REMINDERS Holidays –

Close – Friday 23rd DecemberOpen – Monday 9th January

EventsPhotographer –Wednesday 16th Nov

Parents’ evenings23rd & 24th Nov

FLU vaccinations 6th Dec

Christmas concertCommunity – 9th AMMon 12th AMTues 13th AM & PM

Christmas lunch Fri 16th

Carol Service in the square Friday 16th Dec

Church Service Thurs 22nd 9:30am

Parties16th – am P119th – pm P4&520th –pm P2&323rd –pm P6&7

School websitewww.tarradaleprimary.wordpress.com

Keep yourself informed with what’s going on.Look out for things happening in the school.

TARRADALE SCHOOL NEWSLETTER ‘Working together with our community to encourage and nurture our young learners to achieve their potential and be responsible, confident and happy.’NOV DEC 16

Hello to all and a huge apology for the lack of Newsletters this session. I hope the e-mails, facebook and other methods of communication have managed to plug the gap thus far.I have given you the dates for this term again just to refresh your memory but remember that the calendar I sent out is much more detailed and has every date in the diary right up until the last day of the summer term. This was new so I hope it has been helpful.

Our villageWe are right in the midst of huge changes. For so many years Muir of Ord has felt like a poor cousin in comparison to Beauly, despite our lively and thriving community which is so very evident at the yearly Gala. I know the traffic lights are driving us all nuts, and the building works all around are unsightly, but the end product of all of this activity is going to make such a huge difference for our whole community.The ideas for community groups in the new ‘Hub’ are fabulous. The children in p7 have already been enjoying Eden Court outreach projects and have been upping their creative skills thanks to Hannah MacSween and her vision for what the Hub is going to achieve. Keep looking out for news on film clubs etc which are going to be part and parcel of what the Hub will deliver.We are extremely excited at the prospect of nipping over the road to Bad Girl Bakery who are opening a café also! A very exciting venture for two of our lovely parents.We have had a few super presentations from George Leslie Construction who are currently building the new bridge. They have been fantastic with the school and have been delighted to see our children dressed in their ‘hi-vis’ waistcoats so keep using them – especially in these dark nights.They have organised for a bridge building exercise to come for the p6’s and p7’s in a couple of weeks. The children will be able to experience building a scale model of a suspension bridge which will fill the space of the whole gym hall. It looks great and I know the children will enjoy it.We are living in exciting times!

Parent CouncilThe meeting last Friday was cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances so the parent council will be in touch shortly with a new date. They have however given me the go ahead to buy a few very exciting purchases which you will hear about in due course.I have said before that the focus for the parent council is not only fundraising. Although that is very important to us as it just lets us keep on top of what we need for the children, there is a much more meaningful role for them to play. Jason, Ian and Julie alongside other members keep on top of current issues in education, which adversely affect the day to day running of the school. Recently it has been the allocation of PSA’s and Learning Support Teachers. The parent council support in this was just what we needed, as morale in a school where staff are part of a team and valued – is really hit hard.You are probably aware how much time I am spending in a variety of classes. Despite my staff being a very robust bunch we seem to be struggling a little this session with a few health issues not to mention the usual sickness and flu bugs.Mrs Boardman in P7 is absent but thankfully we have Mrs Henderson covering the P7 class up until we need her, so that is very good news for us and gives the class the stability it needs.Supply cover for cases where staff members are off, is extremely hard to find, meaning I need to be in class for prolonged periods of time. I very much enjoy being in class, however it does mean that other duties I perform do not get done so please bear with me when this is the case. This is one area where the parent council are listening very closely to what is being proposed and are ready to help out. If you have any concerns please get in touch with either myself or your parent council at tarradalepc@gmail.com

The parent council have decided to take over the ticket selling for the Christmas concerts this year. There has been a lot of discussion with parents as to how we can make it as fair and open as we can. We have one evening performance and two morning performances every year with the evening being the most popular. Because of this we allow first come first served and two tickets only to each family. This year the parents have decided to completely change the way it is done in the interests of fairness. This year there is going to be a ticket lottery! All parents who would like two tickets for evening will be invited to apply to the lottery. We will then take names out of a hat and the winning families will receive their tickets. We will do this next week so that people have plenty of time to ask for time off work in the morning if that is what’s needed. I am very thankful to you all for taking this over as it is the most stressful time of the year! Look out for your note and get your slip back in to us ASAP to be in with a chance.

Group dayAs you know every 4 weeks every child in our school takes part in ‘group day’. This is where we all split into groups of all ages and stages in the school to work on a special project of to have fun. We have a number of brand new groups this year so do please ask your child what group they are in and ask what they are up to. We have the usual popular groups such as PE, Orienteering, Card making, Prefects + HB and HG, Glee Club, Art and craft etc but we also have a few new and exciting groups too. We have Memory makers who are looking at creating a life story

for one lucky resident in Urray House and presenting the family with it at the end.

These photos show you the methodology we are using to make sure the ideas come from the children themselves. Lovely to see a mix of ages all working together.

We have the ‘science and engineering’ club. We have a new Disney club and we also have the ‘International Investigators’ who are a current affairs group looking at whatever is happening around the world at any given time. I’m sure I may have missed a couple – so ask your child! We LOVE group day. The atmosphere around the school is just fabulous as they all get to work together.

Our lovely Disney Mouseketeers working on their door handles.

There are lots more photos to see in our new school handbook which can be found on our website by the end of next week.

Children in NeedThis Friday sees the annual Children in Need day. This year the theme is - come with as many spotty and dotty items or colours as you can.The Wonderful fundraising group have been beavering away and have lots of brilliant ideas up their sleeves for us to get up to on Friday (hopefully nothing as gruesome as baked beans in wellies #scarredforlife)Look out for Facebook on Friday to catch up on our Shenanigans.

National Bullying week 2016

This week right across the country is National Bullying week. We have all seen the horrific images in social media where children are being abused by their peers. We have all heard the stories of children harming themselves or being depressed or anxious about coming to school. This is wholly unacceptable.This is a fight we as adults have to do together in order to combat this. We think at Tarradale that our Ethos is good and we strive to keep the children happy. We talk about what it means to be a part of the Tarradale Family, and how we can keep us all safe and happy. However, no matter how

TARRADALE SCHOOL NEWSLETTERhappy our school feels, there is no place in society for complacency. The staff and I take this issue extremely seriously.I take the whole school in two sessions every term to look at different issues. It can be how good is our school? What improvements do we need to make? Plus any other ideas from the children. This week we have been updating and reminding about keeping safe, both in school and outside school.I am relieved to say we have a very knowledgeable and sensible bunch of people. Lots of ideas, lots of discussion and a very definite idea of what to do in any given situation.The message is TELL AN ADULT!! It’s that basic. They must tell. They can make umpteen lists as to who to tell so long as they tell someone.Now and again we do an exercise in identifying someone to give information to the police. It was poor Mrs Downies turn to be the ‘stranger’ so that the children could write down as many things they could remember about what she was wearing etc for a police statement. The advice we were given by the Police was start at the top and work your way down. It’s quite fun – have a try when you’re out and about – it’s amazing the things you can train yourself to do.

Our wonderful Mrs Downie. Always up for any task!

So that’s the message for the children. Now for you parents! As a staff we are saying to you – YOU must tell! If you think your child is being upset and continually coming home upset you must come in and tell us. We can’t fix something we don’t know about. Sometimes we might already have information about an incident and can fill in the blanks for you and let you know what’s happening. Other times it’s brand new and needs to be investigated.

We are looking forward to seeing you all next week for parents evening. As usual I am available in the GP room with coffee and tea. I am available for a general chat but I will obviously as usual have a few bits and pieces for you to see and probably a few questions to pick your brain. Please try and make a point of popping up to see me even if it’s for 5 minutes. If your child has any form of input from learning support Mrs Murdoch may be involved in the meeting with your class teacher so that you can chat to everyone involved. I hope you find this helpful.

Here’s to upcoming Christmas trees, Buble singing, children’s faces and hopefully a smattering of snow!

As always – if you need us just call.

Tracy Sinclair and your Tarradale Staff