June 2014 Newsletter

June 2014 newsletter (MS Word document)

 

June 2014 – News & Information

School Website : http://roslin.mgfl.net/  on Twitter by searching @RoslinPS 

It’s holiday time and everyone would agree we have had a busy and exciting term.

Sponsored Walk   

The term got off to an exciting start with Health Week. The children had the opportunity to take part in many sporting activities.  The highlight of the week was the sponsored walk.  A special thank you to Alan Krumholds,  the Ranger, and members of the Rotary Club and parents who walked with us on the day.  Again we were lucky with the weather!  We raised £1372.00.  This money will go towards school resources for the children.

Roslin Glen & Bilston Woods                           

P1 and P5/6 have had a successful trip to Roslin Glen working together in a joint outdoor learning experience.   Roslin Nursery has had 2 successful trips to the glen for outdoor learning.  This has been organised by Mrs Goodfellow as part of her ongoing work with Forest Schools.  We plan to continue this excellent initiative in the new term. We are lucky to have the schools situated in such rich environments for outdoor learning.

Bilston Nursery class had a lovely “Nature Play” morning in Bilston Woods.  They listened to the birds, climbed trees, found minibeasts and had their snack outside.  In the nursery, they have also been studying the growth and development of their Caterpillars from tiny caterpillar to pupae/chrysalis to 4 beautiful Painted Lady butterflies, which they released into the nursery garden.

Parent Council

We have a very active Parent Council who have raised a lot of funds for improving the school.  The most recent purchase being the new stage which we look forward to using next session.  Improvements have been made to the playground at Roslin. Work is ongoing in order to continue making improvements.  Minutes of all the Parent Council meetings are on the website which give detailed information on the work done/planned.  Pupil Council reps., George Hughes and Ellie Morning came along to a recent meeting to discuss school uniform.  All the pupils have been consulted and an updated dress code has been made.  We look forward to seeing all the pupils in their uniform on the first day back. 

Nursery P1 Transition

Our new P1 intake pupils, both at Roslin and Bilston, have experienced a number of transition days before meeting their new teachers.  The whole process has been successful and we look forward very much to meeting them on their first day at school in August.

Sports Days                              

We all thoroughly enjoyed the Sports Days at Roslin & Bilston and the pupils were a credit to the school.  All took part competitively and showed excellent team spirit.  Many were waving their flags, banners and shouting encouragement to their classes and houses. The sun shone and a great time was had by all! Congratulations to the winning house : Master Mason.   2^nd was Green Man, 3^rd –  Apprentice and 4^th – St Clair.  Pupils had already been earning house points during the year for athletics and these totals were added to give the overall total score.  Thank you to Evelyn Blackhall,  PE teacher, who helped us with the organisation, along with parents and staff.

Visit from School Group Manage

We had a day visit from Suzanne Thayne, School Group Manager.   The purpose of the visit was to focus on Numeracy and how we are developing it at Roslin.  Jackie Ramage,  HT Danderhall, also came on the visit.  They observed class lessons, spoke to focus groups of pupils, teachers, learning assistants and parents.  The feedback was very positive.  They reported back that they saw evidence of the Midlothian Understanding Number Programme (MUNP) being used consistently across the school.  They observed staff working well together and could see pupils’ numeracy work celebrated on displays throughout the school.

P7 Camp                              

P7s had a week’s residential camp at Benmore Centre, Dunoon, along with the cluster schools.  All the children had the opportunity to try out many outdoor pursuits eg abseiling, gorge walking, hill walking, cycling.  The children learnt so much about team work, effort and commitment.  A special thank you to Ms Herd, Miss Mathers and Mrs Thomas who went to camp with the children.  A super time was had by all and it was lovely to greet them on their return to Roslin where they had happy (and tired!) faces.

P7 Farewell

We say farewell to our present P7s who are going off to high school.  They have had an excellent P7.  One of the highlights of P7 has been their role as Junior Tour Guides for Rosslyn Chapel.  This is an honour for the school to be part of and we were delighted when the P7s were asked to be part of the Commonwealth Baton event on the 16^th August. The P7s are a credit to the school and we are proud of them. They showed that they were responsible citizens and confident individuals.  They will present a Leaver’s Assembly to their parents on Wednesday 2 July, where they will share their successes at Roslin Primary.  This is an emotional and happy time for both them and their parents. We wish them every success in the future and we look forward to welcoming them back at Roslin as former pupils where they can share with us what they have gone on to achieve.

Staffing

This year we will have 9 Primary classes and two Nursery classes at Roslin, and at Bilston Annexe there will be two Primary classes and one Nursery class.  The Authority has provided an extra class at Bilston.  This is the start of the transition process to the new school,    which is scheduled to open in two years.  The main building at Roslin has also been allocated an additional teacher to accommodate the anticipated increase in roll due to new houses. 

Our new members of staff are Colin Burt, class teacher, John Deed, class teacher, Brodie Abbott, class teacher and Lorraine Raeburn, playground supervisor. We also welcome back Teresa Woods from maternity leave to take up a job share post. 

We held interviews for teaching posts this month and extend our congratulations to Kat Mathers and Louise Brodie, who were successful for the two fixed term class teacher posts for one year.  Hannah Fuchs has been recently appointed and will be Mrs Woods job share partner.  We would also like to congratulate Caroline Findlay who has been successful in being appointed Acting Depute Headteacher, temporary contract for a year, at Burnbrae Primary School. 

We would like to extend our best wishes to staff who are leaving us.  Bev Winton, class teacher, is taking early retirement after several years at Roslin and we wish her a long and healthy retirement.  Hazel Marwick, Learning Assistant, is leaving at the end of term.   Hazel has been a valued member of staff and we wish her well in her future ventures.  Mrs Blackhall, our PE teacher from Beeslack High School, will also be taking early retirement at the end of this session and we would like to take this opportunity to thank her for all her hard work and dedication shown over her years working at Roslin school.  Annette Valentine has been our teacher providing NQT cover in P5/6 this year and will be leaving us at the end of term to take up another teaching post.

The Pupil Council and the Parent Council have been working together on our dress code for the school. We are proud to wear it both in the school and in the wider community and we thank the parents for supporting us in this.  We are now aiming for all pupils to follow our updated dress code.

Our dress code should be worn on Fridays.  It is not a dress down day.  If we have an event on a Friday parents will be notified in advance.  Please also wear school uniform on the last day of term. 

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Finally, I would like to thank all parents, carers and families for their support this year.  It is greatly appreciated and it makes the school a special place to be.  I am thoroughly enjoying my role as Headteacher and working in partnership with pupils, staff and parents.  The pupils are a credit to the school and this has been recognised at many events throughout the year.   I wish you all a happy and safe summer holiday and look forward to seeing you all at the start of the session in August 2014.

MRS JO WILSON

HEADTEACHER