Dear Parents/Carers,
As another busy school week draws to a close, pupils and staff look forward to the long weekend ahead. A reminder that the school will be closed to pupils on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Staff will be in school for in-service on Wednesday, busy with training and working on activities related to our school improvement plan. We look forward to welcoming our pupils back on Thursday 22nd for a very short week!
Lost Property
We have quite a few items of lost property in the school at the moment. This includes lots of items of uniform waiting to be reunited with their owners. Parents are invited to come in from 12pm today (16th Feb) to take a look.
We will also be organising a uniform swap before the Easter holidays. Details to be confirmed nearer the time.
Open Morning and Community Café
Friday 1st March will be a very busy day at the school. We will be holding both our whole school Open Morning and our Community Café on the same day. More details to follow in next week’s update. Looking forward to seeing many of you in the school on the 1st.
Attendance
A reminder to parents to please let us know if your child will be missing school. The best way to do that is to email (portree.primary@highland.gov.uk) or phone (01478 613130) the school office on the day of the absence (if it is an illness) or as soon as you know your child will be away (if it is a planned absence). As a school we have a legal duty to keep accurate attendance records, so having good communication from home really helps. I appreciate your support with this.
Supporting Reading & Writing at Home
Date for diary: Wednesday 21st February 7pm.
There will be a webinar for Highland Council parents on the topic of Read & Write. This is software that our pupils have available on their Chromebooks, but that can also be downloaded on home devices. It is used to support literacy. Parents often ask how they can better support their child with schoolwork – this is one way of doing so. This session will be particularly useful for parents of children in P6 & 7 as they have their own Chromebooks – but it will benefit other children who use technology to support their learning.
Webinar can be accessed through this link: https://event.eu.on24.com/wcc/r/8000064739/9D859EB948D8C98055D6B77B5EEE5544?fbclid=IwAR2t9QT6IfCK9HTWVes8RoPw5Q_P9KTYwPXoF4zO3rxX1K7Q5vZF-JuSuLc
Soccer 7s
Portree Cheetahs and Portree Pumas took part in the Soccer 7s tournament at the weekend. All pupils who took part represented the school very well – great job everyone. Many thanks to our parent volunteers for their efforts on the day, we can’t send teams to these events without this help.
The next Soccer 7s tournament will take place on Saturday 2nd March at Plockton. Permission slips will be coming home with pupils very soon and I would ask that these are retuned to school as soon as possible. Having accurate participation numbers helps in the planning of teams as once we’ve submitted our teams to the tournament organiser, it’s difficult to make changes.
Parent volunteers
Many of the extracurricular activities that our pupils enjoy rely on parent volunteers to go ahead. We are always happy to hear from parents who wish to volunteer their time, and we are always very grateful for this. If you would like to volunteer with us, then please do get in touch.
We are hoping to start some shinty coaching sessions at the school, supported by parent coaches. More information on this to follow.
I would like to draw your attention to some training opportunities for existing or future volunteers on the topic of child protection – please see the information leaflet attached to this email. This training is free and delivered virtually.
Radio Skye Kid Experts
Unfortunately, the Radio Skye ‘Kids Mix: Kid Experts’ show did not go out as planned on Wednesday (14th) at 4pm. We will share an updated broadcast date and time when this is known.
Whole School Success Assembly
Mrs Matheson stopped by this week to speak to pupils at our whole school assembly. It was a nice opportunity for her to say farewell after her last week as Head Teacher was so disrupted by adverse weather closures. The pupils really enjoyed hearing about Mrs Matheson’s new job in supporting lots of schools all across Skye and the West Highlands.
This week’s assembly was also an opportunity to reflect on some of the successes we’ve had as a school – from the sporting success of our footballers, to the success of our pupils in demonstrating the school values of Determination, Respect, Kindness, Enjoyment, and Friendship.
Congratulations to the recipients of our value awards:
| Primary 1/2 | Kit for always presenting your work neatly. Your handwriting is showing great progress. Cody for demonstrating improved focus during literacy and numeracy tasks. |
| Primary 2/3 | Angus MacLeod for being a super friend to another child in the class. Malia for being a super friend to another child in the class. You were so kind and helpful. Katie for showing great focus when carrying out tasks recently. You are completing tasks very well. |
| Primary 4 | Adelynn has just started playing the fiddle and is making super progress. William for being an excellent helper and good friend to other children when visiting the Sunshine Room. Rudy for being so kind and helpful towards canteen staff at lunchtime. |
| Primary 5 | Fred – for completing all tasks set in good time and to the best of his ability. Caylen – has made lots of new friends Portree Primary & is making a super effort in class. Ceitlin – for determination to do her best in all areas of the curriculum. Ziggy – for excellent work in his reading comprehension. |
| Primary 6 | Zayne for working hard across the curriculum. He is always willing to contribute to class discussions. Tyler for working hard to develop his knowledge of new concepts in Maths. He is always ready to listen to support. |
| Primary 7 | Isla for showing a positive attitude and being a great sport at the shinty tournament. Isla is also showing a determination to work harder in class. Harris for working hard on his writing and being kind and respectful in class. |
Makaton sign of the week
‘Home’
Extracurricular activities
This Thursday was the last of our P6/7 basketball sessions with Mrs Irene Deplano. Many thanks to Mrs Deplano for putting these on. We have had good attendance, and our pupils have really enjoyed them. We hope to run another block of basketball sessions in the future.
Please note that there is no running club this term.
- Nan’s band – Tuesdays after school
- Skyedance
- P1-3 Disney playmakers football – hoped to resume after February break (more details to follow)
Soccer 7’s
Future Soccer 7s events will take place on:
| Date | Time | Location |
| 2nd March 2024 | 10.30am-1pm | Plockton (Astro) |
| 27th April 2024 | 10.30am-1pm | Portree (tbc) |
| 28th May 2024 **please note change of date from 18/05/24** | 10.30am-1pm | Kyleakin |
Known Dates for this term.
Please see below our school diary of events for this term.
| Date | Time | Event |
| Mon/Tue 19th and 20th February | / | Mid-term break. School closed. |
| Wednesday 21st February | / | In-service day. School closed to pupils. |
| Wednesday 21st February | 7pm | Read & Write Parent Webinar |
| Sat 24th February | 12pm | Ladies Football Day – Indoor 5-aside tournament at Fingal Centre for girls aged 10+. |
| Mon 26th February | 10.30am-2.30pm | Primary 6 Science Skills Workshop |
| Tuesday 27th February | 10.30am-2.30pm | Primary 7 Science Skills Workshop |
| Friday 1st March | 11.15am | Whole school open morning and P7 Community Café. |
| Mon 11th March | Morning | Tbc Primary 6 and 7 coding session using Scratch delivered by Silicon Croft. |
| Tuesday 19th March | 10.30am-2.30pm | Basketball Festival for P5 and P6. Portree High School Fingal Centre. |
| Tue/Wed 19th and 20th March | / | Parents’ Evening |
| Wednesday 20th March | tbc | P6/7 Spring Herring Project workshops. More details to follow. |
| Friday 29th March 2024 | / | Good Friday. School closed for first day of Easter Holidays. Pupils return on Monday 15th April. |
Pupils Travelling by Bus
With a growing number of pupils taking the bus, could you please ensure that you let your child’s class teacher know directly when this is the case, in order that they are dismissed on time. Bus pupils leave class at 3.25 p.m. each day to catch the bus, however, recently there have been pupils running late as staff have not been aware that they are taking the bus. Equally, the 3.25 p.m. dismissal is only for pupils who are travelling on the bus that day.
Information about Head Lice
Head Lice are a common problem in school aged children. They can’t be prevented, but regular checking ensures early detection and treatment if necessary. Parents and carers should check their children’s head once a week during hair washing. You need your usual shampoo, conditioner, and a detection comb – ask your local pharmacist to recommend a suitable one. Remember that you are looking for living moving lice, the only evidence that your child is infected. If you find a living louse, ask your local pharmacist, school nurse, health visitor or GP for advice regarding treatment.
For further information see: http://www.nits.net/bugbusting http://www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk – search on head lice.
portreeprimaryschool.com 