Head Teacher: M.R.Tremmel Gullane Primary School

Muirfield Terrace Gullane EH31 2HL

Tel/Fax: 01620 843455 gullane.ps@gullane.elcschool.org.uk http://edubuzz.org/blogs/gullane

Dear Parents/Carers Welcome to a new year in Gullane Primary. The children seem to have had a lovely break in most instances. I hope you enjoyed some pleasant times too. We ended the term in December with a fairly high level of illness and as the term has got underway it seems that similar illnesses are back! The school meals from P1-3 have gone well so far. I am still fielding a few concerns over portion sizes and choice but I am endeavouring to work with Facilities Management to resolve the issues. Mrs Bathgate is our new cook in charge and she is becoming more familiar with the children and the demands of the post. We are trialling a system where we ask the children about their choices for lunchtime to support the amount that is prepared. It is helpful if the children have an idea of the menu for the day so any help here is beneficial. Staffing All of our new members of staff have now joined our staff team. Mrs Grainger started on Monday this week and has already met many of our nursery families and she is looking forward to working with our nursery classes. Miss Linda Ross has been standing in for Mrs Travers as she knows all of the children and has enjoyed her time with us. Mrs Grainger will liaise with nursery families as time goes on and make any necessary arrangements to meet with parents as appropriate. Miss Collins has also settled into P1/2 and is enjoying her time with them. Mrs Kerray has settled into P6 and she will meet other classes in P3-P5 as she will cover for a short period of time in each class.

Ms Hamel will be leaving us for a short time, She is our playground supervisor. We will need a replacement as of 2nd February and an advert may be placed shortly once I have consulted with HR. One hour a day, four days a week. We are taking Mrs Travers out for her retirement dinner later this month and she is really looking forward to it! I must thank all the parents who sent in a donation towards a retirement gift for her from the children. The Pupil Council came up with a plan to purchase a shrub which produces a host of blue flowers to remind her of Gullane Primary. They also gave her some pink gardening gloves! The balance has gone into a cash gift with instructions, from the children, to buy something that will remind her of her time here. She was absolutely delighted with everything. There was also a set of geese to remind her of us all! We will have three weddings to look forward to this year! Miss Mair is first up the aisle in April then Miss Kane in August followed by Mr Dagger in October! The staffroom will soon be awash with talk of cakes, flowers, outfits and choices of music! How lovely! Parent/Teacher Consultations Week beginning 30th March 2015 We will be holding our parent/teacher consultations on Monday 30th and Tuesday 31st of March. The Monday will be the later session and the Tuesday the earlier session. The children are in school on the Wednesday and it is a staff in service on the Thursday. Staff will send out information and timings for their consultations later this term. Please ensure you return any slips so that staff can set up the appointments taking families into consideration. Playground, Mud and Mess! We ask that the children bring some form of cover ups if they wish to play energetic ball games at breaks. As these games are of the energetic variety many young folks come into class after a break with extremely muddy trousers. The mud then dries and there can be enough on the carpet to test even the most powerful of vacuum cleaners. Please remind your child to keep an old pair of cover ups in school to protect their school clothes and save our cleaning team from despair! Another reminder to label/name all of your child’s possessions. Too many are left with nowhere to go but recycling. During the winter days it is helpful if the children change out of outdoor footwear when in school. If they always have their gym shoes in their cubbies it means they can change easily. PTA News Please could you put a section in your newsletter about the upcoming PTA Family Film Festival. The films and times are as follows: Saturday 31st January 2015. 1.30 pm - Frozen Singalong 4.30 pm - Boxtrolls 8.00 pm - What We Did On Our Holidays There will be snacks and drinks for sale at both, and a licensed bar and raffle at the evening show.

The PTA has set up a Facebook page as a way of keeping folks posted on events and news. Just search for Gullane PTA to see how it all looks. Please be reassured that comments/posts will be vetted before publication and there will be no photographs of people posted unless express permission has been formally granted. Kind regards Maureen R. Tremmel Head Teacher 22nd January 2015 Please remember to let us know if your child has done something out of school no matter how small or large – we love to

know and we put up a card in school and mention the child and the achievement in our newsletters. We are happy to accept the text for the information via email.

We also value your opinions and comments- please let me know what your thoughts are – email/call or letters are all fine.

Well done to ... Jess Mackie in P7. She has passed her ABRSM grade 3 piano exam with merit and her grade 2 singing exam with distinction. She sat both exams at the same time in on month which is a tall order, and we are very proud of her. And well done to … Jasmine Hiles in P7 who passed her grade 3 piano exam with merit.  Well done to…Megan Flockhart in P4 who was selected for the Under 10 East Lothian Hockey development squad and has been picked along with Iona Syme. They played their first match against Compass school on Saturday 1st December. And well done to… Emily Mae Thomson (P3) for winning a bronze and 2 silver medals at her first gymnastics club championships. We are very proud of her.

Also well done to… Jake Thomson (P1) for performing on stage in Edinburgh in his first dance show. Jake also for passed hi level 3 of kinder ski school. Fantastic effort. So proud. A well done to… Skye Sievwright in P5for passing her grade one piano lesson with merit! Everyone is very proud!

Community News and Information Instead of many flyers going home and adding to a paper mountain we put all such events in this section. If you are organising an event please write what you would like as information and we will endeavour to include in this section for you. We do not take any responsibility nor do we screen the quality of any the community projects and events advertised.

Looking for something new and fun to do of an afternoon? Why not register an interest in a new Youth Theatre class in your area! Due to previous lack of demand East Lothian Council Arts Service have been unable to provide classes to date. However if they get enough interest in the local area they may consider starting classes in Gullane. Should your child be interested in starting a class, can you please contact Kirsty

White 07931298297 or martin_white14@hotmail.com.Please include the following details to assist the staff at the Brunton Theatre - your contact details (tel no & e-mail), Childs name & age. This information shall be shared with East Lothian Youth Theatre Group who shall assess whether there is a business case to provide local classes.

Little Big Screen @ Gullane Village Hall brings you a great selection of wonderful films, for all the family. Our films are free and everyone is welcome. Each month – from September to June - we show a family matinee and an evening show for teens and adults.

Little Big Screen is a project of Gullane Community Association and is run by volunteers Donations are welcome and all go to making our Village Hall even better. Find out more and please join our mailing list: https://www.facebook.com/littlebigscreen.gullane http://twitter.com/LBSGullane Email contact@littlebigscreen.org January 2015 27/01/15 P3 visit to Museum Chamber Street and Edinburgh City Mosque 28/01/15 Compass Swimming Gala pm Team only February 2015 3/02/15 P7 Enterprise Day – Cluster event at NBHS-details to follow 4/02/15 P7 visit to Pressmennan Wood 4/02/15 Parent/Carer Council in Gullane Primary 7pm all welcome 6/02/15 Swimming Finals – Prestonpans -Team Only 9/02/15 P6 Rugby Taster in School 13/02/15 School finishes for the half term at usual times 23/02/15 School resumes for staff and pupils 23/02/15 P6 Rugby Taster in school 24/02/15 Swimming resumes for P4 March 2015 02/03/15 P6 Rugby Taster in School 03/03/15 Tennis Tasters in School 09/03/15 P6 Rugby Taster in school 12/03/15 P6 Rugby Festival at NBHS 17/03/15 P7 to NBHS for Spring Concert in afternoon 27/03/15 P7 & P1 class Photographs

School breaks for Easter Holiday on Wednesday 1st April at the usual times. School resumes for pupils on Monday 20th April