Newsletter
28 April 2016
FIRST COMMUNION - First Communion takes place on Saturday 7thMay at 11am. We hope all of our children and their families have a happy & holy day.The children have been working extremely hard and are being thoroughly prepared by Miss Sergeant and Mrs Adamson. P.4 children will attend a special retreat on Monday 9thMay.
WELCOME TO OUR NEW PRIMARY 1 - We welcome our new boys and girl when they visit us on Thursday 26th May at 1.30pm. This will be an opportunity for the children to make new friends as well as experiencing an afternoon at school. Invitations will be sent out shortly to all our new children.
PRIMARY 2 CLASS ASSEMBLY- The boys and girls in Mrs Cameron’s class will have their assembly on Friday 29thAprilat 11am. Families of children in P.2 are welcome to attend!
SCHOOL UNIFORM ORDER FORM - As we begin our final term the time has come to order new uniforms for August. We supply an order service for a range of uniform items which have the school badge embroidered. An order form is attached and should be returned to the school office by Friday 20th May.
P7 TRANSITION TO SECONDARY SCHOOL - This is a very exciting time for the young people in P7 as they look forward to their move to secondary school. As part of the transition programme, the children will attend their chosen secondary school on the following dates:
- St Ambrose Secondary 25th & 26th May
We have arranged for a bus to collect the children at 8.30am prompt. Activities begin at 9am. Children should wear school uniform. Lunch will be provided for pupils on both days.
We have already received the children’s YOUNG SCOT cards and these will be issued for their visit to St Ambrose. These will be needed by pupils to ensure they are provided with a free lunch.
Please see below the dates for children transferring to other Secondary Schools in August:
- St Andrew’s Secondary 23rd, 24th, 25th May
- Bannerman Secondary 7th, 8th, 9th June
We are awaiting further details from other Secondary Schools and will inform children as and when they arrive.
PARENT INTERVIEW - It was lovely to see so many parents at our recent parent’s interviews. Both sessions were very well attended and this is a true reflection of the partnership between home and school.
CLASS OUTINGS- On Wednesday 18 May, P2 & P3/2 visiting Kelvingrove Art Galleryto take part in a Vikings workshop. The children will be spending the full day at the Museum and will not be returning before lunch time. Packed lunches will be provided for all children.
PRIMARY 1a & PRIMARY 1b CLASS ASSEMBLY - The boys and girls in Miss Dunne and Mrs Harley’s class will be learning about Spanish life and culture this term! They will be holding their class assembly on Friday, 10 June at 11am and their families are welcome to attend.
HEALTH/SPORTS WEEK UPDATE FROM MR GALLAGHER
PE & Sport
Our final term has arrived after a great sporting year at the school. Miss Sergeant’s class have begun football coaching and our after-school (and 8am morning) clubs have started, building on the excellent sporting experiences our children have had in curricular time. Our sports club programme is as follows:
DayStartClubWhenClasses
Monday 25th April Gymnastics after-school P1- 3
Tuesday 26th April Runningbreakfast P3- 4
Tuesday 26th April Tennis after-school P5- 7
Thursday 28th April Runningbreakfast P5- 7
Thursday 28th April Dance after-school P1-3
Thursday 28th April Rugby after-school P6&7
PLEASE NOTE :All clubs will finish week beginning 30th May.
RUNNING CLUB Children attending the running club will be able to attend the breakfast club. The catering staff have kindly agreed to begin the club at 7.45am on Tuesday and Thursday mornings when the running club is held.
Health Week & Sports Day
Starts Monday 6th June - Sports Day Friday 10th June (1pm)
This term also sees our Health Week, which will include a range of health promoting lessons and activities as well as multi-sport coaching experiences for every class. We would also love to get our families involved: So if you have expertise in an area of sports, health or fitness please let us know at the office (ask for Mr Gallagher). Sports Day will be on Friday 6th June. Our whole school will be participating in a fun, team sports challenge. Details of the teams and the event itself will be sent later next month.
OUTDOOR LEARNING UPDATE FROM MISS WEIR
You may have noticed that a lot of exciting work has been happening with our Outdoor Learning and Eco Work. We have been lucky to have Community Glasgow working with us to dig out a new pathwaywhich will lead to our vegetable patches, wild flower garden and seated area. Most of work has focused on developing the area at the infant playground; however we hope to extend our plans next year into the areas in the upper school yard.In our final term, we hope, weather permitting, to paint playground games in both playgrounds and complete planting around the school.
Things are definitely taking shape and we are very much looking forward to achieving much more next year to ensure we make the most of the Outdoor opportunities which our amazing playground space has to offer.
GOD’S LOVING PLANDuring the month of May classes will undertake activities related to Relationship Education. An information sheet has been prepared by staff to give you an overview of the ‘God’s Loving Plan’ programme including details of the content covered at each stage. As in all curricular areas this work will be differentiated to match the stage of development of pupils.
ALCOHOL AWARENESS Pupils in Primary 6 and Primary 7 will be visited by GEAAP (Greater Easterhouse Alcohol Awareness Project) during May. This organisation has the aim of ‘reducing the harm associated with the use and misuse of alcohol’ and have been successfully working with have been working with our older pupils for the past 3 years. You can find out more about GEAAP by visiting their website:
BREAKFAST CLUB PRICE RISEThe school breakfast club has recently seen an increase in price to £2 per child. There is a 50% reduction in price for second or third children in a family who attend breakfast club.
First Child - £2 Subsequent children - £1 each
Children in receipt of free school meals do not pay for breakfast.
REMINDER: Only children attending the breakfast club should be in the building before 9am unless due to inclement weather.
SCIENCE SHOWCASEWe have been invited to present at the Science Showcase being held at St Benedict’s Primary in Easterhouse. This will involve a group of P7’s discussing their learning and will be attended by other schools from across the city.
ATTENDANCE For the past few years our school has had the best attendance in the city. Unfortunately this session a decline in attendance has been noted and this is often due to holidays taken during term time, in some cases this can account for a total of over 30 days absence from school.
I have detailed below the dates of school holidays (May 2016- June 2017) for your information.
May Day Monday 2 May 2016May Weekend Friday 27 and Monday 30 May 2016
School close for Summer Holiday Friday 24 June 2016
Return date for pupils Mon 15 August 2016
September weekend Fri 23 and Mon 26 September 2016
INSERVICE DAY Fri 14 October 2016
First mid-term Mon. 17 to Fri 21 October 2016(inclusive)
Christmas/New Year Thurs.22 December 2016 to Wed 4 January 2017 (inclusive)
Return to school Thursday 5 January 2017
Second mid-term Friday 10February 2017
Monday 13 February2017 - Tuesday 14 February2017
Spring Holiday (Easter) Monday 3 to Good Friday 14 April 2017(inclusive)
Easter Monday Monday17 April2017
May Day Monday 1 May2017
May Weekend Friday 26 and Monday 29 May2017
School close Tuesday 27 June2017
CLASS NEWSLETTERS Our final class newsletters will be issued shortly giving you details of your child’s learning at school as well as ways in which you can help at home.
Thank you for your continued help and support- Our children achieve more when we work together!
MODERN LANGUAGES UPDATE FROM MRS CAPANNI: This session, six members of our staff have been working towards achieving a qualification in Spanish. At present, I teach Spanish across all classes and our commitment to the teaching of Modern Languages was recognised as St Francis of Assisi was awarded Spanish Language Learner School Award 2016 as Sean Kenny P.5 being presented with Spanish Language Learner of the Year and Calum McGregor P.1 receiving Gaelic Language Learner of the Year.
DOGS IN THE PLAYGROUND
In the past few weeks we have noticed an increase in the number of adults bringing dogs into the playground to collect and drop off their children. Can I remind you that in line with Glasgow City Council policy NO DOGS should be in the school grounds at any time with the exception of service dogs which are used to assist those who require it. If you do have a service dog, please alert the school to the reason for the dog and we can ensure that the Equality Act 2010 is followed.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Congratulations to everyone who had a birthday in April
Ethan Dolson Alexander McCabe Joshua Brownlie Christopher Martin Catrin Walker
Calvin Thomson Sam Shaw Charlie Fairgrieve Noel Conner Ryan McIntosh Luke Marley
Sam McCormack Kaiden Cairney Freya McCormack Ailsa Mallon Jay Simpson
Beth Flynn Abaigeal O’Reilly
Many Happy Returns to the boys and girls who celebrate a birthday during May
Maria DalyZoe MallonFallon Morris Niamh Connelly Elliot Dolson
Millie MartinJessica Grant Murren Kennedy Brayden Thomson Josh McGrath
Gabriel Donaldson Erin McCaigAnthony Cairns Daniel Good Megan Dowling
Sophie Smith Erin Galbraith Dylan McGlinn Payton O’Rourke Niamh Geddes
ONLINE PARENTAL SURVEY As part of our on-going commitment to improvement, I would be grateful if you could take a few moments to complete our online questionnaire. Your views are very important to us and will help us focus on specific areas for improvement. If you have more than one child in the school, please answer for your eldest child. The link to access the questionnaire is below: