Education Resources Executive Director Tony McDaid

Newfield Primary and Nursery Headteacher Laura Horn

Newfield Primary & Nursery Newsletter

January 2020, Newsletter No. 4

Happy New Year! We hope all our families had a peaceful Christmas break and we were delighted to welcome

our pupils back last week for Term 3. Already it is proving to be a busy term and I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the things we did before Christmas as well as exciting events coming up in the rest of the school session. As always if you have ideas or

suggestions for us please get in touch. Contact us: Telephone: 01698 792084 Email: gw14newfieldpsoffice@glow.sch.uk

Cost of The School Day Survey Thank you to those who have

completed our Cost of The School Day survey. We would ask that as many of you as possible complete this in order to gain a

true reflection of your views. Miss Kirsty Magee is leading on this and she will feedback the results in the next few weeks.

The survey link was emailed via ParentPay.

Christmas Nativity The Christmas Shows were extremely successful and our pupils were absolutely brilliant. Thank you for coming to our two sell out performances and giving so generously to our cash raffle. Overall, we managed to raise just short of £2000. Some of this money paid for the food and drinks at the Christmas Parties. The rest will fund activities and resources from now until June. Thank you again for your support.

Values: Leadership, Equity, Achieving, Resilience, Nurture Aims: We aim to develop a safe, caring and supportive learning

environment where all achievement is celebrated. We aim to equip all our learners with skills that will help them to reach

their full potential. We aim to work together and encourage each other as one school

community.

Burns Supper Night This month we are learning about our Scottish heritage and looking at literature written in the Scots’ Language. At the end of our month long topic, the Primary 7 class are holding a Burns Supper for their parents. Winners of the School Poetry competition will also be invited along to our celebrations on Thursday 30th January at 6.30pm. It is sure to be a braw night!

Dalguise Final Numbers If you would like your current P5/6 child to attend the proposed residential trip to Dalguise in March 2021 we would ask that you ensure you have paid your deposit by today (Monday 20th January). Thank you.

Dates for your diary 20th Jan P5/6/7 Girls’ Football 21st Jan P6/7 Athletics Club 23rd Jan P5 Youth Music Initiative P5/6/7 Netball Club 24th Jan Pipes/Drums tuition P5/6/7 Boys’ Football 27th Jan Snapshot Jotters out P5/6/7 Girls’ Football 28th Jan Netball festival P6/7 Athletics Club 30th Jan P5 Youth Music Initiative Rm 7 Learning Showcase P5/6/7 Netball Club Burns Celebration 31st Jan Pipes/Drums tuition Leadership Groups P5/6/7 Boys’ Football 3rd Feb NSPCC Workshops P5/6/7 Girls’ Football 4th Feb P6/7 Athletics Club 6th Feb P5 Youth Music Initiative P5/6/7 Netball Club 7th Feb INSET 5 – School closed to pupils 10th Feb HOLIDAY 11th Feb HOLIDAY

After School Clubs Our After School clubs have started up again. Permission

from parents is required before attending the following clubs:

Monday – P.5/6/7 Girls’ football Tuesday – P.6/7 Athletics Thursday P.5/6/7 Netball

Friday – P.5/6/7 Boys’ Football We currently do not have a club on after school on Wednesdays

due to this being our Staff Meeting day.

If you would be interested in volunteering to run a club on this day – please contact the school

office.

Lunchtime Clubs A variety of Lunchtime Clubs are starting this term. Details will be given to the relevant year group and no parental permission is needed due to it being on during the school day.

Sportshall Athletics Success Our brilliant athletes came third in the SLC scoring final last week, which is a

great achievement against some much larger schools. Mrs Murray and Mrs

Forsyth also commented on the groups’ manners and sportsmanship throughout the training and at the events. Well done

to everyone involved!

INSET DAY 5&6 On the first February INSET day all staff will be attending Attachment Training at Netherburn

Primary in the morning and continuing our Self Evaluation programme, looking at how to improve our practice across all areas of the school and Nursery. On the second INSET day the Nursery staff will work on their identified priorities and the teaching staff will be continuing with our new Maths Progression Pathways. INSET days are a great opportunity to reflect on our teaching approaches and share with other staff in our Learning Community in order to

improve the learning experiences for our learners.

Reindeer Dust Room 5’s Enterprise project of selling Reindeer Dust raised £40. Thank you to everyone who purchased the dust – I hope it helped guide the reindeer on Christmas Eve! The class decided

to give their profit to charity and are currently deciding what charity to chose. Room 5 showing kindness and consideration for others, I am so proud of them. Well done!

Could we kindly ask that parents check their

ParentPay account to ensure that they are up

to date with their payments.

Mr Reid’s Leaving Assembly To celebrate Mr Reid’s retirement we will be having a special assembly for him at the end of February. In the run up we will be gathering stories and memories about his time at Newfield. If you have anything you would like to share with us, please get

in touch.

Dates for your diary 12th Feb INSET 6 – School closed to pupils 13th Feb Youth Music Initiative P.5/6/7/ Netball Club 14th Feb P5/6/7 Boys’ Football 17th Feb P5/6/7 Girls’ Football Parent Council Meeting 18th Feb Girls’ football festival P6/7 Athletics Club 19th Feb Boys’ Football Festival 20th Feb Youth Music Initiative P.5/6/7/ Netball Club 21st Feb P5/6/7 Boys’ Football 24th Feb P5/6/7 Girls’ Football 25th Feb Netball Festival HT Drop In P6/7 Athletics Club Movie Night 27th Feb Youth Music Initiative P.5/6/7/ Netball Club 28th Feb Mr Reid Assembly P5/6/7 Boys’ Football 2nd Mar Book Fair all week P5/6/7 Girls’ Football 3rd Mar P6/7 Athletics Club 5th Mar Youth Music Initiative Parents Night 6th Mar Dress Down Day Leadership Groups P5/6/7 Boys’ Football 9th Mar Larkhall Academy Transition Nights Week 1 P5/6/7 Girls’ Football 10th Mar P6/7 Athletics Club 11th Mar Boys’ football Festival Rm 4 Learning Showcase 12th Mar Youth Music Initiative P.5/6/7/ Netball Club 13th Mar Cross Country Event P5/6/7 Boys’ Football 16th Mar Larkhall Academy Transition Nights Week 2

Snapshot Jotter Week Snapshot jotters will be distributed on

Monday 27th January. Please take some time to discuss your child’s learning with them

and write a comment in space provided. We are delighted with how hard our pupils have

been working and the snapshot jotter is a great way to celebrate their successes.

Attendance/Late Coming In line with our current approach to ensuring good attendance and time keeping and in light of new guidance from South Lanarkshire Council we will be looking at levels of attendance

and late coming on a termly basis. Those pupils whose attendance or late coming drops below 90% will be contacted in accordance with SLC guidelines. Regular and prompt attendance

ensures the maximum opportunity for pupils to learn, it allows pupils to take part in all activities planned by the teachers and ensures that pupils have the chance to work to their potential. Even being 15 minutes late in the morning totals over an hour a week and, over a

year, is 48 hours - almost two weeks’ worth of school! We will be updating our policy to reflect the new SLC guidance and will share that with you when it is completed.

If getting your child to school on time is an issue or you need some advice, please contact us at the school - we are here to help.

Enrolment of Primary 1 and Nursery pupils We have just completed a very busy enrolment week for Primary 1 pupils starting in August 2020 and continue to enrol new pupils for Nursery. The closing date for Nursery enrolment is Friday 28th February. All children who will be 3 between 1st March 2020 and 28th February 2021 should be enrolled in a nursery by the end of February. If you require to do this please make an appointment with the Nursery staff. If our parents could share this information with friends and family, we would appreciate it.

Foodbank Thank you to everyone who donated

before Christmas for our local foodbank. The donations were very well received

and it was humbling to see the continued generosity of our families.

Cookery Classes We were recently successful in securing funding from Food for Thought and will be running some

cooking classes for our pupils. We are starting with a small group of children but hope to increase that group in the coming months.

Newfield Nursery Class News

Dates for your diary

Week beginning 20th Jan Stay and Play sessions Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9.30am - 11am 1pm - 2.30pm 5th Feb Tea and Talk

We have been learning about

- Exploring different ways of mark making and using tools to develop fine motor skills.

- Playing in our nursery shop with real food, learning about the wider world of work. - Challenging outdoor activities promoting gross physical skills.

- Becoming aware of hygiene, storing and preparing snack.

We have been meeting up with Primary 1 to learn about Scots Language, sing songs and rhymes.

Parent Helpers We would appreciate any help from parents who would like

to come into nursery or school to help. If you have any

skills you feel would benefit us please let us know. Parents need to fill in PVG form before

helping or complete an update form if they already

have an existing PVG.

Twitter and Online Journals Keep up to date with all the learning that takes place in the Nursery on our Twitter page. If you are not already accessing the page, please give your Twitter name to

one of the Nursery staff so we can add you to our closed group.

You can also track your child’s progress through their online journals.

Staffing Changes Lynne McAulay left our Nursery just before Christmas to

take a new job in another authority. We also said goodbye to Rachel Law who continues her Modern Apprentice

training at a Nursery Centre in East Kilbride. We wish both ladies good luck with their future careers. Both staff have

asked us to thank our parents and children for making them feel so welcome and for the kind leaving gifts that

they received from our families.

Remember that all important events and the learning that is taking place in Nursery is displayed in the foyer. If you require any additional information about

the Nursery don’t hesitate to speak to a member of Nursery staff.

Enrolment for Nursery All children who turn 3 between 1 March 2020 and 28 February 2021

must be registered for Nursery before 28th February. Please make

an appointment with the Nursery to complete the relevant forms>

Please spread the word to friends and family. Thank you.

Personal Learning Plans Last term we asked parents at the Open

Evening about targets they would like for their child. Staff have been working with the children to develop these skills. This term we

will consult with the children to see what they would like to learn. Please see their

online journals for more information.

Welcome back to a new term and welcome to our new children who have started this month.

The staff would like to thank parents for their generous gifts at Christmas. We have been talking to the children about the presents they got from Santa and have been

painting pictures.

Newfield’s Stars Of The Week Every week the class teachers nominate pupils in their class who have worked hard, shown improvement or have had a

positive attitude in school. Certificates are awarded at our Friday assembly, displayed on our ‘Newfield’s Superstars’ noticeboard and then sent home. Pictures of our certificate winners are displayed every week on our Twitter page.

The pupils are doing an amazing job in class and I am very proud of them. Our December/January Stars of the Week are as follows: Room 1: Holly Gardner, Etta MacIntyre, Micky Forbes, Logan Whiteford, Reice Snodgrass, Madeleine McBride, Grace McFarlane, Logan Whiteford, Joshua Markey and Connor McInnes. Room 2: Lyla Flynn, Argyll McFarlane, Devon Wood, Jaxx Jamieson, Angus Scullion, Freyja McLellan, Callum Ferguson, Stuart Rowan, Keiran Hanlon and Arya Forshaw. Room 3: Lewis Forrest, Naomi Paterson, Arran McCormick, Lucie Rennie, Hannah Plenderleith, Tyler Hanlon, Liam Gardener, Elliot Reid, Arianna Gupta and Hannah Plenderleith. Room 4: Andrew Millar, Dylan Flynn, Darren Hendry, Rebecca Bell, Kayla Wilson, Aidyn Watson, Rebecca McTaggart, Mia Dixon, Jack Dyer and Darren Hendry. Room 5: Kaitlin McIntyre, Blake Hutton, Sam McCreaddie, Sienna Holden, Emily McKay, David Plenderleith, Maison Rock, Amy Huggins, Blake Hutton and Anna Scullion. Room 6: Carla Mackie, Eoin Forshaw, Devyn Thomson, Adele Watt, Dylan Stewart, Devyn Thomson, Adele Watt, Brooklynn Hanlon, Ava-Jayne McCluskey and Eoin Forshaw. Room 7: Adam Winning, Keanna Russell, Archie Forrest, Patricia Shaw, John Millar, Jack Young, Aiden Steele, Chloe McPhee and Carly Adair. Room 8: Tyler McLellan, Emma Morton, Caitlyn Rowan, Calvin Mackie, Ellie Hunter, Leona Adair, Taylor Plenderleith, Leona Adair, Katelyn Bowles and Summer Moore.

Well done everyone!

Methods of Communication It is important that we have effective communication with our parents/carers and there are many ways you keep up-to-date with events and let us know if you have any concerns. Ready Steady Learn Books: Please write notes and comments in here for the teacher and we encourage discussion at home about your child’s learning. Twitter: @NewfieldPS (please send your username to the school so we can add you to this private group) MySchoolApp: Download the app onto your phone School telephone number: 01698 792084 Email: gw14newfieldpsoffice@glow.sch.uk We are always looking for new and innovative ways of making communication with parents/carers easier. Please let us know if you have any suggestions.

Thank you for your support, Head Teacher

Newfield Primary and Nursery Class Muirhead, Stonehouse, ML9 3HG 01798 792084

New Members The Parent Council are always looking for new members.

You can help in a variety of ways. Either come along to the monthly meetings, help at special events or help

with fundraising ideas - get involved in any way you can!

The next Parent Council meeting will take place on Monday 17th February 2020 at 6.45pm.

The next pupil movie night will take place on Tuesday 25th February.

Meeting Minutes If you wish to receive the Parent Council meeting minutes via email please contact the school office and you will be

added to the mailing list.

Gala Day Discussions are in the early stages regarding the Gala Day in June. We are looking for suggestions for our theme for

the Walking Pageant with Stonehouse Primary. If you have any ideas please let the Parent Council know.

Survey The Parent council are keen to hear your views - a survey

will be emailed out to you in the coming weeks. Please complete it and send it back.