Dear Parents and Carers,
· P1-P3 Sports Day starts at 9.30am, P4-P7 at 11.00am. You are all welcome to join us at Bruntsfield Links.
· £130 has been raised for Dogs for the Blind. Thank you to all to tried to ‘guess the name of the toy puppy’.
· The Fencing Team continue to bring home medals and trophies and enjoy their competitions. They also won Best Club and School last weekend. Well done fencers, you showed great fencing skills as well as sportsmanship and team spirit!
· Our football coaches tell us Boroughmuir Thistle are running an open evening to share information on girls soccer. It is at Meggetland on the 30th May at 6.15-7.15pm for all girls born between 2007 – 2012. They also have a soccer school in June. Further information is available at:https://sites.google.com/boroughmuirfc.com/memberssite/soccer-schoolcome-try I am told there is a BBQ if the football doesn’t tempt you!
· Our Parents and Carers survey was extremely helpful. Lots of positives and some really good suggestions to work on. To help gather your views more consistently across the school, we shall start using Survey Monkey. I know the pea gravel is not popular with everyone, but the children really love playing in the climbing structure and it is the safest ‘landing bed’ for children when they jump. I shall talk again with staff and pupils and suggest a rota for break and lunch time, this may give the children more room and a break from the sand on their clothes and shoes. The rising numbers at Bruntsfield has impacted on the space we have in the school building, I am sorry, there is nothing I can do to prevent the numbers growing. However, I do believe we may have reached our full capacity and hopefully three classes of each stage is as far as we grow. Demographic changes over the years show patterns of growth, dips and growths again, there is a good chance we may be at the top of the curve. You asked if the children could spend more time at the links – teachers are encouraged to do this for any lesson which would benefit learning and teaching. Please remember, as with all activities outwith the school grounds, we need a ratio of one adult to fifteen children. If you are able to help, please let your class teachers know.
At the Parent Council Meeting on 16 May 2018 you asked about:
· Reducing plastic: our Community Teams are working on this. They talked at Assembly, shared suggestions to reduce plastic and are currently working on solutions.
· Lunch Boxes: I have reminded staff to ask the children to check they have them before returning to class after lunch.
· Travel Plan: Mr Wood and Ms Dobie are working on this with the Junior Road Safety Team and Mark Symonds from CEC. The majority of our pupils walk to school. For car drivers, please continue to look out for children crossing and park responsibly. The children don’t work out what you are doing if you double park.
· Seating Benches: we have a good number of benches at the front of the school and even more picnic tables and benches in the rear playground. I was asked if we could add more, to do this, would reduce the space for active play. We shall monitor their use and discuss with the Pupil Council.
· Books: we purchase additional books each year to ensure there is enough for everyone. Unfortunately, a fair number become lost and/or damaged. Any missing are replaced each year. Please have a look around the cupboards and if you find any, please send them in. Our next order will go in as the class teachers clear their rooms at the end of session.
· Children who become sick or injured in school: I reminded all the teachers to phone you if your child has had an injury or who feels unwell in school. If there are any serious injuries, we shall call NHS Direct or an ambulance if required. Please let us know if your phone number or emergency contact changes. Please let me know directly if this does not happen.
· School Camp: I was asked to share ‘value for money’ for this. The children returning from Camp this week will be in a great position to do this with the staff team. We shall post this on our blog in due course.
· Transition to new classes: In June, pupil support assistants work with, and shadow each other, to ensure they are clear about the programmes, approaches and individual needs of the children in their new class (don’t jump to conclusions though, sometimes they cover each other if someone is on a trip etc). The class teachers have transition meetings to share key information and meet their new classes in the last week of term. The children will be told where they should line up after the summer holidays, if they forget, they can come in any door and they will know by break! The new markings for P1 and P2 at the front of the school will help with the younger classes.
· Quality of lunches: other schools contact us to find out about our lunches as we have cooks who really care about the quality of meals we serve our children. However, it is good to know if there are things on the new menu they don’t like – some loved the spicy rice yesterday, others were not so keen. Feedback on the new menu is being organised. Details to follow.
· Swimming for next session: P4 pupils will have swimming next session. We have requested additional time for any children who have not learned to swim by P7. We shall know if this has been granted by the end of term. The swimming timetables are organised at City level for all the pools and classes.
· P7 Show is on Wednesday 06 June, dates of rehearsals will be shared once the P7 team are back from camp.
If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Carol Kyle
