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Dear Parents,

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Once again another school year is drawing to a close. As ever, it has been a busy year and one in which the children and staff have achieved a great deal in all areas showing themselves to be: Successful Learners; Confident Individuals; Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have supported us this session. In particular, the PFA, School Council and all those parents who have helped in class and on trips. Without your support many activities would just be impossible.

STAFFING NEWS

We will be very sorry to bid farewell to Mrs Inglis and Mrs Steedman who are both leaving teaching to pursue other interests. We would like to thank both of them for the support which they have given the school over the years. We wish them both well.

Mrs Hill and Mrs Scott are also moving on to pastures new and we wish them both well.

We are awaiting the name of the newly qualified teacher (NQT) who will be working with Mrs Nastaszczuk in P2/3.

CLASSES 2008/09

Here are the details of all of the classes for next year. We will be holding a ‘moving up’ morning on Tuesday 3rd June when your child will spend time with her/his teacher and classmates for next session. Following this you should receive a note detailing your child(ren)’s class(es) for next year.

P1 – Mrs Gracie

P2 – Mrs Taylor/Mrs Turpie

P2/3 – NQT /Mrs Nastaszczuk

P3 – Mrs Mercer

P4 – Miss Harper

P4/5 –Miss Tait

P5 -Miss Davidson

P6 – Mrs Colville/Mrs Nastasczcuk

P6/7 – Mrs Naysmith

P7 – Miss Craig

As we think about the start of the next session, it would be helpful if parents could remember to provide their child/ren with a basic ‘tool-kit’ of pencil, rubber, ruler and sharpener.

SCHOOL LUNCHES

Please note that the cost of school lunches will be going up from £1.50 to £1.60 at the start of the new session.

New menus are available on the website.

SCHOOL COUNCIL

The next meeting of the School Board will take place in the GP Room at 7.00pm on Thursday 19th June. Any items for the agenda should be given to Adrian Stott, Chair or Sandra Swinton, Clerk.

E-MAIL ADDRESSES

Thank you to those parents who have already provided us with this information. However, it would be great if we could have the e-mail address of all parents as it would speed up communication. If you would like us to use this method of communication please send the following information:

  • In the Subject box – Please write “Parents’ E-Mail Address”
  • In the Message box – Please write your Child/ren’s names and stages eg Joe Smith P1, Jill Smith P5 etc; and your name

*We will be able to get your address from the e-mail you send us.

We do not need this information from P7 parents.

HEALTH PROMOTION GROUP

The HPG would like to remind everyone that Friday 6th June will be our last 'Smoothie Friday' of the session. Fruity smoothies will be on sale during Golden Time priced 20p.

The Tuck Shop is selling fresh fruit, dried fruit and fresh fruit juice all priced 20p and we also have some fresh fruit pots in natural juice selling for 50p. One pot counts towards the magic 5-a-day and a spoon is included!

See you at the tuck shop soon!

Health Promotion Group

SUN PROTECTION

Hopefully, we will be approaching the time of year when we get a bit more in the way of sunshine and warmth. We would like to remind parents/carers to send their child/ren to school properly prepared for this. This might include providing your child/ren with a hat and some sun cream. It should be noted that the school takes no responsibility for applying sun cream.

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENTS

NETBALL

Congratulations to the Stoneyhill Netball Team!On the 21st May, we participated in the East Lothian Tournament which took place in Prestonpans. The team played 5 matches and won every single one, becoming the tournament winners. It was a great morning and the girls played really well as a team and were excellent representatives for Stoneyhill.

On Monday the 26th May, the netball team visited Loretto RC Primary School to play in the Musselburgh League. The team were feeling keen and enthusiastic after their victory last week. The girls played very well again and ended up in a tie-break match against Pinkie which we won 3-0.

Well done to all of the girls who have been training hard all year. Mrs Mercer is very proud of you all and happy to be your coach!

BASKETBALL

Daniel T represented East Lothian Pereginesin their Inter Area Basketball tournament on the 11 May. He was the only pupil from Stoneyhill Primary School and from the Musselburgh area to go through. Well done!

GYMNASTICS

Rachael, in P6, was one of three Scottish Gymnasts selected to represent Scotland at the III Torneo Internacional CGA Pozuelo on 11th May 2008. The three girls did extremely well with Rachael coming 1st on bars, 3rd on floor and gaining the 2nd overall position in the Under 12 category competing against 19 other gymnasts. The other two Scottish Girls did equally as well with overall 1st in the Under 14 category (out of 14) and overall 2nd in the Under 16 category (again out of 14).

FOOTBALL

Primary Soccer 7s Final (Scottish Cup)

Well done to the Stoneyhill Football team. On Wednesday 23rd April they travelled to New Douglas Park, Hamilton to take part in the finals of the Scottish Cup. They played four games and remained unbeaten – winning one game and drawing three. A great achievement! Everyone is VERY, VERY proud of your effort and attitude at the finals. The team players were: Daniel T; Ryan I; David G; Neil M; Aaron D; Lewis B; Ryan L; George H; and Daniel G.

John Home Robertson Cup

The John Home Robertson Cup was a great experience for Stoneyhill’s football team. We played 7 games – won 5 and lost 2. That gave us an overall score of 15 points. Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite enough because Law Primary beat us by 1 point and we were runners up. The team players were: Daniel T; Ryan I; David G; Neil M; Aaron D; Lewis B; Ryan L; George H; and Daniel G.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

  • Monday 2nd - P1 and P1/2 are going to look at baby animals at Almond Valley Farm Park.
  • Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th – Primary 7 induction visits to Musselburgh Grammar. Pupils to make their own way there and back on both days.
  • Tuesday 3rd – P1 induction meeting and whole school ‘moving up’ session.
  • Wednesday 4th – P3 off to the Seabird Centre.
  • Thursday 5th – P2 will be visiting St Andrew’s High Church
  • Friday 6th – Nursery new starts open afternoon. Details available from the nursery.
  • Saturday 7th – SCHOOL FAYRE
  • Tuesday 10th – the Museum of Childhood is the destination of P2.
  • Friday 13th – Special Assembly.

End of session progress reports come home.

  • Tuesday 17th – Teddy Bears’ Picnic for current and new P1 pupils
  • Wednesday 18th – P3/4 Parents’ Meetings
  • Thursday 19th – meeting for P6 parents re P7 trip to Benmore.

P3/4 Parents’ Meetings

School Council – 7pm in GP room

  • Thursday 19th – Visit from the Honest Lad and Lass.
  • Monday 23rd – Primary 7 performance for parents.
  • Tuesday 24th June– Celebrating Success for P1-4
  • Wednesday 25th June – Celebrating Success for P5-7
  • Friday 27th – End of session.

AROUND THE CLASSES

The nursery children are still busy planting and growing flowers, hopefully the nursery garden will look beautiful before the summer holidays.

Our summer outing will be to Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline on Wednesday 25th June. More information will be displayed in the cloakroom nearer the time. The children are busy practising for the races during gym time. We hope that mums and dads are in training too!

We will be talking with the children about moving to primary one, changing schools etc. We will be going into the "big playground" to see what it’s like with the "big" children and we will provide uniforms for the role-play area.

P1 are hard at work on their new science topic. Weare finding out about what plants andanimals need in order to keep healthy. We are visiting Almond Valley Heritage Centreon 2nd June and takingpart in a workshop onanimals and their babies. Wehope to seeanumber of baby animals including lambsand, if we are lucky, we might even see some chicks hatching. There will also be time to enjoy the adventure playground and have a ride on a tractor. Later this month we will visit Newhailes to find out more about local plants and animals with the ranger;keep yourfingers crossed for good weather!There continues to be a big focus this term on personal safety. We have been thinking about "stranger danger" and what to do in unsafe situations: don't go, say "No" and always tell. We will also look at safety in the sun and around water, all important life skills as the holidays approach.We are looking forward to welcoming the nursery children into Primary 1 with the Teddy Bears' Picnic and the childrenhave been busy writing their invitations. It will be an exciting time forPrimary 1 who will have the chance to tell the nursery childrenall about life in primary school.

P1/2 are looking forward to an exciting month as not only are we learning through activities within our classroom but we also have a number of trips planned. Our recent visit to Newhailes allowed the children to revisit their learning about food chains andthe structure of plants. We are soonheading off to the library to learn about how to use the facilitiesand also to enjoy looking at different types of books. At Almond Valley Heritage Centre, we will be looking at how to care for different animals. Check out the P1/2 page on the school website for photos.The childrenare alsoexploring how we can keep ourselves safe when out and about. The Primary Ones are learning about Stranger Danger and the Primary Twos are developingtheir awareness of road safety. Finally, a big thank you from everyone in P1/2 to the many helpers we have had this year working alongside us.

P2 have been very busy this final term. Our current topic is 'Toysfrom the Past' and the children are extremely motivated and love to share the knowledgethat they are bringing from homethrough discussions with their families about old toys. We are building our own toy museum in the class and will be visiting the Museum of Childhood in Edinburgh in a coupleof weeks.We are also learning about baptism and will be visiting St Andrews High Church next week. Please continue to leave your comments on our class web page.

P3have worked hard on researching and delivering talks to the rest of the class. As a result we have learned so much about seashore creatures. To round up this topic we are going to visit the Seabird Centre at North Berwick on 4th June. Let's hope the weather is good and we all have a good time. Sadly our student, Laura Fraser, has come to the end of her five weeks with us and will be missed by all. She has taught us a wide variety of subjects from newspaper writing to doing the Charleston! However she has promised to return for our outing to the seaside.

P3/4 are having a really busy term. They had a fantastic day at Olivebank for the yearly Sports Day. They have recently started their final topic on 'The Forest' and have been outside looking at trees, taking bark rubbings and collecting items for a display in the classroom. We hope to go to Newhailes in a couple of weeks to find out more about the types of trees and animals that we have in our area. At the end of the term we will be performing the 'Thriller Dance' in a Gather Round and would love parents to come along and watch.

P4 have begun our new topic, The Forest, by finding out a little about the most common tree in Britain, the oak tree. P4 have created a huge oak tree in the classroom! We have also been learning about minibeasts. In Writing, we have begun our story writing block by writing stories based around a central character, we will continue this for the last few weeks of term. The class all had a great time at sports day last Friday, taking part in all the events enthusiastically and earning lots of points for their houses. Check out the P4 page on the website for photos of sports day.

P5 are having a busy term.They have received a number of generous donations fortheir Silent Auction which will be taking place at the School Fayre. They will be advertising items shortly.

The children are thoroughly enjoying their Global Warming topic and are currently researching endangered animals and producing detailed factfiles. They have produced great artwork using rubbish and are looking forward to using batik. In drama, they are exploring the theme of bullying and are producing short plays which they are hoping to film.

P5/6 have made a busy start to the term – take a look at our class page on the website to see some of our work. We wrote some fantastic poems in the style of Colin McNaughton’s poem, “Wish You Were Here – And I Wasn’t”. The children really managed to capture the humour and determination to have a good time – even when the holiday was a disaster. The class have become “Art Detectives”! We are using the clues hidden in paintings to discover the story within the work. We are currently looking at Picasso’s “Weeping Woman” and have begun to draw our own versions of this famous work. The children are taking part in a series of rugby lessons with the rugby coordinator on Wednesday afternoons. These lessons take place outside so please ensure your child has their gym kit and a pair of joggers in case it is chilly.

P6have enjoyed working with Miss McCague, our Canadian student, for the last five weeks. We have been designing and making carrier bags, making and investigating electrical circuits and exploring Australia with her. We have learned a little about Canada too! We will continue our study of Australia and will conclude this with group presentations of different aspects of Australian life.

After three rugby taster sessions, we will participate in a rugby festival on the 18th June.

A busy end to an eventful year.

Primary 7can't believe the end of term is looming already! We have had an exceptionally busy and exciting last few weeks.

We are lucky enough to be visiting Musselburgh Burgh to see a performanceby a Polish Jazz band.

The main focus for June will be our production of Bugsy Malone. This will be taking place at 1.30 pm on Monday 23rd June, more details will follow. We will also be preparing for our move to high school and are looking forward to our two-day visit to Musselburgh Grammar on Tuesday 3rd June and Wednesday 4th June.

The Primary 7 Leavers' Party will take place between 7 and 9pm on the evening of Monday 23rd June. We look forward to seeing everyone in their glad rags for an evening of fun! Details about times will follow.

We hope Primary 7 have an enjoyable last 4 weeks at Stoneyhill.

SCHOOL CLOSURE

The school will close at 12.25 pm on Friday 27th June.

Please see the attached sheet for dates for next session.

AND FINALLY…..

I hope that all pupils, parents and staff have a wonderful summer holiday, in glorious weather, and that we all return refreshed in August.

Seonaid McGillivray

Headteacher

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