Lynburn Primary Mid-term Newsletter November
2015
Dates for your diary
Holidays (All dates inclusive)
Christmas: Mon 21 December 2015 – Fri 1 January 2016
February:
Thurs 11 & Fri 12 February 2016
Spring:
Fri 25 March – Fri 8 April 2016
May Day:
Mon 2 May 2016
June:
Mon 6 June 2016
Summer:
Mon 4 July – Tues 16 August 2016
In-Service
Wednesday 10 February 2016, Thursday 5 May 2016
Christmas Arrangements
Saturday 5 December
Monday 7 December
Wednesday 9 December Thursday 10 December
Friday 11 December
Monday 14 December
Tuesday 15 December
-
Wednesday 16 December Thursday 17 December
-
10am-1pm Parent Partnership Christmas Fayre
am M & M Productions performance – Beauty & the Beast
pm Primary 1 & 2 performance
am Primary 1 & 2 performance with choir & instrumentalists
pm Primary 1 & 2 performance
Christmas lunch
pm P3 party
am P6 party
pm P5 party
am P4 party
pm P2 party
am P7 party
pm P1 party
am & pm Nursery parties
Christmas Fayre
The Parent Partnership is running its first ever Christmas Fayre on Saturday 5th December from 10am
– 1pm. Santa will be there so the little ones can have photos taken with him from 10am – 12noon.
There will be a lucky dip and other child friendly activities. There will also be a range of stalls from local
businesses, a raffle, tombola, water & wine and cake & candy. Tea and coffee will be available in the
gym. The Choir will be singing a Christmas selection at 11.15am in the foyer.
We are currently collecting nearly new toys, games and clothes for the nearly new stall plus raffle and
tombola prizes. Any donations will be gratefully received and should be sent into school by Wednesday
2nd December. Donations for the cake & candy can be with us by Friday 4th. Entry is £1 for adults
with children coming in for free but only if accompanied by an adult or if singing in the choir. For your
£1 you will also receive a raffle ticket and the chance to win a great prize.
We will be decorating the hall and Santa’s grotto and donations of any old decorations would be
welcome.
The Parent Partnership official facebook page is called Lynburn PS Parent Information Page. There
will be lots more information about the Fayre on this page and also other school information.
Hazel Watson and Sheena Blyth are the Parent Partnership administrators and vet any articles for
publication. If you wish to become a member please send your information and child’s/children’s names
to Hazel.
Karate After School Club
Proposed dates for the next block of karate sessions after the Christmas break will start week
commencing 11th January and the last session will be week commencing 14 th March 2016. It will be a 9
week block due to the holiday on 11th February.
Football After School Club
Football Afterschool Club going really well, everyone is working hard to improve their skill level and learn
new techniques, putting these into practice in game based activities. We have registered for a few
competitions in the New Year. In the meantime we are hopeful that we can arrange a few friendlies with
other local schools.
Change to lunch menu
There will be a change to the lunch menu on Monday 30th November. The theme will be St. Andrew’s
Day and the menu will be as follows:
Leek and Potato Soup (V) - Haggis - Vegetarian/Gluten Free Haggis, / Mashed Potato, Turnip Pick & Mix - Shortbread Surprise
Christmas Lunch – Friday 11th December
The school Christmas lunch will be on Friday 11th December. The menu is below:
Carrot & Corriander Soup, Traditional Turkey with trimmings, Steak Pie, Vegetable Plait, Carrots &
Peas, Roast Potatoes, Snowman Ice Cream Log with mandarins, Fruit Juice or milk.
Homework Club - The uptake for the Monday night P1-3 homework club was very positive. We are
currently full and have a short waiting list of children who would like to attend if a space becomes
available. Our current attendees enjoy working towards completing their homework through being
supported by the homework club team and other children.
Messages to the office
The office ladies are currently inundated with messages for pupils particularly at the end of the school
day. Please let your child know where they should go before they set off in the morning. The ladies
are also kept busy delivering juice, tuck etc to children in the morning. Please help by sending your
child to school with all their bits and pieces. The office ladies are really busy and this would let them
get on with other parts of their job.
Sponsor
This week we are having our reading sponsor. Classes at different stages are promoting a reading habit
with a range of activities. We appreciate your support as any money raised will help pay for the
Christmas parties and pantomime. No money will be required for this as our sponsor will be underway.
There will be prizes for each class.
As this is Scottish Book week, Friday is also a dressing up as a story book character or dressing down
day.
Congratulations to:
Lorraine P4B who shared her Talent Show certificate. She is already practising for Lynburn’s Got
Talent.
All our High Viz winners – the school was brilliantly colourful on Friday.
Kelsey P6B who gained her sports & fitness & Foodwise ASDAN awards – a first for Lynburn.
Our P7 hockey team – Chloe, Jodie, Kati-Leigh, Connor, Josh, Cameron & Jamie – who came 2nd in a
recent hockey festival – another 1st for Lynburn.
Jenna in P7B who came 1st in her track & field club under 11’s competition.
Sophie P3C who is a Wheels in the Park gold medal winner.
Connor P4A who gained his green belt at his last karate grading.
Aillish P4A who is still wowing judges with her Latin American dancing and has two new awards with
distinction.
Health & Safety
There is a huge problem on Tinto Place at school drop off and pick up times with parents sometimes
parking over drives. At the end of the day a bus uses Tinto place just as children are leaving the school
and on a number of occasions due to cars being parked, the bus has had to mount the pavement which
is where our children are walking. For the safety of all please park responsibly around the school.
We have been advised by the authority that any parent or staff member can take the registration
numbers of those parking carelessly and the police will contact these drivers directly.
Also for the safety of our children please do not use the school car park for drop off or pick up. Only
authorised vehicles have right of access.
Rag Bag
Our Rag Bag collection raised £42 for school funds. Thanks to all who donated. We do have secure
storage for any bags which are handed in before our next collection, which should be March. So if you
are clearing out please bring them in.
Flu Immunisations
The School Nurse Team will be in school on Monday 30th November to give children who returned
permission forms the flu immunsation.
Latecomers
A growing number of children are coming in to school late in the morning. Please give your child the
best start to their school day by getting them here for 9am so they are not missing any teaching.
Health & Wellbeing
A number of children are bringing chewing gum, fizzy and energy drinks to school. Chewing gum is not
allowed in school as children don’t always discard it thoughtfully- it can also pose a choking risk.
Energy drinks and other drinks with lots of e numbers are not recommended by NHS Health Scotland
for primary age pupils. Throughout the school day children can access water which promotes hydration.
The school tuck shop sells a restricted range of goods to comply with national guidance. Currently we
have either apple or orange juice – 20p and digestives or rich tea biscuits – 2 for 10p. On occasions
some classes take over the tuck shop to raise money for trips and a wider selection is available.
Winter Café
Primary 6 are raising money at the moment by hosting a winter café. P6 can attend on Monday, P5 on
Wednesday, P4 on Thursday and P7 on Friday. The cost is 30p.
Tesco Bank Football Competition
A few weeks ago, Miss Wilson entered us into a competition run by Tesco Bank for the chance to win
football equipment for the school. We are very happy to say that we won! Tesco Bank will be visiting the
school in the near future to present us with our prizes.
Second Hand Smoke Campaign
Children from our school will feature in publicity for this campaign. This element has also become part
of our Health & Wellbeing programme. Keep your eyes peeled for our pictures.
Primary 1
We have been busy this autumn term. We have been learning all about autumn and
have had an author visit from Barbara Parks who wrote The Adventures of Lily the
Leaf. It was great to hear her read the story and to ask her questions about being
an author
Last week we learnt about Diwali, the festival of lights. We read stories, made sweets and decorated our
playground in chalk Rangoli patterns. We also made diyas lights from the story Rama and Sita.
We have started our reading books and have been excited about sharing them at
home. Remember to test us on our word wall words!
Rehearsals for this year’s nativity are well under way. We have been practising our
songs and parts and are all very excited. Details of performance dates to follow.
Primary 2A
This term Primary 2A are reading The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark and learning about the
differences between night and daytime. We have investigated how shadows are made and discovered
what we can see in the sky at night. In the gym we have been trying out different exercises to keep us
fit, and talking about why this is important. We have also been warming up our singing voices in
preparation for the nativity performance! Finally, we have started learning French with our friend
Camembear. The boys and girls really enjoy his visits to our class on Fridays, and have made a great
start to speaking some French too – Bravo!
Primary 2C
P2C have been finding out about different festivals and we are currently learning about Diwali. We have
been creating some footprints and writing instructions on how we did this. We have heard all about the
story of Rama and Sita. We have also created some rangoli patterns. We are practicing hard for the
nativity and we are trying to learn all the great songs. We are also making a big effort to learn our
reading parts for the show. We are looking forward to showing it to an audience in a few weeks.
Primary 2B
P2b have been working very hard on their new project which is all about celebrations. We started off by
looking at Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night and now we are learning all about Diwali. We listened to the
story of “Rama and Sita” and we are doing lots of literacy activities to do with the story. We have a few
more celebrations from around the world to look at before we get to the one which I’m sure will be the
most exciting – Christmas!
In maths we have been learning about 2D and 3D shapes and we have played lots of good games on
the Smartboard, identifying and sorting different shapes. We did a challenge to find out which shapes
were good for tiling and we did lots of work on symmetry.
Your child may have told you that we have begun the toothbrushing programme in class. I received the
training last week and I am now a fully qualified toothbrushing supervisor! My certificate is in the post!!
The children are brushing their teeth when they come in after lunch. They are doing a great job and
their teeth are all looking fantastic – the big ones, the baby ones and the wobbly ones!!!
The children are continuing to make a great effort with their homework and their reading. Thank you
very much for your support with this. Susan McKenzie
Primary 3A, 3B, 3C
We would like to thank all the parents and carers who were able to attend our special ‘Katie Morag’
wedding on Monday 16th November. It was a great success and marked the end of a very enjoyable
topic. The children had great fun taking on roles and learning about wedding traditions.
Our next topic is ‘Toys’ which ties in very well with the upcoming time of year. We will be designing and
creating our own toys and learning about toys from the past and across the world.
In Numeracy we will focusing on mental maths strategies and relating maths concepts such as addition
and subtraction. In our classes we will be setting up toy shops which will allow us to practise using
money in a real life setting. We will also be working with pattern in our topic maths.
In Literacy we will focus on imaginative writing, structuring and sequencing stories. We are continuing
to develop the technical skills to edit our work successfully.
Thank you for your continued support for our events, we really appreciate your help.
Primary 4
Primary 4 have continued to work their magic through their topic Harry Potter.
In writing, we have been applying our skills and have written instructions on how to create potions and
how to play Quidditch. Next we are going to be creating our own spells using onomatopoeia. We will
also be focusing on personal writing as they meet the Mirror of Ensed. In Maths , we are learning
about data handling. We are going to be collecting information and presenting it through various charts.
Primary 5A & 5B
Primary 5 will be looking at India and Scottish explorers this term.
The Youth Music Initiative are teaching us songs from ‘The Wild Songs’. To date we have learned
three and we are about to learn three more.
Primary 5A have been writing stories and are beginning to look at functional writing like newspaper
reports.
In maths we are doing fractions and division.
Primary 5B have been learning about onomatopoeia and similes. We have been using these in our
writing. In maths children have been developing their knowledge of times tables and will continue to do
so. We will continue working on a range of mental strategies for adding and subtracting in both classes.
Primary 6
Primary 6 have had a busy few weeks since the October break with visits to the Poppy
Factory and The Scottish National Museum in Edinburgh. We
learned a lot about both World War 1 and World War 2 and what
it was like to be fighting on the front line. Some of us were able to
wear the uniforms that soldiers would have worn and look at the
type of clothing and weapons used during both wars. We even made our own poppies and met the exservicemen who work there. A tour of the factory was possible where a lot of history about Lady Haig
was given and we enjoyed meeting the people who made the poppies.
During our World War 1 experience day in Rothes halls, Glenrothes, we took part in
a drama scene in which a soldier who was trying to run away, was found by his
commanding officer. We learned lots about the atmosphere of living in the trenches
and how soldiers may really have felt during this time. The War museum also came
to visit us and allowed us to explore some uniforms and items from the war. We
were able to ask lots of questions and had the opportunity to read letters, see
pictures and look at the way life was different to ours. The day was completed with a viewing of War
Horse the movie which was very sad. Since we are reading the story, we noticed some bits that were
different in the film.
Coming up, we are involved in the Scottish Country Dance Festival at Duloch Primary which will be held
on 10th December with a number of other primary schools. We will be working hard to learn all the
dances between now and then and looking forward to showing off our skills.
Auditions will be held before the Christmas break for our show early next year, The Rocky Monster
Show. We are hoping to have the main characters picked so that they can work on perfecting their lines
with family and friends at home.
Our winter café is proving to be successful and raising the amount of money we needed to fund our trips
is underway. Our waitressing skills are developing and we are learning about food hygiene and
presentation.
Primary 6B have also been cooking and made some Halloween cakes in the
shape of bats, ghosts and cats. Following a recipe, pasta and homemade sauce
were delicious and we learned lots of new vocabulary which we could try out at
home.
Primary 7
This term we have had a major focus on our writing. We are halfway through the 6 big impact lessons
for Big Writing. VCOP – vocabulary, connectives, openers and punctuation feature heavily every week.
The children have been learning to up-level their work in order to improve it. Hopefully this will lead to
better story writing and you will see an improvement at home!
A lot of discussion has been going on in P7 over bullying and how to build positive relationships with
each other. We have done some drama performances to illustrate diversity and hopefully get the
children to think about others and their thoughts and feelings.
Excitement is growing about Christmas. We will be learning a French song to perform in front of the
school.
We are all very proud of our P7 hockey team who took 2 nd place in the recent hockey tournament – this
was a competition against 15 other schools. Mrs White and the team were amazing! Go Lynburn!!
Staff Changes
I’m glad to report that Mrs Clark is back at work after a long absence.
Thanks to Mrs Walker who stepped into the breach and kept the class ticking over. She is now off to
Valley PS to work with Primary 1 – we wish her well.
Mrs Ramsdale is still unwell so Mrs Benvie is covering her post at the moment.
Miss Trainer has been appointed as School Support Assistant and will be with us until the end of
January when Mrs Vlaseva returns full time.
Freedom of Information: During school holiday periods if an enquiry is being made under Freedom of
Information please contact: West Area Team 01383 609280 or Education & Learning HQ, Rothesay
House, Glenrothes at email education.services@fife.gov.uk