It was great to welcome everyone back to school this week. Our lovely new Primary 1 class have been fantastic and have very quickly settled into school routines, whilst our returning pupils seemed to have enjoyed getting stuck into their new classes.
Please see below our weekly update.
Staffing
This week we welcomed Mrs Jennifer Tyronney to our team at the school. Mrs Tyronney joins us from Kinmylies Primary in Inverness and will be our Additional Support Needs Teacher (ASNT) on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
We are also happy to welcome Ms Fiona Goss to our teaching team. Ms Goss will be with us on a Friday and will help to cover some of our classes when teachers have Class Contact Reduction (CCR) time.
We are delighted to have both Mrs Tyronney and Ms Goss onboard.
Head Teacher Management Time
This year the amount of Head Teacher management time in the school has been reduced from 5 days per week to 3.5 days per week. As a result, I will have a class teaching commitment on Thursday and Fridays. Please bear this in mind if you are trying to contact me on a Thursday or Friday, I will be teaching and will be unable to reply right away. If there are any issues that require my urgent attention at these times, then please contact the school office.
Management time is decided based on the number of pupils on the school roll and as the number of pupils we have has dipped slightly over the past few years, the school no longer has the entitlement it once did.
Head Teacher Absence
I will be absent from work for two weeks beginning next Monday 26th August until Friday 6th September due to Paternity Leave. During this time Mrs Templeman will be supporting the school with management. Please contact Mrs Templeman directly (jessie.templeman@highland.gov.uk) or contact the school office if you have any questions or issues during this time. Mrs Templeman will continue to teach the P1 class during this time, but we will be bringing in some extra days of supply teaching time to allow her time out of class if necessary.
Pupils on Bus
If your child uses bus transport could you please ensure that you let the school know if there are any changes to transport arrangements? We know that some pupils get the bus some days and not others – please let us know if there is a change to the usual routine. The best way to do this is to email both the class teacher and the school office (Portree.primary@highland.gov.uk). Emailing both office and teacher is important as class teachers may not always pick emails up on time – particularly if you are informing us on the day about a change.
Our bus pupils leave 5 minutes early at 3.25pm, so we have to know exactly who is meant to be travelling by bus so that they can be dismissed on time.
Classes and Teachers 2024-25
Please see below for this year’s teaching arrangements:
| Class | Teacher (s) |
| Primary 1 | Mrs Jessie Templeman |
| Primary 2/3 | Mrs Morag Murray (Mon-Wed am) & Mrs Katie Martin (Wed pm-Fri) |
| Primary 3/4 | Mrs Marion MacAskill |
| Primary 5 | Mr Iain Murray |
| Primary 6 | Miss Claire Deplano (Mon-Wed) & Mr David MacLean (Thur-Fri) |
| Primary 7 | Miss Neilian MacKenzie |
| ASN | Mrs Jennifer Tyronney (Mon-Wed) |
| CCR (Art) | Mrs Alice MacVicar (Mon) |
| CCR | Ms Fiona Goss (Fri) |
Music Workshops this Week
Pupils across the school were treated to a fantastic music workshop yesterday by classical pianist Stephen Baron.
P1-4 took part in ‘The Snow Queen & Other Stories’ based on compositions by Claude Debussy. They had great fun acting out the stories to the music.
P5-7 were involved in a workshop all about the life and times of Mozart. Lots of opportunities to dress up and enjoy some great music.
Thank you Stephen for the fun and music you brought to the school.
Shinty Coaching
Our popular shinty coaching sessions will continue this term. These sessions are open to pupils in P3-7 and take place at the Fingal Centre on Tuesday evenings from 6pm-7pm. The first session of the term will take place next Tuesday 27th August. A permission slip has gone home to pupils who have expressed an interest, please return as soon as possible. A copy of this is attached to this email.
A big thank you to the parent volunteers who run these sessions.
Music Lessons
Nan Cleghorn will once again be offering music lessons to pupils in the school on Tuesday afternoons. See information below and contact Nan directly to book a place.
Lesson 3.30.- 4.30 pm. £3.00 per lesson.
Recorder, Whistle, printed music sheets with folder will be provided.
CONTACT Nan Cleghorn. email. nancleghorn2@gmail.com Mob:07957463691.
Primary Football Sessions
Please see information below from Portree FC:
Portree FC will this Friday (23rd) be starting up a primary 1 to Primary 3 football session which will be at high school astro pitch. It will run from 5pm to 6pm. Any children going into p4 are welcome to join our p4 to p6 session which runs at the same time.
School Meal Costs and Payments Information
Please see information below regarding school meals:
Scottish Government legislation provides universal free school meals for all children from Nursery up to the end of Primary Five. Universal Free School meals have not yet been rolled out to Primary Six and Seven.
Some children will still be entitled to Free School Meals by application, if you think this may apply to your children, criteria and application can be found Free school meals and assistance with clothing | Free school meals and assistance with clothing | The Highland Council.
Any meals taken by primary 6 and 7 pupils not entitled to income based free school meals are required to be paid for. The cost of a primary school meal is £2.40 per meal.
Parents or carers will be able to make a payment for School meals on the Highland Council Website. To do so, please go to: https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/878/schools/9/school_meals/2
• You will need your child’s Scottish candidate number. Please contact your school if you need a reminder of your child’s Scottish candidate number
• Allow 24 hours for the payment to reach the pupil’s account. Payments made between 4.30pm Friday and 9am Monday will not appear in the pupil’s account until the Tuesday
If you have any queries please contact your school office or CL.catering@highland.gov.uk.
Key Dates for this term
| Date | Event |
| Thursday 22nd August | Music Workshops for all pupils |
| Thursday 5th September | Visit from Blythswood Scotland and presentation for all pupils about Shoebox appeal. |
| Saturday 14th September | Soccer 7s festival 1. Venue, date and time all tbc. |
| Monday and Tuesday 16th and 17th September | School closed to pupils. Staff in-service. |
| Wednesday 18th-Friday 20th September | Bookfair. |
| Wednesday 25th September | School Photos. |
| Tuesday 1st October | Visit from Andy McKechnie ‘Readers are Leaders’ workshops. |
| Saturday 5th October | Soccer 7s festival 2. Venue, date and time all tbc. |
| Friday 11th October | Last Day of Term 1. School closed from 14th October, re-opening Monday 28th October. |
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