Newsletter

February 2017

We care for ourselves, We care for each other, We care for our environment

Please Help - The Burn

We have a burn at the very far end of the school grounds, well beyond the football field and the rough ground. At the moment it is high and fast flowing. At assembly on Monday I talked to the children about the dangers of going anywhere near the burn, which is so far away it cannot be seen from the school. The children are very good at keeping to boundaries in school time. I have instructed them to keep away from the burn until May. I have also requested Stirling Council fence the burn off with a lockable gate. I know you will support us in reinforcing this message with any children who are old enough play outside unsupervised.

A huge THANK YOU

To everyone who was so helpful last Thursday when we were forced to close at very short notice. At 8am all staff were on their way in and it looked as if we would be able to open. By 8.30 three of my teachers were stuck on various roads due to lorries which had come to a standstill. They were unable to get anywhere near the school and had to turn back. Whilst en route, I spoke with my Link Officer to let her know I would have to close and the information was put on Stirling Council’s website. I was however stuck at the junction before Croftamie with a lorry sliding backwards towards me. I was able to phone Mr Sands and get him to alert any parents who got to school. My priority was to get to school and contact the parents of the children at Breakfast Club. It was only when I got to school that I realised I was the only member of staff except for Mr Sands who had managed to get in. While I was trying to contact the parents of children who were here, Mr Sands phoned Stirling to put out a text message. I was also then contacted by staff living in villages nearby to say they were unable to get to Drymen and were turning back. I apologise for the very short notice, however everyone tried very hard to get here. I really appreciated the help from Mrs Mackay and Mrs McGill who helped out by phoning round.

To Parents, staff and children who are running lunchtime or after school clubs

Reading Café P4-7 and Story Club P1-3 on Tuesday lunchtimes

Coding P4-7and Art P4-7 after school on Tuesdays

Netball P6-7 after school on Thursdays

Netball fixtures at learning community primary schools have been arranged

Football P5-7 after school on Fridays

Football fixtures at Balfron High School and a tag rugby session at Balfron High School are all arranged

Balfron High School Sports Leaders are running their clubs in the playground at lunch times on Thursdays.

P5 are currently enjoying golf tasters thanks to Active Stirling.

We are collecting:

·  used stamps for Leprosy Relief. Please continue to help us support this very worthwhile charity. We are one of its main contributors in the area and would like to give it our continued support.

·  Sainsbury’s Active Kids vouchers. Although most things in their catalogue need far more vouchers than we collect, each year we spend them on playground toys like bucket stilts, skipping ropes and cup and balls.

·  Red milk bottle tops for lunch tokens. We now have plenty blue and green ones.

P1/2

We are delighted to welcome student teacher Mrs Burns to P1/2. She is working with Mrs Knox this term. She is enjoying her time with the children and is gradually increasing her teaching time. She leaves us to go back to University on 17 March. She will be back for a block of time next term when she will work with P4/5 and Mrs Hall.

What has been happening in February?

P1-3 had an active and enjoyable morning at Balfron High School when they attended a Football Festival following their block of Football tasters run by Active Stirling. Although it was a very cold day, they set off on the bus in a highly excited state. They enjoyed their trip and the activities and came back very willing to share their experiences.

Learn with Dog’s Trust Workshops

P3-7 had workshops which they all found very enjoyable and very informative. Gemma from The Dog’s Trust was great with the children and they were certainly hanging onto her every word. These workshops were free and we would have them back again in the future.

Staff Development Days

The two staff development days were spent very productively. On Monday all the Learning Community were at Killearn Primary where Sean Nash who runs coaching and mentoring courses was the speaker. His focus was moderation and getting the best use of time in moderating standards meetings by using protocols. The morning flew by and was very useful indeed. In the afternoon we were all in Drymen moderating writing at Level 1 using various criteria. All the groups came to the same conclusion about the piece of un-named and un-marked writing, using the Benchmarks for writing and the Scottish Criterion Scale which we already use. The Benchmarks match the Scottish Criterion Scale exactly. It was a worthwhile exercise as it reinforced the standards of assessment against given criteria are consistent across Drymen and Buchanan. As moderation is a Learning Community focus this year, we will continue to moderate in Literacy and Numeracy within Drymen and Buchanan and next year with another Learning Community School. We finished the day by looking at all the transition work

we do - nursery to primary, primary to high school and the move up day we had last year for all children. This worked so well last year that we already have plans to have two move up days this year, where the children will go into their next year’s classes and spend a morning, one day and an afternoon on another with their new teachers.

The second of the staff development days was spent with Carol Dearie on Getting it Right for Girls. Carole has researched bullying in girls and her work is streaks ahead of anything else out there. All staff attended the day’s training and we have much better knowledge and clear strategies on how to deal with bullying amongst girls. The training reinforced the work we are already doing. It reassured us that the programmes we already have in place for building resilience and self-esteem in all our children are necessary. What we have all learned is the specific language to use with girls to help them change their behaviour. The whole day flew past and was extremely worthwhile.

Transitions

Mrs Gannon, Lead Learner for Numeracy at Balfron High came to work with P7 children in the classroom. Ms Bannantyne, Headteacher also came to speak to the children and answer any questions they had about moving to Balfron High School. She was able to dispel some high school myths. Mrs Hewitt asked the children to rate their confidence levels before and after the visit and every child reported an increase in confidence about going to High School.

P1 had another visit to Drymen Library to share books with their pre-school friends. They are always very keen to tell us what they did at the library when they come back to school and are keen to visit.

Website and Twitter

Please visit us at http://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/st/drymenprimaryschool

www.twitter.com and then search @drymenprimary

Click the Follow button and Miss McIntosh will approve you.

Dates for your Diary

Wed 15 Mar Parents Eve – 6.00-8.00 pm

Thu 16 Mar Parents Eve – 4.00-6.00 pm

Thu 23 Mar P5/6 Assembly 2.45 pm (P5/6 parents welcome)

Fri 24 Mar Red Nose Day

Thu 30 Mar Science Fair 2.00 pm (all parents welcome)

Fri 31 Mar Easter Service with Rev Alex Macpherson 9.15 am (all parents welcome)

Fri 31 Mar End of term 3.30 pm

Tue 18 Apr New term 9.00 am

Mon 24 Apr Health Week begins

Mon 1 May Holiday – school closed

Thu 18 May P1/2 Assembly 2.45 pm (P1/2 parents welcome)

Fri 19 May Sports Day with Buchanan PS

1.15 pm (all parents welcome)

Thu 22 Jun P4-7 Show 6.30 pm

Fri 23 Jun P4-7 Show 1.30 pm

Wed 28 Jun Fun afternoon

Thu 29 Jun P7 Leavers’ Service Drymen Church 10.00 am (all parents welcome)

Potted Sports 1.30 pm (all parents welcome)

Fri 30 Jun Awards Ceremony 9.15 am (all parents welcome)

End of term 12.30 pm

Stirling Council School holiday dates for session 2016/2017 can be found at:

http://my.stirling.gov.uk/services/education-and-learning/nurseries-and-playgroups/term,-holiday-and-closure-dates/school-holidays-20162017

School holidays 2016/2017

Autumn Term
Teachers return / Monday 22nd August 2016
Pupils return / Tuesday 23rd August 2016
Ends / Friday 7th October 2016
October Holiday
Starts / Monday 10th October 2016
Ends / Friday 14thOctober 2016
Winter Term
Starts / Monday 17th October 2016
Staff Development Day / Thursday 24th November 2016
Staff Development Day / Friday 25th November 2016
Ends / Wednesday 21stDecember 2016
Christmas Holiday
Starts / Thursday 22nd December 2016
Ends / Wednesday 4th January 2017
Spring Term
Starts / Thursday 5th January 2017
Staff Development Day / Monday 13th February 2017
Staff Development Day / Tuesday 14th February 2017
Local Holiday / Wednesday 15th February 2017
Local Holiday / Thursday 16th February 2017
Local Holiday / Friday 17th February 2017
Ends / Friday 31st March 2017
Spring Holiday
Starts / Monday 3rd April 2017
Ends / Thursday 13th April 2017
Good Friday / Friday 14th April 2017
Easter Monday / Monday 17th April 2017
Summer Term
Starts / Tuesday 18th April 2017
Local Holiday / Monday 1st May 2017
Ends / Friday 30th June 2017
Summer Holiday
Starts / Monday 3rd July 2017
Ends / Friday 18thAugust 2017
Teachers return / Monday 21st August 2017 (to be confirmed)
Pupils return / Tuesday 22nd August 2017 (to be confirmed)