Please see our weekly update below as well as some documents attached to this email:
Soccer 7s Permission Slip
Blythswood Appeal Letter from P2/3 class
Blythswood Appeal Checklist
Soccer 7s
The next Soccer 7s event takes place in Portree on Saturday 5th October at 10.30am. Permission slips have gone home today to interested pupils (and also attached to this email) and these must be returned by Tuesday 1st October. Parents may complete this permission slip on paper in the traditional way, or online if they prefer through this link.
Please note that I must submit teams to the organiser by 5pm on Tuesday 1st, therefore any late permission slips will not be accepted.
Scholastic Bookfair
Bookfair orders arrived in the school this week and were passed on to pupils today. I hope everyone enjoys their new books!
Thank you everyone for your support with the bookfair. I was delighted with the interest it generated, and the high level of sales achieved. The school earned a high commission on sales which means we will be able to buy over £500 worth of books for our classrooms and library.
Community Café
The Primary 5 class will be hosting a Community Café at the school on Friday 4th October at 11am. This will be fundraising to support the Skye & Lochalsh branch of British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR).
As always, everyone is welcome to come along for a tea/coffee and some lovely home baking. We look forward to seeing you there.
Blythswood Shoebox Appeal
Our P2/3 class are currently organising the Blythswood Shoebox Appeal. Please see full details in the letter and checklist attached to this email, but please note the following information:
Donations can begin to come in now but need to be in school at the latest for Friday 1st of November, and full shoeboxes must be with us by Thursday the 7th of November.
Kids Clothing and Toy Swap – Broadford
Nut Allergy Alert
Please see information below from Highland Council Catering Service:
The Food Standards Agency is advising people who have a peanut allergy to avoid consuming foods that contain or may contain mustard, mustard powder or mustard flour because they may have been contaminated with peanuts.
Catering services have consulted our suppliers, Brakes. Although they are not supplied by the company at the centre of this issue, they are taking the extra precaution of checking the products they supply for possible contamination.
Catering services have alerted all our cooks to the products in question and they have been advised to ensure none of these products are used in any items provided to the pupils we have registered with a nut allergy until further notice. Where possible alternative products have been advised.
Key Dates for this term
Date
Event
Tuesday 1st October
Visit from Andy McKechnie ‘Readers are Leaders’ workshops.
Friday 5th October
P5 Community Café 11am.
Saturday 5th October
Soccer 7s festival 2. Portree, 10.30am.
Wednesday 9th October
School Photos
Friday 11th October
Last Day of Term 1. School closed from 14th October, re-opening Monday 28th October.
The School Nursing team will visit the school on Thursday 26th September to administer flu immunisations to our pupils. Prior to that visit a member of the nursing team will be visiting the school to collect any permission forms. If all outstanding permission forms could please be returned to the school by Friday 20th.
Changes to Swimming next weekDue to the swimming pool being short staffed next week, they are unable to open before noon on Thursday which means school swimming lessons will not take place 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.
Just a reminder that we love to hear what pupils are getting up to outside of school! A WOW certificate template is attached above for parents to complete to let us know of accomplishments, achievements and great news from home. These are kept as part of pupils profiles and new certificates received will be recognised in class.
Key Dates for this term
Date
Event
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.
Thursday 26th September
Flu immunisations will be administered to pupils in the morning
Tuesday 1st October
Visit from Andy McKechnie ‘Readers are Leaders’ workshops.
Saturday 5th October
Soccer 7s festival 2. Venue, date and time all tbc.
Wednesday 9th October Change of Date
School photographer
Friday 11th October
Last Day of Term 1. School closed from 14th October, re-opening Monday 28th October.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions or concerns you may have.
It’s been lovely to see the sun again this week – we’ve managed to get many of our pupils outside for a bit of extra outdoor learning and play. Making the most of the weather while we can!
Please find below a short update after a short school week.
Scholastic Bookfair
Pupils have enjoyed visiting the bookfair in school this week. The bookfair will be open until this afternoon. You are most welcome to attend and browse/buy with your child at 12.45pm today.
We have had some titles go out of stock. These have been ordered and are due to arrive next week – we will pass these on to pupils as soon as possible. If your child has paid and not received their book it is because it is on order.
Dyslexia Masterclass for Parents
Dyslexia Scotland will be running a Masterclass for parents/carers of children with dyslexia on Thursday 26th September 6 – 7.30pm at Portree High School. This is a free event, delivered by Sharon Hall of Dyslexia Scotland. It looks at what we know about dyslexia and what parents might see at home, also some of the barriers that can be experienced inside the classroom. Sharon discusses the processes to identify dyslexia in schools and looks at support at home, giving tips and ideas of things that can help.
Please see poster at the end of this update for more information.
School Photos
Please note an error in last week’s update which had school photos listed in the key dates section on the wrong date. School photos will take place on Wednesday 9th October.
Parking Around the School
Parents and carers are reminded that the pick-up/drop-off point for pupils is in the car park at the Community Centre/Portree Nursery, not directly outside the school. We have a crossing patroller in place on Home Farm Road to help children cross safely.
At the moment there is a large amount of traffic in the areas around the school at the start and end of the day, and this has safety implications for children crossing roads, etc.
I would ask also that you keep in mind neighbours of the school. The road surfaces at Glamaig and Marsco Place are maintained by residents, not Highland Council, so any wear and tear or damage must be dealt with by homeowners. As a school community we absolutely should not be contributing to extra wear on these roads. I know also that some residents have noticed school traffic using private driveways to turn their vehicles – again this is not acceptable.
Thank you for your understanding and co-operation with this.
Key Dates for this term
Date
Event
Thursday 26th September
Dyslexia Masterclass for parents at Portree High School. 6.30pm.
Tuesday 1st October
Visit from Andy McKechnie ‘Readers are Leaders’ workshops.
Saturday 5th October
Soccer 7s festival 2. Venue and time tbc.
Wednesday 9th October
School Photos
Friday 11th October
Last Day of Term 1. School closed from 14th October, re-opening Monday 28th October.
We are now roughly halfway through term 1, and things are getting into full swing. I’ve been delighted this week to see how well settled in to their ‘new’ classes pupils are and how much progress in learning is being made. Please see our weekly update below.
Soccer 7s – Postponed
Please note that the Soccer 7s event due to take place this Saturday has been postponed due to an unplayable pitch and forecast of very poor weather.
In-Service
Next week will be a shorter one for pupils as the school is closed to children on Monday (16th) and Tuesday (17th) for in-service. During this time school staff will be undertaking training and will be working towards our School Improvement Plan priorities.
School Improvement Plan and Standards & Qualities Report
Our new School Improvement Plan (SIP) can be found on our website. This plan sets out the school’s priorities for improvement during 2024-25 and was created taking account of the views of staff, pupils and families. Our three improvement priorities for this year are:
Literacy: Raising attainment through embedding writing training and ensuring consistent approach to phonics and spelling instruction. Also improving our approach to supporting learners with persistent literacy difficulties/dyslexia.
Assessment & Moderation: improving staff confidence and increasing consistency in judgements of CfE levels.
Health & Wellbeing and Learning for Sustainability: Implementation of new Relationships Sexual Health and Parenthood project, and continuing eco action.
We are excited to be running a bookfair in our school next week. Pupils will have the opportunity to browse and buy books during school time on Wednesday-Friday. Please see the following link for some of the ‘highlights’ of the available books: scholastic-primary-invitation-autumn-2024-2270926.pdf
If you would like to attend the Bookfair with your child, then you would be welcome to attend at the end of the school day on Friday (12.45pm). You can make payments by cash, or online via a QR code displayed at the bookfair.
You may also purchase vouchers for your child online so that they do not have to take cash to school. You can do this by following this link: Book Fair Gift Vouchers – Scholastic Book Fairs.
We have one £5 gift voucher to give away for each class, so all classes will be running a competition to determine the lucky winner.
Meet the Teacher
We would like to invite parents in for an informal ‘Meet the Teacher’ session on Wednesday 18th September between 3.30pm and 4.15pm. This is an opportunity for you to see your child’s new class and say hello to their new teacher.
Pupil Success
Well done to Alisha in P6 who undertook a sponsored walk during the summer holidays. Alisha’s efforts raised well over £2000, which has been very kindly donated to the school’s Parent Council. Fantastic effort Alisha.
Well done also to Freya in P7 who recently competed in the Staffin triathlon and finished first girl in her category and second overall – a great achievement!
Dyslexia Masterclass for Parents
Dyslexia Scotland will be running a Masterclass for parents/carers of children with dyslexia on Thursday 26th September 6 – 7.30pm at Portree High School. This is a free event, delivered by Sharon Hall of Dyslexia Scotland. It looks at what we know about dyslexia and what parents might see at home, also some of the barriers that can be experienced inside the classroom. Sharon discusses the processes to identify dyslexia in schools and looks at support at home, giving tips and ideas of things that can help.
Please see poster at the end of this update for more information.
Late Arrivals
I would like to remind parents of the importance of their child arriving on time to school. The school day starts at 9.06pm, with pupils lining up in the playground at this time. Those pupils who arrive late may miss out on important morning routines and learning. Thank you for your support with this matter.
Behavioural reminders
I have spoken to pupils this week in assembly about some minor behavioural issues which have cropped up and would ask that parents and families reinforce these where relevant:
Noise on bus – we have had complaints about the very high noise level on the bus.
Football kits in school – we ask that pupils do not wear club football kits for PE, though they may wear national team kits.
Key Dates for this term
Date
Event
Saturday 14th September
Soccer 7s festival 1. Broadford, 10.30am. Postponed due to weather.
Monday and Tuesday 16th and 17th September
School closed to pupils. Staff in-service.
Wednesday 18th September
Meet the Teacher 3.30-4.15pm.
Wednesday 18th-Friday 20th September
Bookfair.
Wednesday 25th September
School Photos.
Thursday 26th September
Dyslexia Masterclass for parents at Portree High School. 6.30pm.
Tuesday 1st October
Visit from Andy McKechnie ‘Readers are Leaders’ workshops.
Saturday 5th October
Soccer 7s festival 2. Venue and time tbc.
Friday 11th October
Last Day of Term 1. School closed from 14th October, re-opening Monday 28th October.
Please see some reminders and new pieces of information for your attention this week;
Clothing for wet weather
Having had a spell of really wet weather, it is essential that all children have appropriate jackets and footwear with them each day. It is helpful if the younger pupils have a change of clothes to change into should they get wet.
General clothing request
Could you please remember to label your child’s school jumpers and hoodies as our lost property has already accumulated a lot of these items
Attendance
Please remember to inform the school first thing each morning if your child is going to be absent. This can be done by email, either to class teachers directly or to portree.primary@highland.gov.uk
We are required to identify the reason for each absence and to follow up on unexplained absences.
Parent Correspondence
Permission forms for Flu Immunisations have been sent home this week as well as our annual data check. If you have not already, please check school bags and return these items to the school as soon as possible.
Cycling to School
Pupils who are cycling to school are reminded that once the enter the school car park, they must walk their bikes to the bike shelter at the back, rather than cycling through the school car park which can be busy with vehicles at that time.
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.
Key Dates for this term
Date
Event
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.
Thursday 26th September
Flu immunisations
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
• 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
We are now at the end of a very busy and dynamic school year. I would like to thank you all for the support that you have shown to the school this year, and wish you a happy summer holiday!
Staffing
We are saying goodbye to several members of our staff today. Mrs Lucy Salter, our current P5 teacher, will be leaving the school to take up a new post at Macdiarmid Primary School in August. Mrs Salter has worked with us for the past two years, and has been a real asset to the school. We wish her all the very best in her new post.
We will also bid farewell to Mrs Amy MacNab, who is leaving to embark on her teaching career, undertaking the PGDE and becoming a student teacher.
Both Mrs Salter and Mrs MacNab have been valued colleagues, who have made a great contribution to our school and to the lives of many young people. We are very sorry to see them go but wish them both all the very best in their future endeavours.
We will also say goodbye to another two of our PSAs, Mr Kris Allan, and Mrs Lesley MacDonald. Mr Allan and Mrs MacDonald have only been with us for a few months, but they have become an important part of our team and will be very much missed as they move on to work in Portree High School.
Finally, Mr Boyd Dickson, who has worked with us over the past two months as a supply teacher, will be leaving to take up his new post teaching in Moscow. So instead of a farewell it is a “До свидания (dasvidaniya)”. Thank you Mr Dickson for all of your efforts.
Confirmation of classes for 2024-25
I am now able to confirm that the classes and teachers indicated previously will go ahead (see below). You will notice there is still an outstanding gap to fill in P6. This is currently being worked on and will be resolved by start of term.
Class
Teacher (s)
Primary 1
Mrs Jessie Templeman
Primary 2/3
Mrs Katie Martin & Mrs Morag Murray
Primary 3/4
Mrs Marion MacAskill
Primary 5
Mr Iain Murray
Primary 6
Miss Claire Deplano & tbc
Primary 7
Miss Neilian MacKenzie
Prizegiving
Our prizegiving and leaver’s assembly took place yesterday. It was fantastic to be able to celebrate the amazing successes of our pupils. My sincerest thanks to all those who attended and also to Reverend Donnie G MacDonald for presenting the trophies, and to Ms Nan Cleghorn for leading a musical performance.
Congratulations to our trophy winners:
Trophy Name
Awarded to
Ewen MacRae Infant Sports Trophy
P1/2 Class (collected by Heather Nicolson)
Karen MacLeod Sports Trophies (P7)
Ally MacLeod and Khadijah Iqbal
Caberfeidh Shinty Trophy
Rhys MacLeod
MacDonald Brothers Football Trophy (P7)
Ally MacLeod
Marion MacPherson Badminton Trophy
Caitlin Riley
The Gaelnet ICT Trophy
P6 Class (collected by Angus Grant and Roidh Coull)
The Clydesdale Enterprise Trophy
P4 class (collected by Zander MacKay and Rudy Cormack)
Pringle Primary 7 Project Trophy
Anna Langlands
PTA Citizenship Trophy Infant (P3)
Tamsin Taua
School Board Citizenship Trophy (P4/5)
Tarran MacLeod
Sheena MacLeod Citizenship Trophy
Logan MacKay
MacDonald R.M.E Trophy (P7)
Charlie Campbell
Scottish Hydro Electric Community Trophy (P7)
Leah Murphy
Bright Spark Tophies – Music
Ethan Gillies
PPS Musician of the Year
Ailsa Coull
Tom MacKenzie Art Award
Leah Murphy
Bright Spark Trophy – Creative Writing
Brooke Cardiff
Murray Health and ECO Trophy
Caitlin Riley
Donnie G MacDonald Science Trophy P1-P3
Angus Mundy
Donnie G MacDonald Science Trophy P4-7
Ben Swinnerton
Stuart MacDonald Trophy
Amy MacNab (staff)
Murdo Maclean Caring Trophy-
Max Hill
The Finlayson Ethos Trophy
Luka McKillop
PPS Girls Cross Country
Iga Rudak
PPS Boys Cross Country
Grant Campbell
PPS Senior Sports Champion Boys
Daniel Cazacu and Luka McKillop
PPS Senior Girls Sports Champion
Iga Rudak
Primary 7
It’s a sad farewell to our Primary 7 class today. It has been wonderful having this group in PPS, and we are all so very proud of their achievements. We wish them all the very best for their time in Portree High School and beyond.
Parent Council
Our school Parent Council is on the lookout for new members. Parent Council plays a key role in representing the views of parents, supporting the school, fundraising, and much more. However, as a voluntary body it is reliant on members of the parent community offering their support. To find out more about the Parent Council, please see the information on the school website: https://portreeprimary.wordpress.com/parents/parent-council/what-does-the-parent-council-do/ .
I would ask all parents to please consider supporting the vital work of the Parent Council.
Skye Bible Church – Holiday Club
Schools Out Programme – Active Schools
Please see message from Sarah Ross at Active Schools, with poster at the end of this email:
Please find attached a copy of our planned activities across the summer for pupils age 3- 15 if you haven’t had the chance to book already. We have activities running in Portree, Broadford and Dunvegan so we hope there will be something for everyone.
We hope to have some additional activities, but will update schools and our Portree Active Schools page as soon as they are confirmed, so make sure to keep a look out.
It’s been a relatively quiet week at the school, and the countdown to the summer holidays is well and truly on!
Please see a short weekly update below.
Classes for session 2024-25
We do not have any confirmed staffing arrangements for next year, however our anticipated class arrangements are as follows:
Class
Teacher (s)
Primary 1
Mrs Jessie Templeman
Primary 2/3
Mrs Katie Martin & Mrs Morag Murray
Primary 3/4
Mrs Marion MacAskill
Primary 5
Mr Iain Murray
Primary 6
Miss Claire Deplano & tbc
Primary 7
Miss Neilian MacKenzie
School Transitions
Children have enjoyed spending some time in their new classes this morning and yesterday afternoon. I commented during assembly that I felt everyone really ‘looked the part’ – they are definitely ready to move up a class!
Prizegiving and Leaver’s Assembly
Our annual Prizegiving and Leaver’s Assembly will take place on Wednesday 26th June at 9.30am. We will use this assembly as an opportunity to celebrate pupil success this year, as well as to bid farewell to our P7 class. Parents of pupils in P7 are invited to attend, as are parents of prize winners in other classes. We will notify you soon if your child is a prize winner.
End of Term Arrangements
The school will close for summer on Thursday 27th June at 12 noon. The whole school will gather in the playground at around 11.50am to bid farewell to the P7s as they leave PPS for the last time.
Shinty Equipment Return
We still have quite a few shinty sticks and helmets missing – could you make sure any borrowed equipment comes back to the school please?
Pupil Sponsored Walk
I was delighted to hear that one of our P5 pupils, Alisha, was keen to do a sponsored walk. I was even happier when I heard that she wanted to raise money for the school! Alisha is planning to walk Bruach na Frithe in the Cuillins in August. At 958m high this is no wee stroll! If you would like to support Alisha by sponsoring, then please see the details in the poster below. Thank you Alisha for your thoughtfulness and determination.
Parent Council Donation Request
Parent Council will have a stall at the forthcoming Agricultural Show. If you would like to donate a bottle for the Tombola could you drop it in to the school office please?
Parent Council
Our school Parent Council is on the lookout for new members. Parent Council plays a key role in representing the views of parents, supporting the school, fundraising, and much more. However, as a voluntary body it is reliant on members of the parent community offering their support. To find out more about the Parent Council, please see the information on the school website: https://portreeprimary.wordpress.com/parents/parent-council/what-does-the-parent-council-do/ .
I would ask all parents to please consider supporting the vital work of the Parent Council.
Schools Out Programme – Active Schools
Please see message from Sarah Ross at Active Schools, with poster at the end of this email:
Please find attached a copy of our planned activities across the summer for pupils age 3- 15 if you haven’t had the chance to book already. We have activities running in Portree, Broadford and Dunvegan so we hope there will be something for everyone.
We hope to have some additional activities, but will update schools and our Portree Active Schools page as soon as they are confirmed, so make sure to keep a look out.
It was fantastic to see activity week coming together, and I have had very positive feedback from pupils. Activities week started as a back-up plan when we realised school trips weren’t possible. Ideas were thrown about in the staffroom, and while many didn’t come to fruition, the few that did were great. Here are some of the things we’ve got up to this week:
Cinema Visit
Whole School Golden Time
Fire Engine Visit
Archery
Highland Hustle dance/music/exercise
Arts and crafts
Local walks and visits
Lots of play and lots of fun!
Thank you to all who supported us putting these events on.
I was also very pleasantly surprised to be thanked by many of the children in the school for allowing them these experiences. Their gratitude is of course unnecessary, but it is a nice reminder of how lovely and polite our children are.
Community Café
The community café last week raised a sum of £432.71 for Skye and Lochalsh Young Carers. Thank you to everyone in our school community and beyond for joining us and making the event such as success. Thank you as well for all the kind donations of money on the day, or of baking beforehand. All very much appreciated!
I don’t know if many of you noticed the Community Café banner that we display on the fence outside the school? It’s in a pretty sorry state just now after being damaged by wind at the start of the year. I will be looking to retire this soon and would value any recommendations that you may have for companies that would be able to provide a replacement, roughly 2.5m by 0.5m custom vinyl banner. Please be in touch if you do.
Visit by Paul Whittaker
On Friday last week we also had a special visit from Paul Whittaker. Paul is a well renowned and talented musician, as well as an inspirational speaker. He is also profoundly deaf, and was in the school to provide workshops to P2/3, P4, and P6 which included music and British Sign Language (BSL). Pupils were delighted with the infectious energy and enthusiasm that Paul brought to the workshops, and it was great to see them picking up some BSL. Thanks for the visit Paul.
Open Morning
Our final Open Morning of the school session will be today at 11.30am. See you there!
Pupil Sponsored Walk
I was delighted to hear that one of our P5 pupils, Alisha, was keen to do a sponsored walk. I was even happier when I heard that she wanted to raise money for the school! Alisha is planning to walk Bruach na Frithe in the Cuillins in August. At 958m high this is no wee stroll! If you would like to support Alisha by sponsoring, then please see the details in the poster below. Thank you Alisha for your thoughtfulness and determination.
Parent Council Donation Request
Parent Council will have a stall at the forthcoming Agricultural Show. If you would like to donate a bottle for the Tombola could you drop it in to the school office please?
Transitions and ‘Moving-up days’
Next week the P7 class will be on their transition visits to Portree High School from Wednesday 19th – Friday 21st. We wish them well on this visit.
We will also be doing our school transitions next week. On Thursday afternoon and Friday morning all classes will ‘move-up’. It will be lovely having the new P1s joining us in the school, and for everyone else to settle into a new class. As has been the case over the past several years, we are still awaiting confirmation of our staffing for next session. If we do not receive this confirmation by Wednesday, then we will go ahead with the transitions based on a ‘best guess’ of what our classes will look like. I will share information with you about this next week.
Prizegiving and Leaver’s Assembly
Our annual Prizegiving and Leaver’s Assembly will take place on Wednesday 26th June at 9.30am. We will use this assembly as an opportunity to celebrate pupil success this year, as well as to bid farewell to our P7 class. Parents of pupils in P7 are invited to attend, as are parents of prize winners in other classes. We will notify you next week if your child is a prize winner.
Shinty Equipment Return
Could all shinty helmets and sticks that have been borrowed this year be returned to the school next week please? I would like to audit our stock of equipment so that we are well prepared for loaning helmets and sticks next year.
Parent Council
Our school Parent Council is on the lookout for new members. Parent Council plays a key role in representing the views of parents, supporting the school, fundraising, and much more. However, as a voluntary body it is reliant on members of the parent community offering their support. To find out more about the Parent Council, please see the information on the school website: https://portreeprimary.wordpress.com/parents/parent-council/what-does-the-parent-council-do/ .
I would ask all parents to please consider supporting the vital work of the Parent Council.
Schools Out Programme – Active Schools
Please see message from Sarah Ross at Active Schools, with poster at the end of this email:
Please find attached a copy of our planned activities across the summer for pupils age 3- 15 if you haven’t had the chance to book already. We have activities running in Portree, Broadford and Dunvegan so we hope there will be something for everyone.
We hope to have some additional activities, but will update schools and our Portree Active Schools page as soon as they are confirmed, so make sure to keep a look out.
Key Dates for this term
Friday 14th June
11.30am
Open morning.
Wednesday – Friday 19th-21st June
/
P7 Transition visit to Portree High School. Other classes will be having transition time ‘moving up days’ on 20th/21st .
I was lucky enough to spend yesterday on Raasay seeing first-hand how much the P7s are enjoying their residential trip. The class set off on Tuesday morning and will return home this afternoon after 4 days and 3 nights of fun and adventure. After days of kayaking, coasteering, archery, and lots of other outdoors activities, I’m sure there will be some early nights and long lies on Saturday morning!
We look forward to having the P7 class back in school next week as they enter the home stretch of their time at Portree Primary School.
A special thank you to Miss MacKenzie, Mrs Deas, and Mrs MacNab, who have enabled the Raasay trip to go ahead by kindly giving up their time this week. Supervising a big group of 12-year-olds away from home for a week is not for the faint-hearted!
Activities Week
Next week will be a bit of a different one in the school with various activities going on throughout the week. Some highlights include:
P1-3 visiting police station on Monday
Whole school visiting cinema on Wednesday morning
Whole School ‘Golden Time’ on Wednesday afternoon
Archery competition by A.C.E. Target Sports on Thursday for P4-6
Highland Hustle music and exercise session on Thursday for P1-7
Fire Engine visiting the school on Thursday for P1-3
Play session on King George and park for P7 and their buddies in P1-2 on Thursday
P7 Sailing Taster Sessions
P4 Sketching in the village
We’re all very much looking forward to an exciting week.
Skye School Swim Championship
I was proud to accompany a group of P4-7 pupils to the Skye School Swim Championship on Monday this week. Each pupil took part in two races – a 50m breaststroke, and 100m freestyle. I was delighted with the effort that everyone put in, and with how well they conducted themselves. We have a number of very strong swimmers in our school!
Well done to Iga (P7) who came first overall for the girls, and Luka (P7) who was second overall for the boys.
A special mention to Ben, who was a bit nervous about being the only P4 from the school, but who did absolutely brilliantly..
Mod
Well done to all of the children who took part in the local Mod last week. I know the P1-3s who performed the action song gave a great account of themselves and really enjoyed the experience.
We did also have some individual success, I was delighted to hear how well Hamish (P4) had done in the Highland Dancing competitions. Well done Hamish!
Skye Week
Thank you to all pupils who represented the school at the Skye week parade last Saturday, then again to those who sang on Tuesday night. They all did a great job.
Andy McKechnie: Olympic Street Jam – Pathway to Paris
It was great to have ‘Jammin’ Andy McKechnie in school again this week. He led a whole school assembly then workshops for all classes. The session used the upcoming Olympics as the backdrop to activities focused on developing a growth mindset. As usual it was a very engaging session with lots of opportunities for dance and exercise. Thanks for visiting Andy.
Community Café
The last Community Café of the school session takes place today (Friday 7th June) at 11am. This is being jointly run by the P1/2 class and P5 class, and is fundraising for Skye and Lochalsh Young Carers.
I would like to thank all members of the school community who have attended and supported our community café’s this session. The pupils work so hard to bring it all together, and it is so rewarding having such positive turnouts. We look forward to continuing these events into the 2024-25 school session.
Open Morning
Next Friday (14th) June will be our school open morning. All parents and carers are invited to come in to view their children’s work from 11.30am.
Members of our Parent Council will be in attendance serving tea and coffee. I would encourage you to find out a bit more about what they do and consider lending a helping hand in the future.
Shinty Equipment Return
Could all shinty helmets and sticks that have been borrowed this year be returned to the school next week please? I would like to audit our stock of equipment so that we are well prepared for loaning helmets and sticks next year.
Fake Nails
We’ve noticed a few of the girls in the school have taken to wearing long fake nails. As glam as they may look, they do make things like writing quite challenging. Could I ask parents to keep an eye on this and not allow long fake nails into school?
Parent Council
Our school Parent Council is on the lookout for new members. Parent Council plays a key role in representing the views of parents, supporting the school, fundraising, and much more. However, as a voluntary body it is reliant on members of the parent community offering their support. To find out more about the Parent Council, please see the information on the school website: https://portreeprimary.wordpress.com/parents/parent-council/what-does-the-parent-council-do/ .
I would ask all parents to please consider supporting the vital work of the Parent Council.
Schools Out Programme – Active Schools
Please see message from Sarah Ross at Active Schools, with poster at the end of this email:
Please find attached a copy of our planned activities across the summer for pupils age 3- 15 if you haven’t had the chance to book already. We have activities running in Portree, Broadford and Dunvegan so we hope there will be something for everyone.
We hope to have some additional activities, but will update schools and our Portree Active Schools page as soon as they are confirmed, so make sure to keep a look out.
Key Dates for this term
Friday 7th June
11am
P1/2 and P5 hosting Community Café.
Week beginning 10th June
/
Activities week.
Friday 14th June
11.30am
Open morning.
Wednesday – Friday 19th-21st June
/
P7 Transition visit to Portree High School. Other classes will be having transition time ‘moving up days’ on 20th/21st .
portreeprimaryschool.com 