September 2018 Newsletter

School Newsletter September 2018 Welcome Back!

Hello and welcome back!! What a lovely summer we had, it was so good to have some well earned sunshine. We have had a great start to the new term with all children settling into their classes. Our Primary 1’s are amazing and are quickly becoming used to the many routines of the school day.

Staffing Just a quick reminder of staffing for the year.

Nursery: Mrs Maule and Mrs Allan P1/2: Miss Brown (M, T, Wam, Thpm & F) Mrs Morgan (Wpm & Tham) P3/4: Miss Bertram (M, T, Th & F) Mrs Hughes (W) P5-7 Mrs Overmeer (M, T, W) Mrs Hughes (Th & F) Mrs Robertson is staying with us this year as our PE specialist which will continue take place on a Wednesday morning and as agreed previously with parents, 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.

Mrs Broadly will also remain with us this year for Music which will also continue to be on a Wednesday afternoon.

If you need to speak with your child’s class teacher please try and arrange this for the end of the day as it can be very busy in the morning. Mrs Cameron is always available in the office and can often help you with any of your queries or arrange a convenient time for you to meet with someone who can.

Issue 1 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 as we have already found items throughout the school unlabelled. 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.

We are starting a second hand uniform and book shop. This will be kept in the front entrance. If you have any uniform that you no long need please hand this into Mrs Cameron. Donations for the uniform and books should also be given to Mrs Cameron with any funds raised going straight into our school funds.

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.

Water bottles I would be grateful if you could ensure that your child brings a named water bottle to school which we will endeavour to return home every Friday for washing. A water bottle will usually last the day and avoids queueing and disruption. Extensive research has shown that children’s concentration is much improved by regularly sipping water. Many thanks!

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School Lunches Our new system of lunch ordering seems to be proving successful with all teachers pointing out how much easier mornings have become – so a huge thank you to everyone for helping us to streamline this new system. Weekly order forms will continue to filter home the previous week to the following weeks lunches. If you have not received an order form by the Wednesday of the week before please get in touch with Mrs Cameron.

Busy Busy Busy …..

It’s hard to believe we have only been back just over 2 weeks as we have been so busy already ……..

School Payments Excursions, uniform, fruit and milk and can all be paid for online which is our preferred option. If you are sending cash or cheques into school please ensure your payment is in a sealed envelope and clearly marked with your child’s name and what the payment is for. All money has to be double counted by the Class Teacher and Mrs Cameron therefore payment made online minimises the about of time spent by staff carrying out this task Annual Update and Permission Forms We have already issued the General Excursion Form, Annual Update Forms and Photo and Web Permission Forms – if you have not already completed and returned these please do so as soon as possible. If you have mislaid these and need new ones just let Mrs Cameron know and she will be able to issue new ones. It really is important that these forms are returned to ensure that all information is up to date relating to your child(ren) Home Learning The first meeting of the Homework Review Group met last week and a robust and positive discussion was held. I will be in touch with the key points of the meeting and our next steps. Home Learning will start after the September holiday. .

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P5/6/7 enjoyed a great opportunity to see David Walliams at the Edinburgh Book Festival and this has been fantastic in supporting their learning in class. Huge thanks to Mrs Hughes and Mrs Cameron for being amazingly efficient in getting booked for this in demand show.

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P3/4 and P5/6/7 all had a fantastic opportunity to challenge themselves during a watersports session with the Outdoor education team at Musselburgh Lagoons. They were definitely pushed out their comfort zone however a wonderful positive experience was had by all.

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P1/2 and P5/6/7 have been working together developing their buddy relationships learning playground games, being nature detectives and working co-operatively to produce art work.

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P5/6/7 have begun their Bikeability and all children will have completed this course by the September holiday. Huge thanks to all our bike volunteers.

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This week P1-7 are having a visit from ‘Reclaimed Territory’. This should be a super opportunity to find out about a different culture, participating in a range of activities.

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Our Fundraising Committee are again organising the Christmas cards designed by the children. We are holding our design morning on 13 September. Please let Mrs Cameron know if you want your children to make a family card.

Dates for your Diary We have attached a list of dates for all families which will give a list of what we currently have planned for the year. We hope this will help with planning time off for assemblies, sports days etc.

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We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Wednesday at our Meet the Teacher Information Evening and it will be lovely to take the opportunity to celebrate your amazing children with your comments.

Thank you for all your support and as ever if you have any concerns or queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sarah Morgan Head Teacher S:\Admin\Newsletters\1819\September 2018.doc