lawfield primary school a fantastic first term!...2015/10/10 · included animal handling, face...
TRANSCRIPT
Dear Parents, Carers and Friends,
Welcome back after the October break! We had an extremely busy and enjoyable first term and
are looking forward to the exciting learning activities planned between now and Christmas. We
hope to share as much of what we do with you as possible through our newsletter. Please be sure
to 'like' our page on Facebook (Lawfield Primary School) or follow us on Twitter (@LawfieldPS)
to keep up to date with events, news and examples of our children's learning You can also visit
our school website at: http://edublog.mgfl.net/lawfieldps/.
A fantastic first term! Lawfield Primary School
Dates for your Diary
Wednesday, 28th October 10.45-11.45amCommunity Cafe hosted by P7 and P7/6in P7 Atrium
Friday, 6th November Bronze AwardPresentation Assembly
Thursday 19th November 6.30pm Parent
Council Event Beetle Drive
Monday, 30th November, Tuesday, 1st andWednesday 2nd December NativityPerformance by Nursery and lower
school
Monday, 30th November – P4-7 pupils tripto Brunton Theatre to see Cinderella
Pantomime
Thursday, 3rd December 6.30pm-8.30pm – Christmas Fayre
Saturday, 5th December Father'sChristmas Show
Monday, 7th December – P1-3 pupils trip toOdeon Fort Kinnaird to see 'Home'
Friday, 18th December – Term EndsSCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Tuesday, 5th January – In service day
Staff Resume
Wednesday, 6th January – Pupils resume
Newsletter 2 Newsletter 2
October 2015 October 2015
Whole School Fun Day!
Staff, pupils and visitors had a tremendous time at our Fun Day
back in September to celebrate their hard work and achievements.
All pupils worked exceptionally hard to complete a range of tasks
and challenges which demonstrated their capacity to be successful
learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective
contributors. Pupils earned stamps in the Learner Passports which
they were then able to use as tokens at our celebration event.
Feedback from classes showed some firm favourites at the Fun Day
included animal handling, face painting, photo booth, ice cream and
the inflatable assault course! We extend our thanks to the parent
helpers who assisted on the day. A short video of all the fun can be
viewed on Twitter.
The children will continue to work hard to use and apply their skills
across the school session. Our focus this term is considering what
makes a responsbile citizen in the classroom, playground, dining hall
and within the wider community. Staff will be working hard with
pupils to recognise how and when their good choices show they are
being a responsible citizen. Please be sure to pass on any 'good
deeds' or sensible choices you see outwith the school so we can
share these achievements with the pupils.
Community CafePupils of P7 and P7/6 invite parents, carers, extended family members and local community members
to join them at Lawfield's first Community Cafe on Wednesday, 28th October in the P7 Atrium. The
cafe will be open and serving a range of refreshments between 10.45-11.45am. All welcome.
Super Computers!Primary 7, P7/6 and P6 recently
returned from a trip to Mayfield
Library to participate in Super
Computer workshops. The children
completed a range of activities
includ ing sort ing objects and
designing animals to race using the
w o r l d ' s s m a l l e s t c o m p u t e r s ,
Raspberry Pi's!
The children also enjoyed becoming
library members, browsed the
bookshelves and even loaned out
books to take back to school!
Mayfield Library run a range of free
community events for all. Energise
and transform your day with a unique
smoothie bike experience on Monday,
23rd November between 3.30 and
5pm!
Health Care Plans
Does your child have a health condition, medication or
require a care plan in school? Please ensure completed
medical forms are returned to office along with
required medication. This is to ensure we have up to
date and accurate information. Please be reminded
pupils cannot participate in class trips or outings
without the medication they require. If you would like
to discuss your child's health needs or review their
plan, please contact the office to meet with Mrs
McPherson.
School Attendance During the course of the last school year (to end June 2015) Lawfield had the second poorest
attendance rate in Midlothian - this was not just as a result of illness but much of it was due to
families taking holidays during term time. There was also a very high number of children arriving late
to school. We would like to turn that around this year and improve Lawfield's attendance rate. We
are happy to work with all families to ensure that children's attendance at school is as high as
possible. Miss Richardson, Head Teacher, is working very closely with Angela Ross, our Education
Welfare Officer, who will also be helping to maximise Lawfield pupils' attendance in school by working
with families and carers as well as the school itself. If you know that attendance for your child is
dropping and you would like to request support, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will do
whatever we can to help and, if we cannot help directly, we will probably know where help is available.
The important thing is to ask us. A big part of this focus on improving attendance will also be
requesting that families do not take their children out of school for holidays during term time. This is
proven to have a significantly negative impact on children's learning and we would strongly advise
against holidays during term time. Thank you in advance for all your support in our efforts to raise
attendance! Let's be the best in Midlothian!
Artistic Talents!
Pupils from P2, P3 and P4 classes have wowed us with
their amazing models of the characters from The
Enormous Crocodile! Part of the children's home
learning tasks included designing and creating 3D
models. All the models have been showcased in our
school assembly and we particularly enjoyed sampling
the homemade crocodile soup! Keep up the amazing
work!
Animal Zoo!
We have been inundated with animals in
our school!
All pupils have benefitted from the opportunity
to discover, handle and experience a range of
reptiles, insects and furry friends! These were
extremely enjoyable and benefitted our pupils
immensely.
A special thanks goes to McSence who very
generously funded the workshops delivered by
Animal Zoo. Miss Richardson proudly accepted a
cheque on behalf of the school from the group's
award presentation.
The Mayfield Community Self-Employed Collective
Exercise (McSence) are a community business and
registered charity who have five trading
companies. The charity distribute back to the
community in the form of grants.
Musical Talent!
Mr Alexander and Mrs Ross are working hard with the
P5-7 Choir group who are sounding fantastic!
The whole school have also been enjoying learning and
performing new songs during Assembly.
Primary 6 are demonstrating skill and talent during
their guitar lessons and hope to perform soon at our
Musical Showcase event. Many pupils have also
received new brass instruments. We are looking
forward to hearing them play soon.
The Parent Council have worked exceptionally hard to
support the school and improve their provision for
music this session. We would like to thank them for
their hard work and continued contributions to the
school.
Science Club!
Budding scientists from Primary 2 and 3 have
begun to take part in Lawfield's Wednesday
Lunchtime Science Club, investigating topics
related to biology, physics and chemistry. The
children will have the opportunity to explore
living and non-living things around the school and
take part in a variety of experiments and
investigations relating to the curriculum. The
block will last for 4 weeks and will be led by Miss
Gilchrist, Mr McNish and Miss Aitken.The club
will then be opened up to pupils for each year
group at various times across the year.
Last week we were
investigating mini
beasts
Road Safety
At Lawfield Primary the health and wellbeing of our pupils is our top priority. We are
working hard alongside parents, carers and Midlothian Council to ensure pupils are able
to arrive safely to school and have some serious concerns about vehicle access during
these times. We continue to ask for your support and understanding that there are
many people entering and leaving our school car park at drop off and pick up times.
Ideally, we'd like to encourage pupils to walk, cycle or bring their scooter to school
whenever possible. Storage is available for both bikes and scooters. We do however
recognise that for some people this is not possible. If you are driving to school, please
consider Park and Stride – parking approximately 5 minutes walk from school – allowing
your child to benefit from a short, healthy walk and not adding to traffic congestion in
front of our school. There is plenty of free on street parking.
We will be working with pupils over the coming term to plan their routes to school. Our
pupil entrance gates are accessed from Ashgrove or from Langlaw Lane. Please note:–
PEDESTRIANS SHOULD NOT BE ACCESSING SCHOOL FROM THE FRONT VEHICLE
ENTRANCE and should be using the public pavement instead of crossing through the car
park.
If you drive and cannot Park and Stride but need to access school grounds, please use
our parking or drop-off area immediately to the left of entrance, signed 'Parent
Parking'. Remember, if parking, please use a bay. The drop-off area is for drop off
only, not parking and waiting. The 'Staff Car Park' to the right of the entrance will be
coned off during drop off and pick up times and only accessible to those requiring
access to Disabled Parking bays.
We thank you for your anticipated support and keeping our pupils safe. Please see
below the Recommended Route Map (produced when the school opened and available to
view on the school website) showing the pupils access gates and the safest ways to
enter school and discuss this with your child.
Hi-Viz Day!
Well done to all who partcipated in
High-Viz Day!
The purpose of the day was to
raise awareness of wearing bright,
Reflective, flourescent colours to
ensure you are safe and seen on
dark winter nights. Rosie Fearon
from iBike was a guest speaker at
our Assembly and was so impressed
by our outfits she even awarded us
some prizes!
As winter draws nearer, please be
extra cautious and observant as
children cross the roads on their
walk to and from school.
PARK SMART