Langlee Drive, Galashiels, TD1 2EB. Tel:01896757892

September 2011

Welcome back after the summer holiday!  I hope you all enjoyed the break with your children and managed to find some sunshine! The new term has got off to a positive start. The children have all settled into their new classes and are working well.

Miss Sandra Davidson     Headteacher

Staffing

Welcome to Miss Pollard P3/4 who joins the staff as a newly qualified teacher and to Mrs Tennant, our new nursery teacher. Mr Guthrie, P1 teacher, is now a permanent member of staff. Unfortunately Mrs Ivalo had an accident in the holidays and is currently recovering from a broken ankle. In the meantime her class is being covered by Mrs Esmer who will be with us until Mrs Ivalo returns. Congratulations to Mrs Warburton, our music teacher, who had a baby boy in the holidays.  Mrs Sharpe will be taking classes for music while Mrs Warburton is on maternity leave. We said farewell to Mrs Nichol, nursery nurse, who left to take up a post at the Borders General Hospital – we wish her all the best in her new job. Mrs Valerie Makepeace will be joining the nursery team on Monday 5^th September.

School Meals

The cost of a school meal is £1.80. Can I take this opportunity to remind you that free school meals have to be applied for each year.  Until you have received an authorisation letter from SBC to say that your child is entitled to free school meals please send your payment in the dinner envelope. If you think your child may be entitled to free school meals please contact Customer Services on 0300 100 1800 as the number of children entitled to free school meals can affect the amount of funding the school receives. Please also remember to fill in the dinner envelope each week and send it in to school together with payment by each Wednesday. Please discuss the choices with your child as quite often children tell us that parents have chosen something they don’t like.

School Uniform

We continue to encourage pupils to wear a school sweatshirt in maroon.  Sweatshirts with the school logo cost £8.00 and order forms are available from the office.  Sweatshirts without the school logo may be available cheaper in the town supermarkets. When pupils wear uniform it promotes belonging to a school, it ensures that unsuitable fashion clothes are not worn to school, there is no peer pressure to wear “designer” clothes which in turn can lead to bullying if pupils do not wear designer clothes.

Langlee Carnival

Langlee Carnival is on 10 September 2011 at Langlee Community Centre. Congratulations to Dean Bertram and Carolina Romero Amah who are Langlee Lad and Lass.  We know they will be excellent representatives of the school.  This year’s carnival includes a fancy dress parade, bouncy castle, Irish dancers, zumba, climbing wall, tug-of-war competition, face painting, clowns, bug band, live music including Dylan and Dr Boris, horse and carriage rides, birds of prey and a kiddies’ funfair. There will be Thai cuisine in the roundabout café. Please come along and join the fun!

Crèche    

Tuesday 9.15 – 11.15am                             Parents and children

Tuesday 1.00 – 3.00pm                                          For parents attending adult groups in the school e.g. sewing, knitting or cooking.

Wednesday 1.00 – 2.45pm                                      This session is aimed at children of adults attending English conversation classes in the school.

Thursday 1.00 – 3.00pm                                        This session is aimed at children of 2 and over. Parents/carers need not stay as long as the children are happy to be left.   

The crèche is run by Joan Martin and Shirley Third

Breakfast Club

Up and running and still only 20p for a hot drink and toast or cereal– great value.  Open from 7.45am – 8.30am and run by Heather Anderson and Joan Martin.

Tuck Shop

We have a Tuck Shop each day at break time selling a range of healthy snacks. We encourage the children not to have sweets or chocolate for break piece because it is not good for their teeth.

Nuts

We have children in school who are allergic to nuts. If they eat or even come into contact with nuts or nut products the consequences could be very serious. We therefore ask parents to avoid snacks and packed lunch items which contain nuts or nut products as far as is reasonably possible. This includes chocolate nut spread and also some cereal bars. We thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

Curriculum and Homework

All teachers will be sending out information on the learning planned for the classes for this block. This will include learning in maths and language as well as all the other areas of the curriculum. You will also receive information about the homework your child will have and a homework leaflet with ideas for ways to help your child learn at home. You are welcome to contact the school at any time if you wish to discuss your child’s learning and progress.

Parents’ Evenings

We are making some changes to the arrangements for Parents’ Evenings this year. Teachers felt it would be useful to meet parents informally early in the new session to explain some of the work the children will be doing and to give you an opportunity to ask questions or discuss issues with the teachers. This meeting will take place in September. The one-to-one interviews with the teacher will take place half way through the school session in February and we will hold an Open Evening in May when children can bring their parents in to see the work they have been doing in class. Please remember, however, that you are welcome to make an appointment at any time if you have questions or concerns about your child’s learning or progress.  The dates for parents evenings are as follows:

There will be a meeting for parents/carers of our new P1 pupils on Tuesday 30th August at 6pm.

There will be a meeting for parents/carers of P2- P7 pupils on Wednesday 14^th September from 6pm – 7pm. 

The Parent Council (Friends of Langlee) AGM will also be held on the evening of the 14^th September and all parents are welcome to attend.

There will be a meeting for the parents/carers of our nursery children on Wednesday 21st September from 6 – 7pm. Please do come along to these informal meetings and find out about what your child is learning at school and nursery.

Junior Road Safety Officers

Our two JRSOs for this year are Nicole Johnston and Katie McGill. They will be keeping us informed of road safety issues throughout the year.

Congratulations

To our elected Eco-Committee:

School Day/Attendance

The school day begins at 9.00am and ends for pupils at 3:00pm.  We would ask that pupils arrive at school on time at the beginning of the day. If your child is going to be absent from school could you please let us know as soon as possible on the first day of absence or even before in the case of pre-arranged appointments. This is partly for administrative purposes but also in terms of your child’s safety i.e. if a child does not arrive at school in the morning we know the reason for their absence.

Family Holidays

Where possible we would ask that family holidays are planned to coincide with school holidays. In terms of consistency and continuity in the children’s learning experiences, regular attendance at school is vitally important. Although some children can catch up with some elements of work after an absence they will have missed important teaching points and interaction with their classmates and the teacher during their time away. Regular short absences are equally damaging to a pupil’s progress. I appreciate that absence due to illness or a family emergency cannot be avoided but when planning family holidays bear in mind that an absence of a week or more will have an effect on your child’s learning. This applies particularly at the beginning of a new term when a lot of important teaching and learning takes place. If possible, please let us know in advance when pupils are going to be absent during term time. For administrative purposes the majority of family holidays taken during term time must be recorded as ‘unauthorised’ absence.

After-School Clubs

Owing to a change in priorities and funding Funky Club will not be continuing this year. However, there will be after-school clubs taking place for blocks of time throughout the year. Class teachers will give out information about any after-school clubs that are running.

Car Park

 Please do not use the car park as a shortcut to school especially with young children. This is a very busy area at the beginning and end of the day with school taxis and minibuses often reversing in or out of parking spaces. The car park is not a safe route to school. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

 Water Bottles

 Drinking water is provided in school for pupils and they can bring a water bottle to have in class and the playground.

Newsletter 7
April 2011

Welcome back to the summer term which is always a busy time in the school year. I hope  you are enjoying the good weather as much as we are. It makes such a difference when the children are able to play out on the grass.

Eco-fortnight

During the first two weeks of this term pupils in all classes have been taking part in a range of activities linked to our Eco-schools work. These have been organised by Mrs Belleville who leads our Eco-committee ‘The Green Thumbs’. Children in some classes have been out in the school grounds with the Countryside Rangers looking for mini-beasts. This week classes will be working with the rangers and Borders Forest Trust looking at habitats and tree identification.

Classes have also taken part in litter pick-ups out in the community as part of the National Spring Clean initiative. Of course, as the children said themselves it’s good to know that we’re helping but it would be better if people did not drop litter in the first place!

Of course, all our recycling is going on as usual and we are trying to re-cycle as much waste as we can. Remember we have a box in school for recycling batteries and you can use the Rag Bag container for old clothes and textiles.

Mini-beast report by Jack Turnbull P6

We went on a mini-beast hunt around the school. I caught a ladybug and a grasshopper. We had magnifying tubs to see the bugs up close. We had to put the slimy bugs on white trays because the slimy bugs would get sticky in the magnifying tubs.

Mrs Romeril asked me to take pictures of the bugs on the camera. I also took pictures of people searching for bugs under leaves and rocks. People in our class were also searching along the fence. They were mostly searching for ladybugs. The ladybugs had 7 spots.

P3 Bug Hunt

I thought it was great fun. I got to find insects I didn’t know about.  Solana Taylor

I found four ants already in my tub. I got to let the snail go. Lewis McRae

It was good because we found lots of bugs. I didn’t like picking up the millipede because it has lots of legs! Paige Higgins

It was kind of creepy trying to pick up the bugs. We learned a lot from Keith the ranger though! Amy Turnbull

It was interesting finding lots of creatures in our playground. Arron McAdam

Farmers’ Market

Our big event this week, which you should have already heard about, is the Farmers’ Market, which is being organised by P7 pupils with some help from Miss Thorpe and Mrs Belleville. This will take place in the school hall on Thursday afternoon and I would urge you all to come along and support us. There is no obligation to buy anything but there will be a variety of stalls selling meat, cheese, pate, plants, ice-cream, jewellery, home baking, plants and so on. Tea, coffee and juice will be served in the school hall. Come along if you can and bring all your friends too.

Nursery News

On Monday 28^th March nursery pupils, staff and parents enjoyed a trip to Almond Valley Farm Park. The sun shone and they all had a great time. Staff were particularly impressed by the range of activities on offer which included soft play and ‘little animals for little people’ – where the children got to handle baby chicks. There were also giant rabbits and a play park with tractors. All in all it was a super day out and good value for money.

Nursery staff are currently planning a trip for the pre-school children and organising the visits to P1. Nursery children are now going out to the playground with staff at break time and that is working well.

Support Centre News

The Support Centre hosted a very successful Easter Monday Picnic for pupils, staff, parents, carers and friends. Activities included an Easter bonnet parade, an Easter egg hunt and an egg and spoon race. The Support Centre are very grateful to Tesco for donating the Easter egg prizes and to the children and parents for taking part in the sponsored egg-fill competition. (How many items can you fit in a plastic egg-shell?) Over £300 was raised which will help provide equipment for outdoor learning.

Horse riding with RDA is starting on Wednesday afternoons for some of the Support Centre pupils.

Music specialist, Mhairi Lafferty, will be working with all the Support Centre groups over the next few weeks.

P7 Transition

This is, of course, the last term in Langlee Primary for our P7 pupils and they will be involved in lots of events and activities this term. They have already had three visits to Galashiels Academy for activities linked to Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Well-being when they have had the opportunity to meet some of the academy staff as well as pupils from other schools in the locality. They will also spend two days at the academy on Thursday 16^th and Friday 17^th June.

On Wednesday 18^th May P7 pupils will be taking part in a New Image Rugby Festival at Netherdale from 10am – 12pm.

Week beginning Monday 23^rd May P7 pupils will be taking part in cycling safety each afternoon form 1pm – 3pm. We are looking for parent helpers for this so if you can help out please contact the school.

P7 Residential

The P7 residential trip to Robinwood outdoor centre is from Wednesday 1^st – Friday 3^rd June. There will be a meeting for parents (and pupils if they want to come along) here at the school on Wednesday 11^th May at 6.30pm when we will show a short DVD and answer any questions you may have. The staff accompanying the pupils on the trip are Miss Thorpe, Mr Guthrie, Mrs Begg and me.

School Closures

The school will be closed on Friday 29^th April to allow pupils and staff to celebrate the royal wedding. We will also be closed on Monday 2^nd May for the usual May Day holiday and on Tuesday 3^rd May for the In-service day. The school will also be closed to pupils on Thursday 5th May as it is being used as a polling station for the elections.

So, next week the pupils will be in school as normal on Wednesday 4^th May and Friday 6^th May.  

Parents’ Evenings

Parents evenings were held in March. These gave parents the opportunity to discuss their child’s learning and progress with the class teachers. If you were unable to attend and would like to arrange another time to speak to the teacher please contact the school.

Head Lice

Please remember to check your child’s head regularly and to treat if you find any eggs or live lice. If you do not want to use a chemical treatment you can use the ’bug busting’ approach which involves wet combing your child’s hair after washing and conditioning. With the conditioner still in, comb the hair gradually with a fine tooth comb, section by section, in order to remove the lice. ‘Bug busting’ is time consuming and, to be effective, must be carried out every 3 days for 3 weeks to remove newly hatched lice. Insecticide treatments work more quickly. The school nurse, your practice nurse or the chemist will be able to give you advice if needed.

Family Disco

Friends of Langlee (Parent Council) held a Family Fancy Dress Disco on Thursday, 21^st April. It was well attended and all those present seemed to be having a good time. Funds raised will be used to benefit pupils in the school. Thank you to all who helped with this event.

Dance Festival

The Borders Dance Festival for the Galashiels area schools took place on Monday 21^st March at the Volunteer Hall, Galashiels. The P5, P6/7 and P7 classes took part as well as a group of 8 children from P3 and a group from P4. All the children performed their dances well and I hope they enjoyed the experience.  It was not a competition but certificates were awarded to those classes who took part.

Red Nose Day

The ‘Dress Up Day’ for Comic Relief on Friday 18^th March raised £147.50 so well done to all pupils and staff who took part.

Reminders

Now that the better weather is here could I remind you that the children should have suncream on and bring a sun hat too for break and lunch times. Could they also bring a bottle with their name on it for water which they can fill up from the water coolers. While I’m mentioning naming things could I also remind you to put your child’s name on school sweatshirts as these are often taken  off when it is warm and left lying about. It’s very difficult for us to find out who they belong to if they are not named.

Parking

Could I also request that parents do not park in the staff car parking areas when you are dropping off or picking up children - especially the drop-off area for the Support Centre pupils but also the main staff car park. Thank you for your co-operation.

Use of school grounds

I am more than happy for the children or members of the local community to use the school grounds outwith school hours but I would again ask that you do not use the playing fields as a dog-exercise area.

 Newsletter 5 - January 2011

The New Year has got off to a good start here in Langlee Primary School. Luckily the weather seems to have settled down and the children can get outside to play which makes a big difference. Staff and children in all classes are working hard this term and a number of new things have been introduced which I will tell you about below.

Class topics

This term most classes are working on a Local Area topic – learning all about Langlee, Galashiels, Scottish Borders and Scotland. Children seem to be enjoying this topic and are keen to show us what they already know about their local area as well as learning about other parts of the town/region which they were not already familiar with.

Infant classes have been out and about in Langlee and Galashiels seeing places for themselves. P1 and P1/2 pupils were very excited about getting the bus down the town where they had a walk around exploring Galashiels. They also visited St John’s Church and were complimented on their polite behaviour.

P3 pupils walked to the post office, bought stamps and managed to post a letter to themselves. Children have been learning how to write their home and school addresses.

P4 went on a Community Walk around Langlee on Wednesday 26th January. They planned the route using a map and made sure they visited each child's house. They took photos of everyone outside their home and will make a class map to show this information.

Scots Language

Children in all classes are also learning about the Scots language and are learning a poem for our Scots poetry competition. These will be judged in classes with certificates for 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in each class. Winners in P1-3, P4-5 and P6-7 will go forward to the Galashiels area competition which will be held at Galashiels Academy on the afternoon of Friday 11^th March. On Monday 7^th February we will have a Scottish themed assembly when the winners in each class will recite their poems and receive their certificates. Parents of children receiving certificates will be invited to attend. Children in some classes are also doing a bit of writing in Scots which is awfae braw.

 P7 Transition

P7 pupils have now enjoyed two visits to Galashiels Academy for a Literacy day last term and a Numeracy day on Tuesday 18^th January. The children have thoroughly enjoyed these visits which were planned as part of the primary/secondary transition process. There will be another day focusing on Health and Well-being in early March and the final two-day visit for all P7 pupils will take place in June. All P7 parents should also have received a letter inviting you to attend the Open Days at Galashiels Academy which are taking place this week. I hope that some of you will be able to go along and see the academy on a normal working day.

Eco-Schools News

Langlee Primary School is working towards the Green Flag which is an Eco award for environmentally friendly schools. The Eco-committee of staff and pupils is called the Green Thumbs and is led by Mrs Belleville. Recently the Green Thumbs Committee have been working hard to prepare their Eco Assembly which took place on Monday 31st January. They reminded the whole school about REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE. Everyone was asked to save energy by turning off lights and equipment when they are not being used, to put litter into the bin and to recycle plastic, paper and clothes. Children were asked to REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE at home as well as at school. The Green Thumbs Committee and the Choir then sang a song called 'It's Our World' to remind everyone to care for our planet.

On Monday 28th February P4, P5 and P5/6 pupils will take part in a Generation Science Roadshow - Future Earth Workshop - which will focus on the importance of REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE.

Reading

As part of our school improvement work this year we are focusing on the teaching of reading. As you know we had a focus on Reading for Enjoyment in the first term with children taking part in activities and competitions to encourage them to read for pleasure at home and at school.

At the beginning of this term, in January, teachers introduced a new way of teaching reading in their classes. This is slightly different for P1-3 and P4-7 but it means that, for at least 3 sessions a week in

P4-P7 and 4/5 sessions a week in P1-P3, children will spend a 40 minute period focusing on reading and reading skills. During this time children may be reading with an adult, with a partner, a small group or on their own. Each group will have a focused time each week to discuss the reading with the teacher and this will be followed-up with activities to help the children develop their reading skills.

We are using a range of resources for reading and we are planning to buy new resources for the teaching of reading. Your child may not be getting a ‘reading book’ to bring home as they did before but children can still read at home as much as they want. Children can take home books from the class library to read and they can also read newspapers, magazines, comics – anything which interests them in fact.  Mr Wilson is currently working with a group of parents to re-organise the library and, once this is up and running, all classes will be able to choose books from the school library to read at home and at school.

Mindfulness Practice

Mrs Russell, who teaches P3 on a Thursday and Friday, has offered to take groups of children for short sessions of Mindfulness Practice. The size of each group will be from 5-8, so it may be some time before your child is able to participate. However, it is hoped that most children will be included. The sessions will run on a voluntary basis and each child can choose whether or not they would like to take part.
Mindfulness Practice is a form of meditation, based on Buddhist meditation techniques. It is now taught within the NHS, some schools and many other places as a non-religious (secular) practice.
Mindfulness for children can help them relax and focus better during school, so that they can concentrate and memorise more effectively. It teaches them self-understanding and can help them face life with a greater belief in their potential.
There is a lot of information to be found on Mindfulness Practice on the Internet, should you wish to find out more, or you can arrange to talk to Mrs Russell by contacting the school office.

http://www.getsomeheadspace.com/  has some interesting information about Mindfulness meditation.

Cycle Helmets

A number of children regularly cycle to school so I would like to remind all parents/carers that children must wear a suitable helmet if they are bringing their bike to school.

Donkey Sanctuary Visit

Well done to Murran, Stephen, Alisha and Lauren who went with Miss Thorpe to the Donkey Sanctuary. They were excellent ambassadors for Langlee Primary School. I would also like to say a huge thank you to all those who contributed to the donation of £108 which was very much appreciated by the Scottish Borders Donkey Sanctuary. And thank you to Miss Thorpe who gave up her day off to take the children on the visit
 

Netball Tournament

Well done to the girls in the Langlee A and B teams who took part in the Selkirk and Galashiels Area Netball Tournament last week. Both teams played well, showing good team work and good sportsmanship. Congratulations to the A team who won their section and got through to the semi-finals. Thank you also to Mrs Romeril who trains the girls to a consistently high standard each year.

Nursery Care Commission Inspection

Langlee Nursery was inspected by the Care Commission on 9^th December 2010. The final report has now been published and copies are available in the nursery and also on the Care Commission website www.carecommission.com The nursery was inspected on the Quality Theme: Quality of Care and Support and achieved a grading of ‘Very Good’. Well done to the nursery team who work very closely with parents and carers to provide a quality experience for the children in the nursery. There were no recommendations or requirements for improvement other than to continue the improvements already identified by nursery staff. The full report is available for parents to read and if you would like a copy please ask. If you have any suggestions on how we can improve our service please let us know. A suggestions book is available in the cloakroom area or you can speak to a member of the nursery staff directly.

Support Centre News

The Support Centre has been lucky enough to have been awarded some money from Radio Borders ‘Cash for Kids’ to buy a new, bigger shed to replace their old and rather battered one. The shed will store the outdoor toys and equipment. If any of you have any old outdoor toys, bikes, wheelbarrows etc you no longer need, the Support Centre would be pleased to have them to extend the range of outdoor play opportunities for their pupils. Please just see Joan McKay (Principal Teacher in the Support Centre) if you think you might have anything we could use.

A small group of Support Centre children have started to go riding again on Monday afternoons at Monteviot. The Riding for the Disabled group at Monteviot have just had a ‘Warm Room’ built which means our pupils will be able to go riding there all year round.

Fischy Music

At our weekly assemblies we often sing songs from the Fischy Music CDs and on Friday 4^th February the Fischy Music team will be in school all day working with pupils in all classes. There will be 3 workshops for P1 – P2/3, P3 – P5 and P5/6 - P7. Workshops will be followed by a concert performance for the whole school. We are happy to subsidise the cost of the day using School Funds but we would ask the pupils to pay £1 each as a contribution towards the overall cost.

Depute Headteacher Post

Mrs Amanda Findlay joined us as Acting Depute Headteacher in October 2009. I am pleased to inform you that Mrs Findlay’s position as Depute Head has now been made permanent.

In-service

The school will be closed for In-Service on Friday 11^th February. Staff will be focusing on developing the teaching of reading.

Parents’ Evenings

We will be having Parents’ Evenings on Monday 7^th and Wednesday 9^th March. You will receive appointment letters nearer the time.

Dates for your diary

EASTER HOLIDAY CLUB 2011

 DO YOU NEED GREAT AND AFFORDABLE CHILDCARE AT  EASTER?

 The Big Space very much hopes to open our Holiday Club during the Easter holidays (Mon 4^th to Fri 15^th April 2011). However, for financial reasons there has to be sufficient demand for us to operate. Therefore, should you wish to use our Holiday Club during the Easter holidays, please contact our staff no later than Monday 7th February.  We can take children from other schools and are open 8.30 to 5.30 Monday to Friday both weeks based within Melrose Primary School.Interested parents and carers will be advised on Mon 21^st February of whether the Holiday Club will be open.

 To contact The Big Space staff, please phone 07882 868 997.

Alternatively, please contact us via our website www.thebigspace.org.uk

  (Holiday Club Booking Forms can be downloaded from this).

Newletter No. 4 - December 2010
Greetings from a very wintry Langlee Primary School. I hope the children enjoyed their unexpected break, although I’m sure it was an inconvenience for many of you. Unfortunately conditions in and around the school were just not safe for us to stay open. Hopefully, we can now get back to normal – or what passes for normal in the run-up to Christmas!

Emergency contacts
Can I remind you that it is very important that we have up to date contact details for yourselves and for your emergency contacts. We use the Groupcalll system for contacting and informing parents/carers and for this we need your current mobile numbers. In the event of adverse weather conditions like those we have just experienced it is also useful to listen to Radio Borders as they have the latest information on school closures and road conditions.

Winter weather

Can you please ensure that children come to school in appropriate clothing and footwear in this cold weather. They need a warm coat or jacket and hat, scarf, gloves if necessary. Could pupils also bring a change of footwear like gym shoes or trainers especially if they are wearing wellies to school. Remember also to put names on items of clothing. Thank you.

Snowballs
Can you please emphasise to the children, especially those who walk home themselves, that throwing snowballs on the way home is not allowed. We have received two complaints from parents whose children have arrived home very upset because of having snowballs thrown at them. This behaviour is unacceptable. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

PE kit
While we are on the subject of clothing could I also ask you to ensure that pupils have their PE kit in school. A number of pupils are regularly missing out on PE because they don’t have appropriate kit. PE days are Tuesday and Thursday.

Christmas Coffee Evening
Thank you to all those who supported the recent coffee evening, organised by the Friends of Langlee. It was well-attended and I hope you enjoyed the event which raised £493 for Parent Council funds. Some of this money will be used for the various Christmas activities taking place in school and your support is very much appreciated.

School calendars
School calendars are now on sale for the bargain price of £1. These have all the school holiday dates on them and are illustrated by the children. Fill in the tear-off slip at the end of the newsletter and send the money with the order if you would like school calendars.

Parents’ Evenings
I hope you found the recent Parents’ Evenings useful and informative. If you were unable to attend please call the school to make another appointment. Please remember that if you have any concerns or questions about your child’s education or progress you are welcome to call any time to arrange an appointment.

Nursery News

Unfortunately the Nursery trip to the Singing Kettle on Friday 26^th November was cancelled at the last minute. Nursery staff have planned an alternative treat for the children.
 

In-service Days
We had two very successful In-Service days on Thursday 11^th and Friday 12^th November. On Thursday 11^th staff took part in a Learning Community event on Active Learning at Galashiels Academy. This was organised by the Learning Community Teaching and Learning group chaired by Mr Wilson. It was a huge success, with staff sharing ideas for active learning through workshops and a ‘marketplace’ with various stalls. These were also available for parents to see at the Curriculum for Excellence Evening held at Galashiels Academy on 17^th November.

Here at Langlee we will be taking forward some of the ideas from the In-service days and these will be included in our School Improvement Plan. On Friday 12^th we spent some time reviewing our Positive Behaviour Policy. One outcome from this is that we have introduced an extra assembly so that we can emphasise our whole school focus on polite listening. Parents are now invited to attend assembly when children receive certificates and awards for good work, behaviour and attitudes.

We continue our focus on Reading and next term we will be introducing a new way of teaching reading. We will give you more information in January but in the meantime please continue to encourage your child to read at home – books, newspapers, comics, magazines – whatever they like to read.

Christmas Events

The school Christmas Concert dress rehearsal will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday 14^th December.  The School Concert will now be held on the evening of Thursday 16^th December at 6.30pm and the afternoon of Friday 17th Dec at 1.30pm

The Nursery concert will take place on Thursday 16 December at 10.00am

Christmas Parties

P4/5 party Wednesday 15^th December

P6/7 party Thursday 16^th December

P1/2/3 party Monday 20^th December

Nursery parties Friday 17th December

The school Christmas lunch will be on Wednesday 15^th December.

Support Centre

Pupils will enjoy Christmas trips to Sticky Kids and to see a performance of Cinderella on Wednesday 15^th December.

Support Centre pupils will entertain family and friends on the morning of Monday 20^th December.

Parents Mixer ESOL Group

Would you like to meet new friends? Would you like to improve your spoken English? Would you like help to fill in forms or with understanding letters from school? We would like to help you.

The Parents Mixer ESOL Group meets in the library every Wednesday during school term time from 1pm until 2.45pm. A free creche is available to look after your young children. We look forward to meeting you soon.

Enrolment for session 2011 – 2012

Nursery enrolment has been postponed.  We will let you know as soon as we have a new date.

End of term service

We hope to have our end of term service in St John’s Church on Tuesday 21^st December at 9.30am. This is, of course, dependent on the weather. If this is not possible we will have the service in school. All are welcome to come along and join us for the service. There will be a collection in aid of charity.

Miss Sandra Davidson

Headteacher

SBC Bulletin for Parents

 It is ultimately your decision whether you believe it is safe for your children to attend school. We will try to help as much as possible by providing relevant information.

Transport

The normal ruling is that pupils should wait for no more than fifteen minutes for a bus to arrive; this should not be exceeded.

Radio Borders will broadcast information about which bus services are not running (this will include public services as well as schools)

Communication

Radio Borders (96.8 FM) provides very regular updates on schools information please do tune in.

The schools section of the SBC website also provides current information.

Any significant communications will be contacted by groupcall e.g. school closures

Clothing and Footwear

Please ensure that pupils are dressed appropriately for cold and wet weather.

Menus

In emergency conditions there may be a restricted menu in schools at lunchtimes – probably soup and sandwiches. In extreme circumstances you may be asked to provide a packed lunch for your child if no facilities are available to provide school lunches.

Volunteers

Once schools are up and running it may be that some extra help will be required to help clear additional playground areas etc. and your headteacher or Parent Council may make a plea for volunteer helpers.

Learning when Schools are Closed

A group of headteachers is currently working on setting up a site dedicated to Learning when Schools are Closed – further information will follow soon.

Newsletter No. 3 November 2010
It doesn’t seem that long since I sent out the last newsletter but, even with the October holiday week in between, we’ve had an action-packed few weeks here in school.

Reading for Enjoyment

This focus, which is part of our School Improvement Plan this year, has been a huge success. Children in all classes across the school have enjoyed taking part in the many fun activities and competitions organised by Mr Wilson.  Well done to pupils and staff and many thanks to all the parents and carers who helped and encouraged the children to take part.  I hope that

have now discovered how much pleasure there is in reading – it’s not just an activity for school or work!

Reading for Enjoyment

Pupils took part in various competitions throughout the fortnight.

Extreme Reading – children had to bring in a photograph of themselves reading in strange and unusual places. There was a fantastic response to this competition with 87 entries and the photographs are on display in the school. Please take time to have a look when you come in for Parents’ Evenings. Winners were as follows:

P1    Jordan Corry and Baraha Kaimouz (joint winners)

P1/2 Keira Vicentini

P2/3 Blanka Gayda

P3    Ruben Monteiro-Costa

P4    Toka Kaimouz

P5    Logan Marr

P5/6 Kyle Purves

P6/7 Ryan Barnes

P7    Liam Wheelan

Reading Aloud – children had to read aloud a short piece of text using good expression. Winners of this competition were:

P1    Hannah Bradley

P1/2 James McLeod

P2/3 Jessica Sharwood Smith

P3    Ellie Brown

P4    Samuel Adeosun

P5    Jay Fox

P5/6 Lewis Bailey

P6/7 Katie McGill

P7    Mahee Mustafa

These children enjoyed a trip down to WH Smith to choose some books for their prizes. Thank you to the staff in the shop who were very helpful during our visits.

Pick up a Paper – children from P1 –3 had to make their name using letters from newspapers and P4 – 7 pupils had to bring in an interesting newpaper article. The top three from each stage will receive a certificate and the winners can choose a book from the Scholastic Book Fair which is in school this week.

P1 – 3     1^st Katie Wilson P1        2^nd Kacper Korlaga P2/3   3^rd Violeta Karuzelyte P1/2

P4 – 7     1^st Morgan Moore P5/6  2^nd Jo Laidlaw P5/6           3^rd Daniel Cairnie P5

Dress a Door competition – each class dressed their classroom door as a book cover. The winners were:

P2/3  The Gruffalo

P5/6  Captain Underpants

P6/7  Charlotte’s Web

Children from these classes can choose some books for their class from the Scholastic Book Fair.

Congratulations to the winners and well done to all the children who took part in these competitions.

Parents and carers – the Scholastic Book Fair will be in school this week. Books make great Christmas presents!
Storyteller

All classes including nursery enjoyed a storytelling session with storyteller Mary Kenney from Innerleithen. Feedback from staff and pupils suggest that these were excellent. Thank you Mary. 

Hannah in P1 enjoyed joining in with the actions and Bradley liked the stamping.

Logan in P5 thought the storyteller was very interesting. Scott liked her funny voices and Mikaela enjoyed her recorder playing.

Jo in P5/6 thought it was fun and enjoyable and she liked the riddles. Kyle thought it was ‘amazing!’

According to Jack in P6/7 she used good expression.

Fit 4 Fun

P1 – P3 pupils have all had two sessions of activities relating to health and fitness with an emphasis on FUN! Activities have included physical activities in the hall, learning about muscles and bones, thinking about a healthy diet and – a favourite activity – dance mats.
Connor MacPherson loved making the smoothies and the kebabs – they were great!

Alexander Bell thought the dance mats were the best. He says, “I was the best at it but I got really hot and sweaty!”

Ellie Brown thinks that these activities are fantastic because they keep us healthy and fit.

Dick Whittington

On Tuesday 26^th October the whole school enjoyed a performance of Dick Whittington by M and M Theatre Company. Here’s what our critics in P3 thought of the performance.

I liked the bad pirate because he was funny. Ruben Monteiro-Costa

They had pretty costumes. Paige Higgins

Praise for Langlee Pupils

Over the last few weeks a number of people have commented on the good behaviour and good manners of Langlee pupils.

In the October edition of ‘Langlee News’, the Langlee Residents’ Association newsletter, Councillor Fiona Lackenby says well done to our P7 pupils who recently took part in the Crucial Crew event at Tweedbank. She praised their ‘behaviour, enthusiasm and effort.’ Thank you Councillor Lackenby!

Storyteller, Mary Kenney, thinks that we have ‘lovely pupils’.

Customers in WH Smith praised the behaviour and manners of the competition winners who were choosing their book prizes in the shop.

And finally … a recent visitor to Langlee who spent time in various classes in the school remarked on the calm, positive atmosphere throughout the school and the polite pupils.  

Well done Langlee and keep it up!

Halloween disco

The family Halloween disco, organised by the Friends of Langlee, was a huge success. Thank you to all who came along to join in the fun and helped to raise funds for the school. Money raised will be used for the benefit of the children, for example, Christmas parties for all classes and Santa presents for the younger pupils.

Parents’ Notice Board

Friends of Langlee received funding for a notice board which has now been installed at the entrance to the school. Along with regular newsletters and the school website the notice board will help to keep parents informed about what is happening in school.

Christmas Coffee Evening

The Christmas Coffee Evening will be held on Thursday 25^th

November from 6.30pm – 8.00pm. Please come along and bring family and friends to support this event. We are looking for donations for the following stalls:

 Books, Toys and Games

 Bric a Brac,

 Cake and Candy

 Bottle Stall.

Other stalls will include Children’s Crafts and a Nursery Stall. We will be selling school calendars and the raffle will be drawn on the night. Please also send in any suitable items for the raffle including donations for a Christmas hamper.

We also need more parents who are willing to come along and help on the evening. If you can help please return the tear-off slip at the end of the newsletter.

Parents’ Evenings

Parents’ Evenings are being held this week on Monday and Wednesday evenings. You should all have received an appointment to come in and discuss your child’s progress with the class teachers.

The Scholastic Book Fair is also in school this week and you will have the opportunity to purchase books on the Parents’ Evenings.

Nursery Parents’ Evenings will also take place on Monday and Wednesday for pre-school children and for ante pre-school children on 22^nd and 23^rd November.

Parents’ Evening for P6 and P7 Parents

P6 and P7 parents are invited to attend an information evening with the headteacher, Kenny McKay, and depute head, Christine Brown, from Galashiels Academy. This will be held in Langlee Primary School at 6pm on Wednesday 24^th November.

Curriculum for Excellence information evening

All parents are invited to attend an information evening on the new Curriculum for Excellence which will be held at Galashiels Academy on Wednesday 17^th November.

Nursery News

The Nursery recently held a sponsored pedal event to raise funds for their Christmas trip to the Singing Kettle on Friday 26^th November. A huge thank to all who have supported this fund-raising event.

In-service Days

The school will be closed to pupils on Thursday 11^th and Friday 12^th November for In-Service. On Thursday staff will be taking part in a Learning Community event on Active Learning at Galashiels Academy and on Friday we will be reviewing our Positive Behaviour Policy as well as continuing our focus on Reading.

Christmas Events
The school Christmas concert will take place on the afternoon of Tuesday 14^th December and the evening of Thursday 16^th December.

The Nursery concert will take place on Wednesday 15^th December at 10.00am

Support Centre pupils will entertain family and friends on the morning of Monday 20^th December.

The school Christmas lunch will be on Wednesday 15^th December.

Sweets

A lot of pupils are still eating sweets and other sugary snacks before they come into class in the morning, as well as at break and lunchtime. The effects of the sugar can be seen in pupils’ behaviour and ability to concentrate. As a Health Promoting School we strongly request that sweets are not provided as a snack before or during school hours. We are aware that some pupils are purchasing sweets on the way to school and would ask that you encourage your child to spend the money at the Healthy Tuck Shop in school. Chewing Gum is not allowed in school.

Breakfast Club

Can I also remind you that the Breakfast Club is open from 8am – 8.45am providing a healthy breakfast for only 20p.

Lunch time behaviour

Unfortunately, there is a small minority of pupils whose behaviour at lunchtime in the playground and the dinner hall is unacceptable. Behaviours include - not following school rules or the reasonable instructions of staff as well as being disruptive and disrespectful to staff and other pupils. From Monday 15^th November those pupils whose behaviour causes concern will be sent home for the lunch time period from 12.15 – 1.00pm. Parents will be informed in advance by letter or phone call. As already noted previously in this newsletter the majority of our pupils are polite and well-behaved.

Assemblies

From Monday 15^th November we will be having an extra assembly on Mondays – initially in the afternoon. The Monday assembly will be for the whole school and we will be giving out awards and certificates for good work, good effort, good behaviour and good manners. Parents of those children receiving certificates will be invited to join us for these assemblies. You will be contacted on the Friday before the assembly if your child is receiving an award. I hope that throughout the year many parents will be able to join us to celebrate the children’s achievements.

Parents Mixer ESOL Group

Would you like to meet new friends? Would you like to improve your spoken English? Would you like help to fill in forms or with understanding letters from school? We would like to help you.

The Parents Mixer ESOL Group meets in the library every Wednesday during school term time from 1pm until 2.45pm. A free crèche is available to look after your young children. We look forward to meeting you soon.

Enrolment for session 2011 – 2012

Enrolment for pupils starting P1 in August 2011 is week commencing 22nd November. Nursery enrolment is also week commencing 22nd November. Enrolment forms are available from the nursery or school office. Please bring birth certificates.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Mr Keith Belleville who has recently been appointed as permanent Headteacher of St Ronan’s Primary School, Innerleithen. We wish him all the best for the future.

Mrs Amanda Findlay will continue as Acting Depute Headteacher at Langlee.

Miss Sandra Davidson

Headteacher

October 2010

We have had a very busy term with lots of exciting activities taking place throughout September. Most of the children have been working extremely hard. The new P1 pupils have settled in well and have been producing some excellent work. I hope the children have a super break next week.

P1 and Nursery Parents’ Evenings

It was lovely to see so many people coming along to the recent Parents’ Evenings for our nursery children and new P1 pupils. We hope you found the events useful and interesting. Throughout the year we hope to have many opportunities for you to come in and see some of the work the children have been doing as well as the more formal interviews on Parents’ Evenings which are coming up in November. Please remember you are welcome to come in any time if you have a question or concern but we do like you to give us a call first to make sure someone is available to see you. First thing in the morning is not such a good time to speak to a teacher as they are usually busy preparing for the day ahead but most teachers are happy to see parents at the end of the day at 3pm.

Langlee Carnival

It seems like an age ago now but the Langlee Carnival was a huge success and once again we were lucky with the weather. Well done to Liam Wheelan and Luciana Vicentini, who did us proud as Langlee Lad and Lass this year. 

Reading for Enjoyment

In our School Improvement Plan this year we are focusing on reading and this term we are encouraging the children to read for pleasure. When we return to school after the October holiday we have planned two weeks of fun, exciting and interesting events, activities and competitions relating to reading for enjoyment (thanks to Mr Wilson!). We are also encouraging parents and carers to read with children at home - we don’t mind too much what you read as long as the children are enjoying it. If any of you would like to come in and read to a class/group or talk about your favourite book or author please return the tear-off slip at the end of the newsletter.

Health and Fitness

Fit 4 Fun

P4 – P7 pupils have all had a day or two days of actitivities relating to health and fitness with an emphasis on FUN! Activities have included physical activities in the hall, learning about muscles and bones, thinking about a healthy diet and – a favourite activity – dance mats.

P1 – P3 pupils will have the chance to take part in these activities next month.

I liked the dance mats at fit4fun because it was challenging!  I also really liked the parachute games because we made it into a mushroom.

          Kris P7

I enjoyed fit4fun because we done lots of stuff like cooking, dance mats, healthy eating and P.E.  My favourite thing of the day was the dance mats.

          Rory P7

I liked the part when you had to make the parachute float and bring it down to sit on.  It was fun.  I liked the cooking because it tasted great.

          Dylan P7

Fit4fun really was fun!  The dodgeball game was great!

          David P7

Fit 4 Fun

I really enjoyed the dance mats because they put it to master difficulty and everyone was going daft.  I really enjoyed cooking because I like making wraps.

          Liam P7

I enjoyed the parachute.  I enjoyed the dance mats.

Matthew P7

I liked the dance mats at fit4fun and I hope they come again.   They were very nice to come and see us.

          Emma P7

P4 First Aid

The P4 pupils had a session on first aid training with John Lockhart on Friday 24^th September.

Sweets

Recently it has been noted that a large number of pupils are eating sweets and other sugary snacks before they come into class in the morning. This is often the case at breaktime and lunchtime too. The effects of the sugar can be seen in pupils’ behaviour and ability to concentrate. As a Health Promoting School we strongly request that sweets are not provided as a snack before or during school hours. We are aware that some pupils are purchasing sweets on the way to school and would ask that you encourage your child to spend the money at the Healthy Tuck Shop in school.

Breakfast Club

Can I also remind you that the Breakfast Club is open from 8am – 8.45am providing a healthy breakfast for only 20p.

Thursday Afternoon Activities

On Thursday afternoons from 2pm – 3pm P4 – P7 pupils have been taking part in a variety of different activities including baking, technology, lego, art and craft, sewing, games, buddy cooking and buddy music with children in the Support Centre. All pupils got to choose which activities they wanted to take part in for a 3-week block. Next term they will have a 3-week block of a different activity, again, one they have chosen themselves.

Every 4th week the children will take part in a working group with each group taking responsibility for an aspect of school improvement work such as Eco-schools, Road Safety, School Council and so on.

Crucial Crew

All the P7s attended the annual Crucial Crew event at Tweedbank last week. This event is organised by the Emergency Services and aims to raise children’s awareness of potential risk and how to react in an  emergency situation

Luciana really enjoyed the fire safety because she learned about fires and how to save a 'granny'.

Kris liked the drug and alcohol safety session because he learned what the substances looked like and what catagories they went in.

Alisha enjoyed the water safety because she learned how to save people more quickly.

Other sessions covered safety on farms, roads, electricity and how to help if someone is unconscious because they have taken too much alcohol.

Zoolab visit

Yesterday the Nursery children and P 4 – P7 pupils enjoyed a visit from Zoolab who brought some interesting animals into school for the children to see, touch and learn about. I have to say that the children were braver than some of the grown ups!

Below are some of the comments from P7 pupils.

Drama Workshops

Last Friday morning the P1 – P3 pupils had great fun in the hall during the ‘Helen O’Grady’ drama workshops.

We had great fun and learned LOTS of new skills from the visiting drama workshop. One of the best bits was when we acted out being on the pirate ship. Levi and Jenna played the parts of the “bossy” captain and first mate; they took their roles very seriously and were pretty scary. The rest of us had great fun as the “mutinous” crew.

Oh! I almost forgot we had to bounce as high as we could and freeze when the teacher hit the tambourine; we had to listen very carefully.

“I like when we went walking on the hot coals because we pretended to take our socks off and had to go back and get our lunch and juice.”  Myles p2/3

“I liked the bit when I had to walk across the hot coals because it was fun and scary.” Lewis P3

“I liked the pirate ship and scrubbing the deck.” Owen P3

“I liked the part where we had to run around and when he banged the tambourine we had to bounce like a kangaroo and then freeze”. Arron P3

P3 and P2/3

P3 Theatre Trip

On Tuesday 5^th October the P3 pupils enjoyed a trip to the Eastgate Theatre in Peebles to see ‘Magic Spaghetti’.

We learned about how exciting it can be to try different foods. There were lots of songs, dances and vegetables. The characters wore different costumes and the scenery was brilliant. We sang the songs we’d learned on the bus home. Our favourite song was ‘Sugarina’.

By Alexander, Arron, Connor MacDonald, Lewis and Owen P3

School Council

In last month’s newsletter I did not include David Hall, P7, who will represent the Support Centre on our School Council. Congratulations, David and my apologies.

Parent Council

The Friends of Langlee (Parent Council) was held in school on Wednesday 15^th September. The new committee is as follows:

Chair – Jane Gillie

Secretary – Carol Bertram

Treasurer – Fiona Cowburgh

Additional In-service Day

Headteachers in the Galashiels area have decided to have the additional In-Service day on Friday 8^th October so the school will be closed to pupils that day. School staff will spend the day looking at the new Curriculum for Excellence outcomes and experiences for Numeracy.

After-School Clubs

Funky Club for P2/3 (3’s only), P3 and P4 is on Tuesdays from 3.00pm – 3.45pm

Funky Club for P5, P5/6, P6/7 and P7 is on Wednesdays from 3.00pm – 3.45pm

Mountain-biking club with Mrs Ivalo and David Winton, Cycling Scotland, is on Tuesday from 3.15pm – 4.30pm for P5 – P7 pupils.

Peer Mentoring Project (Family Club) every Wednesday at 5pm at Langlee Community Centre. The club is aimed at helping families support their child/children with homework, improving English Language Skills and there is also fun activities for whole family. Any child attending must be accompanied by a parent/carer.

School Holiday Consultation

Scottish Borders Council is carrying out a public consultation on school session dates for the years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 and would be very interested in your views on the options set out in the consultation document, which is available on-line at www.scotborders.gov.uk/consultations.  If you would prefer to receive a hard copy of the document, please request one from your local contact centre or library, or by telephone on 01835 826814.

The consultation closes on Friday 22^nd October 2010 and all responses must be received by that date. 

Responses can be submitted by email to: ellinfo@scotborders.gov.uk or by post to: School Holiday Consultation, Education & Lifelong Learning, Scottish Borders Council, Council Headquarters, Newtown St Boswells TD6 0SA.

Car Park

Please do not use the car park as a shortcut to school especially with young children. This is a very busy area at the beginning and end of the day with school taxis and minibuses often reversing in or out of parking spaces. The car park is not a safe route to school. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

Dogs

Despite my earlier request there are still members of the community who choose to exercise their dogs on the school playing fields. I am taking steps to have ‘No Dogs’ signs erected around the school grounds but we all need to play our part in asking family, friends and neighbours to show some consideration for the children by not allowing dogs to foul in school grounds.

Langlee Flower Show

Congratulations to the following pupils who were winners at the Langlee Flower Show last weekend:

Painting or Drawing

1^st Jack Sneddon P2/3

2^nd Calum Watkins P2/3

3^rd Marta Ciebera P2/3

The school also won 3^rd prize for a vegetable marrow and 1^st prize for 5 pods of runner beans. Well done Mrs Lyal and the gardening club!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I would like to come in to read to a class/group or talk about my favourite book or author.

Name ________________________________           

Parent/carer of _________________________

Preferred Class _________

Newletter 1 August 2010

Welcome back after the summer holiday!  I hope you all enjoyed the break with your children. The children have all settled into their new classes and are working well.
Miss Sandra Davidson     Headteacher

Staffing
Welcome to Miss Clarke P5 who joins the staff as a newly qualified teacher. Mrs Hamilton, P1 teacher, is now a permanent member of staff and Mr Guthrie is covering P1/2 while Mrs Wilson is on maternity leave. Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Wilson, who are now the proud parents of baby Oscar. Congratulations also to Miss Young (music teacher) and Miss Law (additional needs assistant) who both got married in the holidays and are now known as Mrs Warburton and Mrs Yuill. We also have a new PE teacher this year, Miss Gavin, who will be with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Welcome to Mrs Joan McKay who has taken up her post as Principal Teacher of Langlee Support Centre.

 School Meals
The cost of a school meal is now £1.80. Can I take this opportunity to remind you that free school meals have to be applied for each year and forms are available from the school office.  Until you have received an authorisation letter from SBC to say that your child is entitled to free school meals please send your payment in the dinner envelope. If you think your child may be entitled to free school meals please apply as the number of children entitled to free school meals can affect the amount of funding the school receives. Please also remember to fill in the dinner envelope each week and send it in to school.

School Uniform
We continue to encourage pupils to wear a school sweatshirt in maroon.  Order forms for these (with the school logo) are available from the office and cost £7.50.  Sweatshirts without the school logo may be available cheaper in the town supermarkets. When pupils wear uniform it promotes belonging to a school, it ensures that unsuitable fashion clothes are not worn to school, there is no peer pressure to wear “designer” clothes which in turn can lead to bullying if pupils do not wear designer clothes.

Langlee Carnival
Langlee Carnival is on 11 September 2010 at Langlee Community Centre. Congratulations to Liam Wheelan and Luciana Vicentini who are Langlee Lad and Lass.  We know they will be excellent representatives of the school.  This year’s carnival includes a fancy dress parade, bouncy castle, Irish dancers, tug-of-war competition, face painting, clowns, Bug band, live music including Farenheit and Dylan Jeffrey, horse and carriage rides and a kiddies’ funfair. There will be Thai cuisine in the roundabout café and a tabletop sale in the green room. Please come along and join the fun!

Crèche    

Tuesday 9.15 – 11.15am                                 Parents and children

Tuesday 1.00 – 3.00pm                                   For parents attending adult groups in the school e.g. sewing, knitting or cooking.

Wednesday 1.00 – 3.00pm                              This session is aimed at children of adults attending English conversation classes in the school.

Thursday 1.00 – 3.00pm                                  This session is aimed at children of 2 and over. Parents/carers need not stay as long as the children are happy to be left.      

The crèche is run by Joan Martin and Shirley Third

 Breakfast Club
Up and running and still only 20p – great value.  Open from 8am – 8.45am and run by Heather Anderson and Joan Martin.

Tuck Shop
We have a Tuck Shop each day at break time selling a range of healthy snacks. We encourage the children not to have sweets or chocolate for break piece because it is not good for their teeth.

Nuts
We have two children in school who are allergic to nuts. If they eat or even come into contact with nuts or nut products the consequences could be very serious. We therefore ask parents to avoid snacks and packed lunch items which contain nuts or nut products as far as is reasonably possible. This includes chocolate nut spread and also some cereal bars. We thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

Curriculum and Homework
All teachers will be sending out information on the learning planned for the classes for this block. This will include learning in maths and language as well as all the other areas of the curriculum. You will also receive information about the homework your child will have and a homework leaflet with ideas for ways to help your child learn at home. You are welcome to contact the school at any time if you wish to discuss your child’s learning and progress.

Nursery and P1 Parents’ Evenings

There will be a meeting for parents/carers of our new P1 pupils on Tuesday 7th September at 6pm.

There will be a meeting for the parents/carers of our nursery children on Thursday 22^nd  September from 6 – 7pm.

Please do come along to these informal meetings and find out about what your child is learning at school and nursery.

Junior Road Safety Officers

Our two JRSOs for this year are Lewis Cowburgh and Gemma Stoddart. There are also two deputy JRSOs who are Mathew Tasker and Luciana Vicentini.They will be keeping us informed of road safety issues throughout the year.

Congratulations

To our elected School Council Members:

To our elected Eco-Committee:

Parent Council
The Friends of Langlee (Parent Council) AGM will be held in school on Wednesday 15^th September at 6.30pm. We would welcome new members so please come along if you can. All are welcome. The Parent Council is also looking for someone to audit their accounts. If you have a financial background or know of someone who does who would be willing to help please let us know.

Additional In-service Day
Headteachers in the Galashiels area have decided to have the additional In-Service day on Friday 8^th October so the school will be closed to pupils that day. School staff will spend the day looking at the new Curriculum for Excellence outcomes and experiences for Numeracy.

School Day/Attendance
The school day begins at 9.00am and ends for pupils at 3:00pm.  We would ask that pupils arrive at school on time at the beginning of the day. If your child is going to be absent from school could you please let us know as soon as possible on the first day of absence or even before in the case of pre-arranged appointments. This is partly for administrative purposes but also in terms of your child’s safety i.e. if a child does not arrive at school in the morning we know the reason for their absence.

Family Holidays
Where possible we would ask that family holidays are planned to coincide with school holidays. In terms of consistency and continuity in the children’s learning experiences, regular attendance at school is vitally important. Although some children can catch up with some elements of work after an absence they will have missed important teaching points and interaction with their classmates and the teacher during their time away. Regular short absences are equally damaging to a pupil’s progress. I appreciate that absence due to illness or a family emergency cannot be avoided but when planning family holidays bear in mind that an absence of a week or more will have an effect on your child’s learning. This applies particularly at the beginning of a new term when a lot of important teaching and learning takes place. If possible, please let us know in advance when pupils are going to be absent during term time. For administrative purposes the majority of family holidays taken during term time must be recorded as ‘unauthorised’ absence.

Sports Activities
We have lots of activities taking place at the moment for various classes in the school. From Monday 6 September the P2s and P3s will be taking part in football activities with coaches from the SFA. Ian Miller, Gala Rugby Youth Development Officer, is working with P5 pupils on Tuesday afternoons in preparation for the P5 Tag Rugby Festival on Wednesday 6 October. The hockey festvial for P6 and P7 pupils will also take place on Wednesday 6 October at Netherdale. P7 pupils are going swimming on Friday afternoons for a 5 week block.

After-School Clubs

Funky Club for P2/3 (3’s only), P3 and P4 is on Tuesdays from 3.00pm – 3.45pm

Funky Club for P5, P5/6, P6/7 and P7 is on Wednesdays form 3.00pm – 3.45pm

Mountain-biking club with Mrs Ivalo and David Winton, Cycling Scotland, is on Tuesday from 3.15pm – 4.30pm for P5 – P7 pupils.

Tag Rugby for P5 –P7 pupils is also on Tuesdays from 3.00pm – 4.00pm. This will be run by Miss Gavin, PE teacher.

Peer Mentoring Project (Family Club) every Wednesday at 5pm at Langlee Community Centre. The club is aimed at helping families support their child/children with homework, improving English Language Skills and there is also fun activities for whole family. Any child attending must be accompanied by a parent/carer.

School Holiday Consultation
Scottish Borders Council is carrying out a public consultation on school session dates for the years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 and would be very interested in your views on the options set out in the consultation document, which is available on-line at www.scotborders.gov.uk/consultations.  If you would prefer to receive a hard copy of the document, please request one from your local contact centre or library, or by telephone on 01835 826814.

The consultation closes on Friday 22^nd October 2010 and all responses must be received by that date. 

Responses can be submitted by email to: ellinfo@scotborders.gov.uk or by post to: School Holiday Consultation, Education & Lifelong Learning, Scottish Borders Council, Council Headquarters, Newtown St Boswells TD6 0SA.

Car Park
Please do not use the car park as a shortcut to school especially with young children. This is a very busy area at the beginning and end of the day with school taxis and minibuses often reversing in or out of parking spaces. The car park is not a safe route to school. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

Our Special Resource Nursery has created a fantastic Sensory Garden. They are very proud of it
and hope that everyone can enjoy it together.

NEWSLETTER No 8
APRIL 2010

Welcome back to the start of the summer term. I hope you and the children enjoyed the break and managed to enjoy some of the nice weather in the holidays. The children are all well settled back in their classes and looking forward to the busy term ahead. We have two members of staff stranded abroad but we hope they will be back with us next week.

Parents’ Evenings
Many of you came along to the Parents’ Evenings in March and I hope you found them to be useful and informative. Please remember you can contact us at any time if you have a question or a concern about your child’s learning.

 Class Topics
The class topics last term were a great success with the children being involved in lots of active learning and visits out of school. The teachers are already planning lots of exciting activities for the summer term so we hope the children have returned from the holidays full of energy and ready to learn – just like the teachers!

Nursery
The Nursery children were also out and about in Galashiels visiting Asda, the Fire Station and the Health Centre. What a busy time they’ve been having.

Class assemblies
We have recently enjoyed two class assemblies. On Friday 19^th March the P4 class led an assembly about the ‘Rainbow People’ who forgot how to share and care for each other and work as a team until a passing stranger reminded them. The P4s presented the assembly with confidence and were very colourful with their rainbow ribbons.

On Friday 26^th March the P1 class told us all about what they had been learning in their ‘Farm’ topic. They showed us pictures of some of the animals you might see on a farm and the speakers spoke out confidently and clearly.

Well done P4 and P1!

Farmhouse Breakfast
The P3 class enjoyed a lovely farmhouse breakfast thanks to Luke Davidson who won first prize for his age group in the Farmhouse Breakfast competition.

P5 Mountain Biking
Pupils in P5 have completed a number of sessions of mountain biking on Friday mornings. Those children who were already confident riders have increased their skill and agility with some showing real talent in this area. A number of children who couldn’t ride are now riding and all have increased their confidence and skill. Well done P5.

Fund-raising for Haiti
The dress-up day and P6 assembly on World Book Day raised £73.30. Well done P6 and to everyone who took part.

Staffing

On Thursday 1^st April Mrs Rachael Rowlands, who supported pupils mainly in P5, left to start her maternity leave. We wish her all the best and look forward to seeing mother and baby in due course. Also on Thursday 1^st April Mrs Hamilton left the P2 class because Miss Watt has now returned from her maternity leave – welcome back Miss Watt. However, we will still see Mrs Hamilton in P6 on Fridays. Welcome also to Mrs Nicola Corbett who has joined us as a playground supervisor. And finally, congratulations to Mrs Janiak, playground supervisor, who has had a baby girl!

SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Please note that the school will be closed on Thursday 6 May as well as Monday 3 May and Tuesday 4 May.

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2010

Dear parents and carers

The days are definitely getting longer and I’m sure the children will be enjoying playing out after school now that it’s lighter in the evenings. We only have four weeks until the Easter holidays so we are all working very hard on our various projects.

P1 Farm Visit

On Monday Mrs Wilson’s P1 class visited Torwoodleee Mains Farm as part of their farm topic. The farmer, Mr Andrew Pate, spoke to the children about the animals – sheep, cows, horses – and the children got to see some new-born lambs and a calf. They learned what the animals ate and they all had a shot in the tractor, which was the highlight of the visit. The only complaint was about the cold – it was a lovely sunny day but quite chilly. A huge thank you to Lesley Mason from RHET (Royal Highland Education Trust) and to Andrew for allowing us to visit his farm.

P3 Restaurant

The P3 restaurant topic is well underway and the children are sampling food from different countries. Last week they visited Beijing Beijing for a Chinese meal and in the coming weeks they will be trying out Indian food, Italian and of course Scottish. I wish I was in P3!

Prize Winner

Congratulations to Luke Davidson in P3 who has won first prize for his age group in the Farmhouse Breakfast competition. He has won a £10 book token for himself and a £40 book token for the class as well as a farmhouse breakfast and a farm visit for the class. Well done Luke!

P1/2 and P2 Visit

On Wednesday the P1/2 and P2 classes visited Woodside Garden Centre near Ancrum as part of their topic on plants and growing things. Again they had a lovely sunny day for the visit. Many thanks to the staff at Woodside who were very helpful and accommodating. The children then visited Tweedbank Primary School where they were able to use the facilities over lunch time. Thank you to the staff at Tweedbank PS. They then had some time at the adventure playground and fed the ducks at the pond before making their way back to school. Another super outing!

World Book Day

Thursday 4^th March was World Book Day and we have been taking part in various events in school to encourage the enjoyment of reading. All the children have received a voucher which they can use to buy one of the specially published books or to get £1 off a book of their choice. The World Book Day books can be purchased at WH Smith and Tesco. Please encourage the children to make use of the vouchers.

Dress-Up Day

On Friday pupils paid 50p to dress up as their favourite book character. At assembly on Friday morning a group of P6 pupils performed a short play, Little Red Riding Hood. The money raised will be put towards the fund-raising for the earthquake in Haiti.

Family Disco

Many thanks to all those who organised and ran the family disco last week. There was some great dancing and everyone had a super time. The funds raised will help to pay for extras such as buses for school trips. We really do appreciate the support and hard work of the parents and staff involved.

Netball Tournament

Congratulations to the girls in the netball team who played in the finals of the Scottish Borders Netball tournament last Thursday along at the Queen’s Centre. The team did extremely well, coming 3^rd in their group and only being beaten by the two teams who made it to the final. As it was a P7 tournament and most of our team were P6s they did very well and for many of them they can try again next year. Well done girls!

Generation Science

On Tuesday afternoon The P1 – P3 pupils enjoyed a workshop on Day and Night. This was sponsored by Prostrakan. This is what the children had to say about it:

 I thought it was like real science.    Owen P2

The earth goes around the Sun for 24 hours.  Emma and Owen

It was good because it was funny.   Arron

We learned about the planets.      Zoe-Lee

I learned about the Sun and the Moon.   Ellie P2

I learned the Sun stays still and the Moon and the Earth spin around the Sun.    Connor P2

I just thought the Earth went round the Sun but I learned the Moon goes around too.

We are very grateful to Prostrakan for giving the children this experience.

P5 Mountain Biking

Pupils in P5 will have a number of sessions of mountain biking on Friday afternoons starting this week.

Staffing

Last week we said goodbye to Mrs Jean Reynolds who has been one of our learning support teachers since August. The post has now been taken up by Mrs Jean Westwater who will be working mainly with P1 – P4 classes.

Nursery Enrolment

Nursery enrolment has now been completed. All ante pre school children (mainly those currently attending in the afternoon) should now have handed in their enrolment forms. If you have not already done so then please do it now to make sure that your child has a place. If you know of any children who will be 3 years old before April 2010 then please let the parents/carers know that this is also the time to enrol for ante pre nursery.

Absence

Absence procedures require us to inform the Children’s Reporter if your child’s attendance falls below 80%. We also need to look at patterns of absence eg several Mondays in a row, and if that is the case then we will need to contact you. If your child’s attendance is in danger of falling below this level you will receive a letter from the school to notify you in the first instance. It is very important that you notify us as soon as possible on the first day of absence to let us know why your child will be absent from school. If your child is absent and you have not contacted the school then this is recorded as an unauthorised absence ie truancy.

Behaviour management

As you may know, break time and lunchtime detention is a feature of our behaviour management system. Staff who supervise these detentions have noticed that there are some pupils who are regularly on detention as a result of their behaviour. We think it is important that parents are informed if this is the case so that you can speak to your child about their behaviour or discuss it with school staff if necessary. Therefore, on a Friday afternoon, we will send a group call message to those parents whose children have had a number of detentions in that week. Please feel free to contact the school at any time if you have any concerns about your child.

Parents’ Evenings

You will have an opportunity to meet with the class teachers on either Monday 8 March from 6.00-8.00 or Wednesday 10 March from 3.30-6.00pm. If your child receives support from Mrs Welsh or Mrs Westwater then you can make an appointment to see them also. Please note that this is the last of the parents’ evenings this year as during the last term you will receive report cards so I hope to see all parents taking this opportunity to discuss their child’s progress. Parents of pupils in Miss Thorpe’s class will have an opportunity to meet with her in the summer term.

There will also be a book fair in school week beginning Monday 8^th March to coincide with Parents’ Evenings. The last book fair earned over £200 in commission so we could spend that money on books for the school. Your support is very much appreciated.

Head Lice

We have had quite a few cases of headlice recently so please remember to check your child’s hair every week and to treat if you find any lice. The school nurse, your practice nurse or the chemist will be able to give you advice if needed.

iPods and mobile phones

Please note that the school can not take any responsibility for these expensive items that some children are bringing to school. We would therefore ask that children do not bring these to school unless absolutely essential. Thank you for you co-operation.

Homework Survey

When you come along to the Parents’ Evenings next week you will also have the opportunity to complete a short questionnaire about homework. Please fill these in as your views are very important to us as we plan for the future.

Sandra Davidson

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010
Dear parents and carers

It’s hard to believe we are almost half-way through the term already. The year certainly got off to a very wintry start. However, the children are settled back into their classes after all the excitement of the holidays and the snow!

End of term service

Unfortunately we were unable to go up to the church for our end-of-term service because of the weather. However, we had a lovely service in school instead. The collection raised £50 for Shelter. Thank you for your donations.

Rag Bag Collection

Thanks to all who brought bags for this. We collected 600kg of materials and raised £192.90 for school funds. Well done everyone!

Class topics

Classes began the year with a short topic on Scotland and Scots language with all the children learning a Scots poem for the school and Galashiels area competitions.  Winners will be announced at a special Scottish Assembly on Friday when they will recite their poems and receive certificates. Children can wear something tartan or ‘Scottish’ on Friday for the assembly.

Following the focus on Scotland, each class will be starting a new topic which will include lots of different areas of the curriculum. These topics will involve the children in working in groups, making decisions, solving problems and being creative. We hope the topics will be active and enjoyable, giving the children some responsibility for their own learning. P1 will be looking at Farms and Farming, P1/2 and P2 are studying Growing Things – plants and animals, P3 are opening a restaurant! The P4, P4/5 and P5 classes are doing a ‘storyline’ about a street where new neighbours arrive and P6, P6/7 and P7 are going on a tour of Europe. We hope the children will find these topics interesting and exciting.

Nursery Enrolment for 2010-2011

Enrolment week for all nursery children is 8^th -12^th  February. If your child is in ante pre-school (3 year old) then you will need to enrol for pre-school during this week. If your child will be 3 years old during the year you should enrol now for ante pre. Nursery and office staff will be happy to advise you if your child is eligible. You will need to bring their birth certificate when you hand in the form which will be available from the office.

Head Lice

We have had quite a few cases of headlice recently so please remember to check your child’s hair every week and to treat if you find any lice. The school nurse, your practice nurse or the chemist will be able to give you advice if needed.

Family disco

Friends of Langlee are hosting a family disco sometime in February. The date is still to be confirmed. If you would like to help with supervision, teas and juice please leave your name at the office. A separate letter will be sent with more details.

School Dinners

There are still children coming in asking for dinners on a daily basis without ordering in advance.  In many cases teachers are having to fill in the envelopes with the children and this is taking up valuable teaching time. Please ensure that if your child is to have school dinner you complete and return the envelope the week before.   It would be appreciated if you could enclose the correct money as arranging change for lots of children can be a problem.

Fizzy Drinks

The children are not allowed to bring fizzy drinks to school for break or lunch time. These drinks are not good for their teeth and they can be very messy if they spill out of the can or bottle. Fruit juice or still water are fine. The best thing we can drink for our health and teeth is plain water.

Fund-raising for Haiti

I’m sure you have all seen the news about the earthquake in Haiti and the destruction it caused. After hearing about it in assembly the children were keen to do some fund-raising to help. On Friday, P7 pupils are holding a bring and buy sale, selling toys, books, bric a brac and home baking. Children can bring in items to sell and some money on Friday for the sale.

Some of the P6 pupils are also planning an event to raise funds for Haiti. Watch this space!

Parents’ Evenings

Parents’ evenings will take place on Monday 8^th and Wednesday 10^th March. You will receive an appointment time to meet your child(ren)’s class teacher(s). Please come along and find out how your child is getting on with their learning and see some of the work they have been doing this year so far. All the children have been working very hard and there is some super work on display around the school. There will also be a book fair in school week beginning Monday 8^th March to coincide with Parents’ Evenings. The last book fair earned over £200 in commission so we could spend that money on books for the school. Your support is very much appreciated.

In-Service day

The next In-service day is Friday 12^th February. Staff will spend the day working on our School Improvement Plan priorities – Active Learning, Cross-currlcular working and Writing.

DECEMBER 2009

Well, it’s that time of year again with only 23 sleeps until Christmas! Here in school preparations are well underway for the Christmas Concert so make sure you have ordered your tickets. Judging by the singing I have heard so far in the rehearsals it promises to be a super event.

Parents’ Evenings

It was good to see so many of you at our recent parents’ evenings. I hope you found it interesting and helpful to see the work your child has been doing and to talk to the teachers. I know the teachers also find it useful to hear about the children’s interests outside school. Please remember you are welcome to come in any time to discuss your child’s progress. If you missed Parents’ Evening and would still like to see your child’s teacher please contact the school to make an appointment.

Scholastic Book Fair

Thank you to all who supported the recent book fair. We hope you are enjoying your purchases. The commission will be used to provide new books for the school.

Christmas Coffee Evening

Many thanks to all who supported and helped in so many different ways. The evening was a great success and roughly £600 was raised for the school by Friends of Langlee. We will let you know how the money will be spent.

Rag Bag Collection

Thanks to all who brought bags for this. We collected 600kg of materials which is the most we have ever achieved. Well done everyone!

Breakfast Club

Each day there is toast, hot chocolate and tea all for 20p. Just what the children need to set them up for the day especially now that the colder weather is here. Breakfast is served from 8am – 8.45am.

Clothing

Now that the weather has become wet and cold it is important that children arrive at school in suitable clothing. Please make sure your child is wearing a coat as they are not allowed in to school until the bell rings (unless very wet).

Head Lice

Please remember to check your child’s hair every week and to treat if you find any lice. The school nurse, your practice nurse or the chemist will be able to give you advice if needed.

Non-Uniform day

Well done to pupils and staff who took part in the recent non-uniform day for Children in Need which raised £113.70 - a fantastic effort!

Awards For All

I am delighted to let you know that we will be receiving a grant of £9067 from Awards for All which we will use to build a trim track in the school grounds. This will be a fantastic resource for the school and the community.

Galashiels Academy Darwin event

P7 pupils were invited to take part in this event on Monday 9^th November to commemorate and celebrate the work of Charles Darwin. Pupils chose from 6 activities which illustrated how animals have adapted to their environment. For some pupils it was their first visit to the academy so they got a wee taste of what it is like.

Sportshall Athletics

On Thursday 19^th November P7 pupils took part in this event at the Queens Centre along with pupils from other primary schools in the Galashiels area. The pupils took part in a range of athletic events including relay, soft javelin, obstacle race, triple jump and standing long jump.

Flag bearers at Netherdale

Eight pupils from P7 were chosen to be flag bearers for the Scotland v Tonga rugby match on Friday 20^th November at Netherdale. The pupils were Gemma Turnbull, Joanne Nicol, Jordan Darling, Charmaine Dawson, Grant Yeomans, Rachel Elliot, Laura Skene, Cara Bertram and Mark Watkins, who, unfortunately was ill on the night and couldn’t make it. Well done boys and girls – you were a credit to yourselves and the school!

Homework club treat

Pupils who regularly attend homework club enjoyed an afternoon of swimming on Tuesday 1^st December as a reward for all their hard work.

Celebrating Pupils’ Achievements

This is a new item to celebrate the many achievements of pupils outwith school. If you think your child deserves a mention please let us know and I will be delighted to include the information in our regular newsletters.

I am delighted to let you know that Carly Taylor, P5, came first in her class (age 10 and under) at a recent Irish Dancing competition held in Musselburgh. Carly had to dance 6 dances and was first overall. She received a sash, medals and a cup. What a fantastic achievement – well done Carly!

Change of pedestrian crossing

Please note that the zebra crossing on the Melrose Road has been replaced by a pelican crossing. This means that pedestrians will now need to wait for the lights. Please help us to make sure that the  children cross the road safely.
Christmas Events

The Christmas Concert will take place on:

Tuesday 8^th December – 1.15pm (dress rehearsal – anyone who is unable to come to the evening performances is welcome to come along on the understanding that it is a dress rehearsal)
Wednesday 9^th December 6.30pm
Thursday 10^th December 6.30pm

 Tickets cost £2 – there are still tickets left for both evenings but particularly Thursday. Book now to avoid disappointment.

Please note: If you intend to take photographs or make a video recording of any part of the concert this is on the strict understanding that it is for personal family use only and that no photos or video will be published anywhere, including on the internet.

Support Centre Christmas Fun will be on Thursday 17^th December in the morning – time to be arranged.

Aladdin

On Friday 11^th December Chaplin’s Pantos will perform ‘Aladdin’. The charge is £1 per pupil. Please return the permission slip and money to school before the performance.

Christmas lunch

We will be having our Christmas lunch on Tuesday 15^th December. Information leaflets have been sent out. Please complete the dinner envelope as normal for that day.

Parties

Tuesday 15^th December        P1 – P3

Wednesday 16^th December   P6 and P7

Thursday 17^th December      P4 and P5

Nursery Events

Monday 14^th December - The Nursery play will be held in the school hall at 10.00am

Thursday 17^th December - Nursery parties

Friday 18^th December - Nursery coffee morning

End of term service

The end of term service will take place in St John’s Church on Friday 18^th December at 9.30am. Families and friends are welcome to join us for the occasion. There will be a collection in aid of Shelter.

School Return

School begins at the normal time on Tuesday 5^th January.

Newsletter 3 October/November 2009

We have been very busy in school over the last month and with only six weeks till the end of term we have a lot to do in the next few weeks leading up to Christmas. Please note dates for Christmas events in this newsletter.

Correction

First of all I need to apologise to Cara Bertram who is, in fact, one of our JRSOs this year and not Cara-Anne McDermott as I said in previous newsletters. Sorry girls –my mistake!

School photographs

Please have all photo money to school by Wednesday 11^th November.  Any orders after the 11^th should be sent direct to FOTEK.

Halloween disco

This was a very successful evening which was well supported by pupils, families and friends. To those who came along we hope you enjoyed your evening. There were many weird and wonderful costumes. (At least I think they were costumes …) A huge thank you to all the volunteers who helped at the disco making it a fun event for all. Thanks also to Dave Houston for providing the disco. As well as being good fun the disco also raised £140 which will be used to benefit the children in the school.

Blythswood Shoebox Appeal

Many thanks to all those who donated items for this appeal. We managed to fill 38 shoe boxes which is absolutely FANTASTIC. There were also some bits and pieces left over which I’m sure will be used at the collection centre to help fill other boxes. These will now travel across Europe and will give a great deal of pleasure to the people who receive them. Thanks to Miss Thorpe for co-ordinating this appeal on behalf of the school.

Robin Hood

On Tuesday 27^th October pupils were entertained by M and M Productions who performed their own version of the classic tale ‘Robin Hood’. There were goodies and baddies, music, a love story and a happy ending. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the performance and feedback from the actors was that they were a super audience.

Bonfire Safety 

Last Friday Lothian and Borders Fire Service came in to talk to P6 and P7 pupils about bonfire safety. Unfortunately they were called away to an incident before the workshop was completed. However, all pupils were reminded at assembly of the dangers of playing with fire and fireworks. Please reinforce this message at home and we can all have a safe Bonfire Night.

Parents Evenings

Parents evenings will take place on Monday 9^th and Wednesday 11^th November. You should all have received an appointment time to meet your child(ren)’s class teacher. Please come along and find out how your child is getting on with their learning and see some of the work they have been doing this year so far. All the children have been working very hard and there is some super work on display around the school.

Scholastic Book Fair

The Scholastic Book Fair will also be in school next week and will be open on Parents’ Evenings for those who wish to buy books – maybe make a start on your Christmas shopping. Children can also buy books during the week.

Christmas coffee evening – Thursday 26^th November

The Christmas Coffee evening will take place on Thursday 26^th November in the school hall from 6pm – 8pm. We need lots of volunteers to help with the stalls in half hour shifts. If you can help please fill in the tear-off slip below and return it to school. Without enough volunteers it may not be possible for the coffee evening to go ahead.
We would welcome donations of:

v      Bric a Brac

v      Toys

v      Cake & Candy

v      Donations for the raffle – things for a hamper or individual prizes

v      Bottle Stall

v      DVDs & books

 And of course all are welcome to come along on the night. Entry only 50p.

Christmas Events

The Christmas Concert will take place on:

Tuesday 8^th December – 1.15pm (dress rehearsal – anyone who is unable to come to the evening performance is welcome to come along on the understanding that it is a dress rehearsal)

Wednesday 9^th December 6.30pm

Thursday 10^th December 6.30pm

Tickets cost £2 – the letter and order form will be sent out next week.

Nursery Play

The Nursery play will be held in the Nursery on Monday 14^th December at 10.00am.

Support Centre Christmas Fun will be on Thursday 17^th December in the morning – time to be arranged.

Aladdin

On Friday 11^th December children Chaplin’s Pantos will perform ‘Aladdin’. A reminder will be sent out nearer the time as there will be a small charge per pupil.

Rag Bag

We will be taking part in the Rag Bag appeal again this year. This helps to raise money for the school so if you are having a clear out in time for Christmas please send bags in to school before Friday 27^th November.

In-Service days

A reminder that the school will be closed to pupils on Thursday 12^th and Friday 13^th November for In-service training. On Thursday school staff will be working on cross-curricular planning – creating topics that will link different areas of the curriculum and make learning more interesting and enjoyable for pupils. This is already happening in classes and we will be looking to build on the good work that has been started. On Friday we will be working on ideas for teachers to use in the teaching of writing which we hope will help pupils to improve the standard of their writing and make writing lessons more active and interesting too.

Parents’ Drop In

Parents and carers are welcome to come along to the Green Room for a coffee and a chat on Tuesdays from 1.30pm – 3.00pm. Community learning and development worker, Rita Docherty will be there to welcome you. A free crèche is provided.  Also on Tuesday afternoons parents/carers are welcome to join our weekly knitting group.

Community Library

Our library is open to the community every Wednesday evening between 6.30-7.30pm

St Andrew’s Day holiday

Please note the school will be closed on Monday 30^th November for the St Andrew’s day holiday.

Newsletter number 2 - September 2009

It seems like no time at all since I sent out the first newsletter of the year in August and now the October holiday week is fast approaching. The children have been very busy in school over the last few weeks and I’m sure they will enjoy the break next week (as will the staff!)
Sandra Davidson        Headteacher

Congratulations

To our elected School Council Members:

Glen Frizzell and Joanne Nicol, Michael House and Kenzi Mercer, Gemma Stoddart and Mahee Mustafa, Morgan Moore and Kyle Purves, Andrew Guyton and Chloe Hogg, Scott Stoddart and Myrran MartinThe school council will meet monthly and will be led by Mrs Brown.

To our elected Eco-Committee:

House Captains

 School Day/Attendance

The school day begins at 9.00am and ends for pupils at 3:00pm.  It is very important that pupils arrive at school on time at the beginning of the day. If pupils are late they often miss important information and teaching and it is also disruptive for the rest of the class. If a pupil is consistently late we will follow this up and parents/carers may be asked to come in to discuss the problem with myself or the Depute Headteacher. If your child is going to be absent from school could you please let us know as soon as possible on the first day of absence or even before in the case of pre-arranged appointments. This is partly for administrative purposes but also in terms of your child’s safety i.e. if a child does not arrive at school in the morning we know the reason for their absence. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

 Headlice

We have had one or two incidents of head lice reported by parents. I would just like to remind parents and carers of the need to check heads regularly. If you need further information about head checking or treatment please contact the school or your local Health Centre.

Road Safety
On Thursday 10^th September our two JRSOs, Jack Templeton and Cara-Ann McDermott attended their induction training at the Tait Hall, Kelso. They have now created a notice board in school to inform pupils about road safety matters. This is a very important issue as, unfortunately, two of our pupils have been involved in road accidents since the start of the school year. As we move into the dark mornings and evenings we all need to play our part in making sure that all pupils are following the Green Cross Code and behaving in a safe and sensible manner near busy roads.

Tour of Britain Cycle Race

On Monday 14^th September all the children walked down to Ladhope Vale to cheer on the cyclists taking part in this event as they passed through Galashiels. The organisers really appreciated the support shown to the participants. The children waved their flags and cheered enthusiastically as the cyclists rode past but I think they were just as excited by the police motor cyclists who rode past with blue lights flashing and sirens whoop-whooping!    

Nursery and P1 Parents’ Evenings

The meetings held for Nursery and P1 parents were very successful with a good turn-out on both evenings. It is very encouraging that so many of you came along to find out what your children get up to in school and nursery.

Parents’ Evenings for P1 – P7 pupils will be held on Monday 9^th and Wednesday 11^th November. We hope you will take this opportunity to come in and discuss your child’s learning and progress with his/her class teacher.

Parent Council

The Parent Council AGM was held on Wednesday 23^rd September. The new office bearers are as follows: Chairperson, Jane Gillie; Secretary, Carol Bertram; Treasurer, Fiona Cowburgh. The next meeting is planned for Wednesday 4^th November at 6.30pm. New members are always welcome.

Hallowe’en Disco

Following the success of the family disco for the Langlee 50^th celebrations the Parent Council has decided to have a Family Hallowe’en Disco on Thursday 29^th October from 6.30pm – 8.00pm in the School Hall.  It will cost 50p per person or £2 for families of 4 or more.

Hallowe’en Lunch

On Friday 30^th October the dinner ladies will be serving up a special Hallowe’en lunch. It will be the normal menu for that day with a Hallowe’en twist! We would like to encourage the children to have a school lunch that day.

Crucial Crew
On Friday 27^th September Primary 7 pupils travelled to Tweedbank to take part in a number of activities organised by the emergency services to raise pupils’ awareness of  personal safety.

 P6 Theatre Workshop

On Tuesday 22^nd September P6 pupils joined the P6 pupils at St Peter’s Primary School for a workshop/performance on the theme of school travel. Entitled ‘Go! Go! Go!’ it was presented by Big Wheel Theatre Company. The workshop raised pupils’ awareness of the importance of finding alternative ways of travelling especially over short distances. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining event and the P6s in Mrs Romeril’s class will follow this up with some work in class around the same theme.

 Blythwood Shoebox Appeal

This year we are taking part in the Blythswood shoebox appeal and we hope to fill shoeboxes in time for Christmas. We hope that you will help us by contributing items to make up shoeboxes as these mean a great deal to the children and adults who receive them.   

Harvest Assembly

On Friday we had our Harvest Assembly in school led by the school chaplain, Rev Jane Howitt. Thank you to those who contributed tins and packets of food for the Harvest Assembly. These have now been made up into three boxes which will be donated to various homes for the elderly in Galashiels where I’m sure they will be much appreciated by the residents.   

Additional In-service Day

Just a reminder that Headteachers in the Galashiels area have decided to have the additional In-service day on Friday 9^th October so the school will be closed to pupils that day. School staff will spend the day looking at the new Curriculum for Excellence outcomes and experiences for Numeracy.

The In-service day will be followed by the October holiday week so school will close for pupils on Thursday 8^th October and re-open on Monday 19^th October.

Theatre Visit

On Tuesday 27^th October M & M Theatre company will perform ‘Robin Hood’ to the whole school. We are asking pupils to contribute £1 each towards the cost of the perfomance.

Lost Property

We have quite a collection of lost property in school so these will be laid out in the school hall on the afternoon of Tuesday 20^th October. If you think any of these items belong to your child(ren) please come along to have a look. Any items left will given to the ‘Rag Bag’ appeal.

Staffing

Sadly, we are saying goodbye to Mr Belleville this week as he leaves us to take up his post as Acting Headteacher at St Ronan’s Primary School, Innerleithen. I have very much enjoyed working with Mr Belleville over the last few weeks and I’m sure you will join me in wishing him every success in his new post.

We have appointed Mrs Amanda Findlay as Acting Depute Headteacher and we look forward to welcoming her to Lanlgee on Monday 19^th October when we return from the holiday week.

Welcome back after the summer holiday!  I hope you all enjoyed the break with your chil