Dear Parents/Carers I would like to take this opportunity to thank parents, pupils and staff for their support over the past 4 months since taking up my new position as head teacher. I feel very privileged to be leading such a caring, friendly and welcoming school. I wish everyone a relaxing and hopefully ‘sunny’ spring holiday.

Regards Carol Fleming

SPRING HOLIDAY The school will close at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday 2nd April for the Spring holiday. It will re-open to pupils and staff on Monday 20th April at the usual time of 9 am.

PUBLIC HOLIDAY The school will be closed on Monday 4th May and will re-open at the usual time of 9 am on Tuesday 5th May.

INSET DAY 5 The school will also be closed to pupils on Thursday 7th May. This is the fifth and final day of the staff in-service calendar for this session.

SCHOOL HOLIDAY DATES for Session 2015 / 2016 Please find enclosed a list detailing the school holidays for next session.

PUPIL GROUPS Pupil Council The pupil council held a very successful ‘Red Nose Day’ on Friday 13th March. All pupils and staff wore something red and enjoyed participating in the activities planned. An amazing £84.10 was raised for this worthwhile event. Well done to Mrs Coull and the pupil council.

Eco/Health Group Mrs Dyer and some pupils from the ECO/Health group gave a presentation on WWF’s Earth Hour to the whole school on Thursday 26th March. They explained the purpose of Earth Hour and urged the pupils to encourage friends and families to turn off their lights for one hour on Saturday 28th March. All classes made a pledge to help raise awareness of global warming.

Rights Respecting Schools Rights Respecting Schools recognise achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the heart of a school’s planning, policies, practice and ethos. A rights-respecting school not only teaches about children’s rights but also models rights and respect in all its relationships: between pupils and adults and between adults and pupils. Over the past few months our assemblies have focussed on creating a school charter. The pupils are familiar with rules but in order to embed Rights Based Learning in the culture, systems and practice of the school, rules should be replaced with charters. These charters should be used to promote positive relationships and a climate of respect, where everyone is treated with dignity. The Rights Respecting Schools Group will be working on finalising our School Charter over the next few months. More information will follow.

PARENT COUNCIL NEWS The next meeting of the Parent Council will be held on Wednesday 6th May at 6:30 pm. in the meeting room. Any parent is welcome to attend.

Bag Packing Event The Parent Council raised an amazing £509.45 at a recent bag packing event held at ASDA Larkhall. A huge thank you to all parents and pupils who gave up their time to help out.

Bag 2 School – Clothing Collections At this time of Spring Cleaning, please fill your enclosed ‘Bag 2 School’. As well as encouraging recycling, the school benefits from the income generated by the amount of bags collected.

PLEASE RETURN ALL ‘FILLED’ BAGS TO SCHOOL BY WEDNESDAY 22nd APRIL.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

1st April - Easter Assembly at 10am 2nd April – School closes at 2:30pm for spring holiday 20th April – School re-opens 22nd April – Return bag 2 school filled with unwanted clothing 23rd April – Football After School Club restarts 3-4pm 24th April – Football Festival at Blackwood Primary 5th May – Road Safety Presentation to P6 and P7 7th May – Inset Day 5 8th May - Football Festival at Blackwood Primary 20th May – New Intake Visit 1 (1:30pm -2:30pm) 21st May - Whole School ‘Day of Action’ 22nd May - Holiday 25th May - Holiday 28th May - New Intake Visit 2 (1:30pm – 2:30pm) 2nd,3rd June – P7 Transition Days at LHS 4th June - School Sports Day (weather permitting) 5th June - Reports to parents 20th June – P7 end of year ‘Treat’ 23rd June – End of Term Assembly

April 2015

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