Dear Parent/Carer,
I hope you all had a lovely summer break despite the dreich weather conditions. I welcome you all back for a new academic session and extend a warm welcome to our new pupils and their families in the nursery, primary one and in classes throughout the school. We have had a few changes to staffing over the summer break. Mrs Hendry and Miss Henderson have moved onto new pastures. We wish them every success in their new posts.
We also welcome our new members of staff: Mrs Barber, nursery teacher; Mrs George, Primary 1 teacher; Mrs Stewart, Acting Principal Teacher & Primary 3 teacher; Mr Renshaw, Primary 5/4 teacher; Miss Anderson, Primary 7 teacher and Mrs Brown, Pupil Support Worker. We look forward to welcoming back Miss Kerr after the September break. Miss Kerr will be the Reduced Class Contact Teacher.
Over the summer period we had some work completed throughout the school. A new fire exit has been installed to the front of the school building in preparation for the new nursery building which will be starting later this year. We have also had new LED lights fitted throughout the school making the school a brighter environment for pupils.
I want to thank all parents/carers with your support with our updated school uniform policy and all our children look smart in their uniform and taking great pride in their school. Please can you ensure that all clothing is labelled so any stray pieces of uniform can be reunited with their owners. We already have a selection of lost coats in our Lost Property. Please can you provide black indoor shoes (gym shoes) for your child. The PSA will soon be issuing information about ‘Jazzing up Your Gymmies’.
Thank you for ensuring that your child arrives to school on time and ready to learn. Our school day begins at 8.45am. If your child is late for school they should enter the school through the main entrance door and reporting to the school office staff. This allows our office staff to update registers and ensure that your child has ordered a lunch.
Like all schools across West Lothian we offer a Breakfast Club which offers a free breakfast to all children. The club begins at 8.05am. I want to thank the parents/carers who respect the start time of the club but I am saddened that despite continual pleas to parents there are still children arriving to school as early as 7.45am. From Monday 31st August the main school doors will not be opened until 8.05am.
Thank you to all parents/carers for following our playground policy. Please can I remind you that parents should not be waiting in the playground with your child in the morning. Also dogs should not be brought into the school playground.
We are holding our annual Meet The Teacher evening on Thursday 10th September at 6.30pm. All parents/carers are invited into the school hall for an overview of our Standard and Quality Report 2014-15; School Improvement Plan; Positive Ethos Policy; Support for Learning provision. Some of our pupils will be presenting aspects of this information.
This will be followed by the opportunity for you to go to your child(ren)’s class to meet the teacher and find out about the curriculum that your child will be studying this session as well as find out about class routines and teacher expectations.
These classroom sessions will run twice: 7.05pm – 7.25pm and 7.30pm – 7.50pm. This will allow you to visit two classrooms if you have more than one child in the school. Please note that the purpose of this event is to give you an overview of the year ahead for your child and teachers will not be commenting on individual pupil progress.
I look forward to seeing you at our Meet the Teacher event on Thursday 10th September.
Nicola Thompson
Head Teacher
