Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been delightful to have all the children back in school this week. They have all settled well and are getting used to the daily school routine.  I have been very impressed with how all of the children new to P1 have transitioned and are rising to the challenges of the school day.

The school diary is filling up quickly so please keep an eye on the dates below and for further information when it comes out.

There have been some small changes to the way we work in school to tell you about.

Visitors:  We are very pleased that we can now welcome parents and visitors back into school for meetings and events.  There is a new visitors signing-in process which is designed to  protect  information and also ensure that  visitors  are identified by wearing a lanyard.  If visiting the school please make sure you sign in at Reception.

Class Names: The children all had fun during their transition days choosing a name for their class, here is what they decided upon.

P1/2 Class as Tammie Norries.

P2/3/4 Class as Orcas

P4/5/6 Class as Draatsis

P6/7 Class as Mareel

Numeracy and Maths lessons are now all happening at the same time for the whole school. This is so Mrs Leslie and myself can work with groups of children from different classes to support their learning. We are also trialling a new Maths scheme which we are running alongside all the other resources that teachers already use.

Jewellery and PE:  As you already know, for health and safety reasons, children are asked not to wear any jewellery except plain studs in pierced ears, to school.  In my time working in schools, I have seen some nasty injuries causes by jewellery such as necklaces which have got caught on something.  This week our PE specialist teachers have been informed that the Health Safety Executive have updated the regulations regarding jewellery, particularly ear rings in PE lessons, informing us that children are not allowed to do any PE whilst wearing earrings of any kind.  This has come as a bit of a surprise to me and until I can find out more information from the Health and Safety Executive, I suggest that children do not wear any type of earring on the day they have PE which is Tuesday.  The PE specialist teacher will support children in taking earrings out and putting back in, but if this is not possible, they will be given activities to do at the side

Assemblies: We plan to have a regular weekly assembly, something that the children asked for when we did a whole school focus event, where we can celebrate learning and invite members of the community to share various topics with the children.  So far for this term we have two visitors planned:

20^th September – Dr Armitage in his role as Councillor talking about looking after the ocean environment

4^th Oct – Rev. Fran Henderson sharing thoughts about Harvest and Food Journeys

NOOSC after school club – has got off to a really positive start with lots of fun activities available. There are spaces everyday so please get in touch with the office if you would like to use this provision.  We do need it to be well used if it is to be viable for the longer term.  At this time it seems unlikely that we will be able to start a breakfast club as this will not be supported by the council and the school budget would not be able to support the staff to run it.

 

Dates so far:

29^th August P6 Bikability  lessons for 5 weeks.

5^th September  P4 Bikability to start for 4 weeks- more information to follow

21^st September  Orcas class visit to the recycling depo.

23^rd September P4 visit to live performance by Tom Percival – Children’s Author at the Shetland Museum

26^th September  Book fair

28^th September   P7 John Muir Day 1

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

7^th Oct  Last day  of Term 1

26^th Oct  Term 2 begins

 

Best wishes,

Gina Finch

We are still looking for Parent Volunteers for the planned Bikeability training.

Volunteers do not need to be parents of P6 children or commit to all 5 weeks training. If you are able to volunteer for even one week it would be greatly appreciated.

The dates are  Monday 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th September, from 1.45pm-2.45pm.

Please contact the office via phone or email if you think you will be able to assist.

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

Our JRSOs have been very busy over this year, helping the school community to learn about road safety. They have planned competitions and events for everyone to join in and last Thursday they shared all they had done with JRSOs from other school. They presented their PowerPoint very clearly and with a lot of confidence. We are all very proud of them.  Well done JRSOs.

 

 

Well done to all children for joining in, trying your best and having fun and  to Yellow Team  who came out on top with the most points closely follow by the other teams- Red, Blue and Green.  It was a lovely  fun morning with fabulous weather. Thanks too, to all parents whom came to organize refreshments,  help out and to watch.

Also in the Blue team but missed main photo! 

Dear Parents and Carers,

Apologies for the late arrival of this newsletter but managing staff absence has been a challenge this week as there seem to be so few supply teachers available – and then they fall ill as well. So Mrs Leslie and myself have been doing a lot of fill in this week, but it is always a joy to work with the children- after all that is why we came into teaching. However at the end of the school day there are lot of jobs to catch up on and the newsletter is one of them!

Sports Day: So sorry we had to postpone this event and disappoint both children and parents.  We have everything crossed that we can do this event next Tuesday 28^th June in the morning at 9.30am.  We really do hope we can do it then as we have no other days available to move it to.  I also hope that the parents who volunteered to help are still able to do so.

P6/7 Enterprise afternoon: This was certainly a lot of fun.  The inflatable obstacle course filled the hall and the inflatable lazer quest filled the pool room.  So Ms Scalan’s class had a busy and exhaustingly great afternoon with hot dogs. We are very grateful to John for organising the hire and setting up of the inflatables and Vicky and Michelle who answered the call for additional support as Ms. Scalan was away at the last minute.

JRSOs presentation in the Town Hall. The five JRSOs have worked hard over the year to raise awareness in road safety and general health and wellbeing, and they got to share their work and impact at a presentation event at the Town Hall in Lerwick today, along with JRSOs from other schools.  We are very proud of the work they have done and the impact they have had.  They presented very well, with a lot of confidence, managing their nervousness really well.  Well done JRSOS!

Antepreschooler open mornings:  It was so wonderful to welcome parents into the setting again and to see the children’s excitement when showing Mummies and Daddies their learning space. Thank you to all who came and for all your support.

P7 Leavers assembly:  This will take place on Thursday 30th June at 1.30pm.  I hope P7 have invited family to come to celebrate their final days at primary school and their transition to secondary.  I have felt privileged to get to know this great group of young people in their final term of primary school and to see how they prepare for moving on.  They have prepared various presentations to share with the school and their families- all in their unique style and I think there may be some surprises in store!   I am very pleased too that Andrea Henderson can also attend as she has seen this group right through school. We do ask all visitors to wear a mask to this event as we are all keen not to pass on any infection let alone Covid just before the Summer holidays!

Parent/Carer Survey: thanks to all who have taken a moment to share their views via this survey.  If you have not had a chance yet, then here is the link which will be open until Friday:

https://forms.office.com/r/6XbY8c87hi

I hope to share the results with you next week.

Toys in school:  A gentle reminder that children should not be bringing in toys from home – unless specifically for comfort or a specific class project, in which case please talk to your class teacher or Mrs Leslie about this.  We are concerned about aspects of hygiene when children play with and share these toys with their playmates when throwing around the playground. The school is well equipped with many resources for children to use throughout the day so there is no need for further items to be brought in from home.  Thank you for your support with this.

NOOSC: We are just updating the forms and information about this service and hope to get that out to you by the end of the week, for parents to book children in for sessions from 17^th Aug.  Ms Molly Farmer is our new play practitioner and she is really looking forward to running the provision.

Upcoming dates:

24^th June Nursery Sports morning

28^th June    Sports Morning 9.30 -11.30  P1-P7

28^th June    Nursery Graduation open afternoon  2.15 to 3.45 for those moving up to P1

30^th June:  Leavers Assembly – P7 parents/carers only, 1.30pm

30^th June   Last stay and play sessions for new starters in Nursery

1^st July       Last day of term- School closes at 3pm, Happy Holidays!

17^th Aug     First day of Term 1

As other dates are confirmed I will update you here.

Best wishes,

Gina Finch

 

We had really hoped to be able to  do sports morning this morning and although it looks like it might not rain, the field is just too wet  and would not be safe for children to run around  or sit down on.  So sorry for any convenience-  let’s  hope it dries out a bit for next week and that you can all join us then.  Thank you for your support.

Dear Parents and Carers,

It is hard to believe that there are only 3 more weeks of term left- time is whizzing by and there is so much to fit in.  Children  ( are staff) are getting tired and as a consequence getting tetchy with each other and less able to concentrate.  Please do all you can at home to enable children to get enough rest and sleep ( must be tricky with the Simmer Dim) to be able to enjoy these last few weeks.

Sports Day: We plan to do this on the morning of 21^st June 9.30-11.30- weather permitting. We do have a back up date of morning of 28^th June just in case.  We will try to make any decision to cancel the night before and let you know- but I am learning that the weather on Shetland is hard to predict!   I hope you might be able to join the children on the Boddam Playing Field field as they participate in a variety of  active sport team games and competitive races.  Thanks to the parents/ carers who have  volunteered to keep score and support children as they move from one activity to the next.

Health and Wellbeing: We continue to use    the resource, Jigsaw, in all classes to teach aspects of health and wellbeing.  This term we will be working pieces 5 and 6, Relationships and Changing Me.  I have attached the course descriptors for you.  If you would like to discuss this or come in and look at the resources used, please contact me at school.  The lessons on Changing Me will be starting  on Friday for all the P5, P6 and P7 who will be taught in their year groups.

It is important that children receive consistent and accurate messages regarding relationships, sexual health and parenthood education.  Effective education can empower children that their bodies are their own and how to keep themselves safe and healthy.

To find out more please click the link below.

Sex Education in Scottish Schools. A Guide for Parents and Carers.

Paper copies can be requested from the school office.

Illness:  We have continued to experience illness in both children and staff, some linked to Covid and some to other throat/ chest infections.  Maintaining staffing levels has been a bit of a challenge but thanks to an amazing team including some regular supply teachers we have managed to maintain a safe and nurturing environment for our children.  Mrs Inkster remains unwell, so our thoughts and best wishes  go  out to her for a speedy recovery.  Mrs Wells and Mrs Wishart have been doing a great job of looking after her class along with myself and Mrs Leslie.

P6/7 Enterprise afternoon.  The young entrepreneurs were very successful with their enterprise project, raising a whooping amount.  £216  will go to charities of their choice and the rest to be spent on a fun afternoon to send off the P7s in style.  This fun afternoon will take place on  Monday 20^th June .  An inflatable obstacle course and lazer quest game along with hot dogs and refreshments have been organised for them. What a great way to end the term and to say good bye to our P7s.

This year, as we have not been able to organise residential trips away due to the late lifting of all restrictions and staff absence, the P7 were given each a hoodie  and  3 John Muir days were organised for them over the year.  Although not the same as an away trip, which we hope to be able to do again next year, we have worked hard to make sure that the P7s have had some memorable experiences.

P1 New Entrants parents meeting    This meeting has now been schedule for Wed 22^nd June at 6pm.

Toys in school:  A gentle reminder that children should not be bringing in toys from home- unless specifically for comfort or a specific class project, in which case please talk to your class teacher or Mrs Leslie about this.  We are concerned about aspects of hygiene when children play with and share these toys with their playmates and also throwing around the playground. The school is well equipped with many resources for children to use throughout the day so there is no need for further items to be brought in from home.  Thank you for your support with this.

NOOSC:  We will send out further details about after school club as soon as we can before the end of term to enable parents to book regular session.  Parents will still be able to book ad hoc sessions if there are spaces left which I expect there to be, but for this service to be sustainable  its needs regular bookings to cover the cost of staffing it.  Central services will be monitoring how the service is used to ensure that it is cost effective so please support it.

Stay and play sessions for new starters in Nursery:  Parents and children due to start in Nursery in the new session are invited to visit the nursery between 2.30 and 3.30pm on Wed 15^th June, Mon 20^th June,  Thurs 30^th June.

Upcoming dates:

14^th June Ante-preschoolers open morning in nursery

21^st June: Sports Afternoon

21^st June   Nursery Preschool trip on the bus-  9.15 to 10.15

23^rd June: JRSO presentation in the Town Hall

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

24^th June Nursery Sports morning

28^th June Nursery Graduation open morning  for those moving up to P1

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

As other dates are confirmed I will update you here.

Best wishes,

Gina Finch