Merrylee Primary School

Merrylee Primary School Newsletter 2 October 2015 Dear Parent / Carer

It has been a fabulous start to the new session and a pleasure to get to know our new teaching colleagues in school. All new children and adults appear to have settled in well and enjoy being part of our school community.

PA and PC coffee and cake evening Monday 21st September at 7pm The Parent Council and The Parents’ Association invite us all to a social evening to enjoy some refreshments and chat together. During the evening you will be able to  hear more about the work of these 2 groups,  hear what happens to the funds they raise, (last session in excess of £12,000)  hear how you may be able to help within the school community (a parent will share how she has been able to use her contacts within a worldwide multimillion company to help the school)  make suggestions about the school year ahead  consider joining a committee  enjoy meeting new people It would be fabulous to see you there. Please note this is an adult only event.

Fund raising and costs relating to school events The PA committee is very keen to thank all of you for your amazing support throughout last session. The phenomenal amount of over £12000 was raised to enhance the learning in our school. Quite extraordinary. However the committee members, and the staff of the school wish to ensure that none of you feel pressurised to participate in every fund raising venture that takes place as we are well aware that we living in financially challenging times. Please know that we do understand and respect this and simply ask that you support whenever you wish and are able to.

The same is true for trips etc. All trips and events are subsidised by the money raised by the Parents’ Association and we ask everyone to contribute a little towards each one. However, please contact me if any requests present you with any difficulty.

World’s biggest coffee morning in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support In the School dining hall Thursday 24th September 9am

Unfortunately Mr and Mrs Purvis who have run this event for the past few years are unable to do so this year. It is a cause dear to the hearts of most of us so the staff of Merrylee has decided to organise the event this year. Please come along and support this excellent cause. Tell your friends, neighbours relatives etc they are all welcome to come along for a cup of coffee or tea and cake. To raise funds for the cause we will ask for a donation for your coffee and cakes, have a raffle and some other surprises.

Meet the teacher events Thank you very much to all who were able to attend these events. I am also so grateful to staff for being so informative and establishing an effective home school partnership early in the session. A few were unhappy about children not being allowed so I thought I would explain why. It would be inappropriate for children to be in the meeting as issues could be raised that are not for children’s hearing. Young children can also be distracting for others. A number of years ago Mrs MacDonald, Mrs 1 Haddock and I looked after those children who were brought along by parents. That was one of the most terrifying evenings of our lives. We were left in the central foyer with many children ranging from 2 to 15 years of age. It was impossible to look after them properly whilst attending to the door and chatting to adults who wished to discuss things with us. At one point a 3 year old almost escaped out of the front door. With this explanation I am sure you will now appreciate why we don’t allow children and why we do not offer to care for any who come along. Thank you for your understanding.

Property Please check that your child has every piece of clothing labelled. Please ensure that all lunch boxes and water bottles are also labelled. I am very grateful to a group of parent volunteers who have organised a rota to sift through the unclaimed property each week and return labelled items to their owners. This is a fabulous service offered by these parents who are kindly giving up their own time. Let’s hope there may come a day when they have nothing to do and the ‘lost property mountain’ disappears.

Please remember Easyfundraising when shopping online Can I remind everyone who does online shopping to please use Easyfundraising.org.uk to raise funds for the school. Here’s a reminder what to do, Go on to Easyfundraising.org.uk and register that you would like to nominate Merrylee Primary as your worthwhile cause, then access your chosen retailer via the Easyfundraising website (you must always do this), then shop! All the major retailers take part in this for example, Tesco, Amazon, Play, Next, Marks and Spencer’s etc. They all donate between 2% and 7% directly to the school and it doesn’t cost you a penny!! Happy shopping!!

Rag bag Collection Many thanks to all of you who have been using our collection box at the front of the school. This helps us raise funds for the school. Please tell all your friends and neighbours that we would be delighted if they would recycle their goods in our collection box. We collect all types of unwanted textiles including adult’s and children’s clothes, paired shoes, hats, bags, belts, curtains, towels and bed linen. It is important that you remember to pair shoes by tying the laces together, or pair shoes with an elastic band. We take all qualities of textiles, even ripped or with buttons missing!!!

Clubs, skills or interests If any of you have an interest or expertise that you would like to share with our pupils either during the core day or as an after school club, please do not hesitate to contact me. It would be wonderful to extend the experiences we regularly offer our pupils.

Help within school Thank you for your offers of help within the school. Please contact me if you have any time to spare to support the learning in school. If anyone would be agreeable to undertake a Disclosure check, the school will arrange this. It is very helpful if we can maintain a healthy list of parents/ friends who have taken the Disclosure check.

5p Friday fun challenge Each class will be given a jar in which to collect 5p coins. There will be a competitive element to this! The hope is that the children will collect these coins which will contribute towards an outdoor activity for their class. Start collecting and help your child’s class collect the most! If you have any 300g Nescafe jars I would be delighted to have them. Thanks.

2 School improvement priorities and Standards & Quality reports Please note that the above information is posted on the school website. If you would like a copy of either documents or have any questions arising from them, please do not hesitate to contact me.

School grounds I am very grateful to ‘Uncle George’ for his work on improving the front entrance to the school. He worked very hard to plan, prepare & purchase on our behalf. I am sure you will agree it looks so much better. Thanks also to Stuart (crossing patroller & janitor Tommy) for their help. Hopefully we can all help to look after the grounds by ensuring that children don’t cross and stand on plants etc. Thanks also to Mrs McMillan (mum of Scott & Ross) for her continuing planting of flowers etc in our pots)

Dates for your diary Mon 7th Sept P1 children in school all day 6.30pm Meeting re P6 & P7 residential trips Tues 8th Sept Junior Road Safety officers (Catherine McNichol & Maeve McFetridge P6) To City Chambers with Miss Lang Fri 11th Sept P1-7 Visit from Author Stuart Reid throughout the day Sat 19th Sept PA Car boot Sale Mon 21st Sept PA and PC coffee and cake evening at 7pm in school hall Week beginning 21st Sept. PA will organise individual pupil photographs Thurs 24th Sept Coffee morning in aid of MacMillan Cancer Care 9am in dining hall Fri 25th & Mon 28th Sept School closed for holiday weekend Fri 2nd Oct P5 to the Great Scottish Run event P4-7 Movie night run by the PA Tues 6th & Wed 7th Oct Parents /teacher consultations between 4pm and 7pm. Book fair run by the PA Fri 9th Oct Harvest assembly for all children School closes 3.10pm for holiday Mon 12th-Fri 16th OctSchool closed Holiday Mon 19th Oct School closed In service day Tues 20th Oct School resumes 9am Thurs 29th Oct Quantum Theatre “The Miscalculation of Cap’n Half – Inch show on all day Cost £1 each child P4 begin series of coaching sessions from soccer 4 coaches Fri 30th Oct Flu vaccination day Pupil Halloween discos 6-9pm run by PA Fri 13th Nov 7pm shopping and pamper night run by PA Sat 5th Dec 10-12 Christmas fair run by PA Thur 17th& Fri 18th Dec Classes to the Eastwood Theatre Pantomime. Cost £7each (This is the subsidised cost) Fri 5th Feb P1-3 movie night run by PA Fri 4th Mar Family fun night run by PA Wed 16th & Thurs 17th Mar Sponsored obstacle course run by the PA Fri 29th Apr Spring pupil discos 6.30-9.30 run by the PA Sat 4th Jun 10-12 Summer fair run by the PA

Lots more dates for your diary will be issued soon.

Yours faithfully

3 Liz Mahindru Head Teacher