Swinton Primary School Newsletter

Number 6

Head Teacher – Mrs J Waite

Email Jayne.Waite@scotborders.gov.uk https://swintonprimary.school

The Christmas Fayre

A HUGE thank you to all parents, pupils and staff that helped (both on the night and

with the preparations beforehand) at the Christmas Fayre last Friday. There was a

great turn out and Santa’s grotto looked fabulous. The fantastic sum of £900 was

raised. Everyone’s support, donations and attendance is really and truly appreciated.

Swinton Community Council

The Rev David Taverner will be turning on the Christmas lights on the

Green at 6:30pm on Friday the 9th of December.

Santa will be coming and there will be mince pies and mulled wine.

The Christmas Performance Tuesday 13th December

Tickets have been issued and rehearsals are in full swing. Under Mrs Mutch’s musical

direction everyone has been working very hard on the performance.

The afternoon performance is at 1pm and the evening performance at 6pm. Please

bring all children to Greenlaw Primary for 5:15pm to prepare for the evening

performance.

Swinton Parent Committee and Friends of Greenlaw Primary School will be running a

joint raffle with a prize of big box of fancy biscuits for the afternoon performance

and a huge bottle of prosecco for the evening performance. The tickets will be sold

at £1 per ticket and proceeds will be split equally between the two school

committees.

As parking is limited at Greenlaw Primary, for the evening performance, we have been

given permission by the Health centre and Borders Embroideries to use their car

parks. Many thanks to both the Health centre and Borders Embroideries.

P1-4 Christmas Party Monday 19th December

Children should bring their party clothes to school in a clearly named bag, to change

into before the party. The P1-4 party will start at 1:30pm.

P5-7 Christmas Party/Ceilidh

The P5-7 party will be held at Greenlaw Primary from 6-8pm on Tuesday the 20th of

December. If you would have space in your car to take a child please let the school

office know.

Whole School Trip to the Maltings Pantomime Tuesday 20th December

All permission slips and EV2 forms for the Maltings performance of “Sleeping

Beauty” should be returned to the school office on Monday the 12th of December. All

pupils should come dressed in school uniform on Tuesday the 20th December and may

take a small snack to enjoy at the pantomime.

School Meals

Christmas Lunch

The Christmas menu will be offered on Tuesday the 20th

of December. This should be ordered and paid for on

parentpay as usual. If a slip was returned to school, this

has been used for the cooks ordering and has been added

to parentpay.

Church Service

A reminder the Church Service is on Wednesday the 21st of

December at 1:30pm at Swinton Parish Church. All parents,

carers, family and friends of the school are welcome.

Collection will be made for ‘Borders Children’s Charity’

Christmas Jumper Day

This year we are supporting “Borders Children’s Charity”.

For a suggested donation of £1 the children may wear a

Christmas Jumper on Thursday the 22nd of December (the

last day of term).

Swinton Church

Everyone is invited to Swinton Church on Thursday the 22nd of December at 7pm for

festive music, carol singing, refreshment and friendship around a real Christmas

Tree.

Come along and enjoy singing Christmas carols with local musicians in a traditional

and friendly manner. All ages and voices are welcome! Seasonal refreshments will be

available throughout. Silent Night by candle light. We are assured the church will be

warm and festive, so come along and start enjoying Christmas 2016!

Christmas Snack

As an end of term treat we are planning to make Hot Chocolate & Hot Ribena on

Wednesday the 21st of December. This will be available to everyone and there will be

no charge as it will be funded from a donation made to healthy snack. If your child

wishes to order this, the order will be taken on Monday the 19th December.

Christmas Post Box

If pupils wish they can bring their Christmas Cards for their friends at school in to

school.

Our Post Box is now out in the foyer – please ensure the FULL NAME OF THE

CHILD AND CLASS is on the front of the envelope

Christmas cards should not be given out in the playground but posted in the postbox.

P7 will be acting as posties!

Resilient Schools

Resilient Schools is a system set up by Scottish Borders Council which aims to keep

as many schools as possible, open in bad weather.

In the event that Resilient Schools has been put into action, parents/carers will

receive a groupcall text message from the school advising whether the school will be

open or not.

If the school is open then ONLY children who walk to school should attend.

School transport will not run so children who rely on transport to get them to school

should not attend school. Children should not be driven to school.

Normal school meals will not apply, so all children who attend will require a packed

lunch.

If you are unsure, please check the following information sources:

www.scotborders.gov.uk/schoolclosures

www.twitter.com/scotborders

www.facebook.com/sbcouncil

www.radioborders.com or tune into Radio borders 96.8FM

Ragbag

Our Ragbag container has been emptied this week, so if you are having a clear out

before Christmas there is plenty room for your bags! This is a great way for the

school to raise some money!

Thursday Group 2-3pm

The last Thursday pre-school group before Christmas will be on

Thursday the 15th of December. Group will start after the holidays

on Thursday the 12th of January.

Swinton Parent Committee

Education in Scotland Survey

This is your final opportunity to take part in the survey and give us your opinions on

how education in Scotland should be run. Your input will be used to tell Scottish

Government what parents think about their proposed changes to Scotland's education

system.

Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC) are circulating a survey for parents to have

input into the future of Scottish education. It is important that as many parents as

possible contribute their views so that the Scottish Government can get a balanced

view from parents and can use this to inform where they take education next.

The following is an extract from the e mail I have had on this and includes a link to

the survey, which hopefully works.

Please note the closing date of 11th December. Apologies for the short notice, I must

have missed an earlier e mail.

This short questionnaire is for all members – it will take no more than ten minutes to

complete. You can share this survey with other parents in your parent group with this

open link - www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/sptcgovrev

This survey will close on Sunday 11 December.

J.Mabon

Parent Chair SPC

******REMINDERS*********

Homework Grids Final items for the homework grids should be returned by Friday the 16th of December.

Absence Notification/Allowing Recovery Time

Please inform the school office of your child’s absence by 10.00am each day. If

your child is booked in for a school dinner their order will be cancelled and a

credit applied to their account.

With so many bugs going around please remember Department of Health Guidelines. If your

child has had a sickness bug/diarrhoea/vomiting they should not return to school until 48

hours after they have stopped being unwell.

Coats

Please ensure your child brings a suitable outdoor/waterproof coat to school everyday even

if they are brought by car.

Lost Property

We do our very best to re-unite lost property with its owner, however, currently in our lost

property box, we have a number of items which have no name in them. If your child/children

has/have lost any items please pop in and have a look at what we have.

Water Bottles

Please ensure your child has a (clearly named) water bottle at school. We have a supply of

Childsmile water bottles for sale at £1.

Diary Dates

Ongoing Wednesday Healthy Snack

Tue 13th Dec School Concert Greenlaw Primary School 1&6pm

Mon 19th Dec P1-4 Party PM

Tue 20th Dec

Whole School Pantomime The Maltings Berwick

Christmas Lunch-Menu available on parentpay

P5-7 Ceilidh/Party Greenlaw 6-8pm

Wed 21st Dec Church Service

Thu 22nd Dec

Wear a Christmas Jumper Day for £1 for Borders

Childrens Charity

All break, Term ends.

Mon 9th Jan 2017 All resume