Crookston Castle Primary November 2016 Newsletter
Music Room: Our music room is now up and running. We are able to offer shared use across our school campus with Langlands school and Crookston Early Years Centre. If you would like to see it in action, Mrs Barrett will host a drop in to her P7 lesson on the afternoon of Tuesday 15th November at 2pm.
Build-a-Bear Raffle: Thanks to both our kind donation of 2 Bears and your generous support we raised over £80 towards our kindle fund. And the lucky winners were Lucy Paton and Alyssa Bell!
PJ/Onesie Day: This was a hugely enjoyable day with a lovely relaxed atmosphere in school. Not sure if the jammies kept the children sleepier but you could feel the difference in the air! Again with your support we raised a fantastic £429. This means we now have enough money for our first set of class kindles. Mr Ramsay is negotiating with Tesco and Amazon and we hope to increase our ‘bargain’ element further and purchase 17 kindles by ‘Black Friday’ at the latest.
School Minibus: You will have noticed that it has taken 2 months to get the arrangements for the minibus to be fixed / roadworthy. However it is now in the garage and hopefully back with us soon to help support our local visits.
Sports and Events: We have teams competing in cross country and football this month. Trips this month are P2s to the library and P4s to St James Church. P4b & the Active Play champs from P5 have a graduation ceremony with the coaches on Thursday 24th November at 9.15am. We are going to invite the parents along to celebrate with us. Watch out for P3s filming in the playground – to be previewed at their Scotland assembly in January!
Parents Evening: Thanks to all who came out on a cold dark afternoon/evening to learn about your child’s progress. Anyone who was unable to make it on the night should please arrange another appointment with their child’s teacher at a mutually convenient time, outwith teaching hours. We are still collating results from our internet survey and will discuss as a staff whether this will be able to influence how we set homework in the future.
Children in Need: Our annual fundraiser for Children in need is being organised by P5a & P5b. They will be selling small items to raise money for this worthwhile cause. As they are studying the Roald Dahl favourite “Charlie & The Chocolate Factory”, their assembly will be a drama based on the theme “Charlie in Need”. There will be a performance for parents on Thursday 17th November starting at 9.30 am with tea/coffee available beforehand.
Enrolment for P1 in August 2017: Mrs Mathers will be enrolling children for our school for next session’s P1 classes every afternoon. Parents are required to bring their child’s birth certificate and proof of address e.g. a utility bill. If you do not live within our catchment area, even if you have another child at the school you should complete a Placing Request form and submit it to Education Services. You will then either be granted an immediate place or put on a waiting list.
Transfer to Secondary School: Apologies again to our P7 parents that we were not given the transition letter that other local schools received. This was obviously both beyond our control and not acceptable. Ross Hall has apologised. Your child will have received a letter regarding starting secondary. If your child is talented in a sport you can apply for admission to Glasgow School of Sport at Bellahouston Academy. If you live within the catchment of Ross Hall Academy you will automatically be allowed a place there. However if you do not live within the secondary school’s catchment, even if you attend a catchment primary school, you will have to complete a Placing Request form if you want your child to go there. Placing request forms should also be completed for any denominational schools as required.
Smoking / Vaping in School Grounds: Glasgow City Council has for a long time had a policy of not allowing smoking within school grounds. This applies to staff, parents, visitors and others such as clubs who use the facilities. For the benefit of our children’s health, we would ask you not to smoke at the school gates. Regular passive smoking and inhalation of other gases can seriously damage children’s health. We would ask you to keep a smoke-free zone around our grounds.
Winter Wonderland: Winter Wonderland will be held after school on Wednesday 7th December. You will soon receive an order form for £1 tickets for entry into our 3 x £50 raffle draw. We will shortly be asking for:
· Unwanted gifts and presents for sale
· Bottles for the tombola stall
· Bric-a-brac / children’s books and toys
· Home baking at the time for sale
Cordia Playtime Snacks: Cordia Services are now extending their sale of playtime snacks to ALL classes in the school. Available to buy from the dinner hall are: various Juices priced 30p, 40p, 50p; Toast 20p, Biscuits/Oatcakes & Cheese 30p and crisps 60p.
Yours sincerely,
Hilda Carrick Head Teacher.