Dear parents and Carers,

www.thinkuknow.co.uk is an excellent resource run by The Child Exploitation Online Prevention agency (CEOP) and offers advice to pupils, parents and educators on managing the benefits and risks of social media.  The blue link at the bottom of this post will open a leaflet on a video app called ooVoo which parents and carers may find useful.   This has also been emailed to those for whom we have addresses.

ooVoo is a video chat app. It lets you make video calls, voice calls and send texts to friends and family.  It allows users to communicate with their friends and family via a group video chat with up to 12 people.  Like many other sites and apps, ooVoo is used by both adults and children. This means that children can be directly contacted by an adult they don’t know.   Ultimately the decision as to whether or not a child under 13 is on ooVoo and similar sites lies with the child’s parent or carer.

I hope you find the attached information useful in keeping your family safe online.

Steven Eagleson

Headteacher

 

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

click the blue link to download the leaflet: ooVoo guide for parents

Police Scotland have released their annual Festive Safety message.   This year’s message is to stay safe whilst Online, Shopping, Partying and at Home. They have provided some important information to help you stay safe this Festive Period.   Click on the following headings to find out more information.

Online

More and more people use online shopping to purchase their Christmas presents as well as taking advantage of sales and events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s important to take a couple of precautionary steps when purchasing goods online to keep safe and avoid being targeted by criminals.

It is also important that people understand the dangers of social media and that what you post online, stays online.

Shopping

The festive period is traditionally the busiest time of the year for shopping and unfortunately, there are those who exploit the festive period for the wrong reasons but it only takes a few simple preventative measures to discourage criminals and stay safe.

Partying

Make sure to stay with friends, stick to your plans, have travel arranged and be careful of what you drink. Don’t leave drinks unattended and stay away from drugs, new psychoactive substances or other controlled substances.

Home

A few simple steps such as leaving a light on when you’re out, keeping presents and valuables out of sight, opening and closing curtains at the appropriate time of day and not advertising on social media when you are out helps to keep criminals away.

For more information, click on the following link: http://www.scotland.police.uk/keep-safe/festive-safety/

In September the school was subject to a council Validated Self Evaluation (VSE).  The VSE took a broad look at all aspects of school life including leadership, improving performance, planning for teaching, learning and assessment, meeting learners needs and working with partners and the community.  The finding of the process are laid out in a report which has been emailed home and is available to download from the OUR SCHOOL – USEFUL DOCUMENTS – SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT DOCUMENTS tab.  If you cannot access this report by email or through the blog – please ask at the office for a copy.

Dear parents and carers,

We would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete this online survey from West Lothian Council.  You can access it by clicking this link:

https://www.esurveycreator.co.uk/s/PIStrategySurvey

 

The survey contains only five statements to rate strongly disagree to strongly agree – there is also space to add comments if you wish.  The questions are:

·         Communication is effective between my child’s school and home.

·         My child’s school provides me with the information I need to help my child learn at home.

·         I feel confident supporting my child’s learning at home.

·         I am aware of West Lothian’s complaints procedure.

·         I know how I can become involved in my school’s parent council.

Many thanks,

Steven Eagleson, Headteacher

We will be holding a minute silence at 11am to pay our respects to the tragic victims of this weekend’s devastating attacks in Paris.

Please note that children will not be dressing up for Children in Need this week.  We will have a dress up day as usual on the last Friday of the month and this money will be for Children in Need.  The theme will be onesies/pyjamas.

It is cold, wet and damp and only going to get colder, wetter and damper over the coming months.  It is vital that pupils are sent to school appropriately dressed for the weather each day.  At this time of year we expect all pupils to have sensible footwear – (not little pumps or canvas shoes) and a warm, waterproof jacket every day.

Many thanks for your support in keeping your children safe and healthy.

As the weather is changing we have updated our Severe Weather arrangements for this year.  These are the procedures we will follow in school in case of an emergency closure.  They have been sent home with your child and are available to read here blow or you can click on the blue link below to download a copy to print out.

Please note the arrangements we will employ – in particular:

Children will only be released to persons named on file as emergency contacts – otherwise parents must call to give permission for another adult to collect their child.  

2015-11-2 Severe Weather Parent Leaflet

Better Relationships Better Behaviour Better Learning – PUSCPS Parent Leaflet