Meldrum Primary School Blog

Excellent first full week in Primary 5. :O).
We have all the plates spinning now and we are working really hard to keep them moving.
Great Green – ‘What went well’
– As part of our Maths topic, we revisited what we knew about 2D shapes. The class searched the filing cabinets in their heads and retrieved lots of key knowledge and understanding. We extended this by looking at common properties and quadrilaterals!!
– Our daily practise of handwriting is showing improvement already!
Well Done P5.
Think Pink – ‘Even better if’
– Using a ruler carefully to underline dates and when a task is completed, ready for the next task.

Lead Learners.
This week our Lead Learners are Valentina and Ollie.
They have shown kindness consistently to other pupils in the school, to adults and to the school environment. Well Done Valentina and Ollie.

Our first week back has been fantastic here at Meldrum PS.  It has been lovely to have such high attendance figures this week with nearly every pupil being in school and on time every day so far.  Attendance is school is hugely important so I ask that you continue to ensure that your child/children are in school as much as possible.  West Lothian Council’s Attendance and Engagement at School policy provides schools with procedures to follow to support positive attendance.  Where attendance falls below 90%, schools are required to begin engaging with parents to look at reasons behind low attendance and for conversations to begin about how improvements can be made. Arriving on time at school is also very beneficial, many children find it unsettling to arrive late to the classroom when everyone else is already in the room and having them here on time for the start of the school day avoids this potential upset.

School Events – I will be sending out a list of diary dates for the school year at the beginning of next week so that you have a note of planned dates for the session.   We do, however, have some upcoming events happening soon.  We will be holding our Big Breakfasts events in the next couple of weeks.  A maximum of 2 adults per child are able to join your child for some breakfast and a chance to meet their class teacher and visit their classrooms to see where they learn each day.  We will aim to start our breakfasts at 9.15am and expect to be finished by 10.00am.  Family members attending the breakfasts should wait at the door to breakfast club (in the front playground) and as soon as we are set up, we will let people in.  We look forward to seeing families on the dates below:

Wednesday 26th August – P3/2 Big Breakfast – for children in Miss Canning’s class

Thursday 27th August – P4/3 Big Breakfast – for children in Mrs Scobie’s class

Friday 28th August – P1/2 Big Breakfast – for children in Mrs Lang’s class

Wednesday 2nd September – P6/5 Big Breakfast – for children in Miss McGrorty’s class

Thursday 3rd September – P7 Big Breakfast – for children in Miss Jones’s class

Friday 4th September – P5 Big Breakfast – for children in Mrs Orpin’s class

PE Days – PE days for this term are:

P1/2 – Tuesday and Wednesday

P3/2 – Monday and Thursday

P4/3 – Monday and Thursday

P5 – Tuesday and Thursday

P6/5 – Tuesday and Wednesday

P7 – Monday and Thursday

On PE days, pupils across P1 – P5 should come to school in “active school uniform.”  Children should wear a t-shirt or polo shirt (red, black or white – no large logos) and joggers or leggings. They will not be asked to change.  Pupils in P6 and P7 should bring their PE kit to change into, this supports preparation for high school where changing is required. Football strips should not be worn for PE.

School Uniform –   it has been great to see the children looking so smart in their school uniforms this week.  A reminder that uniform is either school shirt and tie or polo shirt; skirts, trousers or leggings.  Hoodies are not permitted.  If any family needs support with uniform items, please contact the school and ask to speak to either Mrs Egan, Mrs Brown or Miss Jones in confidence.

Outdoor Learning – staff are finalising their weekly timetables and outdoor learning days will be confirmed as soon as this is complete.

Arrival at school – any child arriving before 8:35am should go directly to Breakfast Club, where supervision will be available. Please note that children do not need to eat breakfast to attend Breakfast Club—they are welcome to join in games and activities until 8:35am. However, if your child would like breakfast, please ensure they arrive before 8:30am, as this is when the kitchen stops serving food. 

At 8:35am, playground supervision will begin in both the front and back playgrounds. Children in Breakfast Club will head outside by 8:45am at the latest, allowing time for those finishing their breakfast. 

On days when it is raining or in the winter when the playground may be icy, all pupils should enter the school building via the hall door where they will be supervised in the hall until the start of the school day.  If you do not see any staff in the playground from 8.35am onwards, you will know that children should report to the hall.

Any pupil arriving after the start of the school day at 8.55am should be brought to the main office.

Next Week 

PE begins as per timetable above. No other planned events.

I hope that everyone has a lovely weekend and look forward to seeing the children again on Monday.

Kind regards, Lynne Egan.

P6/5 have had a lovely (and busy) first few days back getting to know each other and our new teacher. We are learning our new routines, class values and have even begun reading our class novel, The Boy at the Back of the Class.

We discussed our perfect day with our peers, then we wrote in paragraphs about how we would choose to spend our morning, afternoon and evening. We also recapped our knowledge of place value using a variety of active learning approaches.

Next week, we will continue to settle into P6/5, learn our new routines, class values and begin to expand our thinking!

Primary 5 have had a very busy first few days. The class are very tired but have had a lot of fun and are quickly following the new routines of the class brilliantly. We are now using the cloakrooms for our bags, outdoor shoes and coats. Josh, Valentina and Merrin think ‘the cloakrooms are great because they keep the classroom tidy.’
We are reading The Owl Tree which has a focus on our school values of kindness and respect. We have been talking about what kindness looks like in our class, in our school and in our world outside of school.
We already know that Maths is fun in Primary 5. We played a game in the hall where we had to use our knowledge of numeracy to add and multiple values. Myleigh thought it was amazing.

What a great start we have had in Primary 5. We are all looking forward to much more fun in our learning this year.

What a fantastic week here at Meldrum PS!  We enjoyed the sunshine and did some fun activities in our classes throughout the week.  We hosted football teams from local schools and our P6 and P7 pupils played against them, performing well and scoring goals.  We had an Achievement Assembly yesterday where we celebrated learning that takes place outside of school and said goodbye to Mrs Nagle and to Mrs Harris.  We will miss them and hope that they come back and visit us next year.  Last night, our P7 leavers enjoyed an activity that was organised and funded by the Parent Council.  Everyone had a great time and made the most of spending time with their friends.

Today was an eventful one!  The extreme weather this morning meant that we couldn’t walk to church so our chaplain, Nelu, came to school for our service instead.  P7 toured the school to get their shirts and t-shirts signed and then they had a guard of honour from the other classes as they left the building, accompanied by a piper!  Thanks to one of our P7 parents who organised this for us today!  Our leavers have had a great time taking part in all of the end of term activities and experiences and have consistently shown our school values.  We send them off to high school with good wishes and lots of luck for the future.

As you know, school is now closed for the summer holidays.  We know that holidays can sometimes be tricky to navigate and hope that some of the resources that we have shared with you will be helpful.  You will receive a Sway powerpoint over the summer which has photographs of class teachers and information about the school day, including things like which doors children should come in, hopefully this will help to ease any worries about coming back.  I wish everyone a fantastic summer, enjoying time spent with your children and making memories as families.  We look forward to welcoming our amazing pupils back on August 12th!

We’ve had a really busy week here at Meldrum PS with a lot going on!  There are a number of highlights to share – our Sports Day was able to go ahead yesterday and everyone had lots of fun taking part in the different activities that were set up.  We haven’t been able to share winning teams with the children yet so we’ll need to fit this into next week!  Our P4 pupils had a great visit to DCHS yesterday to hear performances from a range of different orchestras and bands, showcasing the different instruments that are taught by West Lothian Council’s Instrumental Music Service.   We also had pupils take part in Deans Gala Day schools relay races and football tournament on Wednesday evening.  Our girls relay team came 2nd in the girls schools race, our boys football team came 2nd in the schools tournament and our boys relay team won their race and were awarded the Willie Dunn Memorial Shield which is on display in our reception before it is collected by Deans Gala Day committee to be engraved with our school name as 2026 winners!  A huge thank you to the pupils and parents who gave up their time to bring the children along and stayed to cheer them on!

Today, our P7 pupils put on a fantastic Leavers assembly for their families and school friends.  They shared important messages but resilience and how they have shown this over the year as well as the ways in which they will continue to persevere as they move on to high school.  A huge well done to the class and to Mrs Lang for all of their hard work to put this together and perform it for everyone.  Well done P7!

End of year reports are currently being printed and we hope to send these home early next week.  We will send an email to let you know when to look out for these in school bags!  If your child is absent, their report will be kept in the school and can be collected on return in August.

A final reminder that all pupils are invited to walk with the school in Deans Gala Day tomorrow.  Any pupil attending must be accompanied by an adult who stays with them and is responsible for them during the procession.  Hopefully the weather is kind and everyone is able to have a great day!  We have a number of pupils who are part of the pageant, including this year’s Queen (Millie P7) and King (James P6) and hope that they enjoy being part of this important local event!

Next Week 

Monday – Final transition visits to new classrooms

Thursday – Play all Day!  Pupils are invited to have a non uniform day (no club football colours, pyjamas or onesies please) and take part in play activities for the day.  Please note that children will be going outside at breaks and lunchtimes as well as potentially being outside at other points in the day and should be dressed for the weather!  At the moment, the forecast is good so please ensure that suncream is applied before your child comes to school.

Thursday – Achievement Assembly (pupils only)  The link to the e-form to register an achievement for your child has already been emailed.

Thursday – P7 Leavers Event – information from Parent Council has already been shared with P7 parents regarding this event.

Friday – Whole school to attend Church for the Summer service – school uniform should be worn today.