Whitelees Primary News August 2016

Whitelees Road, , G67 3NJ Tel: 01236 794814 Email: [email protected] www.whitelees.n-lanark.sch.uk

WhiteleesPS

Dear Parents/Carers,

I would like to extend a warm welcome to those of you who are joining us for the first time and look forward to getting to know you better, in the coming months. I am delighted to report that the pupils of Whitelees have settled well and now that the excitement of our 40th Celebrations have passed they are ready and eager still for what is to come in the year ahead! The standard of uniform, beautiful manners and hard working attitude is clear to see and I thank each of you for your ongoing support in encouraging such high standards for our children. I hope you will be able to see this first hand by joining us at some of the events we have planned this year, the first of which takes place next week.

Kind Regards, Mrs Bernadette Hunter

Happy Birthday Whitelees! As you will know it was our Thank you to those who 40th Birthday on Friday came along to the school 19th August! We had a fun to join in the day to celebrate with a celebrations, I hope you bouncy castle, slide, will agree it was a fitting inflatable assault course, day for a special ice cream van and of Birthday! course cake, amongst other activities. The children had a fabulous day which culminated in the unveiling of our special 40th Birthday mosaic as a lasting reminder of this special occasion.

If you wish to contact the school and feel that an email is appropriate please use our enquiries email address which is checked on a daily basis. Our address is [email protected].

New Faces! Welcome to all who have joined us this session. As well as our Primary 1 Stars we have some new pupils across the school and Miss Ahmed and Mr Campbell have also joined the Whitelees staff. We are excited to have them as part of our team this year!

Classes 2016/2017 P1 a Miss Cliff P1b Mrs Vass P2 Mr Campbell/Mrs Scott P2/3 Miss Rooney P3 Mrs Patrick P4 Mrs Garey P4/5 Miss Ahmed/Mrs Murdoch P5 Mrs Stewart P5/6 Mrs McAuley/Mrs Quinn P6 Mrs Wightman P6/7 Mr Young P7 Mrs Comrie

Parent Council Our first meeting of the current Parent Council will be held on Wednesday 21st September.

The dates of future meetings are as follows:

21.9.16 AGM 27.10.16 Parent Council Disco 9.11.16 7.00-9.00 P1 – P3 6.30pm – 7.30pm 11.1.17 7.00-9.00 P7 – P7 7.45pm – 9.00pm 22.2.17 7.00-9.00 16.2.17 Parent Council Disco 19.4.17 7.00-9.00 P1 – P3 6.30pm – 7.30pm 31.5.17 7.00-9.00 P4 – P7 7.45pm – 9.00pm

Book Bags and Homework Folders Pupils are being encouraged to keep reading books, homework & letters separate from their school bag as items can be damaged by snacks/juice bursting open. We feel that this system will also promote a sense of pride in school/personal resources and will ensure that you know exactly where to look when they quote the… “I don’t have any homework” line!

PLEASE NOTE Letters, Permission slips etc will be issued on a Friday where possible. place.

School Uniform It is such a pleasure to see our pupils in full school uniform. Uniform – White shirt, tie, blue cardigan/v-neck sweatshirt/jumper, black skirt/trousers and black shoes. PE Kit – white round neck T-shirt and blue or black shorts. *Please note polo shirts are not part of our school uniform.

Water Bottles and Healthy Snacks

As a Health Promoting School we are keen to encourage our children to make healthy eating choices. Please help us by avoiding sugary lunch/playtime snacks.

Children should bring a water bottle that is clearly labelled with their name, to class every day. We have water fountains which can be used to replenish bottles throughout the day.

As we have a child with a SEVERE NUT ALLERGY no peanut products/products containing peanuts should be brought into school. Your co-operation in this matter would be very much appreciated to allow all our children to remain safe during the school day.

P.E. Kits You should have received a letter by now with information on when your child’s outdoor and indoor P.E. days are. P.E. kits should be brought to school on Mondays and will be returned for washing on a Friday as required.

Meet The Teacher

Thursday 8th September 2016 from 6.00pm – 7.45pm

We will have our annual Meet the Teacher session on Thursday 8th September 2016 from 6.00pm. We will give you a short overview of our School Improvement Plan for this session and an opportunity to visit your child’s class to hear about their planned learning, expectations and how you can support your child.

6.00pm – 6.10pm P1 6.15pm – 6.25pm P6 6.30pm – 6.40pm P2 6.45pm – 6.55pm P4 7.00pm –7.10pm P3 7.15pm – 7.25pm P5 7.30pm – 7.40pm P7

Please note this evening is for adults only, children should not attend.

School Lunch

School lunches are a very popular option for pupils in Whitelees. The average school dinner is priced at £1.90 per day.

Please ensure that your child has enough money on their card to pay for their preferred food option.

Our kitchen staff will issue a slip detailing any outstanding balance. It would be very helpful to us if you would repay this promptly upon receipt. Breakfast Club

Our Breakfast Club runs every day from 8.15am and costs 20p per day. The cost of the Club is deducted from the pupils’ dinner card. The money must be provided either before or on the day.

If your child attends Breakfast Club please ensure they enter the building through the middle door of the playground in order to be registered.

All pupils are welcome, there is no need to pre-book!

Medicines & First Aid The care and welfare of our pupils during school hours remains the responsibility of ALL staff members. Basic first aid can be administered by any member of staff. In the event of a more serious incident, our staff are expected to act in the same way as any untrained individual and call for emergency medical assistance.

We cannot administer any medication without parental consent. A form is available at our office to allow us to give your child any short term medication and MUST be completed before we can accept this responsibility.

Medication must be clearly marked for the pupil only, with a pharmacy label.

Parental Consent A number of consent slips have been sent home with your child for completion and return to the school. Your co-operation in a prompt response is very much appreciated.

Our School Year … A copy of this year’s calendar was provided for your convenience. Please note that this may be subject to change as the year progresses!

The School Holidays for the year are as follows:

September 2016 September weekend holidays: Friday 23 September 2016 and Monday 26 September 2016

October 2016 October break: Monday 17 October 2016 to Friday 21 October 2016

November 2016 In-service day: Monday 21 November 2016

December 2016 - January 2017 Christmas and New Year holidays: Monday 26 December 2016 to Friday 6 January 2017 (inclusive)

February 2017 Mid-term break: Monday 13 February and Tuesday 14 February 2017 In-service day: Wednesday 15 February

April 2017 Spring break: Monday 3 April to Monday 17 April 2017 (inclusive)* *Good Friday 14 April 2017 and Easter Monday 17 April 2017

May 2017 May day holiday: Monday 1 May 2017 In-service day: Thursday 4 May 2017 Mid-term holiday: Friday 26 and Monday 29 May 2017

June 2017 School closes Wednesday 28 June 2017

Playground Supervision before 9.00am

I would remind you that there is no playground supervision before school starts at 9.00am.

Our Breakfast Club service offers a great alternative to those who require childcare before the school day starts.

Rainy Mornings… I will make every effort to ensure that children have the option to take shelter from the rain in our hall from around 8.45am. Staffing restrictions can limit my ability to offer this service. It is always best to time your journey so that a long wait before 9.00am is avoided.

School Contact For parents new to the school we have our own website www.whitelees.n-lanark.sch.uk where you can find lots of helpful information which may or may not have already been sent home in letter form. This is kept up to date regularly so please feel free to view our website on a regular basis to find out what is happening in the school or your child’s class!

We also have an email alert system where you can register to receive emails from the school. You can sign up at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKNLC/subscriber/new?topic_id=UKNLC_107 .

As we are an eco school we are keen to keep our eco status, therefore hard copies of our monthly Newsletter will not be distributed to the children however, should you wish a paper copy you are more than welcome to call into the office who will be happy to provide you with one.

The Newsletter will be published on our website on the 1st of every month where possible, and an email will be sent to parents who are registered for our email alert system, to advise you when it is available online.

You can also follow us on our Twitter page @WhiteleesPS.

May we take this opportunity to remind you of our absence procedures.

If your child will be absent from school please call the office before 9.30am to inform them that they will be absent and the reason why. This ensures your child receives the correct absence code. If we have children who are absent and we have had no phone call to inform us, as part of the parent alert system we will use our text messaging service. Pupils who have not arrived in school and for whom we have not received a phone call before 9.30am will have a text message sent to their main contact asking them to contact the school.

Whilst we would encourage appointments outwith the school day we realise that this is not always possible. If your child has an appointment during school hours we require a copy of the appointment letter to be sent into the school with your child. If you don’t have an appointment letter please send a written note to the school detailing the appointment. You can give these to your child to pass to their Class Teacher who will in turn pass it to the office. This will ensure your child receives the correct absence code.

If your child will be going on holiday during term time please inform the school by letter stating your child/children’s name and the dates of the holiday. All holidays will be marked as unauthorised unless under exceptional circumstances, the details of which can be found in our handbook. Please note, in line with North Lanarkshire policy, holidays during term time are discouraged.

As it was such a huge success last year we have arranged a whole school pantomime visit again this year. The school will be going to see “Weans In The Wood” at MacRobert Arts Centre in on Thursday 1st December to kick start our Christmas celebrations. As buses are very expensive, the cost of this will be £10 per child. Look out for the letter in bags soon with details of how you can pay for your child’s trip.

Please ensure your child knows the arrangements for the end of the school day. We are only two weeks into the new school year and already we have had several phone calls during the day asking our office staff to pass details to children regarding who is collecting them at 3 o’clock. Please ensure your child knows the home time arrangements before coming to school in the morning.

Swimming Each school year every Primary 5 child is given the opportunity to take part in the North Lanarkshire Swimming Programme. This year our block runs from 14th March 2017 for 10 weeks. The children will go to swimming and PE on a Tuesday morning. There will be more details nearer the time.

Kilbowie Every year our Primary 7 children have the fantastic opportunity of visiting our Kilbowie Outdoor Centre for a 5 day programme of outdoor activites. This session we will be visiting Kilbowie from Monday 27th February until Friday 3rd March. Look out for the letter which will be distributed soon with more details.

Unfortunately we have had a further outbreak of head lice in the school. Could you please check your child’s head and treat if necessary.

Many thanks for your co-operation.

Whitelees Proposed Calendar Dates

Please note that these dates may be subject to change. Timings and final arrangements will always be confirmed closer to the event.

Meetings with Parents

Thursday 8th September 2016 at 6.00pm – Meet The Teacher

Thursday 13th October – Parent’s Night

Thursday 9th March 2017 – parent’s Night

Thursday 5th May 2017 – Curriculum Showcase Afternoon

Reports

Reports to Parents – Friday 23rd June 2017

Christmas Shows 13/14th December 2016 at 1.00pm, 15th December at 7.00pm

Christmas Fayre – Saturday 26th November 10.00am – 12.00pm

Summer Show – 13th/14th June at 1.00pm and 15th June at 7.00pm

Awards Ceremonies

Primary 1 – Primary 3 20th June at 1.30pm

Primary 4 – Primary 6 21st June at 1.30pm

Primary 7 27th June at 1.30pm

Sports Day – 23rd June 2017

Let us know how we are doing…

We really value your feedback as it shows us what we are doing well and helps us to identify what we need to do better.

Just return the tear off slip below to our office and we will be delighted to hear your thoughts and ideas.

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