Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to the new session 2022-23.  I hope you all have managed to have some holiday time over the Summer in spite of the challenging weather!   It has been a joy to greet the children this morning has they hopped, skipped and ran into school.  Although many would have experienced a mix of  excitement and anxiety, hopefully seeing all their friends and teachers again will help them to settle quickly.

Welcome to all our new starters in Nursery and also to the children who have transitioned in to P1 today.  They have all come in really well.  Starting school and returning to school after a long break can be tiring so please make sure your children eat well and get to bed in good time.

Welcome also to new staff  starting with us this term:

Ms Rebecca Halcrow-  Support worker in Nursery (Acting Practitioner for this term)

Ms Molly Farmer-  Play practitioner for after school club

Mr Andrew Feeney – LSA across school

Ms Bernie Saunders-  Support worker in Nursery

The staff have been working hard over the last two in-service days to get the school ready for the children as well as plan exciting learning for this next term.  Each teacher will be sending home a  learning overview and welcome letter in the next few days as well as putting these on the blog which I hope you will find useful, and below you will find some dates of events that have already been planned and which I will add to as other events are organised.

So here are some quick reminders as children get back into the routine this week.

We are a Nurture accredited school, this means that

• Children’s learning is understood developmentally,
• The classroom offers a safe base
• Nurture is important for the development of self esteem
• Language is understood as a vital means of communication
• All behaviour is communication
• Transitions are significant in the lives of children.

We do have high expectation of all our learners and we promote positive behaviour through a nurture approach by developing good respectful relationships between pupils, parents and staff. We use a restorative approach for when things go wrong.  More information can be found on the school blog.

1. PE day is a Tuesday and children need to come to school in their PE kit that day
2. Any children with a mobile phone must have it switched off and kept in their bag during school time.   If they have a smart watch as well- these should have all notifications switched off during the day.
3. We do not encourage children to bring toys into school, unless asked to by the class teacher, but recognise that some children will need a familiar object from home as comfort. These objects/toys need to be small enough to fit in a pocket or the child’s drawer. There is not room on the tables for toys to be stored.
4. Children will be bringing home the new home school diary. This is where teachers and parents can keep school/ home updated when needed, and older children can make a record of any home learning tasks.
5. After School Provision starts today. If you need further information about this please contact the office or look at the school blog.

Dates so far:

25^th  August P6 Bikability- bike check

29^th August P6 Bikability lessons for 5 weeks

26^th September Book fair and week

26^th /27^th September Parent /Teacher consultation   4pm to 6.30pm

28th September P7 John Muir Day 1

7^th Oct  Last day  of Term 1

26^th Oct  Term 2 begins

 

Best wishes

Gina Finch