The Pupil Council met to discuss this year’s school improvement plan and create a pupil friendly version. This will be displayed in all classrooms across the school to remind us of our priorities this year.
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
There has been lots of excitement at MCPS this week surrounding our Primary House Election. The pupils in Primary 7 and their teachers have been working very hard to prepare their campaigns for the House Captain Elections. The success criteria included:
A successful campaign should be:
A successful manifesto will include:
A successful campaign may include:
I am delighted to say that this years entries were of a very high standard and a big congratulations to all who took part.
Our new hi-viz jackets have been purchased and printed, ready for the new term!
Goodbye Primary 7! It has been a pleasure having each of you in our class and getting to know you this year. The Primary 6s and I would like to wish all the best in your first year in High School.
This may be a chapter ending, but your stories have only just begun…
This week was bitter sweet for Mid Calder Primary School as, although we were all looking forward to our summer holidays, we also had to say goodbye to some very special members of staff. Miss Cotter has been with us at MCPS for 32 years, and so the pupils and staff worked together to give her a memorable send off with a retirement assembly. Each class gave a special performance for Miss Cotter by singing songs, sharing memories, reciting poems, and some of the children even gave her some hints and tips about how they think she should spend her retirement. All of the pupils and staff would like to wish Miss Cotter a long and happy retirement.
We also had to say a sad goodbye to Mrs Gordon, Miss Dunsmore and Miss Kerr on Friday and we wish them all the very best in their new ventures.
Despite a last minute venue change due to the infamous Scottish weather, Mid Calder Primary held its annual Summer Service on Thursday 25th June. We had poems, readings, hymns, a performance from our brass band and a P7 Prayer before Miss Thompson summed up the last year at Mid Calder Primary in a closing speech.
Well done to all of the pupils and staff who helped this event to happen with the last minute changes, and to the parents for braving the weather to support our school. Happy holidays everybody! 🙂
Well done to Almondell for winning the House Cup this term. Andi and Keigan decided on a fun morning on the pitch. The P7s organised games on the field, and then we had ice lollies and refreshments. Thank you P7s for organising this.
The stars were out on the red carpet tonight at Mid Calder Primary as the Primary 7s dressed up as movie stars for their leavers disco. We were entertained by the DJ and refreshements came come our local chippy and ice cream van. A big thank you to all the staff and PSA who help to organise and attend the event. Also a big well done to Primary 7 who raised all the funds to pay for this event.
