G.P
.
MARCH 2015
Dear Parent/Carer,
What a busy term we are having…a team of P6 pupils won the Ayrshire Jump2it
Basketball competition at the Emirates Stadium in Glasgow recently. Some members of
the Glasgow Rocks professional team will be bringing a recording of the winning game
to Assembly after the Easter break.
Once again pupils were praised by our judges for their Scots Verse Competition
recitations. Mr Edmunds and Mr Brown were very impressed by the standard and we
would like to thank them for their time and judging the competition. (results later in
newsletter).
Please ensure you have returned your learning conversation slip and noted the time of
you appointment. School uniform sizing will be available and the parent council order
forms will be handed out to those who require them. Tea and coffee will available.
Driving and parking safely around the school continues to be a concern. We
receive complaints about driver’s double parking, blocking pavements, driving
too fast and generally endangering children, as they pick up and drop off their
children. Please drive and park safely around the school or maybe a healthier option for
example, start a walking bus or scoot to school to reduce congestion and promote
activity.
Our new School Aims( see back page) have been launched with a bang this week
during an asSTEMbly with the STEM Club and the celebrations over the school
being awarded their 2nd Green Flag by Eco-Schools Scotland! Congratulations
and thank you to all the staff and pupils who work hard to have our Eco status
re-affirmed and present such a great STEM asSTEMbly, specifically Miss
MacGregor and Miss McNeil. The groups also attended our Parent Council
meeting and enjoyed showing off what they have been learning about.
Self-Evaluation continues and thank you to all of you who have returned your
questionnaires. Staff and pupils have already completed their returns and these results
will be collated and added to our own school self-evaluation data to identify areas of
strength or those requiring further development.
At the recent Parent Council meeting, I delivered a presentation about our journey so
far, discussing what we have achieved in the last couple of years, the
improved confidence of pupils, our Getting It Right For Every Child
(GIRFEC) work establishing fairness and equity at the heart of everything
we do and our curriculum development work around Spanish/French,
Science, Active Maths, Literacy resources etc. as well as our continued focus on Health
and Wellbeing (nurture, healthy living etc.). The Council were then asked to identify the
strengths opportunities, weaknesses and threats facing the school in the near future.
These too will be used to help us create our improvement plans.
Mrs Snape will be returning from maternity leave after the Easter break and we look
forward to having her back. However, this means we must wish Miss Fulton luck as she
moves to another school, with our thanks for all her dedication and input at Beith.
Miss Dunlop
NB Look out for P1 Transition dates coming soon.
Eco Committee
The Eco committee continue to work hard to make Beith Primary
School Eco friendly. The infants in the committee are monitoring daffodil growth
each week and we are looking forward to seeing them in full bloom in springtime!
The infants are also monitoring rainfall each week. We have started to grow
potatoes in the classroom and they are at the early stages of sprouting. We hope to
share these potatoes with the dinner ladies. We plan to do more growing in our
green house over the coming term.
Ranger Pete is coming into school to talk to the committee about the carbon
footprint and food miles. We hope to learn some interesting facts!
We are also continuing to monitor the playground to ensure it is kept tidy.
We have a new partner School in Argentina called ACEU. Mrs Guidi is working with
the pupils to make introductory information to send to them. This
includes information about our culture, school and work we are
learning. We are hoping to receive more information from them
next month.
Primary 7 pupils are learning about the country Argentina including its
culture, geography, history and food.
The Pre-school children are now involved in a 6 week Primary transition to support
their move to Primary 1. This will take them up to the Easter holidays.
The Early Years staff are always keen to work closely with parents to involve them
in their groups and learning activities. They have a keen interest in communication
and have recently had a session for parents to find out more information about
Speech and Language. They appreciate all the support which has already been given
but if any parents wish to be involved, please speak to a member of staff.
This year all classes were involved in the Scots Verse Competition. The
competition took place on 18th February 2015 and was judged by Norrie Brown and Billy
Edmunds of the Jolly Beggars Club. Many thanks to them for doing what turned out to
be a difficult job due to the high standard of entries. The Winners are below, Well Done!
The Winners will be now attending the Cluster Burns competition on March 23rd.
EYC am – Poem –The Loch Ness Monster
Ante pre children
1st Heather Jackson
Pre school children
2nd Kyle Adam
1st Jack McNeil
2nd Niamh Clements
EYC pm – Poem – The Loch Ness Monster
Ante pre children 1st Evan MacQueen
2nd Sara Smith
3rd Caleb Currie
Pre school children 1st Ellie Holmes 2nd Cameron Hatcliffe 3rd Jamie Bennett
P1 – Poem – Mince and Tatties
1st Maggie Cailing Li
2nd Emma Murphy
3rd Scott Conlan
P2 – Poem – Jock and Jean
1st Anthony McGuill
2nd Summer McLean
3rd Struan Nisbett
P3 – Poem – The Crocodile
1st Beth Brown
2nd Charlie Degnan
3rd Samantha McGill
P4 – Poem –A dug, a dug.
1st Niamh Currie
2nd Sophie Nisbett
3rd Hannah Weir
P5 – Poem – To a Louse
1st Kai Dobson
2nd Maedoc Ferguson
3rd Emma Robertson
P6 – Poem – Willie Wastle (excerpt)
1st Sophie Wilson
2nd Emily Thom
3rd Elle Siparis
P7– Poem – Tam O’Shanter (excerpt)
1st Thomas Hamilton
2nd Lena Dobson
3rd equal Ben McDougall and Jamie- Lee Barrie
Mrs Waddell organised a Beith Primary Alternative Burns Supper on Thursday 19th
February for Primary 4-7 pupils. The Primary 7 children sent handwritten letters to
local dignitaries and people involved with the school inviting them to attend. We had
Katie Watson performing the chanter at the beginning of the ceremony, welcoming
the top table. The afternoon also involved a whistle song, country dancing, poetry
reading and bag pipes. The children ate Scotch Pies and had lots of fun being
involved in traditional Scottish culture. We would like to offer a special thanks to
the Barmill Jolly Beggars for their attendance and paying for the pies kindly
provided by Mr Irvine.
The Pupil Council have been making posters for Safe Play, which will be put up at all
exits in the school. They have also been doing risk assessments for playground
games. The children have requested more fun activities outside at break times so
the Pupil Council intends to write to the Parent council. They will explain about their
idea to paint games on the playground and what equipment they would like to
purchase.
The Pupil Council also continues to monitor the toilets and suggest improvements.
The School has been participating in the health initiative
‘Jump2it’.
Primary 6 classes attended the local schools tournament at
Inverclyde Sports centre on the 12th February 2015. All children played really
well and one of our teams was successful in getting through to the competition
finals at the Emirates Arena on the 22nd February. The team, Miss Mckechnie
and Miss Fulton attended the Arena and had a brilliant time. The team won
their semi-final game and then were lucky enough to play in the final during
half time of the Glasgow Rocks game watched by all their fans and they WON!!
We are so proud of all of them for their determination, effort and for positively
representing the school. Well Done!!
Ayrshire Music Festival 2015
The Primary 3/4/5 and 6/7 Choirs are going to perform Wednesday 18th March.
Primary P2RS are also going to this festival on Tuesday 17th March to take part in
the ‘Singing Games Competition’
The Country Dancers will be also be competing at Troon Town Hall on Saturday 7th
March. There will be 4 teams entering; Primary 3, Primary 4/5, Primary 6/7 &
Primary 4-7.
We would like to wish all the children and Mrs Roulston ‘Good Luck’ and we hope
they enjoy the Festival.
‘Rights Respecting Week’ commenced on the 2nd March 2015 for a week. The pupils
worked hard to enhance their knowledge of the UNCRC. Pupils have been
participating in fun and engaging activities that further their knowledge and
understanding, as well as building an ethos of mutual respect. Our RRS Committee
continues to meet on a regular basis as well as monthly ‘Right of the Month’
assemblies.
World Book Day took place on Thursday 6th March 2014. To help get them started
on their reading journey, every
child received a £1 World Book Day
Book Token .Pupils had a fantastic
day, dressing up as their favourite
book character, reading stories and
completing exciting activities. You
can join us in building your child’s
enthusiasm for books well beyond
World Book Day by reading
together regularly and joining your
local library if you are not yet members. For more information about World Book
Day and ideas on sharing books at home, visit www.worldbookday.com. Children are
never too young to start their journey with books, and the benefits of reading are
enormous.
The School held a ‘Sponsored bounce’ on the 26th & 27th
February 2015 with the money raised going towards the school fund. The children
had lots of fun burning off their energy and managed to raise a significant amount
of money (more details to follow). The School Fund is used to provide money to
support learning activities. This includes the M& M’s production ‘A little Princess’
which was an engaging way of helping the Primary 6 & 7 classes understand the
issues and repercussions of ‘Bullying’ , alongside developing some ‘theatre skills’.
As part of the schools continuous improvements, Pupils have requested playground
activities and equipment. The Pupil Council have been working on this initiative and
some of the money raised from the ‘bounce’ will go towards this.
Mrs Shepherds Primary 4 class have been raising money for the ‘Friendship Garden’.
They have recently raised £106 from selling pancakes and will be selling Easter
cakes soon.
Millie in Primary 5W came up with the idea of designing a wildlife calendar which
would be sold for £1, proceeds going to the SSPCA. This was a brilliant success and
raised £137.00. We would like to thank everyone for their kind contributions for
this fantastic charity and for the House Captains in preparing and handing out the
calendars.
In February the Parent Council organised a Valentines Disco. This was a great success
and the children had lots of fun playing with the glow-sticks! The DJ at the disco was
provided by our own DJ Club, Graham Perry and the P7s. The Disco ran smoothly with
lots of helpers on the night, so thank you to everyone.
There were about 300 children that attended which raised £250. This money goes into
the Parent Council fund which is spent directly in the school. We hope to have more
discos in the future so watch this space!
If you are interested in being involved in how the money raised is spent then please
come to the next Parent council meeting on the 11th March.
The Parent Council will be in school soon to offer a uniform sizing session. They will be
collecting orders for uniforms for delivery before the end of summer term.
Dates for Future Parent Council Meetings
Wednesday 13th May 2015 – 6.30 – 8.00PM
Wednesday 10th June 2015 – 6.30 – 8.00PM – AGM (new officer bearers required)
We are receiving a few complaints about parking when dropping off and collecting
your children. We are a Health Promoting School and encourage, where possible,
children to walk to school, so the safety of the children is our paramount concern.
We would be grateful if parents can be mindful around the school and drop children
off safely by not double parking, blocking other cars or parking in areas for
residents only.
The Junior Road Safety Officers are working hard to help reduce the problems of
parking around the school. They will be doing a survey, writing letters and asking the
Parent Council to put something on their Facebook page.
They are also attending a Travel Plan Conference on the 12th March 2015 at the Gailes
Hotel, Irvine. The conference allowed them to share ideas with other JRSOs and learn
to use the website to which has lots of ideas about promoting safe travel around school.
We have recently had success in the North Ayrshire Cross Country
League.
The Primary 5 & 7 boys and Primary 7 Girls team won the league!
Individually Kai Dobson from Primary 5 came 2nd and Rachel Grant came 4th.
This is a fantastic result and the pupils and Mrs Duncan worked really hard to
achieve this outcome, Congratulations to everyone!
This term many children will be involved in sporting competitions and events.
These include:Primary 7 Rugby Tournament – Monday 16th March
Netball Tournament – Tuesday 24th March
North Ayrshire Indoor Athletics League – Wednesday 25th March
Football ‘Corey Cup’ at the Beith Astro-turf – Tuesday 24th March
Monday
Rugby
Playing Field – Gavin Blackburn (Rugby coach)
8.00am – 9.00am
Athletics
3.00pm-4.30pm – Mrs Duncan
Tuesday Country Dancing
Lunch Room – Mrs Roulston – 3.00pm – 3.45pm
Cross Country
3.00pm-4.00pm – Mrs Duncan
DJ Club
AV Room – Parent Council – 3.00pm – 3.45pm
Wed
Netball
8.00am -8.45am – Miss Fulton & Miss McNeil
Brownies
Room 6 - S. McWilliams - 6.45pm – 8.00pm
Thursday Hockey & Badminton Gym Hall 8.15am-8.50am
Choir
AV Room – Mrs Roulston - 3.00pm – 3.45pm
Boys Football
Gym Hall - Mrs Guidi - 3pm – 4pm
Girls Football
Gym Hall - Mrs Guidi - 3pm – 4pm
Friday
Basketball
Gym Hall 8.10am – 8.50am
Please remember that gym kit should be provided for all gym lessons (see
Parent Information Sheet for days) and that NO jewellery should be worn.
Park safely around the school and be considerate of our neighbours.
Eco-schools – we are aiming to be litter free, so please use the bins provided or
take rubbish home, thank you.
No smoking or dogs allowed within the school grounds.
Snack – Please provide a healthy snack at playtime.
Friday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Friday
13/03/2015
17/03/2015
18/03/2015
20/03/2015
Monday
Thursday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Monday
Monday
Friday
Monday
23/03/2015
26/03/2015
31/03/2015
01/04/2015
02/04/2015
20/04/2015
04/05/2015
22/05/2015
25/05/2015
Author visit Stuart Reid
P2RS Singing games competition
Choir at Ayrshire Music Festival
Dress Down Day for SSPCA (£1)
+ face painting P4-7 for a donation
Garnock Valley Cluster Scots verse competition
P7 Transition visits to Garnock Academy - PM
Parent Learning Conversation evening
Parent Learning Conversation evening
Last Day of school before Easter Holidays
Back to School after Easter Holidays
May Day Holiday
In-Service Day
Local Holiday
Parent Helpers
We really depend on parents to help out in classes, library, lunchroom
etc. If you are available to come in on a regular basis to assist in any
of these, please give your details (days, times etc.) to your child to
pass on to Mrs Watson.
Beith 'Out of School Care' aims to provide quality afterschool care for
children ages between 4.5yrs & 12yrs. They are registered
with the Care Inspectorate and all the staff are fully qualified
and experienced.
They are based in the GP Room in Beith Primary School. The opening
hours are 3pm – 5.50pm week days throughout the school term. Pick ups
from Gateside Primary are available on request.
Fees are £8.00 per session. A registration fee of £15.00 is payable
annually at the time of registration. They also accept payments of
childcare vouchers and as they are a registered service, colleges and
family tax credits will be able to help parents with payment.
They offer a range of activities to suit all ages and all children are treated
equally and fairly. Activities include: art activities, clay, gardening,
football, netball, play station, Wii. They also have access to the
school playground which they use every day and on Thursdays
they have the gym hall for the children to enjoy.
A healthy snack is provided (price included in the fees) and there is a
small tuck shop where fruit and crisps are available.
They have spaces available so if you would like any more information or a
registration form please feel free to drop in to the GP Room after 3pm.
Alternatively telephone Pauline or Anne on 07473909059 or e-mail
beithoutofschoolcare@hotmail.co.uk.