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East CraigsPrimary School

September, 2016

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD TEACHER’S DESKWelcome to our September newsletter. We have had a very busy start to our new session, with lots of exciting learning and events happening around school. Please read on to find out more about these, and about forthcoming events. Meeting our school needs in the future – Building UpdateMany thanks to Mrs Johnston for the following article:-

Having had the opportunity to get inside our new gym hall, I was delighted to see that the work is going well. The interior fabric looks fantastic and our children are going to love the amount of space that they will have. The flooring is being laid this week which will make a huge difference to the look of the hall. On the outside of the building, the rendering is due to be started this

week which will begin to make the gym hall look part of the school. New paths have been created and the new wall is a lovely addition. I look forward to seeing the fencing come down as the building is handed over to us in mid-October.

October HolidayThe school closes on Friday 14th

October for the October break. The school remains closed to pupils on Monday 24th October for In-Service Training. Pupils should return to school at their usual times on Tuesday 25th October.

East Craigs Curricular FrameworkAs you are aware, our Parents’ & Carers’ Information Evening was held in school on Wednesday 14th

September to share our new Curricular Rationale and Framework. The overview of suggested learning in Term 1 was also shared and has since been issued to all parents & carers as a paper copy.

0131 339 7115www.eastcraigs.edin.sch.uk

http://www.eastcraigs.edin.sch.uk/


September, 2016The session was well-received by those parents & carers able to attend, with positive views expressed about the structure of the sessions i.e. providing background information about the rationale and design of the curriculum and also about sharing what our pupils will be learning. Parents & carers felt this was highly valuable in being able to support their child’s learning at home. Running the two separate hourly sessions was also effective in supporting families with siblings. The Curriculum Rationale and Framework have been uploaded to our website within the “Sharing Our Learning” section, if you would like to take a look. The Termly Overviews have also been uploaded to your child’s individual class “Sharing Our Learning“ page.Here are some of your views about the session:-“Everything was quite clear & helpful. Now we know what’s actually going on in school.”

“I thought it was very informative and delivered very well by the teachers. Excellent format- simple, easy to understand.”

“Opportunity to hear about learning phonics as this is very different from how we learned many years ago.”

“Really helpful session, understand a lot more about homework. Nice to know what happens on a daily basis.”

Although the event was very successful it was not particularly well attended. If you have any feedback about the best times to hold school events, or other ideas to maximize attendance, please email the school admin address, which will be forwarding on to myself.

House Captain ElectionsFollowing the recent elections, I am delighted to inform you that the following pupils have been elected as our House Captains for this session:-

Almond Evan Pennycook Mya Haigh




September, 2016Maybury Rebecca Dillon Rebecca Scott

Barnton Laura Kelly

Robyn Keay

Kelvin Douglas

Barnton has 3 elected Captains due to a tie for second place votes.

I should like to congratulate the successful candidates who I am sure will rise to this leadership role admirably. I should also like to commend all our pupils who took part in the elections and who accepted the results with such grace and resilience.

Open DayOur Open Day for prospective new Primary 1 parents & carers for Session 2017-18 will be held on Wednesday 2nd

November. There will be 2 sessions running:- 9:30-10:30am and 1:45-2:45pm. This will provide an opportunity to ask any questions about school life, as well as receiving a tour from our new House Captains, which will

be one of their first leadership roles in school.Primary 1 Registration week will take place during week commencing 7th November. All parents & carers should register their child at their catchment school.

CEOP InputHaving listened to parents and carers about the challenges of control around digital safety, we have organised an event for all parents and carers of the five primary schools in the Craigmount Cluster. This will be workshop delivered by our Community Police Office, P.C. Tara Adam. The workshop is designed to help parents and carers support their children in accessing and using digital technology in a safe and sensible way. We will host the event here at East Craigs Primary School in our brand new gym hall on the evening of Wednesday 2nd

November. A separate flier will be distributed with further details.

East Craigs Parent CouncilMany thanks to Mrs Susi Isler and Mrs Christina Rigby for the following article:-

Many thanks to all the parents/carers and staff who attended our recent ECPC meeting. There were a number of




September, 2016items on the agenda including an update from Ms Reid covering various aspects of school life including a positive progress report on the Gym Hall build which is nearer completion and an update from the PTA on upcoming fundraising events. We also discussed the change in location for the residential excursion for P7 pupils from 2017 to Lagganlia and parents also voiced a request to have more insight into Language provision so they can support their child’s learning at home. The full Meeting Minutes will be shared shortly via the school website.The next ECPC meeting will be taking place on Monday 7 November @ 18.45 – 20.00 in the school staff room. Please note this is a change of date from Wednesday 9th November. As per previous notes all are welcome to attend the ECPC meetings and we would love to have attendance from all year groups to ensure that information is exchanged across the whole school. Please contact either Christina or Susanne via the school office or by email ([email protected]) for any items you could like to raise or if you would like any more information on ECPC.

Dates of Future meetings

Monday 7 November (Change of date from Wednesday 9 November)Tuesday 24 January

Wednesday 15 MarchTuesday 16 May

Timing: 18.45 – 20.00

East Craigs PTA The Family Bingo Event on Wednesday night this week was another roaring success. There was such a demand for tickets that some of our families were unable to attend due to the high demand. Thankfully, this issue will soon be resolved, as we will have our new Games Hall which will increase our capacity significantly. The amount raised was a fantastic £400 profit!! Many thanks to our PTA for organising the event for us.

Just a reminder of the dates of meetings for PTA. Please note the change of date for the P1/2 Magic Show.

Wednesday 7/9/16 - AGM 7:00pm

Wednesday 28/9/16 - Bingo Night 7:00pm

Monday 10/10/16 - P3/4 Disco 7:00pm

Wednesday 9/11/16 - P1/2 Magic Show 6:45pm (Change of date from Monday 7/11/16)

Tuesday 15/11/16 - PTA Meeting 6:45pm



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September, 2016Friday 2/12/16 - Fair Set-up 2:00-4:00pm

Saturday 3/12/16 - Xmas Fair 10:00am-12:00 noon

Wednesday 18/1/17 - PTA Meeting 6.45pm

Wednesday 1/2/17 - Bingo Night 7.00pm

Wednesday 1/3/17 - P5/6 Disco 7.00pm

Wednesday 3/5/17 - PTA Meeting 6.45pm

Friday 9/6/17 - Fair Set-up 2:00-4:00pm

Saturday 10/6/17 Summer Fair 10:00am-12:00 noon

The Christmas Shopping Evening is Friday 18th November between 6:00-9:00pm at St Thomas's Church, Glasgow Road.

You can also contact the Chair of our PTA, Mrs Lynn Wallace, at:-

East Craigs PTA [email protected]

Parents’ & Carers’ ConsultationsWe look forward to seeing you at our forthcoming Parents’ & Carers’ Consultations on Tuesday 4th and Wednesday 5th October between 4:00-7:00pm on each evening. Appointment times were issued on Tuesday 27.09.16. Please contact the office if you have not received yours or are unable to make the time allocated.

Dalguise Residential ExcursionOur Dalguise Information Session was held in school, for P7 parents & carers, on Thursday 8th

September between 5:00-6:00pm in the school hall in preparation for the P7 residential excursion on Monday 10th until Friday 14th

October. Excitement is building



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September, 2016amongst our pupils (and staff!) who are busy organizing day groups and dorm arrangements. I look forward to sharing more news about the experience with our community in my October newsletter.

Nursery NewsMany thanks to Mrs Caroline Young for the following article:-The nursery children are currently learning about Autumn and are having lots of opportunities to learn about this season as it unfolds before our very eyes. We have started to explore our local area looking for signs of Autumn and collecting objects to bring back to nursery. Our ‘Learning Wall’ display shows what we know already and we are now using our Talking and Thinking Floor Book to answer some of the children’s questions about this season. The children are also learning about Autumn through songs, stories, art and snack activities and from information books. Do take a look at our Floor Book to find out what they have been learning.

All of our nursery parents and carers are very welcome to join us on Friday, 14th October for our Nursery Open Sessions. These sessions will take place in the nursery from 8.50 till 11.30 for our morning families and 12.20 till 3.20 for our afternoon families. We hope that you will be able to come along and share a typical day in the nursery with the children and for them to share what they have been learning with you all.Finally, we are all excited about our Forest Walks starting again for our morning (pre-school) children. These will begin on Thursday, 27th October and will run every Thursday until 24th

November. The walks will start up again in February next year. We will be providing more information about these walks at our Nursery Open Sessions and opportunities for you to sign up and help.

Mascot CompetitionI am delighted to share with you that Nathan Sherry, one of our Primary 3 pupils, came up with the fantastic idea of running a




September, 2016competition to design an East Craigs’ Mascot. With his teacher Miss Keay, Nathan then ran a competition for our whole school. We have 3 top designs chosen from the entries and will ask our House Captains to make the final decision. I will keep you posted on the result. Many thanks to Nathan for his enterprising approach to learning.

Pupils’ AchievementsPlease read on to hear about the fantastic range of achievements our pupils have shared this month.Primary 1B Alex Ironside is a TV star, appearing with his family on the BBC news.Primary 1B Tommy Foster managed to pull himself along the monkey bars at the zoo without help. It was very high up!Primary 2A Eloise Ferguson has achieved Level 1 at Ballet and also completed the Big Friendly Read Challenge.Primary 2A Gemma Wallace and Heather Bugnall took part in a

Ballet show at the Churchill Theatre. They did a Rainbow and a Frog Dance. The theatre was really busy!Primary 2B Haydn Andrews joined the 16th East Craigs Craigalmond Scout District Group and is loving it! Primary 2B Gregor Lennon ran the 5K Fun Run with his family.Primary 3A Millie Ironside Mille is also a TV star appearing with her family on BBC news and earned a badge for moving into Grade 1 at Ballet. Primary 3A Ayla McLeod achieved Dolphin 1 & 2 Awards at swimming.Primary 3A Lewis Dick took part in the Bear Grylls Survival Race with Beavers.Primary 3A Aaron Williams earned a certificate for his improvements at swimming and for going down the slide.Primary 3B Sophia Gerrard achieved levels 1 & 2 at Ballet class. Primary 4A Maggie Wilkinson earned a highly commended in Highland, Distinction in Modern and also got into a performance group at her dancing. She also achieved levels 2 & 3 at gymnastics.Primary 4A Eilidh May did her first 5K Park Run then met the Olympic athlete Grace Reid, who is a diver. She also moved up a group at Highland dancing.




September, 2016Primary 4B Jacob Petrie completed the Bear Grylls Survival Race with his Cubs.Primary 4B Emma Bradley completed the “Wee Jaunt” (10 miles) cycle for Pedal for Scotland.Primary 4B Melissa Evans completed the 5K Park Run in 30 minutes.Primary 4B Kaci McDonald did a dismount from the bars, landing properly, and a somersault at gymnastics.Primary 5A Katie-Marie Tallis and Jennifer Reid completed their pre-bronze dance exam, achieving a highly commended for Hip-hop and Jazz.Primary 5B Madison Leask won the Ayrshire County Dance Championships winning a spectacular trophy. Primary 5B Luca Henderson earned a certificate for being a Super Achiever at swimming. Primary 5B Rhys Cooper got golf lessons for one year at Turnhouse and has achieved Stage 1 award at Club Golf. Rhys also completed the Rainbow Lizard Challenge at Explore Learning and visited the Royal Observatory.Primary 5B Kirsty Laws cleaned up the public park to help the community. She also took part in a live “cook-off” and made delicious pasta dish.

Primary 5B Rhanna Cunningham made her Mum toast when she wasn’t feeling well. This was the first time she had made toast by herself.Primary 5B Elliot Douglas took part in the 5K Fun Run with his Dad.Primary 6A Daisy Hill has achieved Level 1 in Dance (Tap) Grade 2 with Distinction. Primary 6A Caitlin Walsh gained the title of Champion Highland Dancer at the Forfar Championships. Primary 6A Blair Murray went to Belfast with his Ice Hockey team, “Murrayfield Juniors” to play the “Belfast Giants Juniors” and won 12 goals to 5. Primary 6A Chloe Reid has just started Highland Dancing and has been chosen to perform a solo dance in their upcoming show. Primary 6B Simone Isler-McCurdy, Michael Kenny and Niamh Dobbie, took part in a Biathlon event (running and swimming) earning 2 medals each. Niamh also participated in the Pentland Triathlon event at Forrester High School, earning a medal. Primary 6B Michael Kenny also achieved his Blue belt at Taekwondo.Primary 6B Mounika Pasupulate climbed Mount Vesuvius which is an active volcano.




September, 2016Primary 6B Fraser Petrie completed the Bear Grylls Survival Race with his Scouts. Primary 6B Lewis Andrews took part in the Open Graded Athletics meeting at Meadowmill, East Lothian, running the Under 11s boys 1000 metres run in just over 4 minutes. He also ran the Under 11 boys 150 metres sprint in 27 seconds. At a further event at Grangemouth Stadium, Lewis came 3rd in the Under 13 boys 100 metres sprint and ran the Under 13 boys 150 metres in 26 seconds. Lewis also ran the 5K Fun Run with his Dad.Primary 6B Elliot Douglas attended his first Open Graded Meeting at Grangemouth Stadium, where he took part in long jump and the 100 metres events. Primary 7A Kyle Henderson walked all the way from the Toby Carvery to the Mariott hotel with his family. Primary 7B Rebecca Dillon made a coffee for her Dad for the first time.Well done to all our pupils on their fantastic achievements!!

Jackie ReidHead Teacher




September, 2016

Dates for Your DiaryTuesday 4th October & Wednesday 5th

OctoberParents’ & Carers’ Consultations

Friday 7th October Harvest Thanksgiving Assembly in school

Monday 10th October 7:00pm P3/4 Disco is school hall

Monday 10th October P7 pupils to Dalguise

Friday 14th October School closes for October Holiday

Monday 24th October In-Service Training (School closed to pupils)

Tuesday 25th October Pupils return to school at usual times

Wednesday 2nd November Open Day for new P1 parents & carers Session 2017-18 (9:30-10:30am & 1:45-2:45pm)

Friday 4th November P6 Class Assembly “The Romans”

Week Commencing Monday 7th November

Registration week for new P1 intake Session 2017-18



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