Newsletter 3

School Newsletter October 2013 (2) Welcome Back!

Welcome back and I hope all of our children and families had a restful and relaxing October break. It certainly was a busy term and reflecting on all that we had achieved we were reminded just what wonderful opportunities our children had last term.

Since August we have had Badminton, Archaeology Trips, Visit to The Royal Observatory, Ranger Led Walks, Club Golf, Hockey, Roald Dahl Day, Biodiversity Talks, Archaeology follow up talks, Book Fair, Coffee Morning, Race Night and Parental Consultations to name but a few key events of last term. No wonder we were all looking forward to the break for a rest.

This term I am sure will be equally as busy. Firstly we are delighted to welcome Ms Haines to the staff team and look forward to helping her to discover what makes this such a special school community. We are also pleased to welcome back Miss Harley for her placement with P1/2. Miss Harley spent several weeks in our Nursery class with Mrs Little and will now be working with Miss Hutchison and Mrs Lord in P1/2. She will spend the first few weeks supporting in class and taking smaller groups of children before spending more time over the final two weeks of her time with us teaching the class for part of the day with the collaborative planning and support of both teachers before finishing with us at the end of term.

Miss Hutchison remains the point of contact for the majority of queries you may have for the P1/2 class and Mrs Lord for P3/4.

P1 Enrolment P1 Enrolment will take place in school on Tuesday 12 November. Parents of children due to start Primary 1 next August 2014 are invited to come in between 9am and 12 noon to complete enrolment forms, bringing in birth certificates and proof of address. Please spread the word to families you may know.

Issue 3 Events in School This Week Tomorrow we are to be visited by Fingers and Thumbs who will work with every class in school to produce some lovely Halloween Inspired artwork.

On Wednesday at assembly we shall have the final phase of our Pupil Parliament for this session where we will determine what our pupil priorities are for school improvement so watch this space to find out what they decide! For more information about how this works please take a look at the display in the school foyer or on our blog. Finally, on Friday, our two Junior Road Safety Officers will attend the launch event at Port Seton to find out more about their role and responsibilities this year.

P7 Camp and Transition P7 Parents, please add to your diary that there is a Transition and Camp Information Evening being held on 6 November at Gullane Primary School from 6.30pm.

Mrs Rodger, Head Teacher of North Berwick High School will talk about what life is like in S1 at North Berwick and will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. Please note this event is for parents and carers only. Following the presentation by Mrs Rodger there will be a presentation about school camp, including what to expect, how to help prepare your child for this and what they will need to pack!

Photographer & Pantomime Tempest Photography will be in school on the morning of Thursday 31 October for individual and family shots.

We have been assured by the photographer that these would then be available for order and delivery to school in time for Christmas holidays –possible gifts for grandparents! It is a bit early perhaps (Oh no it isn’t!) to mention that our Pantomime this year will again be in the Village Hall. All classes will be going over to see a production of Dick Whittington at 1.30pm on Wednesday 18 December. (I know it

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seems a long way off now but as we know, time flies…..)

What’s Happening ……..?

In other news, this will certainly be a very busy term for us all in school and the community as we begin plans for our Infant Nativity and Christmas Concert.

While we are on the subject of Christmas, please add into your diaries the date of Saturday 7 December for our annual Christmas Fair arranged by our very hard working Parent Council Fundraising Group. Following hot on the heels of the Race Night, a huge thank you must go in advance to this group for giving so generously of their time and energy, to put on such successful and enjoyable community events. This really is a much valued and important strength of our school.

Mrs Evans-Boiten will be in school on Wednesday 6 November for our assembly to talk about remembrance Sunday and not to forget about our important flag raising ceremony and plans for St Andrews Day celebrations on Friday 29 November.

Now that we have our new up and coming home grown Piper who recently had his first public appearance to send Mrs Anderson on her way at the end of last term, we look forward to Mackenzie playing a role in these annual celebrations. Related to this there will be a Church Service on Sunday 1 December for any members of the community to attend as part of the East Lothian Saltire Celebrations which seem to get bigger and bigger each year. As part of this our children will have prepared some artwork for display in the church and Mrs Evans-Boiten is very keen to have as many children and families represented as possible on the Sunday.

Before all of that however we have an Evaluation Visit from our Quality Improvement Officer, David Scott this Thursday. He will be in school for much of the day looking to evaluate the progress we are making with our School Improvement Plan and as part of this will visit classes to share in the experiences our children are having.

Dates for your Diary October 28th

6 Parent Council Meeting

th

12th 19th 27th

November

P7 Transition and Camp Information Evening at Gullane – 6.30pm P1 Enrolment P5 Basketball Festival St. Andrew’s Day Themed Lunch

Finally, thank you for your continued patience during these final weeks of supporting staff, children and families at Dirleton. The new parts of the building are now almost fully opened with the builders hoping to leave the site in the next few weeks and Mr Moody starting hopefully not long after that. As before the holidays, once I have a date for Mr Moody starting and the necessary transition and handover of information taking place I will let you know.

As ever if you have any concerns or queries please do not hesitate to contact me and should I not be in school and am at Dirleton, I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Catriona McKinnon Head Teacher

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