THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCILDepartment of Children and Families

Holy Cross R.C. Primary School Craighall Road Edinburgh EH6 4RE

Telephone: 0131 552 1972 Email: admin@holycross.edin.sch.uk Website: https://holycrossrcps.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @holycrossrcpsHead Teacher: Mr James McDevitt

M.A. (Hons.), P.G.C.E.(Primary)__________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEWSLETTER No 6, February 2019P7 SCHOOL CAMP AT BENMOREFrom Monday 4- Friday 8 February, most of our P7 pupils spent the week at the Lagganlia Centre near Aviemore, taking part in a wide range of outdoor educational experiences. The school website has photos showing what a great time they had. Thanks to all the pupils whose hard work and excellent behaviour made the trip so successful. Thanks also to all those members of staff who accompanied the children and enabled this residential experience to take place.

PARENTS’ CONSULTATIONS P1-P7 CHILDREN- REMINDERThese will take place on Thursday 21 March between 6.00 pm-9.00 pm, and on Friday 22 March between1.30 pm- 4.30 pm. As previously, parents/carers will have to make appointments online through the Groupcall system. A letter reminding you how to do this will be issued separately nearer the time. The system will go live on Tuesday 5 March and will remain open to take your bookings until midnight on Monday 18 March. Pupils in classes P4, P5, P6 and P7 are all invited to the appointments to set and agree targets with their teacher and their parents. All appointments will be held centrally in the School Hall.

ASH WEDNESDAY MASSMass will be celebrated in the school hall on Wednesday 6 March at 9.15 am to mark the start of the season of Lent. All children from P1-P7 will attend and parents/carers are also welcome to join us.

WORLD BOOK DAY, THURSDAY 7 MARCHThursday 7 March is World Book Day when we celebrate the enjoyment of reading and of books generally. On that day, each class will spend some time discussing what the day means and either listening to or reading stories. In addition, we would also encourage all children to dress up as a character from their favourite book onFriday 8 March. Home-made outfits are especially welcome, the more imaginative the better! This fun activity is especially useful when the children can tell us something about their character and about the book or story they appear in. We do hope your child agrees to take part, and we look forward to seeing some amazing costumes!

LENTEN FUNDRAISING FOR SCIAFFrom Wednesday 6 March until Friday 5 April, all classes will be collecting for SCIAF’s annual Lent Appeal. Each class will also have a SCIAF Wee Box into which the children can donate small change as and when they wish.

CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL/NSPCC SCOTLAND PARENTAL SURVEYEdinburgh Child Protection Committee and NSPCC Scotland are working together to design a city-wide campaign on neglect.  As part of this, City of Edinburgh Council and NSPCC Scotland are keen to develop a better understanding of what parents in Edinburgh understand by the term neglect, what they would do if they suspected a child was being neglected and where families access support with parenting.  They have created a short survey to do this, which can be accessed on our school website and should take between five and ten minutes to complete.  By completing this survey, you are helping ensure that the final campaign will be relevant to all families and contribute towards keeping all children in the city safe. Closing date for responses is Sunday 18 March. RED NOSE DAYThis will take place on Friday 15 March and we will be encouraging all the children to wear either something red or something connected to a Walt Disney film. The suggested donation is £1 per pupil and all proceeds will go to Red Nose Day. In addition to this, we will be having a Games Day. This is linked to

Article 31 of the UNCRC, the Right to Play. Children will be encouraged to bring in a game or toy from home and will have the opportunity to play with this at school. There will also be some fun activities set up in the hall and each class will have the opportunity to take part in these for a small donation. All monies raised from the games activities in the hall will also be donated to the Red Nose Day Appeal.

END OF TERM FOR P1-P7 & REMINDER OF FORTHCOMING HOLIDAYSTerm ends at 12.15 pm on Friday 5 April for children in P1 and P2, and at 12.25 pm for children in P3-P7. The children will return to school at the normal time of 8.50 am on Tuesday 23 April. School will also be closed to pupils on the following days next term:

Monday 6 May- May Day HolidayTuesday 7 May- In-service DayMonday 20 May- Victoria Day Holiday

James McDevittHead Teacher28 February 2019

“Lent is a season of intense prayer, fasting and concern for those in need. It offers all Christians an opportunity to prepare for Easter by serious

discernment about their lives, with particular attention to the word of God which enlightens the daily journey of all who believe. ”

(St John Paul II)