Elrick Primary School: a Health Promoting School
Newsletter : Session 2015/16
11 January 2016
Dear Parents,
We would like to take this opportunity to wish
you all a Healthy and Happy New Year. We
look forward to a successful year ahead for all
our pupils at Elrick.
Staff
There will be a number of changes to staffing
over the coming months.
 I would like to congratulate Miss Watt on
her appointment as Depute Head Teacher
at Ferryhill Primary. Miss Watt will take up
her new post on Monday 25 January. We
will be very sorry to lose Miss Watt. On
behalf of everyone at Elrick, I would like to
thank her for her dedication to the school
and her hard work and commitment to
pupils, staff and parents. She has been
highly involved in helping us to take
forward Active Literacy and has also
played a key role in supporting staff and
pupils in their use of technologies in
learning and teaching. We wish her all the
very best in her new post.
 Mrs Coney will be teaching in P1 on
Mondays and Tuesdays.
 Mrs Mclelland will be reducing from 5 to 4
days. Mrs Barrack will be working in P6Mc
until Mrs Skinner returns from maternity
leave later in the term.
 Exciting news for Mrs Matthew who is
expecting a baby and will be going on
maternity leave towards the end of the
term.
 Mrs Mclennan, who is currently on
secondment, will not be returning to her
substantive post at Elrick. I would like to
take this opportunity to thank her for all the
work she was involved in during her time
with us and wish her every success for the
future.
 Mrs Reid will be off for around 6 weeks
from the middle of January. During this
period Mrs Matthew will teach in P5RB on
Thursday/Friday and Mrs Bruce will teach
Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. Mrs Rule
will teach full time in P4RM during this
period
Feedback form Parents – Survey
We are committed to working together to
provide quality learning experiences within a
positive and caring ethos. In order for us to
evaluate how we are doing we will shortly be
issuing a questionnaire to parents, pupils and
staff. Please look out for the e-mail/text with
the link.
School Lunch Times
As part of the agenda at the last Parent
Council Meeting we discussed the proposal of
changing the lunch times as follows:
P1-3 lunch – 12.30 – 1.15
P4-7 lunch 12-1
The main reason for the proposed change is
to increase the learning time for P1-3 pupils,
particularly during the winter months when it
can take 15-20 minutes after break for all the
children to get changed and be ready for
learning. This leaves a very short learning
time between break and lunch. The length of
the lunch times would remain the same for
both age groups. Parent Council members in
attendance were happy with this proposed
change. It will now be taken to senior officers
of the council.
Enrolment
Please be advised that enrolment dates for
session 2016/17 are as follows:
P1 Enrolment:
Monday 11 – Friday 15th January
Early Learning and Childcare Admissions:
Monday 18 – Friday 29 January
Please pass this information on to anyone
who has children ready to start Nursery next
session. Parents can call into the school office
to pick up a form. Alternatively forms can be
accessed online:
http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/schools/informati
1
on/early-learning-and-childcare-information/
Yours Sincerely
Parking
Following discussion with the police at a
recent Westhill Cluster meeting, we will be
working together with the police to try and
ensure that parents park and drive
responsibly at drop off/pick up times. This is
still a major issue at Elrick, with parents
continuing to park irresponsibly, putting all our
children at risk. Please also consider the
residents around the school by not parking in
front of, or restricting, drives. Please do not
stop in front of the school and let your children
run across the road. Parents are reminded
that the school car park is strictly for staff only.
We continue to promote walking/cycling to
school as a healthier option.
Dates
Monday 11- Friday - 15 January – Primary 1
Enrolment
Monday 18 – Friday 29 January – Early Years
Childcare Enrolment
Wednesday 20 January 9.15 am – Parent
Council Meeting
Wednesday 20 January 6.30pm – Active
Literacy(whole school)/Read a Novel (P3
Parents) Information Evening
Thursday 21 January – P7 visit to Absafe
Thursday 11/Friday & 12 February –
Occasional Holidays
Monday 15 February – Mid Term
Tuesday 16/Wednesday 17 February – In
Service
Wednesday 9 March 6.30pm – Parent Council
Meeting
Sunday 13 March – Westhill School Choir
Event
Tuesday 22/Wednesday 23/Tuesday 29
March – Parents’ meetings
Friday 25 March – Good Friday (holiday)
Friday 1 April – last day of term
Louise Malcolm
Head Teacher
Comments
Compliments
Complaints
As a school we value the partnership we have
with parents and therefore appreciate any
feedback you can provide. This is part of our
self evaluation process which helps us to
develop and improve. Please feel free to
complete the Compliments, Comments and
Complaints section below.
2
3