Windygoul Primary School

Windygoul Primary School Newsletter August, 2016

** Welcome To Our New School Year ** Welcome back to school for all current pupils, parents/carers and staff, I hope you have had a wonderful Summer and are looking forward to the new session. It is lovely to see so many happy faces returning from the Summer break ready to take on the challenges and opportunities waiting for them. An extra warm welcome is extended to our new pupils in the Nursery who are starting their educational adventure with us, to all of our wonderfully smart Primary 1 pupils who started last week full of enthusiasm and excitement, to the group of new pupils in different classes across the school and finally to new staff. I am sure you will all find your feet quickly and that you will feel a welcomed and valued part of this vibrant, exciting school community. Our aim is to build up strong positive relationships as we work together to ensure the best possible experiences for every child and family in our school.

Staffing We are also pleased to welcome a number of new staff to our school this session:

 Mrs Christine Allan, Ms Shevaun Erskine, Mrs Val Peebles who join us as part of our Nursery Nurse Team along with the happy return of Ms Jemma Dodds  Miss Jenni McBirnie joins us as a Probationer Teacher in P1C  Mrs Heather Doyle joins us on a Monday and Tuesday in P2D until Mrs Kinnoch returns from Maternity Leave in January  Miss Lynne Smith joins us teaching P3/4  Mrs Lynne Morris joins us teaching P4B  Mr Cian Ryan joins us as a Probationer Teacher in P5C  Mr Matt Bryant joins us teaching P6B  Mrs Melissa Grzybowski joins us teaching P6/7  Miss Jess Jamieson - PE Teacher  Our ASN support team is strengthened by the addition of Ms Karen Gibson, Mrs Roshan Erussard, Ms Kerry French, Mrs Penny Cullinane, Mrs Jo Dunton,  Our office contingent is boosted with the arrival of Mrs Ailsa Buchanan and Mrs Elaine Cousins

Parent Council Thanks go to the Parent Council for their planned gift to each new Primary 1 pupil of a beautiful Windygoul Reading Bag. This will allow reading books, letters and other important items to remain safe and in good condition. Parents/Carers of children further up the school can order bags for their children through our usual uniform contact at the cost of £3.99 at www.interkit.co.uk or by phoning 0131 621 7222. If looked after there is potential that these bags could last their whole time at Windygoul so it could be an excellent investment. It was also a lovely gesture for them to gift our departing Primary 7s their Ross High School tie making a visual transition from one school to the other. Their work for the school community is valued and we see the parents/carers as a vital part of our school. I would encourage you to come along to their AGM on Thursday 1st September at 7.15pm to hear more about their work and plans for this session. This session will also act as the Management Surgery slot for September.

P4 Swimming Throughout the year, our P4 pupils will receive a block of swimming lessons at the Loch Centre. Letters have been sent out the pupils who started their lessons today, Friday August 26th. Parent helpers to escort the children to and from the pool are essential. If you haven’t already volunteered please consider if you could help us for any or all of the Fridays on the rota, we need you! If your child isn’t in Primary 4 but you have some free time on a Friday please give us a call as your support would be greatly appreciated. Without this support we cannot get there! Primary 4A will have their lessons later on in the session. Start/End of Day Arrangements Thank you to everyone who has tried so hard to ensure punctuality is a priority. This makes such a difference to the Learning and Teaching not only for your own child, but the whole class. In our infant classes in particular lateness means missing key teaching within Literacy and has your child at a disadvantage. If your child is late, he/she should enter through the front entrance and report to the office. Staff will not open the cloakroom door or their fire door to allow children to enter. We introduced a new punctuality incentive at Assembly today, which were again donated by the Parent Council. The Bear family will be spread across all stages P1-7 and spend their week in the class with the best punctuality record. I have encouraged the children to pick up their pace if they are nearing school on the bell to ensure they make it round to their own lines as this is the only way not to have a late recorded against their name. I have also stressed that they shouldn’t be going into the Co-op before school if this would make them late and would appreciate your support with this message.

Please remember that parents and carers are responsible for the behaviour and health and safety of pupils until the beginning of the school day at 8:50 am. We suggest that 8:40 am is a suitable time to arrive in the playground. Breakfast Club is open from 7:30am each morning and the contact number for the Breakfast Club and After School Club is 07943 513672. Children who wish to play on the Trim Trails in the morning must be supervised by a responsible adult. Please do not allow P1 /P2 children to use the Trim Trails at the back of the school between 2:45 and 3:15pm as they may be used by our P3 – P7 classes as part of their Health & Wellbeing curriculum. All pupils have been reminded that they should not be riding scooters or bikes in the school playground as this can be a health and safety issue with people being knocked over or run into when making their way through the playground. This is the rule for everyone from Nursery through to Primary 7.

Please inform the office of any changes to arrangements at the end of the day, e.g. if a different adult is picking up your child. We expect all pupils in P1 – P2 to be collected by an adult at the end of the day and would recommend that this is extended on into Primary 3 although I am aware that some older brothers and sisters take on this role for some of our Primary 3 pupils. If you do decide to have your P3 going home with elder siblings please make sure they all know where you expect them to meet up in the playground. The children should also know that if there is not an adult in the playground waiting for them, they return to their teacher who will inform the office and that this is also the procedure if they fail to meet up with siblings. With our growing numbers it is important that parents/carers ensure that children know their arrangements for the end of the day. Whilst we are happy to help get messages out in a genuine emergency we do not have the capacity to be giving messages out daily across all classes. Teacher Contact We are always very happy to speak to parents about any concerns or to be updated with news, but would ask that you drop into the office and ask to see the teacher rather than just catch them when the lines are coming in, in the morning as they need to be supervising the children at that point. There is also a Management Team Surgery on the first Thursday of every month 4.30pm- 5.30pm. Absence Please inform school by telephone 01875 619739, before 9am, of your child’s absence. If possible, please indicate when you expect him / her to return. If the school is unaware why a child is absent the office will contact the Duty Attendance Officer in line with ELC procedure. Please remember that if your child has been sick or had diarrhoea they cannot return to school until 48 hours after their last bout of infection. School Lunches School lunches for P1-3 are provided free of charge in line with the Scottish Government initiative. Children will make their choices in class with their teacher in the morning and be given a corresponding band to wear to the lunch hall to match up with their choice. It is very important that you discuss options with your child at home to ensure they make sensible choices that they will eat! School lunches for P4-7 are available each day (£1.90) with a choice of hot meals. Pupils are able to purchase a weekly ticket on a Monday (£7.60). A weekly ticket may only be purchased when it is a whole school week, i.e. not if there is a Monday holiday or In Service day. A menu of school lunches was sent home to allow you to discuss the options with your child and a copy is posted on the website. Alternatively, children can bring a packed lunch from home. Please ensure your child’s lunch box and bottle are labelled. No fizzy juice is allowed in school. The children are asked to put all rubbish and left over packed lunches back in their bags/boxes. This helps us reduce our waste and work more effectively as an Eco School and also allows you to monitor what your child is actually eating. Adding an extra empty little bag for the rubbish to be put in can help the boxes stay cleaner and many parents have found this a good way to keep the mess to a minimum.

Play Times - Snack Infant classes will continue to receive free fruit on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and we encourage all other children to have fruit for snack. Children either eat their snack in class as part of a social lesson or take it outside at break. No drinks are allowed outside. Milk is available for purchase on a term-by-term basis. Alternatively children may bring water to drink. Fizzy juice is not allowed. Children are also encouraged to drink water during learning times to help keep them hydrated, but this is the only option available as juices etc are not allowed at desks where children are working.

Changing Shoes Children change their shoes in the morning and after each break into suitable indoor footwear. Soft soled slippers are not suitable in school as there is a danger that items such as drawing pins might on occasion fall on the floor and this kind of footwear wouldn’t offer adequate protection. Gym shoes which can be purchased very cheaply are the best option. Please ensure all indoor and outdoor footwear is clearly labelled with your child’s name. We will keep an eye and let you know if any become unsafe during the term due to wear and tear.

Gym Kit Gym kit is required in school every day as we might fit additional session in beyond the normal timetable. The children should have named plain t-shirt or one of our house T-Shirts and shorts for gym. The older children should have items suitable for outdoor lessons too as we will be utilising our outdoor space whenever possible. These can all be kept in a gym bag on their peg and children will be encouraged to take their gym bag home for washing on a regular basis. Our house T shirts can be purchased again through our usual uniform supplier at a cost of £5.50 per T Shirt for all sizes: www.interkit.co.uk 0131 621 7222. It would be really good to see the House identity being shown at gym and it would be fantastic if House challenges saw everyone wearing their colours and displaying their name with pride. Sports Day was a great example when many proudly displayed their houses as they participated in events.

Parent Helpers We had huge amount of support last year from parents/carers helping us in school in a wide range of activities, from trip escorts, to class support and from resource managing to game playing. If you are available to help at all please let us know.

Windygoul Website http://edubuzz.org/blogs/windygoul

We are continuing to improve our website as the year progresses and will be adding to our class blogs every month, Newsletters and other relevant information will be posted on here for you to use as a reference point

Collection of Money When money needs to be collected for trips, Nursery Snack etc, parents/carers should send all monies in a labelled envelope stating what the money is for, the amount, your child’s full name and class. Please do not send loose money in as it is impossible to trace if it goes missing or is put on the wrong pile! Our preferred method of payment is the online system where you can pay directly through the link www.eastlothian.gov.uk/payforit Please ensure you select Windygoul Primary and that you have put in your child’s name and class.

Request Our wild garden is progressing well and we would like to start making pathways through it to extend learning opportunities and to provide a peaceful play space. In order to do this we would appreciate any donations of spare paving/stepping stones. If you have such a thing could you email Miss Lucy Watson [email protected] Shared Learning We are very keen to build on our successes within sharing learning at Windygoul and would like to pilot a session for parents where we share the successes of last session and give you are clear picture of our targets for 2016-2017. We plan to do this in tandem with the P1 Curriculum Evening and prior to the Parent Council AGM. I hope we will have a big turn- out for this, as together we will make our school stronger and ensure that the best possible educational journey is mapped out for each child. A pack will also be distributed alongside the diary dates next Thursday with the planned learning for this session and Significant Aspects of Learning if your child has progressed onto a new level. If anyone forgot to return their child’s overview of their learning in July please let us have it back now as it forms part of their learning records. All levels are posted on the website if anyone has mislaid their earlier copies. Thank you

Diary Dates I have put a skeleton calendar below confirming holiday dates and a few events for your diaries but a full calendar will be distributed next Thursday with as much information as possible to help with planning at home. It will include our Assembly times which will continue to be on a Friday morning 9.00 P1-3 and 9.45 P4-7.

August 26th P4 Swimming begins P1 sharing lunch with parents/carers 29th Primary 1 pupils start full day 8.50am-2.45pm

September 1st 6.00 -7.00pm Primary 1 Parents’ Curriculum Evening ( Creche available ) 6.00-7.00pm Nursery – Primary 7 Windygoul Shared Learning Overview for 2016-2017 ( Creche available ) 7.15 pm Parent Council AGM ( Creche available ) 16th-19th Autumn Holiday. 20th All return to school

October 6th Management Surgery 17th-21st Holiday Week. 24th In-Service Day 25th All pupils return to school

If you would like to take up the option of the crèche facilities at any of the events on Thursday 1st September please let Miss Louise Innes know via email [email protected]