Pumpherston and Uphall Station CPS Blog
A place for news, information and sharing learning from PUSCPS
Blog for Monday 7th Oct 2013-10-04
We were really pleased to hear that Declan won second prize for the Bake Off Competition last week.
This week Ben Salvin was elected as our Pupil Council Representative.
We all enjoyed being out and about in Pumpherston this week doing our litter pick. We enjoy helping in our community.
Next week is parent’s night so we are all looking forward to hearing our good reports.
Lots of people say to us “What a wonderful school to work in”; “What a lovely building you have”; “What a difference to the old school” and “How much nicer it must be to learn in such a lovely school”. All of these things are true but they don’t mention the biggest reason why we are so lucky and that is – the support that we continue to receive from the communities of Pumpherston and Uphall Station. We couldn’t do it without you.
This was especially true last week during our first Coffee Morning for MacMillan Cancer Care and our Bake Off Competition. The entries to the competition were amazing and the judges had a very hard job, not least due to the sheer number of entries. The quality of entries and the time and care that the children, and their parents, had put into them was absolutely amazing. I am sure many of the adults that saw them could not have done such a fantastic job, so well done to everyone who entered. The winners will be announced during our whole school singing practice on Tuesday 1st October.
The coffee morning itself was made possible partly due to the number of donations we received of home baking, tea, coffee, sugar, napkins, juice, cups etc all of which meant more money was raised for our nominated school charity of MacMillan Cancer Care.
A fantastic time was had by the pupils, the staff and, most importantly, members of our local community who came and joined us throughout the morning. Some people came for the whole morning, others for a short time. Mrs Andison, the event organiser, kept every class to their time slot and made everything run smoothly.
At the end of the day we raised an enormous £707.17 for MacMillan Cancer Care and everyone who was part of the event had a great time.
Every year West Lothian Council host a Walking Week in which all residents are encouraged to get out and walk. There are a range of activities during that week for the community to get involved in and one of these is especially for schools. In the past we have had welly walks and odd sock walks among others. This year it was a ‘Onesie Walk’ which saw many of the children and staff coming to school in onesies and walking in the community. Due to the time of year we altered our walk slightly to be a onesie and welly walk and the children were encouraged to wear onesies and/or wellies to join in the fun. It was a great day and everyone had a good time and were given the opportunity to explore parts of the grounds around the school that they had perhaps not visited before. I wonder what next year’s theme for the walk will be?
Due to prior commitments of the NETS team and their equipment, the new date for the Community Litter pick will be Wednesday 2nd October. Please contact the school office if you would be able to join us on a walk around our community to pick up any litter and make Pumpherston and Uphall Station clean and tidy. Join Us! 
We had a very special visitor in school today. All of our classes got the chance to meet Lee, who is an animal rescue officer with the Scottish SPCA. We learned lots about how we can help protect animals here in our community, how dangerous litter can be 
and what to do if we see an animal in trouble. She taught us to stay safe, tell an adult and contact the SSPCA for help. Here is a link to their website http://www.scottishspca.org/
Sadly we had to postpone our Community Litter Pick today due to the extreme wet weather. A new date will be announced shortly. Thank you to everyone who offered support!
Our big Autumn Litter pick, out in the villages of Pumpherston and Uphall Station, will take place next Thursday morning(Sept 19th). We would like to have as many of our friends and families taking part as possible – if you have an hour or so to spare come and join in with the classes as they tidy up the local area.The first groups will leave the school at 9.15am.
We’ll be out and about on the streets and in the parks. Members of WLC NETS team will be with us to give training, lend equipment and hand out the bright yellow vests we wear to show we’re all Keeping Scotland Beautiful. If you can help please contact the office and we’ll match you up with a group on the day. Thank you!
We are all pleased to be back to school and we are looking forward to all of the new things we will be learning this term. Our topic this term is the Jacobites. We are hoping to go on a school trip to the Water of Leith Visitor Centre in Edinburgh to find out more about the Jacobites!
Welcome Back to Session 2013 – 2014
Please check back regularly for updates on your children’s learning. We would appreciate it you could take the time to leave us a comment. To leave a comment you have to click on the title of the post you would like to comment on which then opens in its own window then you can add your thoughts in the comments box at the bottom of the post.
Staffing in session 2013 – 2014 is as follows:
Miss Speirs ~ Head Teacher
School Secretary – Mrs Thom
Mrs Robb ~ Principal Teacher
Mrs Dugan ~ Acting Principal Teacher
Mrs Hardie & Mrs Ness ~ Nursery Teachers
Mrs Arthur & Mrs Montgomery ~ Nursery Nurses
Miss McLaughlin ~ P1 Teacher
Mrs Andison ~ P1/2 Teacher
Mrs Mooney ~ P2 Teacher
Mrs Strachan ~ P3 Teacher
Miss Cave ~ P4 Teacher
Mrs Dugan ~ P5 Teacher
Mrs Campbell ~ P6 Teacher
Miss McLennan ~ P7 Teacher
Mrs Robb & Mrs McConville ~ Class Size Reduction Teachers
Mrs Hull ~ Nursery – P7 Reduced Class Contact Teacher
Mrs Richardson ~ Additional Support Needs Teacher
Physical Education Teacher – Ms Pender
Pupil Support Workers – Mrs Adie, Miss Young, Mrs Stanton, Mrs Cowan, Mrs Bonner, Mrs Heatherill, Mrs Crawford
Dining Room Assistants – Mrs Adams, Ms Robertson, Mrs Bonner
Facilities Manager Assistant – Mr Hopper
