School Newsletter September 2016 Welcome Back! Hello and welcome back! Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the warm welcome I have received since taking up the Acting Head Teacher post here at Athelstaneford. I am looking forward to working with you all over the coming year and if I haven’t met with you yet please do feel free to pop in and introduce yourself. It’s already been a great start to the year and I’m delighted to say how well everyone has settled back into school life particularly our new P1’s and nursery children, who have settled incredibly well from day one. School Uniform The children look great in their school uniforms and it is very much appreciated by the school that children continue to wear this. Please ensure that all items that come into school are clearly labelled with your child’s name. If during the school year you need to order more please do not hesitate to see Mrs Cameron in the school office who would be able to help you with this. Attendance If your child is unable to attend school for whatever reason, please let Mrs Cameron know by 9.30am on the day. Any absences not reported to us will be followed up and if we cannot contact you, this is then referred to the Attendance Team at East Lothian Council. Parent and Carers Consultations Please note the dates for the first set of parental and carer consultations are scheduled for Wednesday 5 October and Thursday 6 October. Further details will be sent to you in due course.
Issue 1 Health Alert! Following the recent headlines in the East Lothian Courier about schools being significantly affected by sickness bugs and such like I thought it might be useful to remind you of East Lothian’s Council’s policy on children who have been sick. It’s important that children should remain off school for 48 hours after the last episode of vomiting. The same good advice applies if a child has diarrhoea: wait 48 hours after the last instance. In order to keep all our children and staff fighting fit we need everyone to follow this good practice. Thank you for your support in this matter. Physical Education We were delighted that Mrs Robertson is staying with us this year as our PE specialist. PE will now take place on a Wednesday morning and it has been agreed with our Parent Council that children should come to school in PE kit and remain in their kit for the duration of the day.. Each class will also have additional PE time with their Class Teacher and therefore children will need their PE Kit in school at all times. It would be helpful if they have clothing suitable for indoors and outdoors. Education City Education City is an interactive learning tool that children can access both in school and at home. Our Parent Council have very kindly agreed to fund this and your child will shortly be bringing home information about how to access this at home with their own username and password. Class Teachers will be able to set learning activities that support what they are doing in school. S:\Admin\Newsletters\1617\Newsletter 1.doc
After School Clubs Thanks again to our hard working Parent Council we are delighted to announce that we are again able to run the following Clubs at a highly reduced rate: Monday:
Tuesday: Thursday:
NeuroJuice for P1-3 (3.30pm – 4.30pm) (wef 26 September for 10 weeks) Art Club for P4-7 (3.30pm – 4.30pm) (wef 26 September for 8 weeks) Multi Sports for P1-3 (Lunchtime) (wef 20 September for 10 weeks) Drama for P1-7 (3.30pm – 4.30pm) (wef 22 September for 10 weeks) Multi Sports for P4-7 (Lunchtime) (wef 22 September for 10 weeks)
Letters have gone home giving information regarding costs and dates etc therefore if you have not received this please let Mrs Cameron know and she can arrange to send another letter home. Assembly and Awards Due to the fact that we have visits from Mrs Robertson and Mrs Broadley on a Wednesday, assemblies will now take place on Friday mornings along with Golden Time activities. During assemblies the themes have been based on hopes and dreams, litter, being responsible citizens and Kindness. There are assemblies about Harvest, Diwali, Remembrance and class assemblies planned for the coming weeks. We will keep you informed of class assembly dates so you can come along. Each week at assembly a star of the week for each class will be awarded. This will focus around the four capacities. The priviledges for being star of the week are a certificate, a stationary pot for your desk, a golden star trophy and a cushion for your chair. Please continue to let us know of any achievements your child has out of school as this is an important part of achievement assemblies. There is a slip at the end of this newsletter if you have time to pop down a few words and send into school these can then be recognised at assembly.
School Represntatives We are now pleased to announce that School House Captains, Junior Road Safety Officers and Pupil Council post holders have now been recruited and are as follows:
Pendrachan
House Captains
Natasha Coppinger Thomas Cotter
Peffer
Emily Bloom James Paton
JRSO Representatives James Paton and Maja Semple Pupil Council Representatives Maja Semple and Ziggy Austin Trips and Excursions We had our first outing to a Sports Festival a few weeks ago. Our P4 pupils and Mrs Gray went along to North Berwick Sports Centre to take part in a Badminton eventfollowing their taster session with Mrs Black, Badminton Sports Development Officer. The other North Berwick Cluster Schools were also in attendance and a fun morning competing and making friends was had by all. Our P4-7 class also travelled to Meadowmill Sports Centre to take part in a Tag Rugby Festival which has set them up nicely for Fergus Pringle, the Rugby Development Officer visiting school to give some taster sessions to the class.
September 20th 22nd
23rd 26th: 30th
Dates for your Diary P1-3 Multisports Club starts P4-7 Multisports Club starts Drama After School Club starts P7 Open Afternoon at NBHS NeuroJuice for P1-3 starts Art Club for P4-7 starts P7 Camp Deposit due
October 7th
Tempest Photography in school
8th
Parent Council Cheese & Wine Night
th
5 6th 14th 25th
(Individual and Family Groups) (Village Hall)
Parent/Carer Consultations Parent/Carer Consultations End of Term Pupils Return to School S:\Admin\Newsletters\1617\Newsletter 1.doc
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Please remember to keep an eye on the school blog http://edubuzz.org/blogs/athelstaneford for the most up to date information. As ever if you have any concerns or queries please do not hesitate to contact me, I will get back to you as soon as possible. Sarah Morgan Acting Head Teacher
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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Achievements Tear-Off Slip
______________________________________ of Class _________ has successfully participated in ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Signed:
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Date:
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