Merrylee Primary School
Newsletter 1
August 2012
Dear Parent / Carer
Welcome back to another school session. A special welcome to all new families who have joined our school community. I
sincerely hope you are beginning to feel part of this community. Please feel free to contact me at any time if I can be
of assistance or if you would like to make comments or suggestions.
I hope you all had a great summer despite the poor weather. The staff all certainly enjoyed their holidays.
Primary 1 children
Our new primary 1 children have settled into school very quickly. They seem as though they have been here for some
considerable time. The teachers are delighted as almost all are very independent and can get their jackets and shoes
on themselves and also manage their belongings. This makes such a tremendous difference. Well done to them all.
The P1 staff would like to invite all the parents of the P1 children to come to collect the children at 12 o’clock next
Friday (24th August) from the classroom. This will let you see how well they have settled in.
P1 photographs
A photographer from the Herald/ Evening Times newspapers will be in school to photograph our P1 pupils. The photos
will be in the newspaper some time soon. You have not received all the various consent forms yet so if anyone does not
wish their child to be included in the class photograph, please contact the school office. 01416376798
Staff news
We are delighted to be joined by our new staff this session. Miss Fiona Shearer in P2b, Ms Suzanne MacTaggart in
P3a, Miss Debra Reid in P5 and Mrs Lisa Beattie in P6. I am sure you will meet them all soon. Mrs Campbell’s daughter
was married during the holidays. I have just seen some of the photos which are stunning. A very proud mum and a
beautiful bride. Congratulations to all the family.
Eid Mubarak
Wishing all our Muslim families Eid Mubarak. Hopefully you thoroughly enjoy your celebrations at the end of Ramadan.
Prayer room facility
If any pupil would like the opportunity to have a private place to pray, please let me know and a room will be made
available for this purpose. We are keen to support all faiths within our community.
Monday 17th September Parents’ Association & Parent Council AGM 7pm
Please come along and demonstrate your support for both these groups who enhance the education of all in Merrylee
and work tirelessly on our behalf. This would be an excellent opportunity for new parents to find out about what these
groups do for the school.
Meet the teacher open session Thursday 30th August
Hopefully you will be able to come to school to meet your child’s new teacher and find out about the year ahead. More
information will follow soon.
Outdoor education and outdoor play
In keeping with the ethos of the school your child will be outdoors for play in all weathers unless the weather is so
severe it is deemed unsafe. This has been an ethos which has always been well supported by the families in Merrylee
for which we are very grateful. The children will also be involved in outdoor learning in all weathers. With this in mind,
please ensure that your child has appropriate clothing at all times. It is essential that each child has a waterproof
jacket every day. Every class will also have an outdoor PE lesson each week. Trainers for wearing during the intervals
and outdoor PE lessons would be very beneficial as stout formal shoes are not so flexible.
Physical education lessons
Please note that in line with Glasgow City Council policy, no child is allowed to participate in physical activities wearing
jewellery. All earrings etc must be removed.
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Merrylee Allotment sale. Sunday 9 th September
George and Mrs Sloan who run or school allotment, have continued to work with the children during the holidays. I am
very grateful to them for their enthusiasm and commitment. If possible, please try to pop into the Merrylee
plotholders open day on Sunday 9th September between 11am and 2pm. Our allotment group would be delighted to see
you.
Property
Please check that your child has everything labelled. Please ensure that all lunch boxes and water bottles are also
labelled.
Clubs, skills or interests
If any of you have an interest or expertise that you would like to share with our pupils either during the core day or as
an after school club, please do not hesitate to contact me. It would be wonderful to extend the experiences we
regularly offer our pupils
Children with allergies
Please do not allow your child to have any food in school which contains nuts as we have several children with severe
allergies. Thank you for respecting this request
Parents at school entrances
Several parents spoke to me this morning to say how daunting it has been for children to try to make their way through
the large group of adults congregating at the school entrances. Can I respectfully request that once your child has
entered the school grounds that you leave to allow a clear way for children to pass through. Many thanks for your
anticipated co-operation and understanding.
Dogs at the school gates/entrances
At no time are dogs allowed on the school campus. Please do not bring your dogs to any entrance to the school as
several pupils feel very anxious and afraid when a dog restricts their access to and from school. If you are bringing
your dog to either drop or collect your child, can I respectfully suggest that you wait across the road from the school.
School educational trips
We remain totally committed to the ideal that visits to places where children can experience learning in context and to
enhance their learning experiences from ‘experts’. With this in mind we endeavour to have as many visiting experts in
school and as many trips out of school as possible in relation to planned learning. All of these will be subsidised by
money raised by the Parents’ Association. We will also try to select sites within Glasgow to allow us to use the Class
Connections transport offered by Glasgow City Council. However on occasions the best place to visit is further away
and may be more expensive that others. It would be hoped that only one such trip should apply to each class per
session as we do not wish to place too much financial pressure on families. E.g. Stirling Castle, Deep Sea World or
Dynamic Earth. With this item in mind, thank you so much to the PA for all their fundraising efforts and to all of you
for supporting them.
Dates for your diary
Wed 27th August
6.30pm
Thurs 30th August
All
th
Sat 8 September
am
Sun 9th September
11am
th
Mon 17 September
All
Fri 21st – Mon 24th Sep Inclusive
Mon 15th-Fri 19thOct
School closed
Mon 22nd Oct
School closed
Tues 23rd Oct
P6 & P7 residential information meetings
Meet the teacher
PA Car Boot sale
Allotment open day
7pm AGM of Parents Association & Parent Council
School closed for holiday weekend
Holiday
In service day
School resumes
Lots more dates for your diary will be issued soon.
Yours faithfully
Liz Mahindru Head Teacher
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