Newsletter 25 January 2019

25^th January 2019

January 2019

Dear Parents,

Happy Burns Day, and for those of you with Shetland connections – Happy Up-Helly-Aa on Tuesday! Winter is still very much with us so please take care out and about on the roads and pavements as they can be very icy.

Rotary Quiz

Can I just say a very big thank you to all the parents of P4/5/6/7 who helped to organise the teams and to everyone who came along to support the pupils on both evenings. The quizzes were excellent but they were late nights for all concerned.

Well done to all the pupils for participating – you all did really well throughout the evening with the P5 Skene Beans coming in 3^rd equal place on the Tuesday evening.

The quote from the Rotary the next day was “Can you tell your pupils they behaved so well we finished earlier than we have ever done! Westhill Rotary”.

I am very proud of the way that all the pupils handled themselves on both evenings – you are a real credit to the school and it was noted by other adults there. Very well done indeed!

The school donated a £30 entry fee which will be shared with Sightsavers (ARI premature babies) and Shelterbox, 2 very worthwhile charities supported by the Rotary.

Assembly

Rev Stella joined us for assembly yesterday and taught us 2 new songs which we are all singing over and over. The theme of the assembly was inclusion. We look forward to her joining us again next month.

Scots Verse Competition

The pupils have been working hard at home over the last 2 weeks, learning their poems off by heart. On Tuesday each class listened carefully and voted for the 3 winners, who then went forward to present their poems to 3 members of Westhill Rotary on Thursday morning. The judges – Margaret, Grant and Jim – were very impressed by the high standard and had a tricky job deciding the winner and runner up in each class.

The pupils then showcased their poems again at our Scots Verse assembly this morning and everyone received their certificates. Well done to you all for taking part.

We also had 2 groups of Highland Dancers sharing their dancing skills with us all. They were excellent. Thank you to Mrs Docherty and Mrs Cruickshank for helping out with this.

Dental Nurse

The Dental Nurse will be in school next week on Tuesday 29^th Jan to see P1 and P7 pupils.

ALEC

We look forward to welcoming the new version of the ALEC caravan on Wednesday and Thursday next week. Harold will be coming with his new pop-up tent so we will let you know how that goes. The feedback from other schools who he has visited already is that it is great.

Number Day

Friday 1^st February is NSPCC Number Day. Please look down the sides of your sofas and in your pockets for all your 1p, 2p and 5p coins. We will be collecting them on Friday and doing lots of counting activities, organised by our Charities Champions, with the coins during our Community time. We will then send them all off to the NSPCC as our charity donation.

Dates for your Diary

In-Service dates

Just a reminder that Thursday 7^th, Friday 8^th and Monday 11^th are an Aberdeenshire holiday and therefore the school will be closed to everyone.

Tuesday 12^th and Wednesday 13^th are In-Service days and therefore the school will be closed to pupils only.

We look forward to seeing everyone back on Thursday 14^th February.

P7 Careers Fair

Due to clashes of dates at other Cluster schools the P7 Careers Fair has had to be rescheduled to Wednesday 8^th May in the Midmar Hall, 9.30 – 12.00. More details will come out nearer the time.

Netball / Football Tournament

Please make sure you keep Saturday 1^st June free as that is the date of the Skene Primary Netball and Football Tournament this year. Pop the date in your diary. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a lovely sunny day!

Thank you once again for your continued support within the school.

Best wishes from

Mrs Valerie Stoddart

Acting Head Teacher

Skene Primary School