Our bi-annual Parent Teacher Interviews will take place this Thursday, 29 March, when a new format for the event is being trialed. Due to the threat of strike action by some of the teaching and public service unions, all interviews will now take place on one day, from 3.30 – 8.00 p.m. As you can imagine, this will be a very long shift for teaching staff, who will have been teaching all day beforehand. Also, to make the evening work, all appointments will have to finish on time. Can we ask parents to take special care to be at school in the hall for the start time of their appointments as they will finish after the 10-minute slot is up. Thank you for your support in this venture.

On Thursday, 29 March, our Primary 6 pupils will be taking part in the Whitburn Cluster Cross-Country Festival as part of their Health & Wellbeing curriculum. Although the festival takes the form of a race, all finishers will receive a medal for completing the course. So far, all Stoneyburn pupils have managed to finish – some faster than others! We look forward to a clutch of medals on Thursday.

Primary 7s will visit The Risk Factory tomorrow, Tuesday, 27 March to take part in some personal and emergency safety training. We have to leave very early to make the start time, so we would remind all P7s to be in school for 8.40 a.m., or they will RISK missing out.

The SOC-IT Race Night raised a remarkable £900 last evening. Thanks to everyone who helped organise the event and/or supported it. The next SOC-IT Group meeting is scheduled for this coming Friday, 23 March @ 9.00 a.m. in the school dining area. All welcome.

A huge thank you again to everyone who came to support this year’s Dance Show. 

Through your support and kind donations we have managed to raise £196.49 for Sport Relief through ticket sales and donations at both performances.  I’m sure you will agree that this is a fantastic amount going to a very worthy cause. 

We have also raised £222.61 for School Funds through ticket and programme sales.

Last night’s Dance Show in Stoneyburn Primary School reached new heights in school entertainment – one could be forgiven for thinking Stoneyburn PS is a stage school, such was the professionalism, dedication and precision of those taking part. Group after group entertained a wildly enthusiastic audience who were appreciative of all the effort that had gone into the production. A special thanks to Mrs. Warden and Ms. Welsh for conceiving, rehearsing and producing such a wonderful performing arts experience and for supporting Sports Relief while doing it all.

As part of our sciences curriculum, Primary 7 children were put in charge of the lighting system for the show; every P7 child took responsibility for lighting at least one dance and what a colourful job they made of it – we definitely have bright pupils! The stage, sound and light equipment we use is superb, thanks to an Awards for All grant received last year. A big ‘thank you’ to Mr. David Patterson, lighting engineer from Airdrie Arts Centre who, despite being recently injured, has made the long journey from Airdrie to Stoneyburn many times to help us out.

The set was commented upon by many parents, friends and visiting staff. The outstanding design and artwork was the work of two parents, Mrs. MacMillan and Ms. Meek and their hard work and skill were acknowledged at the end of the show.

This Dance Show is another one to add to our growing list of outstanding successes. We don’t yet know how much was raised for Sports Relief; we will publish the amount here in the near future. in the meantime, thanks to everyone who bought tickets or donated their cash at the end of the show.

Children from all classes had a treat in store today when Lee, from the Scottish SPCA, visited our school and carried out an Assembly with P1-3s and workshops with P4-7s on the work of her organisation. Lee was very impressed with the knowledge and curiosity of our children (especially when David [P5/4] could identify an African Grey Parrot and Peter [P2] could not only recognise a ferret, but tell her exactly what type it was!). Our children learned so much from the visit. If you have anything to report to the Scottish SPCA or you witness an animal in trouble or distress, then please contact them on their helpline, 03000 999 999.

The tickets for Tuesday night’s Dance Show have proven to be very popular this year and unfortunately we have sold out for the evening show.

To ensure that as many families as possible can see all the children perform, we have taken the decision to add an extra show on Wednesday 14th March.  The doors for this extra performance will open at 1.30 pm and the show will begin at 1.45 pm.  Tickets will be on sale on Monday morning from the school office and will be sold on a first come, first served basis.  Tickets will remain the same price, £2 for adults and £1 for children.  As with the evening performance, half the money raised will go to Sports Relief with the remaining half going to school funds.

We hope to see you all there.

One of our pupils received a surprise through the post this week – a letter from Buckingham Palace! Melanie in P5/4 had sent a letter to the Queen wishing her well for her Diamond Jubilee Year and enclosed a small gift. The letter, sent by a lady-in-waiting on the Queen’s instructions, stated that the Queen was delighted that Melanie had written and thanked her for her good wishes. Friends in high places, indeed.