Head Teacher: M.R.Tremmel Gullane Primary School Muirfield Terrace Gullane EH31 2HL Tel/Fax: 01620 843455 gullane.ps@gullane.elcschool.org.uk http://edubuzz.org/blogs/gullane Dear Parents/Carers Well. That was some snow! I do apologise for the disruption to your child’s education but there was little that we were able to control given the circumstances. I fully appreciate how challenging it will have been for our families to manage having their children at home when they may not have been able to take time to be at home. I would also like to extend a thank you to ELC for clearing so much snow over the weekend! A mighty feat. A thank you to all the local residents who raised their snow shovels and gave their time to clear paths and walkways- above and beyond. Parent/Teacher Consultations You should have received a sheet detailing the information about our parent/teacher consultations in March. Staff will send out appointment slips very soon. I can’t believe that we have reached this point in the session already! Staffing This feels like an ever changing sand dune at times! Miss Collins is due to have her second baby come the summer and will finish prior to the summer break. Mrs Townend is also due her first baby in the summer and will also finish prior to the summer break! Congratulations to them both and we wish them both well. After the summer break there will not be a dedicated nursery teacher in nursery classes following a decision by East Lothian Council. Planning is in place to manage this change and how roles for nursery staff will be defined. There are many reasons behind these decisions and the increase in nursery hours is one element. There is a great deal to work through and I will keep you as informed as I am able to. Mrs Grainger will be able to work within our staff which is a relief all round for us.
Appointing new staff can be a lengthy process and once I know about staff to cover the maternity leave positions I will let you know. I will also inform you of any developments for the nursery when I have them. School Times We operate an open door at the start of the day and we do not expect children to line up. The door opens at 8.40 most mornings and we close it at 8.50. I expect the children to be in school by the bell but some families are running in as we shut the doors and many have to come to the front of the school because they arrive after that. School starts at 8.45. I have always said that we will go back to lining up at the start of the day if things don’t work out. Thank you for understanding the need to return to a period of lining up. It seems to have resolved the problem. P5/6/7 Expressive Arts Project This week the pupils in the above classes have embarked on their musical experience working with professional musicians on a project entitled ‘The Mould that Changed the World’. This work is being launched in Scotland with Gullane Primary being the first school to rehearse and perform this with Charades Theatre Company. There will be more details about timings and the actual performance dates for parents of those children as soon as I have firm plans for them. The matinee and the evening performances will be held in the National Museum in Chambers Street in Edinburgh on June 13th 2018- a date for your diaries if your child is in P5, P6 or P7. It will mean a whole day in Edinburgh and a busy one at that! Mrs Roberts, our Music Specialist, will be rehearsing the songs with the classes over the next few weeks and the staff team have undertaken training this past week. Staff from the University of Edinburgh and the NHS have been in to talk with the classes about their background knowledge of infections and the use of antibiotics as funding is coming from this source in order to raise awareness of the use and misuse of antibiotics. The children will work with the professionals culminating in a performance in a wonderful location! What could be more exciting! Gullane Showcase. We are going to run this event again this year with the house captains coordinating and organising the morning. They hope that pupils with a skill/talent in music will come forward and perform as they did last year. This event is in the morning of 29th March in the school hall. You are very welcome to come along.
House Bake Sales- new date We will need to reschedule the next bake sale for Kilspindie so we have opted for Friday 23rd March. Muirfield’s Bake Sale will be after the Easter Break now. (Green!)
PTA Quiz Night on Friday 9th March 2018 in the Mallard Hotel. I hope to see lots of our parents at the up and coming Quiz Night! It is always a super evening and our thanks to Mrs Jones and her team for all the work that has gone in to planning and organising this. There is an auction hosted by the talented Mr Walker and there will also be a raffle – come prepared and may the best team win! School Uniform I am very pleased to note that the pupils in Gullane Primary are smartly turned out, in line with our dress code policy and I must thank all of our parents for this. There are odd occasions when I notice something out with our agreed code and look for your continued support in ensuring Gullane children dress within the agreed policy for our school. Thank you. I seem to have to say this quite often. There are still have a number of pupils who appear not to have indoor gym shoes and this has meant that they are unable to do PE inside as their only options are the trainers they wear outside. Gym shoes are not expensive and they are expected to have them in school. Maybe worth checking they have a pair that fit and can stay in school. Thank you.
Please remember to let us know if your child has done something out of school no matter how small or large – we love to know and we put up a card in school and mention the child and the achievement in our newsletters. We value your opinions and comments also. We are happy to accept the text for the information via email.
Well done to…Martha Cavers in P5 recently passed her Bronze Jazz Exam with Distinction (and enjoyed having pink and blue hair for the day!) And a well done to…Rachel Williams, P5/6, for passing her Grade 1 tap exam! Mum, Dad, Nana and Grandad are all very proud of you. Well done to…Daniel Lumsden (P5/6) successfully completed Level 7 skiing over the February holidays. He worked very hard all week! And a well done to…Lily Rose Malcolm in P2/3 passed her Primary 3 Ballet exam with Distinction, she was awarded a fantastic mark of 96 out of 100. Super news!
Kind regards M. R. Tremmel 8th March 2018
Community News and Information Instead of many flyers going home and adding to a paper mountain we put all such events in this section. If you are organising an event please write what you would like as information and we will endeavour to include in this section for you. We do not take any responsibility nor do we screen the quality of any the community projects and events advertised here.
Gullane Beavers Beaver Scouts are for boys and girls aged between 6 and 8 years old. This is the youngest section of Scouting. Gullane Beavers meet most Friday nights during term time between 5.30pm and 6.30pm in the Village Hall. We do lots of fun activities including games, outdoor activities, crafts and visits to local places of interest all based around the children earning badges devised by the Scout Association. Children's names can be placed on the waiting list as soon as they turn 5. If you would like to place your child's name on the waiting list (or if you would like further details) please e-mail gullanebeavers@outlook.com with your child's name and date of birth. Please note that we are currently full for P3, P2 aged children and have a large waiting list for P1 children but can still accept names on the list for P1 children at this time. The Table Tennis Club is at Gullane Village Hall every Wednesday from 6-7pm (£2 per session). Pete Lugton l Development Officer | Table Tennis East Lothian Haddington Table Tennis Club, Corn Exchange, Haddington t: 07986 631480 e: pete@haddingtonttc.com w: haddingtonttc.com facebook: haddingtontabletennis twitter: @haddingtonttc
“Fidra is an environmental charity based in North Berwick (https://www.fidra.org.uk/). We have recently started a project looking into chemical pollution, in particular the chemical coatings often used on children’s clothing and school uniforms. Our work is being done in collaboration with international research scientists based in Sweden, however we wish to start with a local focus in the East Lothian area. We’ve designed a short survey (no longer than 5 minutes to complete) to understand behaviour surrounding the purchasing and use of school uniforms which we’re asking parents to complete. We’re very grateful for your time and if you’d like to learn more about our project please get in touch at kerry.dinsmore@fidra.org.uk or keep an eye on our website. “ The survey can be accessed through this link:-
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/East_Lothian
March 2018 09/03/18 21/03/18 22/03/18 23/03/18 29/03/18
PTA Quiz night- Mallard Hotel Parent Teacher consultations 6-8.30pm Parent Teacher consultations 4.30-7pm Luffness -House bake sale (rescheduled) Gullane Showcase from 9.15am approx. All welcome.
School breaks for Easter Holiday on Thursday 29th March 2018 at the usual times. School resumes for pupils on Monday 16th April 2018 April 2018 18/04/18 PCC 7pm 27/04/18 Muirfield - House bake sale May 2018 03/05/18 07/05/18 08/05/18 14/05/18 17/05/18 18/05/18 24/05/18 28/05/18
P7 Risk Factory Trip am May Day Holiday In Service Day Walk To School Week P1 Induction – Parents talk 9-10.30 Babe Zaharias Golf Tournament P1 Induction – Children 9am P7 Camp – Dounans