School Newsletter June 2015
Another Newsletter already? We are so busy this term with lots to tell you so rather than sending you lots of letters I have put it all together in a mini newsletter. Staffing Last week we welcomed Miss Mary McIlroy, our new music specialist, to the school. Miss McIlroy will teach our music curriculum until Mrs Broadley returns from her maternity. The pupils had an active time on Friday creating rhythms with physical movement, using their bodies to make the sounds. Interviews for a new PE teacher have now taken place, and I pleased to tell you that the preferred candidate is Miss Hanne Robertson. Miss Robertson comes to us with experience as both a primary teacher and a PE specialist. She is a very keen sportswoman and we are looking forward to seeing PE continue to develop when she joins us at the start of next term. We are sorry to say goodbye to Mrs Tennant who has decided to move on from the supportive role she had had at Athelstaneford and a number of other schools. We are very grateful to her for the years of support she has provided to many children in the school. We wish her well in the future. We will keep you abreast of plans for supporting pupils next year as these develop.
Issue 7
Sports Day If the weather is kind to us, we plan to hold our sports day this Wednesday (10th) in the afternoon. We will head down to the park after lunch and hope to be in position at 1.30pm. The format will be similar to last year with potted sports followed by races. Parents and family are welcome to attend – there will an opportunity for sporty mums and dads to participate. Those of you who are competitive may want to begin planning a relay team. Plan carefully. The competition is fierce. You will be up against the team which won the Meadowbank Small Schools Trophy this year. We will bring all the children back to the school at the end of the event. In the event of the weather being against us, our reserve day is Wednesday 17th of June. Open Day Please come to join us on Tuesday 23rd of June, any time from 9am until 10.30am. You can have coffee and a chat with other parents, and your child will be able to show you some of his/her work. There will be a special display of learning related to this year’s community project. We hope many folk from the local community will visit us during the morning, particularly those who contributed to the children’s learning. Leavers’ Assembly This special presentation put together and led by the pupils in P7 is on Wednesday 1st July and begins at 1.30pm. All are welcome.
The Glebe Project Throughout this year the Pupil Parliament has been discussing ideas to make use of the local glebe, kindly being shared with the local community by Rev Joanne Evans-Boiton. We finally settled on the idea of designing and making a labyrinth. Whereas a maze has many routes – and you can get lost in it – experts now believe that a labyrinth in ancient times had a single (though complex) route without deviation. Spiritually, this can be seen as a metaphor of life’s journey, full of twists and turns. Pupils have looked at photos of the labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral, the best preserved and most famous labyrinth in the world, still going strong after 800 years. They have also listened to the famous story of Theseus in the Cretan labyrinth with the Minotaur.
Dates for your Diary June 15th 16th 23rd 24th 25th
26th 30th July 1st 2nd 3rd
P4-7 Cricket Taster Session Nursery Outdoor Learning at Yellowcraigs Open Morning Nursery Sports Day P7 Transition at NBHS Rag Bag Collection P7 Transition at NBHS P7 Parents’ Evening at NBHS P7 Transition at NBHS Games Fundraising Morning for the Pond P7 Leavers’ Assembly at 1.30pm Nursery Leavers’ Ceremony End of Term Church Service End of Term at 12.30pm
The pupils have now designed labyrinths which will form the basis of a full-size one which we will construct at the glebe near the end of term. The labyrinth may have bushes added to it in the future, but for the moment will be constructed of lines of mown grass and a circle of stones. We would like all the pupils in the school to contribute a few stones to the labyrinth. While gardening in the school grounds, the children have been saving stones they have unearthed, but our pile is rather unimpressive so far. If you find stones while you are digging in your garden, please save them for your child to bring in later in the term. Please remember to keep an eye on the school blog http://edubuzz.org/blogs/athelstaneford/ for the most up to date information. If you have any concerns or queries please do not hesitate to contact me. Iain Devereux Acting Head Teacher
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