Happy New Year from Us All Here at the Port School

Dear Parents/Carers,

Happy New Year from us all here at the Port School.

Welcome to our new Nursery children:

Red Group: James, Bethany & Libby

Yellow Group: Perri, James, Emily & Hollie.

I’m sure everyone will make them feel most welcome.

Bringing valuables to school

We wish to remind parents and pupils that it is not advisable for pupils to bring valuable items to school. If they do, it is not the school’s responsibility should they be damaged, lost or go missing.

Thank you for your support with this matter.

Visiting Specialists this term

Monday & Wednesday - SFL – Mrs Diane McFarland

Tuesday – Art – Miss Middleton

Tuesday – Drama – Mrs Charlton

Thursday a.m. – French – Monsieur Journe

P.E. – Vacancy

Parent Council News

We raised a fantastic £470 from the Christmas hampers. The winners were announced in the December update newsletter. Thank you to everyone that contributed and helped to organise this – a great achievement.

Lagganlia Trip P6/7

Some of our P6/7 pupils and Mrs Allan were at Lagganlia along with the Inverurie small schools from Mon 16th - Wed 18th January.

There was not enough snow for skiing but they had a chance to take part in exciting activities like gorge walking, dry ski slope, canoeing and snowboarding. We hope all the pupils enjoyed the experience. The pupils at school enjoyed a busy 3 days with Mrs Boyle. They went for a nature walk and collected items then created an outdoor collage, helped to create a school lunch survey and make a display with the results, and they had a movie afternoon.

Nursery and Primary 1 Admissions (enrolment)

Admissions for children to Primary 1 were from 9 - 13 January. Please come and collect forms if you have not already done so from the office. Admissions for Nursery are 23 January – 3 February.

Nursery had an open session for NEW PARENTS with children that have not yet started at nursery on Friday 20th February from 10:45 – 11:30. Information and application forms are available on Aberdeenshire Council’s website or from the school office. Please bring to school your child’s birth certificate and a recent utility bill, and if at all unsure when your nursery child may start, just ask at the office as it can be very confusing!

Scots Poem

Recently, every pupil has been learning a Scots or Doric poem. Class teachers have selected a poem for their class and have helped the pupils to learn their poem. Your child will have received a copy of the poem to take home. Extra practise at home is always useful, so any time spent helping your child to learn their poem is much appreciated. Learning a piece of poetry develops many different skills and has real benefits for other areas of the curriculum too.

Two pupils from each class will be chosen to receive a special certificate from the Robert Burns World Federation Limited for their efforts, and then one pupil overall will receive the Helen Currie Shield for excellence in Doric/Scots verse. Each pupil will receive a certificate from school for their efforts.

Staff will be considering the following areas when choosing the winners from each class:

· Physical Presence

· Voice and Articulation

· Accuracy

· Expression

· Overall Performance

Our Scots Poetry assembly will be held on Thursday 26th January at 2pm. All parents/carers are invited to come along and hear each class recite their poem, as well as the 2 class winners, before the shield for the overall winner is presented. Please note, the winners will have already been chosen before the assembly.

We are happy for pupils to wear something Scottish / tartan on that day if they wish to do so.

Car park safety

We have noticed that there are still people who choose to walk through the car park in order to use the small gate as a means of getting to and from the school. Please be aware that children should not use this small gate. There is a level of risk in choosing to go this way.

Can I also remind everyone that the road approaching school has a 20mph speed limit. This area can be very busy area with parents and children crossing so please be vigilant at all times. Thank you for your co-operation.

Healthy Eating – Healthy snacks

We are continuing to encourage children to choose healthy foods / snacks to bring to school for break / packed lunch. To help us with this, would you please avoid sending your child to school with sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks if possible. A reward scheme operates where children will gain points and prizes for bringing a healthy snack at breaktimes.

Last term P1-7 looked at our list of healthy snacks and each class discussed and added / amended the list. The Pupil Council have gathered this information and we have compiled a list of healthy snacks for all pupils.

We would encourage all pupils to eat healthy and to eat snacks of these types when possible.

We would welcome any parent comments. If you would like to make any comments / suggestions to the list then please return the slip as soon as possible. Your cooperation is much appreciated. Thank you.

Dates for your Diary

Thurs 26th Jan – Scots poetry assembly at 2pm. All welcome.

Thurs 26th Jan – Parent Council Meeting 6pm

Fri 10th and Mon 13th Feb – School closed for Mid Term Holiday.

Tues 14th and Wed 15th Feb – In Service day for Staff. School closed for pupils.

Fri 17th Feb – Parent Council BINGO, 6.30pm. All welcome.

W/B Mon 27th Feb – Literacy week P1-7

Thurs 2nd March – WORLD BOOK DAY (dress up)

Fri 24th March – RED NOSE DAY

Fri 31st March – Last day of term. School closes at usual times.

TUES 18th April – First day of term -School opens at usual time.

Please feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss any matter further. You are invited to comment on the return pro-forma on any aspect of school whether as a comment/suggestion, compliment or concern. These are responded to as and when necessary.

If you wish to discuss any item further or any aspect of school that affects you or your child, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I will be happy to arrange a convenient time to meet and discuss any issues.

Yours sincerely

Nic Boyle

Head Teacher

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Comment/Suggestion, Compliment or Concern

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Parent Signature…………………………………………………………………………………………………… Jan 2017

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Healthy snack – return slip: January 2017

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Parent Signature ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… Jan 2017