Safe Honesty Respect Healthy Teamwork

Dear Parents/Carers,

WELCOME BACK!A huge welcome back to everyone, old and new!!! I hope everyone had a great time during the summer. It was fantastic to see the children in the playground, all looking so smart in their new uniform – lots of lovely smiles as well!!! Being happy in school is so important as research has shown that not only does happiness and positive emotions increase your information processing skills, they also help you memorise the new information and help you access it faster in the future.

We had another amazing successful and busy year last session and this one will no doubt be even busier as we relentlessly aim to do even better. We very much look forward to leading the children in their learning this year and seeing their development grow once again -both academically and socially. They did incredibly well last year and I am truly proud of their positive attitudes, excellent behaviour and wonderful manners. Our values are displayed at the top of this newsletter and everyone at Anderston Primary works hard to reinforce these values in everything that we do. NEW FAMILIES TO ANDERSTONWe would like to extend a particular welcome to all our new children and their families. Already the children have settled in so well. We have an open door policy so if you do have any worries or changes that may impact on your child at school, please do not hesitate to contact me as concerns discussed promptly can often restore matters quickly and allow us to provide prompt support.

School Uniform

We really appreciate your support in sending your child to school in school uniform. Children are strongly encouraged to wear school uniform as it promotes a feeling of belonging to the school and pride in being a member of the school community. Please speak to Mrs Caird about how you can order uniform which can be done anytime during the year.

Our uniform includes:

Black/Grey skirt/trousers White shirt / Anderston Tie Anderston Polo ShirtAnderston School Cardigan or Sweatshirt

Anderston Primary SchoolAugust 2019

P.E Kit: polo shirt /t-shirtshorts

Indoor shoes must be worn in school.

Photographs

The Evening Times Photographer will be coming to the school on Tuesday 20th August in the morning to take the new Primary 1 photographs. Please can you ensure that the children are all wearing their school uniform? I am aware that some people are still waiting for their order so we can help on the day with ties/jumpers to ensure that they all look very smart for their first school photograph.

We have also sourced a new photographer for our school photos and this company will be coming to the school on Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th August. All children

will get an individual photograph with Primary 1 and Primary 7 getting a class photograph. They will also do family photographs so if you want a younger sibling/s who are not at school, please let me know and I can give you a time to bring them into the school to get their family picture. I will be sending out parent leaflets this week.

Staffing

Our school is rapidly growing. I joined Anderston 5 years ago with a school role of 108; we now have a school role of 216. Although the role has increased, we still pride ourselves in maintaining a nurturing ethos. We are very fortunate to have such a dedicated staff and the family ethos of our school is second to none which is frequently commented on by parents and visitors.

With the role increasing so does our staff entitlement. We would like to welcome to our school, two new probationer teachers; Miss Bartleman and Mr Lennox who will be with us for this session. Also joining us is our new Primary 1 teacher, Miss Simm who is now a permanent teacher at Anderston Primary. We are delighted that Mrs Dunbar and Mr Terris who joined us last session have now been offered and have accepted permanent positions in the school.

The classes are as follows:-

Primary 1a - Miss Sim

Primary 1b - Mrs Cunningham

Primary 2 - Miss Bartleman

Primary 3/2 - Mrs McGloughlin

Primary 3 - Mrs Cameron

Primary 4 - Mrs Dunbar

Primary 5/4 - Mrs Patterson and Mrs Lockwood

Primary 6/5 - Mr Lennox

Primary 7/6 - Ms Cain

Nurture Teacher - Mrs McCann

Mr Terris will be covering NCCT and support for learning while Mrs Chalmers is with us three days a week supporting children who have English as an Additional Language.

I am sure many of you will have noticed that Mrs McGloughlin is expecting another baby. She will be taking Maternity Leave after the October Week. Mr Terris will take over from Mrs McGloughlin which will ensure familiarity and continuity for the children. Mrs McGloughlin is hoping to return in term 4.

Communication

I have attached an information sheet about the Groupcall Xpressions App which gives you information about how we communicate. All letters and newsletters will be emailed as attachments. Please ensure that you have given the office an updated mobile number and email address and downloaded this app in order to receive any communication. Can I ask that you complete all of the forms sent home to ensure we have the correct information? Some of the emails have bounced back because the addresses have been difficult to read and we have taken it down wrong. Can I also ask that you sign all letters that require a signature?

Attendance

We finished the session with an average attendance of 95.41%. Unfortunately this was down on the previous session and below National Average and we need your continuing support to ensure we reach our target for this year. THANK YOU SO MUCH to those families who have been working hard to ensure children’s punctuality and

attendance is high. THANK YOU for getting these important habits established early on in your child’s life as it will make a difference in their futures.If your child will not be attending school for any reason, please contact the attendance line on 0141-287-0039 before 9am. If your child is going to be absent for a longer period of time, please contact the school direct. There is now a new online option for Parents/Carers to report a pupil’s absence. Please follow the link below to access this form.

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/pupilabsence

“Fuel Zone’ is the catering service provided in all Glasgow Primary and Secondary Schools.. All primary 1-4 children can enjoy a free lunch, while primaries 5-7 can receive a three course meal with a drink for £1.90. All pupils are entitled to free milk.

The menu can be accessed by the link on our school website www.anderston-pri.glasgow.sch.uk.

A Breakfast Club is also run in the school from 8am until 8.30am. The cost of the breakfast is £2.00.

Playtime Snacks

Please provide your child with a healthy playtime snack to eat at interval time. Fizzy juice and glass bottles are not allowed in school. Children are encouraged to drink plain water in class throughout the day, so please provide a labelled water bottle for this purpose. School water bottles can be purchased from the school

office at a cost of £2.00. We would also request that children do not bring nut products into school to take account of pupils who have nut allergies.The dinner school is not providing toast or snacks at break time. We will be discussing with the children how we can provide healthy snacks at break time. Please look out for further information.

Car Parks

Can I remind you that children should NOT be brought into school through either the lower or upper car parks? Due to the school having both a nurture training room, the car parks can be extremely busy with cars coming in and out at all times during the day. Children should enter through the gate in Houldsworth Street.

Parking outside school

Can I also remind you that no cars should park immediately outside the school on the double yellow lines? This is illegal and there are regular wardens in the area that will be doing spot checks. It is also very dangerous and could put our children’s lives in danger.

School Blogs

The school blog can be accessed by following the link below where you can keep up to date with current events in the school and community. Thank you to Daisy Abbot who keeps this blog up to date.

https://anderstonprimary.wordpress.com/

We also have a twitter account where regular updates are posted. Please follow us @AnderstonPS

See Saw App

Last session, Primary 1 and Primary 1/2 piloted a new app which allowed pupils and their teacher to communicate daily to parents. This allowed parents to see what the children were learning as well as being informed of any issues/trips/current information. We are hoping to roll this out across the school and staff are currently undertaking training in order to set this up. Each child will have their own online learning journal and can periodically add things to it, like photos, videos, drawings or voice recordings. Each class will also have a blog which will update you on class news and events. We will be holding two short parent information sessions on Seesaw on the following dates - Monday 2nd September at 9am and Monday 9th September at 3pm when we will show you how to access this app and your child’s journal. Attendance is only required at one session.

Head Lice has always been and continues to be an issue in schools. Please could you take some time every week to do a thorough head lice check and treat children’s hair accordingly? This is still an on-going concern and an early check and prompt treatment will help to stop the spread. If you require any information, please contact the nurse at your registered doctor’s surgery or speak with the local pharmacy.

P.E.

Some of the classes are continuing to taking part in the ‘Daily Mile’. The children who are doing this will also receive 1 hour of P.E. per week. Those who are not participating in the daily mile will receive two hours of P.E. per week. However, there are times when we are given the opportunity to receive additional P.E. from experienced coaches and therefore we would ask

that children bring in a t-shirt and shorts to be left in their classroom so that all children are prepared to participate in P.E at any time.

Outdoor Learning

The outdoor environment has massive potential for learning and we are very fortunate to have such a vast and varied school playground. We are continuing to develop further our outdoor learning and loose parts play throughout the school and as such the children will be outdoors more often. Because of this we would ask that the children come to school with appropriate clothing – Jackets/outdoor shoes appropriate for walking on the grass and in our outdoor classroom.

For Primary 1 and Primary 2’s, we would ask that the children bring waterproofs/wellingtons and strong outdoor shoes that can be left in the school. They will be going outdoors every day, participating in a range of progressive and creative outdoor learning experiences linked to different areas of the curriculum. Please ensure names are on each item of clothing and footwear.

PITCHWe are very excited that finally our pitch is in the process of being updated. Work was undertaken during the summer break and we are just waiting on the lines to be painted before the children will be able to access this fantastic area which will have basketball, tennis and football courts.

Meet the Teacher

We have arranged a date for you to come to your child’s class on Wednesday 4th September from 3-4pm. This is an opportunity to meet your child’s teacher, see their classroom and view some of the resources they will be using this year. We look forward to seeing you at this informal event. There will be a formal Parents’ Evening in October after the holiday break. Individual appointments will be given out and you will be able to speak to the teacher on a one to one basis. We look forward to seeing you.

Our very successful Children’s Festival will once again take place in the school grounds on Saturday 31st August from 11am until 2pm. We hope that you will come along and support us again this year, bringing with you lots of your friends and family. This Friday 23rd August, we are having a non-uniform day in return for children bringing in sweets/biscuits or a small gift to be donated to the Children’s Festival for the different stalls.

Parent Council

Further information on the parent council and how you can become involved will follow shortly.

School Improvement Plan/Standards and Quality

Our School Improvement Plan (Session 19/20) will be available to read electronically on our School Blog. This gives you an overview of areas for development that the school is taking forward this session. Also available will be our Standards and Quality which gives you an overview of the developments last session. However, if you want a paper copy, please contact Mrs Caird at the office.

Anti-Bullying Policy

Our anti-bullying policy will be available to view on our School Blog. Parent Leaflets as well as paper copies of our policy can be found on the parent council board in the school. Please contact Diane Mitchell if you want any further information.

If at any time you wish to speak to myself, please contact the office to make an appointment. Whatever the query, please do not worry quietly about it, as I am sure we can quickly resolve any concerns.

Liz HendryHead Teacher

School Calendar

A calendar will be sent out each month with forthcoming events. I will try very hard to give you as much notice as possible of events in the school; however, unfortunately this is not always possible.

Dates for your Diary

Below is a list of important dates for August/ September.

AUGUST / SEPTEMBER DATES

DATE EVENT andVENUE

Tuesday 20th

AugustEvening Times Photographer

Assembly HallThurs 22nd Aug Thurs 21st Nov

(inclusive)

Primary 5 Boys- SwimmingWhitehill Swimming Pool

Frid 23rd Aug Non Uniform Day

Tues 27th Aug and Wed 28th Aug

School Photographs

Sat 31st August Children’s Festival – School Grounds11am – 2pm

Mon 2nd

SeptemberInformation Sharing Session for All Parents on the See Saw App –

9.00am – Assembly HallWed 4th Meet the Teacher

September 3-4pmSchool classrooms

Mon 9th September Information Sharing Session for All parents on the See Saw App –3pm – Assembly Hall

Frid 20th Sept Mini Marathon 1.15pm

Frid 27th – Mon 30th September

incl.

Holiday