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 .
With June around the corner, we are now less than 4 weeks away from the summer holidays. May has been a busy and exciting month, and June is shaping up to be just as good.
End of Year Reports
It was lovely to spend a few hours this week reading our pupil end of year reports. Every single child in the school has made progress in their learning this year, and I am delighted with all of the amazing things our teachers have to say about them.
Please spend some time with your children talking about their reports. Celebrate their successes and their hard work, and let them know how proud of them their teachers (and Head Teacher) are.
P7 Raasay Trip
The school will be a quieter place next week as the P7 class head off to Raasay for their residential trip. The class are really looking forward to this experience and we wish them all the best.
Information has been sent to parents about arrangements, but just a reminder that pupils should arrive at Sconser between 9-9.15am on Tuesday 4th June for the ferry departing at 9.25am. On Friday 7th June, pupils will arrive back at Sconser at 1.50pm and should be collected there.
If parents have any questions about arrangements then please contact the school.
School Improvement Planning
Thank you to everyone who has responded to the school improvement plan survey. I will close this survey on Monday, so please take a look if you haven’t already (the average time taken to complete this is just two minutes!).
Best of luck to those pupils in P1-3 who are taking part in the local mod today. They performed in front of the whole school at assembly yesterday and sounded absolutely fantastic. They have already done themselves and the school proud with their efforts, and I’m sure that they will have a great time showing that off this afternoon.
Skye Week
We have a large group of pupils who will be taking part in the Skye Week parade tomorrow (Saturday 1st June). Remember to come dressed in school uniform!
We also have a group of pupils singing at the event in the square on Tuesday 4th June. They have been working hard on their songs and had the opportunity to perform in front of the school at this week’s assembly. Much like the mod group, they sounded great.
Driving around the school
I have received complaints about driver behaviour around the school this week. Could I ask parents to be extra cautious and be mindful of all the wee ones crossing roads in the mornings and afternoons? Despite efforts having been made to fill the position, we still don’t have a crossing patroller outside the school – so please take great care.
I would also like to remind you that the pick-up and drop-off point for pupils is the carpark at the Community Centre, not outside the school. In addition, the school carpark is for staff only, so I would not expect to see parents entering this to drop-off children.
Community Café
I would like to invite parents/carers and the extended community into the school for our last Community Café event of the year. This will take place next Friday 7th June and will be run jointly by the P1/2 and P5 class. This event will be raising money for Skye and Lochalsh Young Carers. Looking forward to seeing you there.
Uniform
I have noticed standards have slipped recently in relation to school uniform. Pupils may wear sports kits to school when they have PE or dance lessons, but should be in full school uniform on days when they do not have these activities. Our uniform policy can be found on the school website and handbook. I have reminded pupils of their responsibilities in regards to uniform during assembly this week, and would ask that parents continue to support us with this.
Mountain Warehouse
Last few days to use the Mountain Warehouse discount:
Mountain Warehouse have been in touch to offer parents a 20% discount across their website for a period of two weeks beginning Monday 20th May. Please see information below about how to receive this discount.
Discount code: CC202473
Feel free to explore our range of products and take advantage of this limited-time offer. This code will be valid for 2 weeks starting week commencing 20/05/24. Please note this code is only valid on orders sold and shipped by Mountain Warehouse.
Once the items have been selected and added to your basket, please select the basket icon in the top right hand corner of the webpage. In the basket on the left hand side is the total spent, below there is a tab where you can enter your PROMO code. Please enter the discount code provided and select apply. This will apply the discount to your basket, you can then proceed to the checkout as usual.
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.
Active Schools
Please see message from Sarah Ross at Active Schools, with poster at the end of this email:
ACTIVE SCHOOLS ACTIVITIES- ONLINE NOW!!
Our community activities starting from Monday 22nd are now online for booking! Please see poster attached for what’s taken place. Please make sure that you re- book your child onto activities for the new term.
All these activities will take place at the Fingal Centre. We will have more information going out to individual schools about activities happening in your local area soon.
It would be great to have some new faces along, so make sure to book your place online at https://booking.highlifehighland.com/ You do not need to be a member to come to activities, but you will need to set up a pay as you go account to register.
Information about an exciting new Shinty session will be coming soon!!
We rely entirely on volunteers to deliver and support our activities in the community and across all our schools, so if you would like to set up something new for your school/community or keen to support our current activities, then we would love to hear from you! Please get in touch with sarah.ross@highlifehighland.com
P7 pupils visiting PHS for Dynamic Earth workshop.
Monday 3rd June
Morning
P5-7 Swimming Championship – more details to follow.
Tuesday 4th June
6.30pm
Skye Week: Highland night/Hoolie in the square. Pupils singing.
Wednesday 5th June
/
Visit from Andy McKechnie of Jammin Fitness to do the session: Olympic Street Jam – Pathway to Paris. More information to follow.
Thursday 6th June
11am
P6 pupils visiting PHS for Dynamic Earth workshop.
Friday 7th June
10.30am
P1/2 and P5 hosting Community Café.
Week beginning 10th June
/
Activity Week All events tbc with days/times subject to change: Monday – P1-3 visit police station Tuesday morning – whole school cinema visit Tuesday – afternoon School picnic on KGV Wednesday – Fire Brigade visiting school Thursday – Archery competitions in school ACE target sports Various other outings and activities tbc
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 .
Sports Day takes place this morning at 10.30am on the King George V pitch. Parents are welcome to attend. Portree and Braes Community Trust will be filming some footage of the event.
Staffing
We have welcomed Mr Boyd Dickson on to our teaching team this week. Mr Dickson will be working with us on a supply basis, covering classes across the school and also working with pupils in small group support sessions in literacy and numeracy.
Sporting Success
I was delighted to watch our Primary 7 team win the weekend’s Soccer 7s event in Kyleakin. They played against some really difficult opposition and managed to prevail after a nail-biting penalty shootout in the final. Well done to all of the boys involved – you were an absolute credit to yourselves and your school! Thank you to Ross Hill and Charlie Campbell for all of their efforts coaching the P7 team, and thank you to all parent helpers and spectators for their ongoing support. Last weekend’s event was tinged with sadness, as it is the last time that the current P7 group will represent Portree Primary, however we look forward to hearing about the future footballing success of this talented group of lads.
Our other team, made up of P4 and P5s, also gave a good account of themselves on the day, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this group will develop into a competitive team in future years.
Activity Week
I had indicated some weeks ago that I felt it unlikely that our planned school trips would go ahead. This is due to a lack of availability of transport for classes. I am very disappointed that this is the case, however we will be adapting to this by planning a whole school activity week on w/c 10th June instead. We are busy planning our activities for the week, and will let you know details when they are confirmed.
If parents have any suggestions for local activities that we should consider, then I’d be very happy to hear them.
School Improvement Planning
At this time of year, we evaluate how far we have come in our School Improvement Plan, and think about how to continue this improvement into future years. Parents and carers are vital partners in everything we do in the school, and improvement planning is no different. I would really value your thoughts and opinions on our school improvement plan and have included a link to a short survey (only 4 questions, should take no more than 5-10 minutes) to help gather these. I would very much appreciate any comments that you may have.
Pupils in P1-3 have been rehearsing two action songs for entry in this year’s Mod on Friday 31st May . Information has been sent on to those involved. I’ve been listening in to rehearsals and it’s sounding good!
Skye Week
Our pupils have been invited to take part in some events for Skye Week. We will have a group of pupils involved in the parade on Saturday 1st June, and a group of pupils singing on the evening of Tuesday 4th June. Information letters have gone out to pupils who have expressed an interest in taking part. Please return permission slips as soon as possible.
Playground Behaviour
I have had cause to speak to a number of pupils this week about their behaviour in the playground. Some children are engaging in some rather rough play, which is leading to upset, and in some cases injury. Our Pupil Support Assistants do a great job in maintaining good order in the playground, but pupils must also play their part in this. I have reminded all pupils of their responsibilities for good behaviour and respect for each other in the playground. I would ask that parents and carers remind their children of expectations of good behaviour, and also encourage them to report poor behaviour to school staff. This is a really important step in dealing with issues as they arise, because not all poor behaviour is spotted as it happens.
Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP)
Parents of children in P5-7 have been invited to attend the school on Wednesday 29th May at 2.45pm if they wish to view teaching materials or ask staff questions about RSHP lessons.
Mountain Warehouse
Mountain Warehouse have been in touch to offer parents a 20% discount across their website for a period of two weeks beginning Monday 20th May. Please see information below about how to receive this discount.
Discount code: CC202473
Feel free to explore our range of products and take advantage of this limited-time offer. This code will be valid for 2 weeks starting week commencing 20/05/24. Please note this code is only valid on orders sold and shipped by Mountain Warehouse.
Once the items have been selected and added to your basket, please select the basket icon in the top right hand corner of the webpage. In the basket on the left hand side is the total spent, below there is a tab where you can enter your PROMO code. Please enter the discount code provided and select apply. This will apply the discount to your basket, you can then proceed to the checkout as usual.
End of Year Reports
End of year reports will be going home to parents on Wednesday 29th May. Reports will be taken home by your child. If you require an additional copy of the report (for example in the case of parents who don’t live together), please let the school know so that we can get one to you.
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.
Active Schools
Please see message from Sarah Ross at Active Schools, with poster at the end of this email:
ACTIVE SCHOOLS ACTIVITIES- ONLINE NOW!!
Our community activities starting from Monday 22nd are now online for booking! Please see poster attached for what’s taken place. Please make sure that you re- book your child onto activities for the new term.
All these activities will take place at the Fingal Centre. We will have more information going out to individual schools about activities happening in your local area soon.
It would be great to have some new faces along, so make sure to book your place online at https://booking.highlifehighland.com/ You do not need to be a member to come to activities, but you will need to set up a pay as you go account to register.
Information about an exciting new Shinty session will be coming soon!!
We rely entirely on volunteers to deliver and support our activities in the community and across all our schools, so if you would like to set up something new for your school/community or keen to support our current activities, then we would love to hear from you! Please get in touch with sarah.ross@highlifehighland.com
Key Dates for this term
Date
Time
Event
Friday 24th May
/
Sports Day. With a ‘rain date’ of 31st May.
Wednesday 29th May
/
Pupil reports to be issued to parents.
Friday 31st May
2pm
Local Mod.
Saturday 1st June
12.15pm
Skye Week Parade.
Monday 3rd June
11am
P7 pupils visiting PHS for Dynamic Earth workshop.
Monday 3rd June
Morning
P5-7 Swimming Championship – more details to follow.
Tuesday 4th June
6.30pm
Skye Week: Highland night/Hoolie in the square. Pupils singing.
Wednesday 5th June
/
Visit from Andy McKechnie of Jammin Fitness to do the session: Olympic Street Jam – Pathway to Paris. More information to follow.
Thursday 6th June
11am
P6 pupils visiting PHS for Dynamic Earth workshop.
Friday 7th June
Morning
P1/2 and P5 hosting Community Café.
Week beginning 10th June
/
Activity Week
Friday 14th June
Tbc
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 .
Katy Bell visited our school this week to deliver music workshops to all pupils. Katy’s cello music went down very well with our classes who really enjoyed listening to her rendition of some of Bach’s compositions. Pupils also got the chance to try some composing of their own. Thanks for visiting Katy!
A different Katie – Regional shinty development officer, Katie Drain – visited the school on Wednesday to deliver a shinty coaching workshop to pupils in P4-6. These sessions were very well received by pupils. Thank you very much Katie.
Skye Shinty Academy will be holding a shinty competition next week on Thursday 23rd. The details for this have not been finalised yet, however it is expected that this will take place in Portree at around 5pm.
We are keen to encourage more pupils to take up shinty, and the competition next week will focus on development. We are looking for pupils who have had a little experience of shinty through either school sessions or sessions with the shinty academy, but as it is a development competition they will not be in direct competition with the more experienced players. This is a fantastic opportunity for our pupils to get a bit more involved in shinty and to build their confidence.
A letter has been sent home to interested pupils.
P7 Photo in P&J
Keep your eye out for our P7 class whose photo will be in the ‘Class of 2024’ section of this Saturday’s Press & Journal.
School photographer
Thank you to Al from Locheil Photographics who visited the school this week to take class photos. For those interested, I will send information about how to purchase a class photo when they are available.
Sports Day
We’re busy preparing for Sports Day which will be held a week today (Friday 24th May), providing the weather holds up. The event will start at 10.30pm on the King George V pitch, and parents are welcome to attend.
Should the weather not be suitable, the following Friday (31st) will be used as a back-up.
Mountain Warehouse
Mountain Warehouse have been in touch to offer parents a 20% discount across their website for a period of two weeks beginning Monday 20th May. Please see information below about how to receive this discount.
Discount code: CC202473
Feel free to explore our range of products and take advantage of this limited-time offer. This code will be valid for 2 weeks starting week commencing 20/05/24. Please note this code is only valid on orders sold and shipped by Mountain Warehouse.
Once the items have been selected and added to your basket, please select the basket icon in the top right hand corner of the webpage. In the basket on the left hand side is the total spent, below there is a tab where you can enter your PROMO code. Please enter the discount code provided and select apply. This will apply the discount to your basket, you can then proceed to the checkout as usual.
End of Year Reports
End of year reports will be going home to parents near the end of May. Reports will be taken home by your child. If you require an additional copy of the report (for example in the case of parents who don’t live together), please let the school know so that we can get one to you.
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.
Soccer 7’s
The next Soccer 7s event will take place this Saturday 18th May in Kyleakin. This will be a competitive tournament, with fixtures drawn on the day. Please arrive around 10.15 a.m. for a 10.30 a.m. start
We will have three teams participating. An information letter has been sent home with pupils involved. If your child can’t make it, then please let me know by email.
Kits will be handed out and collected back in on the day.
Active Schools
Please see message from Sarah Ross at Active Schools, with poster at the end of this email:
ACTIVE SCHOOLS ACTIVITIES- ONLINE NOW!!
Our community activities starting from Monday 22nd are now online for booking! Please see poster attached for what’s taken place. Please make sure that you re- book your child onto activities for the new term.
All these activities will take place at the Fingal Centre. We will have more information going out to individual schools about activities happening in your local area soon.
It would be great to have some new faces along, so make sure to book your place online at https://booking.highlifehighland.com/ You do not need to be a member to come to activities, but you will need to set up a pay as you go account to register.
Information about an exciting new Shinty session will be coming soon!!
We rely entirely on volunteers to deliver and support our activities in the community and across all our schools, so if you would like to set up something new for your school/community or keen to support our current activities, then we would love to hear from you! Please get in touch with sarah.ross@highlifehighland.com
Key Dates for this term
Date
Time
Event
Thursday 16th and Friday 17th May
/
Musician visit and session with all classes. Solo LMNS cellist, Katy Bell – click here to find out more.
Saturday 18th May
10.30am
Soccer 7s – Kyleakin
Friday 24th May
/
Sports Day. With a ‘rain date’ of 31st May.
Wednesday 29th May
/
Pupil reports to be issued to parents.
Monday 3rd June
11am
P7 pupils visiting PHS for Dynamic Earth workshop.
Monday 3rd June
Morning
P5-7 Swimming Championship – more details to follow.
Wednesday 5th June
/
Visit from Andy McKechnie of Jammin Fitness to do the session: Olympic Street Jam – Pathway to Paris. More information to follow.
Thursday 6th June
11am
P6 pupils visiting PHS for Dynamic Earth workshop.
Friday 7th June
Morning
P1/2 and P5 hosting Community Café.
Week beginning 10th June
/
School trips hoped to take place this week. Tbc.
Friday 14th June
Tbc
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 .
Our classes were busy with two different science workshops this week. On Tuesday, Steven from Celeld Rocks (http://www.celeldrocks.co.uk/) visited to work with P4 and P7 on the subject of rocks, minerals and volcanoes. Pupils really enjoyed this – particularly the practical volcanic eruption out in the playground. Many thanks to Steven for visiting.
On Thursday, all pupils in P5-7 were involved in a ‘Creative Coding’ workshop where they learned how to use Scratch to program a robot. A thoroughly enjoyable session – thank you to the team from Generation Science for putting this on.
Portree School Bus Drop-off
There have been some concerns raised this week about where the Portree School Bus is dropping off pupils. Stagecoach have confirmed that due to the traffic lights at Struan Road junction, they plan to drop pupils off at the bus stop near the co-op.
Cross Country
Well done to our cross country teams who represented the school in the Skye Active Schools Cross Country Championship. It was a very competitive event, with some very strong runners from across Skye. Both our girls and boys teams finished third overall – very well done!
School Trips
Over the last several weeks we have been planning our school trips scheduled for June. Unfortunately, we have been unable to secure any coach transport, having tried several different providers both locally and further afield. As a result, it appears unlikely that our traditional school trips will go ahead as planned. We are looking at contingency arrangements which would allow pupils to access activities within walking distance of the school. More details on this will follow.
Going forward we will have to look at how school trips are organised in future years. Given that transport providers are increasingly unable to offer their services during the busy month of June, we will give consideration to organising school trips at earlier times in the year.
End of Year Reports
End of year reports will be going home to parents near the end of May. Reports will be taken home by your child. If you require an additional copy of the report (for example in the case of parents who don’t live together), please let the school know so that we can get one to you.
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.
Soccer 7’s
The next Soccer 7s event will take place on Saturday 18th May in Kyleakin. This will be a competitive tournament, with fixtures drawn on the day.
Permission slips have gone out. I will need these returned by Monday 13th May as I have a deadline for submitting teams of Tuesday 14th.
Future Soccer 7s events will take place on:
Date
Time
Location
18th May 2024
10.30am-1pm
Kyleakin
Active Schools
Please see message from Sarah Ross at Active Schools, with poster at the end of this email:
ACTIVE SCHOOLS ACTIVITIES- ONLINE NOW!!
Our community activities starting from Monday 22nd are now online for booking! Please see poster attached for what’s taken place. Please make sure that you re- book your child onto activities for the new term.
All these activities will take place at the Fingal Centre. We will have more information going out to individual schools about activities happening in your local area soon.
It would be great to have some new faces along, so make sure to book your place online at https://booking.highlifehighland.com/ You do not need to be a member to come to activities, but you will need to set up a pay as you go account to register.
Information about an exciting new Shinty session will be coming soon!!
We rely entirely on volunteers to deliver and support our activities in the community and across all our schools, so if you would like to set up something new for your school/community or keen to support our current activities, then we would love to hear from you! Please get in touch with sarah.ross@highlifehighland.com
Key Dates for this term
Date
Time
Event
Wednesday 15th – Thursday 16th May
/
Childsmile – fluoride varnishing.
Thursday 16th and Friday 17th May
/
Musician visit and session with all classes. Solo LMNS cellist, Katy Bell – click here to find out more.
Saturday 18th May
10.30am
Soccer 7s – Kyleakin
Friday 24th May
/
Sports Day. With a ‘rain date’ of 31st May.
Wednesday 29th May
/
Pupil reports to be issued to parents.
Wednesday 5th June
/
Visit from Andy McKechnie of Jammin Fitness to do the session: Olympic Street Jam – Pathway to Paris. More information to follow.
Week beginning 10th June
/
School trips hoped to take place this week. Tbc.
Friday 14th June
Tbc
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 