It’s amazing how quickly the school session is passing. Staff and pupils are looking forward to two shorter weeks and a long rest over the September weekend. Everyone in the school community is working very hard to ensure children have the highest quality experiences and I am very grateful for the support from staff, parents and the local community.
Start Time
The official school start time is 9am however with Covid restrictions, children have been accessing the building from 8.45am to ensure stairwells and cloak rooms are quieter. This was maintained at the start of this school term while the children were settling back in.
This mitigation can now be removed from our risk assessment and we will return to the normal time for entering the school building of 9am. This means children will be able to socialise in the playground for a short time before school.
The first bell will ring at 8.55am and everyone in the playground should assemble in the class lines at this point.
Primary One children are now settled into school and both gates will be open for all pupils. Primary One and Two will assemble at the classroom doors in the morning rather than entering through the flower pot garden door.
There will be no changes to routines at the end of the day.
Curriculum Levels
Parents of pupils in P2-7 will receive information about their child’s attainment levels prior to teacher consultation calls on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you need any support to understand the levels and what it means for your child’s progress, please do not hesitate to contact me for P2-4 and Mrs French for P5-7.
If your child is taking a little longer to achieve levels than is expected for most children, the teacher will be happy to explain the additional support being provided for them in school. If you have time to do a little extra with your child in the evenings or weekends to help them make progress, please let us know and extra resources and activity ideas can be provided.
Scarecrow Week
There is a significant focus in school on raising attainment in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. We take opportunities to celebrate events and nurture creative skills and talent throughout the year. The first event is the school wide celebration of Harvest as part of religious observance. Primary 3 will lead a virtual harvest assembly. Mrs Spence and Primary 6 are arranging a collection for the local foodbank.
Each class will create a scarecrow to display in the grass are at the front of the playground. Parents, pupils and members of the local community are welcome to come over and admire our efforts and leave a non perishable item for the Harvest table.
Families are invited (and encouraged) to take some time over the long weekend to create a scarecrow at home to bring over to the display area. We would love to see your creations at home. Mrs French and I are working on our design at the moment.
Parent Consultations
Parent consultations take place by telephone on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Slots have been allocated based on the return of the tear off slip. Please note, it is likely that many of the calls will appear to be from a withheld number.
Parent consultation evenings run on very tight schedules. Please remember that the call will only last around 7 minutes and then the teacher needs to move on to another call. However, if any parent needs a longer appointment then a follow up meeting can be arranged for a suitable time.
School Fund
A School Fund Committee has now been set up to administer the school fund. The PTC will be provided with a school fund update at each meeting. This will be part of the Head Teacher’s report.
The School Fund committee is made up of:
- Mrs McKay (Admin)
- Mrs Duff (Head Teacher)
- Mrs Munn (Teacher Representative)
- Mrs McGee (signatory)
- Mrs French (signatory)
- Mrs McPherson (Nursery)
The constitution will be shared with all parents following the meeting on Tuesday.
Thank you for your continued support.
Kind regards
Kirsty Duff
