Dear Parents

  Welcome to a new session at West Barns Primary. I hope that you had an enjoyable summer. There are one or two items which I have to tell you about which will be of interest.

Staff :   The teaching staff of the school remains the same as last year except for Miss Bruce in P2/3. Mrs Prudence continues in P1/2; Miss Chapman in P4/5/6; Mr Lavery in P6/7, with Mrs D’Arcy-Burt in the Nursery.

Our Support staff remain the same with Mrs Stewart, Mrs McLeman, Mrs Dickson, Mrs Coventry and Mrs Ashton.

Mrs McDonald continues as our Nursery Nurse although she will be taking some maternity leave in the new year.

Mr Porter will be covering our McCrone commitments, and I will be teaching P6/7 on Wednesdays to allow Mr Lavery time for his Principal Teacher duties.

Mrs Horsburgh is still running the school from her command centre!

Visiting specialists for this session are Mrs Jones ( PE ) and Miss Trail ( Music ).

Miss Weeks, one of ELC’s Permanent Supply Staff, will be based in school and when not required elsewhere will be teaching in school.  

Clothing : Please please please please please mark your child’s clothing for identification…you know it makes sense !!

Cluster Camp : P7 will be off to school camp from 3^rd October until 7^th. October. Parents who wish to pay towards the cost in instalments rather than in a lump sum can do so at anytime. 

Maths Challenge : The Maths Challenge programme was very successful last session. It ran for P5-7 and this year we would like to extend to P4. Unfortunately the programme is adult intensive and we really need volunteers to form a rota as last year the same parents had to take the children every week.

If you are interested in spending an hour or two to help with Maths Challenge please contact me at the school, or Mrs Stark, our PTA chairperson.

Absence Notification : It has been the policy of the school for a while now that if we had not heard the reason for a child’s absence by 9.15am the school will contact parents. Unfortunately recent events have shown that this policy is worthwhile and will continue. If your child is going to be absent please inform the school by 9.15am or if you know in advance e.g. dentist, drop a note into school.

Lunch Money : If possible please have your child bring money for lunch on a Monday.

Photographer : The photographer will be in school on 1^st. September. We are giving a new firm a go as they seem to be offering a very good deal. The proof of the pudding……

Water Sports :  P6 will be experiencing water sports at Seafield Pond on 6^th. September.

Book Fair : There will be a Book Fair in school during the week beginning 10^th. October. Great opportunity for early Christmas presents!

Consent Forms :  You will soon be receiving consent forms for local trips and computer use. Please fill them in and return to them school. 

Family Update : These will sent out shortly and it is very important that any changes are known to the school. Please fill them in and return them to school so that we can update our records.

Website : I am currently updating our website. A task which comes round at the start of every session. Our features on ex-pupils could do with more entries. We would love to know how these pupils are doing. If an ex-pupil belongs to you and you want them on the website let me know.

If you are an ex-pupil with memories of the school ( comedic or tragic but not libellous ) write them down and hand them into school; or email if you have the facility ( westbarnsps@eastlothian.gov.uk ).

The website can be found at www.westbarnsprimaryschool.com or just type West Barns into a search engine and up we’ll pop.

Yours sincerely

David Wharton

Headteacher

 Dear Parents

Here is the latest edition of the newsletter which I hope you find informative. We’re coming up to very busy time in school and there are number of exciting extra-curricular activities starting in the near future. Dates, times and who can attend will be announced when appropriate.

Basic Moves: Mrs Stewart is running the Basic Moves course for our P2s on Thursdays. These sessions are designed to help keep our young people fit and healthy.

RNSO: Our P1/2 pupils have been working over the last month with John Gracie of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. John is a trumpet player. The theme which the pupils tackled was music from around the world and 10 other schools from East Lothian were involved. After working with John and Mrs Prudence the culmination of their efforts was a performance in the Brunton Theatre in front of all the other schools.

The country which we were assigned was Spain and many thanks to the parents who helped with costume, display items and offers of help. The children looked spectacular and needless to say their performance was the best of all (!!).

We are hopeful that a CD will be available of the performance in school, but you can check out pictures and video clips of the Brunton event on the school website. www.westbarnsprimaryschool.com

Football: Training started on Wednesday for P5/6/7. Quite a number of girls are taking part, which is excellent. Perhaps this year we will improve our results but we are committed to taking part and enjoying the experience. However, as Garfield says, “ It doesn’t matter if you win or lose…..until you lose!”

Parental Consultation: Please remember that the consultations are next week and if you have not returned your form please do.

Volleyball: P6/7 attended a Volleyball Festival at DGS ( Thursday ).

Educational Visits: P4/5/6 will be visiting the Museum in Edinburgh on the 14^th. November, and on the same day P6/7 will be at the Parliament and People’s Story.

Creative Dance: There will be a dance workshop for P6/7 on the 10^th November.

Dance Workshop: P2/3 will be taking part in dance workshops based on the Three Little Pigs on the 14^th. and 21^st November.

Christmas ( Oh No !!! ): There is a great deal of information regarding our Christmas arrangements which will be sent out to you on an information sheet. This will deal with parties, shows, visits, lunches, etc. However, one date for your diary is the school Christmas Fair on 10^th. December from 10am –noon.

Think Pink:  Our two days involving the school in Breast Cancer Awareness raised £433.21.  This is a truly amazing total and sincere thanks go to everyone involved, especially Mrs Stewart, our new events co-ordinator.

Children in Need: As is our practice the school will be participating in this annual event on the 18^th. November. Details will be with you shortly.

Calendars: The success of last year’s calendars have made sure that we make them available again for 2006. The school, utilising Mrs Horsburgh’s expertise, will be producing them in house.  Details and order forms to come.

Think Pink Again: A major part of the success of the Think Pink day was the amazing raffle held in school. Thank you very much to all those who donated prizes. Here is a list of the winners:  1^st ( 80 ) Karen Prudence, 2^nd ( 46 ) Ruth Cairns, White  ( 49 ) Mrs Hill, White ( 221 ) Helen Goldie, Yellow ( 448 ) Jackie Brown, Pink ( 435 ) Gillian MacDonald, Yellow ( 413 ) Amanda McAlpine, Pink( 489 ) Kay Chapman.

WOOSH: Which stands for Wired Out Of School Hours will be running a series of Drama sessions by East Lothian Arts led by Shonagh Davidson. Children who will be attending have been informed.

That’s it for now.

Yours sincerely

David Wharton

Headteacher

www.westbarnsprimaryschool.com

 West Barns Primary December 2005 Newsletter

Dear Parents

Welcome to last newsletter of the Year. How time flies when you are having fun.

We have been very busy over the last few weeks, especially Miss Bruce and her class with ‘Whoops a daisy Angel’. I’m sure all who saw it thought that it was a fantastic production, and the help that they got from P1/2 with the singing made it hugely enjoyable.

There will be ‘Carols Round the Tree’ outside the West Barns Inn this evening at 5.30pm and I hope that many of you will be able to come and join in. The PTA are doing mulled wine and mince pies in the Village Hall after the singing.

There are video clips on the website

( westbarnsprimaryschool.com) which you can access by going to Contents 2 and P1/2/3 Nativity

The closing assembly will begin at 1.30pm on Wednesday and you will be able to take your children away when it is over. A collection will be taken for Children1st.

May I take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of the staff for your support throughout 2005 and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Guid New Year.

Yours sincerely

David Wharton

Headteacher

Dear Parents

Welcome to the first newsletter of 2006. This is a very busy term for the school with much going on but we will try to keep you up to date on everything.

School Trip to York : There is to be a meeting of pupils and parents in the school next week when Mr McRury will be updating everyone on the trip. A letter will be sent out shortly. If you are in receipt of Income Support, Job Seekers Allowance or Child Tax Credits you may be eligible for a grant to help with the cost of the trip. If you think you qualify please get in touch with the school where your enquiry will be treated in confidence.

Milk Payment : The next payment is due on the 25^th. February.

Clothing ( again ) : Having ploughed through the lost property box last week and found numerous sweatshirts, fleeces, football shorts, shoes!! And trousers! May I ask you to mark your child’s clothes with a name or initials.

Healthy Tuck Shop : The tuck shop is up and running again on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The team are offering milk shakes, carrot sticks ( very popular ), grapes, apples, oranges, cherry tomatoes and fruity space bars.

Basic Moves : Mrs Stewart is continuing to run this class for P2s on a Tuesday afternoon.

Digital Imaging : Mr Lavery is starting this class for P5s on Tuesdays. We hope that the end product will be a DVD tour of the school.

Swimming : P4 have started their block of swimming at Dunbar Pool on Thursday mornings.

P7 School Camp : It does seem very early but we will have to pay a deposit shortly for the Cluster camp in October. There will be a letter on its way to P7 parents shortly. The grant system mentioned above applies to the cluster camp as well.

Art & Craft Club : Mrs Stewart will be running the Art & Craft Club from the 2^nd. March. As in previous years pupils attending will be informed by letter.

Music Initiative : P7 will be taking part in a music workshop on Wednesday afternoon.

Football : The team’s first game of the year kicks off with a visit from St Mary’s, Haddington on Monday 30^th. January around 2pm. Hopefully results will go our way this season.

Transition : P7 visit Dunbar Primary on 31^st. January as part of the transition programme.

Toast : As part of their in depth study of Toast P1/2 will be hosting a Toast café in school on the morning of the 10^th.February. More information will be sent out shortly.

February Break : Pupils will be out of school 13^th. 14^th. 15^th. February, returning on Thursday 16^th. February. Staff have an in-service day on 15^th.

Hockey : P6 begin Hockey sessions on 20^th. February.

That’s it for this month.

David Wharton

Headteacher

 www.westbarnsprimaryschool.com

Dear Parents

Welcome to the last newsletter of the session. There are one or two items of note which will be of interest, so off we go.

Staffing : As you know there are a number of changes being made in the staffing of the school about which you have already been informed, but just to update you on the Infants, Miss Adam will be taking P2/3/4 and Miss Jack will be taking P1/2. They will be in school on Monday to meet their classes.

Classes :  Since informing you of the proposed classes for next session circumstances have changed and it is likely that we will have to make further adjustments. At the moment the classes will remain as they are but a few children may have to be moved at the start of the session. I will speak to the parents of the children involved ( if and when the make-up of the classes needs to be altered ).

Musical : Although it has been virtually impossible to keep the P7s in school for any length of time this term they will be part of the P6/7 musical!  The children have worked extremely hard and the result is a very good production which I’m sure you will enjoy.  They kick off with the dress rehearsal next Wednesday (21^st.) and perform the show on the Wednesday Evening at 7.30pm, and again on the following night (Thursday 22^nd. ).

No reservations as it is pay at the door on the night..£2 for Adults and £1 for Children and Senior Citizens.

The PTA will be providing refreshments as usual and the doors will be open at 7pm.

Auction : Speaking of the PTA their auction realised a profit of £1460. Thank you to all PTA members who worked so hard to make the evening a success, and to the bidders who got some tremendous bargains. I hope they enjoy them!

Sports Day : The sports will commence at 9.30 am next Friday ( 23^rd. ).  Please come along and the enjoy the fun. The PTA will be providing the usual refreshments. The school will provide the weather!

Closing Assembly :  The closing assembly of the session will be on Friday 30^th. At 11.30am.  All parents, grandparents and friends are most welcome. School will be dismissed at the end of the assembly.

May I take this opportunity on behalf of all the staff of the school to thank you for your support throughout the session, and we look forward to August when we can start all over again!!!

Please find enclosed various items which will be of interest to you – new menus, holiday dates, arrangements for payment of milk etc..

Yours sincerely

David Wharton

Headteacher

www.westbarnsprimaryschool.com

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