Hello, everyone.

For all of us in schools, the summer break is within our grasp. Some are looking at it as the finish line; a point where they end one stage on their journey and embark upon another...

Staffing

It’s that time of year when we not only have to fit children into clas-ses for the coming year, but teachers and support staff, too! We’re hoping that Mrs Raymond will be back with us, from August. Mrs Virdi will remain absent and unfortunately, Mrs Perez, who we thought would be joining us, has accepted a full-time post, in Culloden. Mrs Sim-mers has agreed to teach a day a week, on a supply basis. Mrs Thomson, SfL Teacher, will teach for 3 days a week, next year, instead of her current 4 and Miss Cruickshank will re-join the SfL team. A further plus is that we will be joined by two NQTs; Miss Bethany Hay and Mrs Lorraine Parr and in addi-tion, Mrs Beaton, who has been on Maternity Leave, will re-join us, for three days a week. All that con-sidered, you can see how organising staffing can be like doing a jig-saw puzzle where the pieces don’t necessarily fit!

There are changes amongst the support staff, too. Mrs Carole Moir and Mrs Morag McIntosh are leaving us. We wish them well, in their new adventures and offer them our heart-felt thanks for all their hard work. With the addition of some extra staffing hours, we are going to advertise four PSA posts, very soon. Please pass this on to anyone who may be interested. Our plans for the Pupil Equity Funding

are slightly further along, too —although the advertisement of some of the posts was delayed. We are hoping to appoint extra Classroom Assistants, soon and the full-time PSA and Family Support Worker posts will be on the MyJobScotland portal, towards the end of the holidays. The part-time PSA posts can be found there, too.

A Selection of Learning Experiences:

P.2H led our Assembly on 2nd June and shared their learning in German, 2D shapes and symmetry, as well as the geography of Scotland.

On the morning of 9th June, both P.1 classes invited guests to hear all about the fairy stories they’d enjoyed, this term and what they’d learned from them. Their singing was amazing! The little ginger-bread men had been really naughty, in the classroom. Thank goodness the boys and girls managed to catch up with them!

P.1 enjoyed learning about life in a castle, alongside reading their fairy tales, so they finished off their

topic with a visit to Castle Fraser and it’s wonderful surroundings.

The P.5S Assembly was very informative. They really helped us understand the importance of get-ting enough sleep, every night, if we are to be healthy. They even taught us how to count sheep—in German!

Earthtime have held learning sessions in the local wood with Nursery children. Nursery loves to be

out and about; they’ve been visiting the fire station, too!

It was an all singing and dancing performance when P.3 & 4 pupils got together for two performances of the musical “The Bees’ Knees”, as a finale to their mini-beast topic. The sing-ing was phenomenal! Thanks go to all who helped out—and to our wonderful audience, who donated a total of £344.56!

P.6-7H had a real treat when they had a visit from some birds of prey. They found it fascinating to see the birds close up, ask questions and even handle them.

P.7T chose a different treat and spent some time at Seafield

JUNE 2017 ISSUE 63

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Park. It seems that one is never too old for a go on the swings!

TMSA

What a treat to have some of the musicians from the Festival, in school. It has become something of a tradition that the weekend kicks off with an impromptu concert, which is not only an enjoyable sing-along, but provides a “taster” for any of the youngsters who may be think-ing of competing. The weekend itself was a very successful one for Keith Primary pupils, as you can see, below. Huge thanks go to Mrs Joyce Dawson and Mrs Moyra Stuart, who helped to coach entrants and “Hud er Gyan”.

Lunches

New menus will take effect in August, and copies will be distributed to families, this week. We’ve also been asked to remind parents who still owe outstanding amounts for lunch tickets to settle-up, before the holidays.

Gardening Group

The problem with a school garden is that children disappear for 6 weeks, during the busiest time in a gardener’s calendar! With help from Denis Reid and Fiona, from Tesco, they hope to harvest the

fruits of their labours, in August.

Playground Developments

We continue to work on this, in the background; there is loads of red tape around making any changes and this has been holding us up. The good news is that thanks to the hard work of Mrs Suzanne Ross, members of staff from our Playground Development Group as well as The Frog Squad, we have secured a grant of £5000 from the Hill of Towie Windfarm Trust. A real boost to help us develop our playground space - we now just need the permissions to get going!

Class 1st 2nd 3rd

Recorder: 12 and under Keryn Stronach Cassie Findlay -

Piano: 12 and under Kirsty Simmers Ashley Paterson Heidi Moir

Poetry: 7 and under Emma McWillian

Iona McKandie Lauren Milne Ellie-Mae Riddoch

10 and under Abbie McWilliam Lilly Dunbar Kirsty Simmers

Chloe McWilliam Gracie Reid

13 and under - Cassie Findaly Keryn Stronach

Group

Ellie Reid and Gracie Reid, Cassie Findlay and Keryn Stronach - -

Traditional Singing: 7 and under

Cameron Simmers Dana Wilson Lauren Milne Ellie-Mae Riddoch

10 and under Ross W. Dalgarno Abbie McWilliam Jessica Morrison

13 and under Keryn Stronach Cassie Findlay Ellie Reid

Best Local Singer: - - Keryn Stronach

Freestyle Instrumental: 12 and under - Cassie Findlay -

Best Instrumentalist: 12 and under - - Cassie Findlay

Mither Tongue Trophy: Best overall poet of the day Abbie McWilliam

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“The Frog Squad” School Support Group

On 12th June, the meeting heard that for a variety of reasons, a few members of the committee are standing down; children and life in general move on and it’s healthy that there is the chance for new members to become involved. A meeting will be held on Monday 11th September, at 6:30 p.m., in the Com-munity Room. The group really does make a very positive difference to the experiences of our young people, particularly through their fund-raising ef-forts. Please do come along; the group is open to grandparents and mem-

bers of the community, too.

Prefects

Past Prefects have shown themselves to be very able leaders and this year’s have been no exception, to that. We would have found it very difficult to provide the pupils support that we have, without their help; they have been invaluable. Their recent Coffee Morning was also very well received and raised a whopping £837.50! They will decide, this week, how it will be spent. As we prepare to offer our thanks and send them on to pastures new, our thoughts turn to their re-placements. Letters of application have been written and tendered, so appointments will be made, soon. Badges will be presented to successful applicants, on Friday.

Transition

At this time in the term, transition arrangements are all but complete. Our youngest starts have been visiting Nursery, from home and from other pre-school providers. Current Nursery pupils who are moving to P.1 have had lots of visits into what will be their new classrooms and they have had tons of fun with their buddies, in the playground. We are hoping that the Information Evenings for parents/carers have allayed any apprehensions and answered all the unknowns, so that a smooth and happy start can be achieved, for all. At the other end of the school, transition visits have also been taking place to the Grammar school. Every year, there are those who are a bit wary of taking that next step; some have been here for nine years, after all! After the 3-day visit, they all seem to be looking forward to August. All that remains is for our current P.1-6 pupils to learn their new classes and meet their new col-leagues and teachers. Those who have been through this process before will be aware that it is a very tricky job to compile the classes; we are still making adjustments, as new pupils arrive. The num-bers are particularly tight, this year, with many classes near capacity.

Uniforms and Equipment

It is very pleasing to see how those who wear the school uniform show their respect for and pride in the school by following the dress code. This is perhaps a fitting time to remind everyone that, for the new session, they should also have indoor shoes and a gym kit with them, every day. Until now, we have provided children with all necessary stationery. This is proving harder and harder to manage, in the current economic climate and we are finding ourselves having to make some very difficult spending choices. We are asking that children have a pencil case containing HB pencils and an eraser. A glue stick would also be a very useful addition. The difficulty will be in identifying chil-dren’s personal property form school property, so please name items. Your help in reducing our stationery bill would be much appreciated.

Coming soon…

Summer Sports: http://www.moray.gov.uk/downloads/file113518.pdf

Which Moray Council services would you like to use online?

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NWSZGDW

The Frog Squad is hoping to arrange a collection for Mary’s Meals. This is an organisation which provides food and other equipment to children who would otherwise be unable to attend school. As you prepare to buy new equipment for the start of the coming session, we ask that you retain school bags, gym kits and pencil cases, for which you have no further need, so that they may be collected and re-distributed. More information to come, in the new session.

School Contact Details:

Address: Keith Primary School School Road Keith AB55 5GS

Phone: 01542 882802 THUS: 08700549999 PIN 031290 (Calls to this number will be charged a 2p per minute ser-vice charge plus your call provider’s access charge.)

Email: admin.keithp@moray-edunet.gov.uk Web: www.keithprimary.co.uk

Something to think about:

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”

~ Seneca

Dates for your Diary (Please note that these may be amended and others may be added)

More details to follow, by letter, for some events. (TBC = to be confirmed)

29th June “Moving On Up”. Those in P.1-6 visit their new classes, while P.7 rehearse for the “Moving On” Assembly.. Usual finishing times.

30th June “Moving On” Assembly. 9:30 a.m.—All welcome P.7 T-shirt signing (only with permission letter)

Early finish for all, at 2:20 p.m.

Looking ahead...

14th August In-service Day. School closed to pupils.

15th August First day of session 2017-18

Regards,

Head Teacher

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School LunchesSchool Lunches

w/b Menu 15/8/17 Week 1 21/8/17 Week 2 28/8/17 Week 3 4/9/17 Week 4

Thank you to all the very supportive parents, carers, friends and support agencies who have worked with us, this year. Thank you, too, for giving so generously of your time and money, when we are in need; we couldn’t do the job, without you!