Our school website is

Follow us on Twitter

Thornwood Primary School

Newsletter August 2016

I am delighted to welcome the children back to the new session. A particular welcome to all our new primary one children and other new children who are new to the school. As the recently appointed head teacher of Thornwood Primary School I am looking forward to a productive and collaborative school year with our children, staff, parents and other partners.

Our Staff

Teaching Staff
Head Teacher / Mrs Dunleavy
Depute HT / Mrs McCaffery
P.1a / Miss Randall
P.1b / Mrs Christie (PT)
P.2 / Ms Dickie
P.3/2 / Mrs Goodyear
P.3 / Mrs Granger/Mrs Cree
P.4 / Mr Graham
P.5 / Miss MacFarlane/Mrs Archibald
P.6 / Miss Ali/Ms McCallum
P.7 / Miss MacKenzie
Treehouse / Mrs Taylor
EAL / Mrs Sharp
EAL / Ms Smithson

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new staff who have joined us this session in Thornwood.

Please note that Ms Campbell has been seconded to the authority and Mrs Goodyear is the P.3/2 teacher for this session. Please also note a change of name, Ms Spiers is now Mrs Cree.

Support for Learning Workers
Mrs Brown
Mrs Haq
Mrs Jeffrey
Mrs Keefe
Mr McKinnon
Ms Robb
Mrs Quinn
Clerical Staff
Mrs Glenn
Mrs Thomson
Janitor
Mr Nelson

HomeworkPlease check your child’s bag each night for their homework, encourage and support your child to complete their homework and sign it daily to indicate that you have seen it.

UniformIt’s great to see so many children in uniform. The children are looking very smart.I appreciate your support in maintaining school uniform for all children throughout the session.If you require to purchase uniform itemsthey can be ordered from the school office.

Please ensure your child has indoor shoes, shorts and a tee shirt for gym. All clothing items should be clearly labelled.

Please note that jewellery cannot be worn in gym for safety reasons. It is easiest for your child if they avoid wearing jewellery on gym days

No make-up or false nails should be worn to school.

Kit bags We are introducing bags for the children to store their gym kit in. Each child will decorate their bag to make them highly distinctive. If you have any buttons, bows or fabric please feel free to send them into school to decorate the bags. The cost of the bag is 50p.

Mobile Phones If your child requires to bring a mobile phone to school they should hand it in to the office first thing in the morning and collect it at 3.00pm.

Lost property There is a large quantity of lost property from last session which will shortly be disposed of. If your child has lost items please feel free to check lost property.

Health Promotion We are a health promoting school and would appreciate your support in encouraging your child to bring healthy snacks. Your child should bring fresh water to school each day which can be topped up. No fizzy drinks should be brought to school. Please avoid any foods containing nuts as we have some children with a nut allergy.

FuelzoneAll children in P.1-3 receive a free school lunch. Lunches for P.4-7 cost £1.90 unless children have applied for and are entitled to a free school lunch.

Fuelzone menus will shortly be issued with vegetarian and halal options available.

The following snacks are also available at morning interval from the Fuelzone: toast 20p, orange juice 30p and crisps 50p. If your child brings snack money, please remind them to let their teacher know, so they can go to buy their snack at 10.30am.

There will be a taster session in the Fuelzonefor P.1’s on 31st August at 11.30am. Parents/carers are invited into the dining hall to assist their children.

Activities and OutingsDuring the session the children will have an opportunity to participate in a range of activities and outings which support their learning and build their confidence. This week P.7 children thoroughly enjoyed sailing on the Clyde when they participated in a taster session organised by the Royal Yachting Association. It was a fabulous sunny day and the children surprised themselves by sailing small dinghy’s taking full control of the boats!

Partnership with Parents A home/school agreement will be issued shortly. It has been introduced to a focus group of P.1 parents and was well received. We value your support and plan to engage regularly with parents/carers throughout the session.

Parent CouncilWe are fortunate to have an active and supportive parent council. The next meeting of the parent council is the AGM, which will be held on Monday 5th September at 7.00pm. All parents are invited to attend. The parent council warmly welcomes new members.

School Entrance/ExitsI have been endeavouring to work with the council to improve aspects of the school building and grounds. The large gate on Thornwood Terrace, which provides access to the senior playground, has recently been repaired and will shortly come into use once a visirail has been sited next to the kerb.

When this gate is in operation the side gate on Thornwood Avenue will only be in use from 8.15 to 8.45am for access to the breakfast club. I will keep you informed as to when this will be introduced.

I would like to remind parents/carers that children should be dropped off at the school gates and parents should not enter the playground in the morning. The playground is supervised from 8.45am. The exception to this is primary one children while they are settling into the routine of lining up. P.1 parents/carers should gradually begin to step back and encourage their children to line up independently, with parents/carers dropping their children at the school gate by the October break.

P.1 and P.2 parents/carers can continue to collect their children at 3.00pm from the infant playground.

Following discussion and feedback from a parent focus group, parents/carers who collect their children from the side entrance on Thornwood Avenue may enter the playground and wait under the covered area for their child. This is a temporary arrangement to avoid congestion on the narrow pavement.

Communication Our school website is regularly updated with useful information for parents/carers. We will shortly be adding the holidays for the school year. Please also follow us on twitter to keep up to the minute with what’s happening in Thornwood.

I look forward to working in partnership with you.

Kind regards,

Caroline E. Dunleavy,

Head Teacher