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School Newsletter June 2012 Issue 6

I can’t believe we have reached the end of session–

it has flown by! What a journey the school

has been on this year. We have developed

a great deal of resilience and have worked

together to give the best experiences for our

children.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank

all those who have helped throughout the year on

school trips, in the classrooms, attending our

various events ie open days, curriculum evenings,

assemblies and the list goes on. Without all of

your help and input a lot of things in school simply

could not take place so once again, a final very big

thank you from myself, the staff and the pupils.

We hope that many more of you will feel able to

get involved with the school next session in any

small way and look forward to welcoming you.

Thank you to our Parent Council for their

continuing support of our school and for their

enthusiasm for supporting our shared aim of

continuous improvement for our school. I look

forward to working with you again next session.

Staffing

In a recent letter home I outlined staffing for

next session as follows and here is a little

reminder:

Nursery Mrs Taig and Mrs Elliot

P1/2 Mrs Lord

P3/4/5 Miss Hutchison

P5/6/7 Mrs Anderson and Mr Lavery

We are also pleased to have both Mrs Anderson

and Mrs Lord back with us again. A huge

thank you goes to both Mrs McKinnon and

Miss Jack who worked in both classes

during these absences. Their hard work

and dedication was second to none and it was a

pleasure having them both as part of the team.

Coffee and Chat

A reminder that the next date for Coffee and Chat

will be Friday 22 June at 9am. I look

forward to seeing as many of you as

possible to discuss what we are planning

for the school moving into next session.

School Improvement Plan

Reflecting on the many achievements of our school

this session we now look to identify our

priorities for improvement next

session. Our priorities are organised

under four main headings:

Literacy – looking at developing practice

relating to the teaching of reading

Maths and Numeracy – Developing children’s

understanding of number and mental

calculations and implementing a consistent

approach across the school

Health and Wellbeing – Begin our journey in

becoming a Rights Respecting School and

develop emotional literacy across the school

Curriculum Design – Implement new topic plans

in collaboration with Dirleton Primary and agree

a consistent approach to the use of achievement

folders

Those who were at the last Coffee and Chat

session received these positively and I would

welcome any comments or questions from parents

and carers. Please feel free to get in touch if you

want to find out more about what this means and

how it will affect your child/children.

School Grounds

Can I ask that when coming into the

school that you close the gate. We have

had a few instances of dogs fouling in

the playground and want to ensure that

we are minimising any opportunities for this. I

appreciate your support in this matter.

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School Groups

(Eco, Pupil Council & JRSO)

Our Pupil Council and Eco Committee have been

busy all year. Amongst their

achievements have been working with

the Parent Council to implement the new

school library and also to lead on organising our

fundraising event for Sports Relief. The Eco

committee have been very busy maintaining our

garden, organising eco activities for each

class, gathering more recycling bins and

working on our Village litter pick. We know

these groups will continue to work hard next

session and look forward to receiving application

forms in August from pupils wishing to take on

these responsibilities. Thank you also to our two

Junior Road Safety Officers, Rachel and Jasmine

who will be handing over their

responsibilities to two more senior pupils

next session.

Malawi Fundraising

After the summer holidays, all the schools in the

North Berwick cluster will be

participating in a backpack appeal in

association with the Scottish charity

Mary’s Meals. If you are planning on buying a new

school bag for the new school year, please don’t

throw out your old one. Instead, save it for our

appeal and it will be put to very good use by school

pupils in Malawi.

Dates for the Diary

21 June Transition morning

22 June Reports due to parents

27 June Olympic Torch Event – Athelstaneford

– torch arrives at 1pm – more details to follow

29 June End of Term – Church Service 9.30am

Finally, I have thoroughly enjoyed my six months as Acting Head teacher of Athelstaneford Primary

School, they say time flies when you’re having fun and it certainly has! We have worked hard as a staff

team, achieving lots to be very proud of and certainly , as a school community, we look forward to our

holidays. On behalf of myself and the team, I hope you all have a lovely summer break and that the sun

shines throughout.

I look forward to welcoming you all back and hearing about all the exciting adventures everyone has been

on – see you on 15 August!

Please remember to keep an eye on the school blog http://edubuzz.org/blogs/athelstaneford/ for the

most up to date information. As ever if you have any concerns or queries please do not hesitate to contact

me.

Scott Lavery

Acting Head Teacher

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Signed: ................................................................................... Date: ............................................................