Prestonpans Infant School Newsletter

March 2012

Over the last few weeks, a group of 11

morning nursery children have been learn-

ing about nature by exploring the wood-

land in our own grounds. Working with

Aline and Ros, Outdoor Learning experts

and supported by Miss Millar from the

Nursery, the children have been climbing,

making knots and exploring and using the

woods in their imaginative play. It’s been a

wonderful experience for our children and the experts have been really im-

pressed by the way our children have played so well and so naturally in our

woods. This Friday, a group of teachers and other professionals from Mid

and East Lothian will come to Prestonpans Infant School to be trained in us-

ing woodland and the outdoors to support young children’s learning in their

own nurseries and settings. Miss Dunleavey, Mrs Miller and Ms Callaghan will

train and then lead Nature Nurture for other children from Prestonpans In-

fants, using our own woods, next session.

All Nursery children have been very lucky to have been

involved in performance drama with LicketySpit Thea-

tre Company’s production of LicketyLeap. Each group of

children will share their LicketyLeap performance with

their families in the next few weeks. Each child, no

matter how lively or quiet they may be, has become very

involved in the production, which has been a joy to see. Thank you Lick-

etySpit Theatre Company for giving our 3 and 4 year olds this fantastic op-

portunity.

We currently have a lot of new school uniform in school to sell. If

you need polo shirts, sweatshirts, tee shirts, hats, fleeces or

waterproof jackets, you can buy these directly from the

office.

Thank you to Kevin Davanna and all the adults and local

companies who helped make the amazing total of £1600

profit for our Playground Improvement Fund on 3 March

2012 at Prestonpans Labour Club. As well as a great fun evening’s entertain-

ment, the event took the total we have raised to £27, 000. You’ve managed

to fill the Rag Bag again so we’re expecting more this week. Amazing!

Two brave Prestonpans Infant mums have committed themselves

to running the Edinburgh Half Marathon and Steve Aitchison is

going to run the whole Marathon for the Playground Improve-

ment Fund. Would you please consider sponsoring Debbie, Claire

and Steve? There is a separate letter attached, which you can

return to school if you are willing to sponsor these dedicated

parents.

We are also forming a Race Crew Team, either working at a Hydration Sta-

tion or the Relay Change Station. We will be paid a fee for this, which will go

to the Playground Improvement Fund. To join a Race Crew, you have to be

willing to work from around 9am—4pm on Sunday 27.5.12. We think you will

not be able to have children with you. The fee of around £15—£17 (as I re-

call) will be paid directly to the Playground Improvement Fund. There is a

separate letter attached, which you can return to school if you are willing to

join the Race Crew. It’s a good laugh and a fun way to raise funds.... if it’s

not raining! If you join the Race Crew you must turn up on the day.

Are you liking our pink and blue tubs in the play-

ground? Then come on Saturday 24 March from

12—3pm and help us paint the tubs and fences in

the grounds. Aileen Callaghan, our new Playground

Supervisor, will run some children’s activities,

freeing up the adults to get on with the painting.

120 of you came along on Friday 16

March and enjoyed a cup of tea and a

wee hand massage from your child. It

was a lovely event and so many of you

said you enjoyed it. Thank you to Mrs

McBirnie and to Christine Knox for giv-

ing families such a lovely experience.

On Friday 20 April, we welcome P1 parents and

carers back to our Daffodil Tea from 11am.

We can all remember how hard it is to

be a parent of young children and it

can be a really hard time when you

are a young parent. So to support

young parents (21 yrs and under) and

their babies and toddlers under 3

years old, we are starting a new drop

in Stay and Play session on Friday af-

ternoons in our Nursery from 1-3pm.

Susan Savage from our Nursery Team

will lead these sessions. We have

been successful in getting funding to

buy toys and play resources for chil-

dren from birth to 2 years old. Sadly

we won’t be able to have older chil-

dren along but we will take young parents with 3 year olds who are

not at nursery yet. If you know young parents who would like to

come along, you can get a leaflet to give them from our office.

In 2 Stars and A Wish, some of you said that you would like the

children to go on more trips. We are remembering that for next

year. However, for this year, we are making sure every class goes

on one main trip. We are subsidising each trip so it

will cost £3.50 per pupil. P1 and P2 families can

start saving up for that by giving money to the

School Office anytime they like. Just put it in an

envelope and mark it clearly. In June, P1s will be going to the

Museum of Flight by train and bus and P2s will be going to

The Butterfly Farm and Vogrie Park by coach.

The P3s trip is this term and is to the Royal Scottish Museum to

study about the Egyptians. P3/10 went

last week and I have had so many super

reports about their excellent behaviour

and about how much they had already

learnt about Egyptians. I’m sure P3/12

will be enjoy the trip as much this week.

P1s are having an extra wee trip to Domino’s Pizza

in Musselburgh, where the manager, our good

friend and former pupil Robin Reid has shown

them how pizzas are made and has given each

child a wee pizza to take home. Thank you Robin.

P1 also opened their Dinosaur Museum today

and I hope you can come along to see the

impressive displays of their learning about

dinosaurs. The P1 museum was opened to-

day by Sarah from the Council’s Museum

Service.

School holidays start on Monday 2 April and continue till Mon-

day 16 April. We all start back on Tuesday 17 April 2012.

The great excitement in school

just now, however, is from the

P3s who are going on their first

residential trip to Innerwick

Centre with school staff next week. Each child will go for a 24

hour stay, leaving at 9am one day and returning at the same time

the next day. I would like to thank Mrs Susan Graham for the

huge commitment and organisation she puts into taking the P3s to

Innerwick. She gives so much to the children through this unique

residential experience for P3s. Thank you too to the other staff

who give up their own time and skills to allow P3s to go to camp.

Thank you families for being brave enough to let your wee ones

go. It’s going to be great.

You might not have heard that there was a proposed strike by

teachers on Wednesday 28 March 2012. However, I can assure

you all that there will be NO STRIKE on that day. School will be

open as normal.

Mrs Debbie Finnigan has joined us as Dining Room Su-

pervisor. Ms Aileen Callaghan has become a Play-

ground Supervisor with responsibility for leading play

and games with the children. We have also appointed

Mr Callum Douglas as another Additional Support

Needs Auxiliary. Mr Douglas starts on Tuesday 17

April 2012. Until then Mrs Susan Garden is with us on

supply. Jordan Briscoe is a young Sports student

with us for the whole year. These peo-

ple are making a great addition to our

school and we are glad to welcome

them to the staff team.

We all want our children to grow up happy, con-

fident, secure and able to cope with life’s chal-

lenges. Some children seem to manage this bet-

ter than others. Would you like to find out

some of the reasons for this?

Mrs Kettell and Ms Laing are going to run a 6

week course for parents and carers on Thursday afternoons next term.

It will run from 12.45—2.45pm in Prestonpans Infant School. If there

is enough demand we may run an extra course in the evening for those

of our parents and carers who work. Each group has places for 8—12

people. If you are interested, come along to an Introductory Session

on Thursday 26th April from 1.15—2.45pm. A letter will come out

about this early next term before HEALTH WEEKS 23 April—4 May.

A Council Health & Safety Officer was in the playground recently and

asked us to make sure parents and carers were clear on 2 issues.

Dogs — MUST NOT be brought into the playground or tied up

near the gate. If you bring a dog in, we will ask you to take it out.

Many children are frightened of dogs or allergic to them. We

also really do not want dogs’ poo in the playground.

Bikes and Scooters—Please do not allow your child to ride their

bike or scooter in the playground. Children can be very fast on

these and this is a safety hazard. In the future, we do hope to

encourage children to cycle to school and to provide bike/scooter

stands. For that, we need some parents or carers who are willing

to become bike trainers for children. Let Ms Laing know if you are

interested in this.

Ms Laing, Mrs McBirnie and Mrs Kettell will be taking turns to

come into the playground Mon—Thurs mornings before the bell.

This is a good chance for you to catch us to pass on messages to

teachers or to share any concerns you have.

I would like to sponsor Debbie, Claire and

Steve the parents from Prestonpans Infant

School, who are running in the Marathon to

raise money for the playground.

I include £ as a contribution to their

effort.

OR

I will send £ in to school once they have

completed the Marathon.

Adult’s Name Child’s Name/Class

I am willing to become a member of the Prestonpans

Infant Race Crew from 9am—4pm on Sunday 27

May 2012. I agree to donating the fee I earn to

the Playground Improvement Fund.

Adult’s Name

Child’s Class

Child’s Name

Phone Number

Return to school for the attention of Ms Laing.