Do you have any unused Hama Beads and boards that you could donate to the school? P1 – 3 would love to receive any spare beads and boards to use at Golden Time. You can drop them off at the office. Thanks in advance from P1 – 3.
HOLIDAY
Just to remind you that the school is closed on Wednesday 31 January for a local holiday and re-opens at 9am on Thursday 1 February.
Due to staff and pupils having a shorter lunch break the school closes at 2.45pm on Tuesday 30 January. There will be no study club next Tuesday.
There will be a public service bus available to take children to the North Road at 2.45pm.
Early Years letter – Term 3
Dear Parents/Carers of Early Years pupils
Welcome back to school for 2018, we are now settled into the new term and are looking forward to the year ahead in Bell’s Brae. I would like to take the opportunity to introduce myself as Acting Depute Head Teacher (Early Years). I will be in the post for approximately 6 – 8 weeks and you can get in touch using the above information.
Students
Megan Leask and Rachel Baronet will continue their work placements in Rooms 1 and 2 respectively. These placements form part of their studies Shetland College (University of the Highlands and Islands) and will continue up until May.
Up Helly Aa
We will be looking for volunteers to provide additional supervision on Up Helly Aa day, just let someone know if you can help. We will be walking to the bottom of Harbour Street to see the galley and the Jarl Squad weather permitting.
Adverse weather
Just a reminder that information about school closures due to bad weather will be announced on local and national radio – Radio Shetland at 5.30pm, Radio Orkney at 7.30am and SIBC. Information is also available on the SIC internet homepage and parents/carers can also follow alerts on ‘twitter’. A direct link to this can be accessed through the Shetland Islands Council home page www.shetland.gov.uk click on twitter ‘follow@shetlslandsCll’ button at the top right corner of the page. However, parents/carers are responsible at all times for deciding whether to send their children to nursery.
Primary 1 Enrolment
Enrolment Week will take place from Monday 5 to Friday 9 February. During this time, enrolment forms will be available outside each EY room for parents/carers to complete for children eligible to start school in August 2018.
Appointments will be available for parents/carers of children in their pre-school year in the week beginning Monday 20 February. These will provide you with an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress and ask any questions you may have regarding their upcoming transition into Primary 1.
Please speak to a member of the EY team to let them know whether you would prefer a daytime or an evening appointment – this will allow you to arrange a time that is mutually convenient for yourselves and them. For your information, evening appointments will take place on Wednesday 21 February. A crèche will be available in the main school.
Dates for your diaries
Another reminder of some key dates for this term –
Tuesday 30 January – Up Helly Aa Day
Wednesday 31 January – Holiday
Monday 5 – Friday 9 February – Primary 1 Enrolment Week
Friday 23 February – Holiday
Monday 26 February – Holiday
Friday 30 March – Last day of term
As ever, if you have any questions about any of the above, or anything else, please ask a member of the Early Years team or contact myself.
Yours sincerely
Wendy Fraser
Acting Depute Head Teacher (Early Years)
P6/7 After School Netball Club Visiting Coach
We were delighted to have visiting Scotland coach Leighanne Carragher up coaching us alongside Sound Primary After School Netball Club. She was very inspiring and motivating!
The girls learned new skills as well as having a lot of fun learning new ball drills and playing games.
Mannequin Challenge
Just before the October holidays, P6n undertook the “mannequin challenge”… It required a lot of concentration!
Lunchtimes at Bell’s Brae
One of our school improvement priorities this session is to improve the health and wellbeing of our young people. Part of this priority was to improve our arrangements for lunchtimes and breaktimes.
We are now writing to you to keep you informed of the improvements we have made and to ask for your support in promoting our approach.
- Our playgrounds have seen improvements. Thanks to the Tesco Bags for Life scheme we have a lovely new shelter in the P5-7 playground. This provides shelter as well as a fun area for imaginative play. Thanks to the Tesco scheme the P1-4 playground will soon be getting three new play panels – one mirror and two blackboards.
- We have introduced a Lunchtime Club to support some of our young people to further develop their social skills
- We, as the Pupil Council were successful in our bid to the “Loot for Lerwick” scheme and received £781. They have used this to purchase new board games and art and craft materials. Every floor in the three storey block now has a box containing age appropriate games and materials for ‘inside playtimes’.
- During all terms children will be strongly encouraged to play outside to get fresh air and exercise. For any children who are unable to go outside due to health reasons a note from their parent/carer is required.
- On days when the weather is poor or it is unsafe to go outside we will have ‘inside break’. Morning break will be spent in classrooms accessing a range of activities and toys. During lunch breaks, on each floor there were will three areas for the children to access – 1) construction and board games 2) film or cartoon 3) quieter area for craft, drawing, colouring or reading. Whenever possible the children will tidy up at 1325 and have their last 10 minutes outside in the playground. This allows us to encourage healthy living.
For this to be successful we require all children to come to school with suitable clothing and footwear for outside play. If you would like your child to bring and leave a pair of wellington boots in school we would be happy to store them in the classroom. Please ensure your child’s name is on them! We would also be happy to receive any surplus boots that may be used throughout the school.
Interview with Guiser Jarl
Pupils in P7n and P7s had an opportunity today to interview this year’s Guiser Jarl for Lerwick Up Helly Aa, Stewart Jamieson, along with his son, Haydn. Pupils in these classes have been planning the interview since we came back after the Christmas holidays, thinking carefully about the difference between open and closed questions. Stewart took in the helmet, shield and axe he wore and carried when he was in the Junior Jarl Squad as a young boy. The pupils really enjoyed asking him questions and it gave them a real insight into what is involved in becoming Jarl as well as the build up to Up Helly Aa day at the end of January. We wished Stewart and Haydn all the best for the big day with three cheers at the end of the interview.
Reverse Advent Calendar
In December, Primary 6 and 7 at Bell’s Brae took part in a “reverse advent calendar”, where pupils were invited to bring in one food item on their allocated day, which was added to a box with contributions from the whole class. On the last day of term, the contents of these boxes were donated to Shetland Foodbank, who sorted the contributions into emergency food parcels to be given to people in need.
More information on Shetland Foodbank is available here:
https://shetland.foodbank.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/Shetland-Foodbank-905238629610418/
Joyeux Noël!
Pupils in P6n created their own French Christmas cards to send to a class at École Élémentaire Gambetta – a primary school near Bordeaux! We have received cards from their class, written in English, in response. The children in both classes did a great job!
Primary 7’s Special Parent Visitor
We were so lucky to have Island Medic’s star and parent of a pupil in P7, Mrs Williamson, come in to visit P7n and P7s classes today.
Mrs Williamson gave us a really interesting insight into her role as an A&E nurse at the Gilbert Bain. Primary 7 had prepared questions to ask her both about her job and the TV programme which has been really popular. Following the visit, many pupils showed an interest into a career in the National Health Service.
Thank you for visiting us, Mrs Williamson!
