Charleson on Thursday who works for the NHS. She was speaking to us about making healthy choices. She showed us some artificial lungs and what they would look like for a non-smoker/someone who smokes up to 20 cigarettes a day – the pupils in P7S were shocked to see the lungs that had been exposed to so much smoke. On Friday we finished up with our hop at Sound school which we all really enjoyed – it was good to spend time with the P7 pupils from Sound and also great to see some of the Jarl Squad again! On Friday we also said our goodbyes to Miss Clubb, who has been with us for a month as part of her teaching practice.
