Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. Although the weather was not as good as  one would hope- it was still a chance for me to explore this beautiful island with my family who are visiting at the moment.  Learning is all part of the big adventure,  so seeing the gannets on Noss and the storm petrels on Mousa  was a real privilege.  It is such a shame to see so many birds affected by the avian flu – nonetheless the beauty of these places  is good  for the wellbeing.  I hope you all had a chance to get out and about in nature but if not another long weekend is coming up this week. Friday 6^th June  school will be closed to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee.  I have been fascinated to learn that it was the Queen herself who officially opened this school in  1969 and this week P4,5,6 will have a visit  from Mary Andreas who will talk about this opening event.  Other classes and nursery will be taking part in some Jubilee activities.  Whether a royalist of not-  70 years in public service is remarkable.

 Learner led event:   Thank you to all parents/carers who came along-  It was lovely to meet you and to see your children showing you their work and their school.

 Music Teacher Roadshow gave the children a real musical treat last week and today the Children Classic Concert gave children a chance to hear excerpts from the classic story of Peter and the Wolf. All the children attended  and were enthralled by  music  of all different styles. It was lovely to see smiling faces and clapping hands!  If you would like your child (P4 upwards) to learn to play an instrument over and above school  music lessons then contact Hayfield house to register your interest.

 P1 New Entrants parents meeting   will now take place on 6pm  Tuesday 7^th June in P1/2 classroom when we hope Mrs Inkster will be fully recovered from her chest infection.  I’ll let you know if any further change to this.

Enterprise Afternoon.  P6/7 have been working hard on their enterprise projects, learning valuable skills of budgeting, advertising and creating business plans.  All the items they have made will be on sale to the children on Wednesday  1^st June – so all children are invited to bring in money, ideally in a named envelop or purse so that they can purchase a range of lovely items priced from 50p up to £4.

Contacting school Staff:  If you do have any question or concerns about your child please do contact the school during school hours or email the class teacher.  All staff will check email between 9 and 5pm and aim to respond to any queries within a day, but I am strongly encouraging them to switch off emails outside of those time so they can have quality time with their own families.

Charity support:  Thanks to all who supported Jade who is now  sporting a lovely new short hair style. She managed to raise a grand total of £743 for the Little Princess Trust.  Well done Jade!

Staffing update:  We are very pleased to welcome our new  full time clerical assistant- Honor Rosie from Thursday 2^nd June. She comes with a varied and wide experience, but it will take her time to get to know how the school and its systems work- a process I am still going through.  I am immensely grateful to Sonja who has been a steady hand helping us out for these last few weeks, and we will miss her.

School Closure:  A reminder that school will be closed on  Friday June 3^rd.

Sun cream:  Just a reminder that although it often does not  feel very warm there is a lot of strength in the sun so please do apply sun cream to your child’s exposed skin before coming to school.  Also remind them to bring their water bottle which they can access though out the day.

Upcoming dates:

30^th May: Children Classic Concerts will be performing Peter and the Wolf live for our oldest children.

6th June : African Drumming sessions will start for each class for 4 weeks

31^st May  P7 Taster session at Sandwick

3^rd  June: School closed for Queen’s jubilee.

4^th June:  Parent council Bingo 7pm to raise funds for school playground refurbishment

8^th 9^th June  P7 Transition days to Sandwick

8^th June Second transition afternoon for all classes in school

21^st June: Sports Afternoon

23^rd June: JRSO presentation in the Town Hall

23^rd and 24^th June P7 transition days to Anderson high School

30^th June:  2pm:   Leavers Assembly – P7  parents/carers only

As other dates are confirmed I will update you here.

 

Best wishes,

Gina Finch