CANISBAY SCHOOL NEWSLETTER no. 2 3rd October 2019 www.canisbayprimary.wordpress.com Dear parents, Chromebook Safety Advice for families of P6 and P7 – Advice from Scottish Fire and Rescue is that Chromebooks should never be left charging overnight. Please remember that part of the agreement of taking Chromebooks is that they are charged and ready to use in school each day.

Parent Council message - Halloween disco on Friday 1st November. Time: 6.30pm to 8.00pm. Mrs McGee is named as the Responsible Adult for this event. Next Parent Council meeting - Thursday 28th November – This will be based on Christmas event organisation.

New cook – Mrs Karen Stevens is now our cook in Canisbay School.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ ASN Consultation – Information from Dr James Vance, Interim Head of Education Review of Additional Support Needs Allocations Model - Engagement Sessions As you will be aware, we are undertaking a review of the Additional Support Needs Allocations Model that is used in schools across the Highland Council area. As part of this process, the Project Team are keen to engage and consult with our staff, ASN pupils and parents of pupils with additional support needs to gather their thoughts and views on what is important to them. With this in mind, we would like to invite you to attend an engagement event on Monday 11th November at 6pm at Wick High School. The Project Team will be there to facilitate the meeting and are keen to hear your views. Separate sessions have been arranged for earlier in the day with pupils with additional support needs and staff. In addition to this event there is also a method to contribute via a survey. Please let your headteacher know if you are experiencing any difficulties accessing it. Dr James Vance

Link to survey - Primary parent survey

If you receive your newsletter on paper and would like to access this link please find the electronic copy of the newsletter on our website or request it by email. In order to make an informed contribution I wanted to remind you of our allocation for ASN. Our ASN allocation in school and nursery is 30 hrs of PSA time this year, 20 of which are required in nursery. All of Mrs Steven’s time with children is completed through PEF funding and is not part of ASN allocation. We also receive an ASN Teacher for one day a fortnight. I also communicated to the Project Team that all parents should be offered the opportunity to contribute so I am inviting all parents to contribute, not just parents who have children with Additional Support Needs. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Holiday reminder – Last day of term is on Friday 11th October, we return on Monday 28th October. Inset days – Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd November.

Fundraising Day – as part of the Oor Wullie Big Bucket Trail we said we would hold an event to raise funds for the Archie Foundation, Raigmore Hospital. Part of this day will also be P7s raising money for their own residential trip. We will be holding our fundraising day on Friday 8th November. This will include dressing in PJs for a donation and a sponsored read-a-thon (bed time stories in PJs). Sponsor sheets will be given out the week before and we also hope to hold some other fundraising ideas on the day. We hope that you will support us in our event. More information will come out closer to the time. Thank you

Flu vaccinations will take place in school on Tuesday 12th November. (this may change due to a clash with swimming but I will let you know if it changes)

Library Van – 22nd October (in the holidays).

Open Afternoon – Friday 15th November 1:30pm – 3pm Newton Room visit for P5/6/7 children – this will be a full day event at the STEM resource available to us in UHI, . The children will be taking part in a Robotics and Mathematics Workshop which the P7 class had a taster session from last term. This will take place on Friday 1st November. Children will need snacks, a drink and a lunch to take with them.

Holidays during term time – Please be mindful that holidays taken during term time must be recorded as unauthorised absences in P1-7. When a number of children are outwith school at the same time this can have a direct effect on teaching in the class, as has happened at the moment. Key lessons cannot be taught when a significant amount of children are not there as it would be detrimental for children to miss these building blocks. I was also advised by Education to keep a close eye on attendance rates and communicate these with parents. If your child is below 80% attendance this equates to missing one day of learning every week. I will issue a note at the end of term to show your child’s attendance rate.

Christmas Concert Date – evening of Tuesday 17th December

Swimming in Term 2 (P4-7) – We should be swimming for 7 weeks so the cost of transport for the term would be £28. This can be paid by bank transfer if they were paying for the whole term only (contact the office for details). If paying week by week please use cash or cheque. There will be no more swimming after 10th December.

Adverse Weather – our messaging line number is at the top of every newsletter. The same guidance applies as previously and information is in the school and nursery brochures which are available on the website. The adverse weather line remains the first thing I update followed by the Highland Council who then update their Facebook page. This also links in to MFR being updated. I know there were problems with the Highland Council Facebook page last year so after I update the messaging line I will let the Parent Council know so that the Parent Council Facebook page can be updated. Even if school is open please follow this advice. ‘It is the responsibility of parents or carers to decide if a pupil should attempt to travel to school, by transport or on foot, in adverse weather conditions. The Council encourages full attendance at school but in severe weather conditions the safety of pupils is much more important.’ It is not an easy decision to make so please understand that as the day moves on it may be the totally wrong decision either way but I have to make that call.

Norovirus

Please consider the above messages. There will be times when your child catches a sick bug from someone who has put their child back to school too quickly and there will be times when your child passes on the sick bug to others.

Thank you Additional Contact Details R Moodie Mrs Moodie, Headteacher, Canisbay 01955 611337 I can be contacted in either school at any time. Headteacher Tuesday and Thursday in Canisbay, Monday and Wednesday in Castletown and usually Canisbay School both schools on a Friday.

Community and Other Agencies  Please see the following website for exhibitions held in Wick and Thurso https://www.highlifehighland.com/st-fergus-gallery/exhibitions/  Please remember that lots of local activities are advertised on http://whatson.caithness.org/  Orchestra – rehearsals every Wed evening in Mount Pleasant Primary, Thurso. 7.30 – 9.30 Aug – Mar during term times. For further information - Phone: 01847 893517 Email: [email protected] or find The Caithness Orchestra on Facebook