Abington Primary School
August 2017 Newsletter
Dear Parents / Carers, Welcome to the first newsletter of this session. It is so lovely to see staff and pupils back in school after the summer break. The weather was not as kind as we would have liked but everyone looks refreshed and ready for the new session. There are a number of events in the diary already and we will keep you informed through the website, newsletters text and pupil post. Please look in your child’s bag regularly for information. As ever I will be happy to hear from you if you have any comments or concerns about your child in school through contacting the school office in the first instance. I will do my best to deal with issues as speedily as possible.
New Pupils: I would like to welcome our two new P1 pupils, Morgan and Francesca as well as Liam who is in P5. I am sure they will settle very quickly into our school family and be happy in Abington Primary School.
Parent Council: We are very fortunate to have an active Parent Group that supports the work of the school. All parents are welcome to be part of this group and our chair Wendy Johnstone would be more than happy to hear from you if you are able to help at their events and / or attend meetings. The first meeting is scheduled for Thurs 7th September at 3 p.m. A good turnout of parents / carers would be appreciated.
Muga: In school our pupils make use of the Muga for playtimes and for PE but unfortunately over the holidays litter was left in including some broken glass. We are more than happy for the community to use the MUGA out with school hours but would respectfully ask that all rubbish be removed when people leave this facility. I would prefer that people did not eat or drink in it at all. If you see people abusing the ‘muga’ please inform the school so we can take appropriate action and allow it to remain in use for all.
Theatre Visit: On Tues 29th August M&M productions visited the school to perform ‘Jungle Book’. Pupils and staff from Leadhills and Crawford Primaries joined us for this show. Our pupils enjoyed the show and the four actors from M&M Productions certainly worked very hard setting up the production as well as playing all the parts. It was another chance to work cooperatively with the other small schools in our area.
Rugby: Our older children are participating in rugby workshops on Thursday mornings over a four week period. This is courtesy of Active Schools and Biggar Rugby Club. Our pupils are working together with the pupils from Crawford PS so we have a workshop for P4/5 pupils and then another for P6/7 pupils. This has worked very successfully in the past allowing the children to work at their own age and ability. In October the children will participate in a rugby festival with pupils from the small schools in the area.
Skipping: Our P6/7 pupils will be involved in training to encourage and support our P1-3 pupils learn to skip. The trainers will work with our younger children once a week to prepare our younger pupils for the skipping festival in November. Good luck P6/7 – you will be great!
Music: Every week on a Tuesday we will have Mr Johnstone and Mr Fraser in school working with pupils. Mr Johnstone will work with P4/5 pupils as part of a music initiative programme while Mr Fraser will work with pupils P5 and above who wish to learn to play a brass instrument. Mr Johnstone has kindly offered to teach volunteers from P6/7 pupils the ukulele during Tuesday playtimes. If your child is interested please let the school know as soon as possible.
Wheels to School Day: As part of a Road Safety topic all pupils are invited to bring scooters, skateboards or bikes to school on Tuesday 19th September- with appropriate safety gear please!! Many children are bringing bikes and scooters to school which is lovely but please make sure they are supervised as the traffic is busy at these times.
Head Lice: From time to time in school there may be an infestation of head lice among the children. Please be vigilant about checking your children’s hair on a regular basis with a bone comb and / or special shampoo. If your child has head lice please let the school know so we can in turn inform parents by reminding them to check their children’s hair in order to keep head lice at bay.
Parent Helpers: As you may remember our‘Awards for All’ bid was successful and we will be setting up our community library and reading /games club for families but we would love some volunteers to help us. We would welcome any volunteers from the community to help in school in various ways. If you are interested or know of someone who is please let the school office know. After all many hands make light work!
Nursery Lunches: This year the nursery has a number of children who come for a whole day and therefore stay for lunch. Our P6/7 pupils are helping the nursery children at lunchtimes on a rota basis. They are doing a super job. Well done to you all.
Savvy Savers: Every Thursday our pupils have the opportunity to bring in money for their Credit Union bank account called Savvy Savers. This is run by our P6/7 pupils. If you wish your child to start saving, application forms can be provided at the school. As soon as your child receives his/her bank book he / she may bring in money to school for their savings account. Pupils can deposit as little as £1 and it’s amazing how the amount builds up when children deposit a small amount on a regular basis.
Diary Dates:
Tues 19th Sept–Wheels to School Day Fri 22nd& Mon 25th Sept–Holiday
Wed11th Oct – Small Schools Rugby Festival. Thurs 12th Oct – Harvest Service in Church
Mon 16th Oct – Fri 20th Oct – Holiday Wed 1st Nov –P7 Parent / Child BHS Open Evening
Mon 6th Nov – Fri 10th Nov – Kingswood Residential. Thurs 23rd Nov – Parents Appointments
Tues 5th Dec – Flu Vaccines in school Thurs 21st Dec – Church Service 11 a.m.
Fri 22nd Dec – Schools close 2.30 p.m. Mon 8th Jan 2018 – School reopens
.