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East CraigsPrimary School

February, 2018

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD TEACHER’S DESKWelcome back to school after the February break. It was good to see everyone looking refreshed and ready for the remainder of the Spring Term. Please enjoy reading about events and news from this month.

Snow Clearing Party!It is great to be back at school today after three days of snow closures.We are incredibly grateful to all of our parents, carers, children and staff, who gave up their time on Sunday morning to come to school to clear the entry and exits,

create pathways and even clear the footpaths outside the school gates. Without this support, it would have been very difficult for us to be ready to re-open today. The community spirit was in abundance. Thank you.

Staffing NewsWe are delighted to share with you that after the recent PSA interviews, we have selected three preferred candidates for permanent positions at East Craigs Primary School. The candidates are currently subject to pre-employment checks and further details will be shared when this process is complete.

Parent Pay Refunds

One or two parents have requested information about how to get a refund on Parent Pay for missed school lunches due to pupil absence. As a general rule refunds are not issued for single days of absence. However, there are exceptional circumstances and these are at the discretion of the Head Teacher or Business Manager. Any Parent or Carer who is looking for a refund must contact the school office. Once approved by the Head Teacher or Business Manager, a form is required to be submitted by school to Food in

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February, 2018Schools who would confirm if we are able to issue a refund. This would then be done via Parent Pay.

Easter Holiday

The school will close for the holiday on Thursday 29th

March, 2018 at the usual finishing times. Pupils return on Tuesday 17th April, again at the usual times

Book Week & Literacy Learning FocusThis week promised to be full of fun and excitement, celebrating books with challenges, quizzes and live Author events. Unfortunately, the snow prevented us from having some of our activities last week but we have decided to go ahead with some of these activities this week instead. Back by popular demand will be DEAR (Drop everything and read) which will happen on Wednesday 7th

March and our Dress-Up day will be held on Friday 9th

March. We had the hunt for Golden Tickets, launched bed-

time stories on the website, read by our senior pupils and P5 will be giving advice, in role, as ‘Book Doctors’. There will be lots of opportunities to win certificates, book prizes and goodie bags. Good Luck everyone, keep reading!

Swimming Gala Trials

25 of our pupils took part in the trials at Drumbrae leisure centre to try to win a place in the Edinburgh Primary Schools

Swim and Dive Relay at the Royal Commonwealth Pool. All pupils swam with skill and determination and impressed Joanna Nowak and Fiona Hamilton, the organisers, who congratulated them on their fabulous team spirit.The pupils who won a place are:

Breast StrokeConroy Zhang, Hanna Kelly, Michael Mochan, Patryk Bess. Reserve: Abigail KiddFront CrawlMounika Pasupulate, Sriya Golkonda, Isobel West, Jamie Snedden. Reserve: Simone Isler-McCurdyBack Stroke




February, 2018Michael Kenny, Katie Gordon, Chris Wallace, Caitlin Walsh Reserve: Michael Wallace

Thank you to our Parents/Carers who supported this event and who have volunteered to support the event at the Commonwealth Pool on Wednesday 28th March. Good Luck to Team East Craigs!

Netball TournamentMany thanks to Miss Mowat for the following update.

P6 netball girls competed in the P6 EPSSA Winter Netball Festival on Friday 2nd February. They enthusiastically played against several other schools and showed excellent sportsmanship throughout by supporting each other and the other competing schools. Their confidence grew immensely, with East Craigs winning 3-0 in one of their games. Since the festival, the girls have been able to apply their improved confidence and develop new skills in training sessions. Both P6 and P7 girls are looking forward to competing in future festivals and in friendlies with cluster primary schools.

Parents’ and Carers’ Consultations

Our next round of consultations will be held in school on Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st March between 4-7pm. Appointment request slips have now been issued, with your appointment time being issued on Friday 9th

March. This will be another chance for you, and your child, to meet with your child’s class

teacher to discuss progress and next steps in learning. You will also have the opportunity to view your child’s jotters and other evidence of learning. Our Senior Leadership team will “drop-in” on consultations

across the two evenings to continue to develop knowledge of the strengths, and needs, of our pupils and also to carry out Quality Assurance of school practice in this area. We look forward to seeing many of you there.

NSPCC Online Safety Parent WorkshopWe are still looking for more Parents and Carers to sign up for our Parent/Carer workshop




February, 2018on Tuesday 20th March 1.30-2.30pm. The workshop will be run by the NSPCC and O2 and will cover topics that will support families in talking to their child about staying safe online. The Workshop is being held in East Craigs and we are also inviting parents and carers from Corstorphine Primary. If you want to attend but no longer have the letter with reply slip, please email the school at [email protected], confirming your name and attendance.

Uniform Exchange

The Uniform Exchange is continuing to be successful and many people are donating clothes for which we are most grateful. We would love to welcome more families to come and take new uniform from the exchange. At the Parents’ and Carers’ Consultations in March, there will be a display of all of the uniform we have and we would encourage you to come and stock up.

East Craigs Parent Council

Many thanks to Mrs Susi Isler and Mrs Christina Rigby for the following article:-

As we have already shared, we will be stepping down as co-chairs at the end of this scholastic year so we will need to handover to the new (co)chair in May/June. Please do get in touch with us if you are interested. It is a great opportunity to get involved in your child’s school and make a difference. We are happy to have a chat and share more on what the role involves, please do get in touch!

We have our next Parent Council meeting scheduled for 14 March, if you would like to add any items to the agenda, let us know via email or the school office. We would also like to hear from you on any positives you have encountered in your day to day interaction with the school or if your children have shared anything with you at home that has impressed them and you!

We can be contacted by email [email protected] via the School Office or via Twitter @ecpcinfo

Our next meeting will take place on 14 March @ 18.45 in the Staff Room.

Dates of Future meetings



mailto:[email protected]



February, 2018

Tuesday 15th May

Timing: 18.45 – 20.00

East Craigs PTA Many thanks to Mrs Jane Adams for the following article:-

FAMILY PORTRAITSYour children should have all brought home an order form for A FAMILY PORTRAIT SESSION. This is a great opportunity to get a professional family photograph for the exceptional price of £15. If you have not got a form please go into school or ask your child to pick one up. The sessions are limited so if you would like to book in please get your form into us by this Friday 2nd March.

CDsWe still have some CDs of the children’s songs for all seasons. Please get in touch if you would like to order any. £7.

BINGO EVENING

A big thank you to all who supported our family social evening at the beginning of the month by coming along and/or baking. Much fun was had and we raised over £380 which is fantastic. Next social evening will be on May 16th. More information will follow soon.

P5/6 DISCOPlease note the date has changed for the P5/6 disco it is now on 28th March (not 21st

March as advertised).

PTA MEETINGOur next scheduled meeting is on May 1st 6.45pm in the staff room. New members welcome.

NEW MEMBERS REQUIREDWe are always looking for new members. If you would like to be part of our PTA and help raise essential funds for our school or if you would like more information of what this entails please get in touch at: [email protected] We understand that life is busy and that you may not feel you have time to commit to being a member of the PTA. If you can help just once at any of our events throughout the year please let us know. All help is very much appreciated. Please email your name and contact number to the above email and we can then keep you on our files to contact prior to any event.

SCHOOL UNIFORM





February, 2018Orders for uniform can be made at any time. Just fill in the form which is available at the school office or online via the school website under parent’s zone and school uniform. The PTA will collect these orders weekly and process them.

EASYFUNDRAISINGThis is a great way to earn funds for our school when you order any goods or services over the internet. Go to www.easyfundraising.org.uk and search for our cause: East Craigs Primary PTA. Register with them and then every time you order online go to the easyfundraising site. You then go to the website you are ordering from eg Argos via the easyfundraising site and they will donate money to our school. You can earn the school up to 4% of your sales from various retailers.

Nursery NewsMany thanks to Mrs Caroline Young for the following article:-

The children in nursery have been learning about what life was like when their Grannies and Grandads were young. We invited Grannies and Grandads in to nursery to talk to the children about life when they were young and to share with the children songs, stories and games that they played.

Everyone is thoroughly enjoying this experience and is learning just how much life has changed since their grandparents were young. Thank you so much to all the visiting grandparents for giving up their time to come and talk to us. Please do take time to look at our Learning Wall that has lots of wonderful photographs and quotes from both children and grandparents.

A few parents have mentioned that their children have had some unwelcome visitors in their hair. Please could we ask you to keep checking your child’s hair for head lice, as in a nursery environment, they can spread very easily between the children. Many thanks.

Pupils’ AchievementsPlease read on to hear about the fantastic range of achievements our pupils have shared this month.



http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/


February, 2018

In P2B, Nathan Armstrong took part in a gymnastics competition at Lasswade Gymnastics Club and won a medal for floor and vault routines.In P2/3, Blake Hatfield, and his family, have donated a fantastic 13.1kg of food to the Edinburgh Central Foodbank.Also in P2/3, Robbie Snedden achieved his Red Stripe belt at Taekwondo. Robbie has also now moved into the Improvers Class at swimming.Olly Conner, in P2/3 has won a gold medal at his football camp.In P3A, Abigail Dillon achieved medals for Irish dancing. Zoe Linn in the same class, landed her very first back and front flip on the trampoline. She has also now moved up to Level 9 in her swimming class.Also in P3A, Kira Walker has kept trying to learn swim and has now achieved it! Well done Kira.Ha-Yim Lee in P3A, achieved a gold medal at the Drumbrae/Queensferry Swimming Gala.In P3B, there have been lots of achievements in gymnastics. Emily Stewart and Lily Kemp have both moved up to Level 2 and have taken part in the recent Drumbrae Gymnastics Competition. Abi Black, also

took part in this competition and gained a 2nd place medal. She now gets to move forward and compete at the ‘big’ gymnastics competition.Gracie Molloy, also in P3B was awarded Gymnast of the Week in her gymnastics club in West Lothian, whilst Caitlin Crozier has now moved forwards into the Beginners 2 class at her swimming lessons.Also in P3B, Hannah Kelly has completed Level 3 at her Ski School whilst Gregor Lennen, in the same class received a gold medal at the Drumbrae Swimming Gala.In P4A, Erin Adams has earned 10 certificates on Education City across a range of different subjects.Also in P4A, Aaron Williams helped his elderly neighbours during the bad weather by bringing them milk and bread, making soup and clearing their path.In P5A, Lucianna Irvine gained a 1st place medal for competing in the Drumbrae Gymnastics Competition. Lucianna is now able to join the ‘big’ gymnastics competition coming up.Also in P5A, Liam Davidson, after a discussion with his Mum about Mental Health, as part of her work, drew a picture of what Mental Health meant to him. When his Mum took the picture into work, it was displayed in the office for




February, 2018others to view. What a great way to raise awareness, Liam. Well done.Maggie Wilkinson in P5A and Daisy Hill in P7A have both been selected for the ‘World Famous Taste of Scotland’ show, which takes place each year at the Prestonfield House Hotel. This is the fourth year in a row that Daisy has been successful in securing a place. Enjoy it girls!In P5B, Blythe Lennen was awarded a silver medal in the Youngsters Cup at Curling. Blythe also took part in the Drumbrae Leisure Centre

Swimming Gala and received gold and bronze medals. In P7B, Simone Isler McCurdy has successfully passed her Level 6 skiing award at Hillend. This was her first attempt. Well done Simone.

Kirsten Johnston & Shelley GrahamActing Head Teachers

Dates For Your Diary

Wednesday 28th Feb

P3-4 PTA Disco 6.45pm (to be re-arranged)

Thursday 1st March P5 Trip to Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood House (to be re-arranged)

Wednesday 14th March

Parent Council Meeting 6.45pm




February, 2018Wednesday 14th March

P6 Easter Workshop at Craigsbank Church Centre

Friday 16th March NSPCC Assemblies for P1-3 and P4-7

Tuesday 20th March NSPCC Online Safety Workshop for Parents

and Carers 1.30-2.30pm in dining hall

Tuesday 20th March Parents’ and Carers’ Consultations 4-7pm

Wednesday 21st March

Parents’ and Carers’ Consultations 4-7pm

Wednesday 28th March

P6/P7 Swimming Gala at Royal Commonwealth Pool – selected pupils

Wednesday 28th March P5-6 PTA Disco 6.45pm

Thursday 29th March

School closes for Easter Holidays at usual times

Tuesday 17th April School resumes for all at usual times



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