I am running Relax Kids classes on the 4th July at Dance Discovery studios. There are two classes for age groups 4-7 and 8-12. The sessions will focus on having lots of fun, while exploring emotions, boosting confidence, encouraging creativity, practising relaxation techniques such as mindfulness, yoga, slow breathing, affirmations, story massage, positive visualisations and much more.
Sessions aims to help children start to develop a practical toolkit to help them manage big emotions and develop self-regulation.
A huge thank you to Asda for their donation of brand new clothes. We have a range of sizes from 3-7yrs for parents to pick up. Staff will be placing these in the cloakrooms and outside the nursery entrances for you to help yourself.
INTRODUCTION TO SIGNING
An informal workshop for parents and carers to
support and develop their child’s communication and
understanding through Signalong.
Day the school is closed to Pupils
May Day Holiday: Monday 1st May 2023
Additional Public Holiday: Monday 8th May 2023 (to mark the King’s coronation)
Staff In-service Day 5: Monday 22nd May 2023 Reminder
Last day of Term: Wednesday 28th June
Elfridges is back! The parent council is taking over the Social Space at Dunbar Grammar for our secret, special Christmas shop, where children can choose a gift for the special people in their lives. For £1 they can buy their choice of gift, then our elves will help them to wrap and label them, ready to be brought home in total secret until the big day!
Refreshments, stalls and other festive activities help make this a great way for families to ramp up the seasonal cheer.
Put the date in your diary and join us for some festive fun.
Children & Young People’s Mental Health & Wellbeing Information Point
East Lothian’s Children & Young People Mental Health and Wellbeing information point is here. This site is intended to provide information and support for children and young people, as well as for families and staff supporting young people. Use the buttons on the home page to explore information most relevant for you.
The School Milk Term 2 22/23 fund is now open if you require to pay for milk. This covers the period 04/01/23– 31/03/23 and the cost for the Term is £14.25. The fund will remain open until Wednesday 14/12/22. You will need to pay online through School Pay and we will not accept any cash or cheque payments.
If using a mobile phone and have difficulty seeing the milk fund:-
Click on the 3 lines on the top right hand corner of the page
Select Accounts
Click on your child’s account
The next screen should list all the available funds and you should see School Milk Term 2 22/23.
Please do not pay milk to Pre-order school meals as this fund is for school lunches only and payment for milk only relates to P1 – P7
Christmas Countdown
Please find attached this years Christmas Countdown. There is a change for P7 on 16th December as it is now not possible for P7 to attend DGS on this date and it has been removed.
A new £1 million energy fund to help East Lothian residents heat their homes this winter has opened for applications and is open to anyone struggling with their bills. CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW/
A consultation has been launched giving people in East Lothian the chance to have their say on the council’s budget priorities.
The consultation highlights that, like other local authorities across Scotland, East Lothian Council is facing unprecedented budget challenges due to constrained funding, increasing costs and a growing population.
The size of the budget gap presents a huge challenge – with net spending reductions of up to 25% needed by 2027/28. This comes at a time when residents and businesses are also facing huge pressure from cost of living increases whilst they work to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The council remains committed to supporting local people and communities, and ensuring that our resources are used as effectively as possible to deliver on our priorities.
Given the nature of the challenges likely to be faced in the delivery of services in this period, the consultation signals the start of a rolling process of engagement with the public over budget choices in the coming years.
‘Significant pressures’
Council Leader Norman Hampshire said:
“East Lothian Council has clear priorities aligned to protecting the most vulnerable in our communities and has a good record of delivering commitments within available resources. But the scale of the challenges faced by the council is now raised to a level that we have not experienced in many years.
“Councils are currently dealing with very significant external pressures such as rising utility and energy costs as well as the impact of inflation, interest rate rises, the cost of borrowing and pay awards agreed nationally which are not fully funded. Income is not keeping pace with the cost of delivery services, at a time when East Lothian is one of Scotland’s fastest growing areas without the necessary increase in our revenue and capital grants.
“Most of our revenue budget comes from national government with council tax income from residents only accounting for about 23% of our funding.
“It projected that the council will overspend by more than £5 million in the current financial year which is why we recently agreed urgent mitigation measures to address the deteriorating financial position affecting local government.
“But it is currently estimated that the council could face a potential funding gap of in excess of £60 million in the next five years.
“We do have a strong track record of transforming services and are looking to build on this, but the reality is that very tough decisions are going to be required to get the council on a sustainable financial footing in the years ahead.
“Our online budget consultation includes questions on what people value most about where they live, which service areas they would like to see improved, which local issues are most important to communities and families and what the council should be doing differently to reduce the budget gap.
“We are keen to have conversations with our communities and make sure we understand what matters most.
“I would encourage people in our communities to give us their views to help inform the decisions which elected members will need to make early next year about our budget priorities for 2023/24 and beyond.”
Dunbar Primary School forest school. A beautiful frosty morning, lighting fire, making and eating porridge and some games to keep us warm and active. We also did our washing up in the woods, everyone lending a helping hand.
P7 WW2 Personal Projects
Some more of the wonderful P7 personal WW2 projects this year. Well done everyone
All year stages should have issued a newsletter today. The P7 newsletter will be issued on Monday 7th November this is due to a technical issue that has now been resolved.
Snack Trolley Lochend Campus
This is now back up and running. Snacks are 20p and at present just 1 snack per child.
Children in Need 2022
Primary One Football
Christmas Countdown
It may be a little early to be saying this out loud but
Christmas is fast approaching! This is a magical time
in school but a very busy time too!
In order to give as much notice as possible we
We will be issuing the Christmas Countdown as soon as we have all the dates confirmed.
DPS Forest school update P5 and Parental Feedback
Brilliant to meet our new
P5 forest schoolers today. We witnessed a savage wasp vs bee attack, made paint from charcoal, hollowed out elder branches to make blow darts and drinking straws and even made a space simulation module in a hammock!
Some heart warming parent feedback from our Forest school sessions. If you’re interested in volunteering at our next block of Forest school please click on the Google form link https://forms.gle/FSDPVne4ZhYBBWZf8…#arch#forestschool
The Benedetti Foundation
Last Friday saw a beautiful first day with The Benedetti Foundation
The weekly update will be available from this week until the end of session in June. Our apologies for the last few weeks as we were unable to provide this update.
Scottish Government – Directorate for Educational Reform
Exploring The Four Capacities is a thought paper, commissioned by Education Scotland and prepared by NoTosh, compiling the views of over 150 educators and over 600 learners from across Scotland’s education system.
It offers insights to help inform the National Discussion on Education and to stimulate your own exploration of the four capacities. The paper will be useful to all educators and settings exploring curriculum rationale and curriculum design.
The next meeting of DGES Parent Council will take place on Tuesday 1st November from 7 – 8.30pm in the Conference Room (next to the School Office). All parents and carers are warmly invited to attend. The meeting will include a discussion on ‘Attitudes towards Maths’ led by Chris White (PTC Maths)
The text below is a Statement from East Lothian Provost regarding the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Community of Dunbar Primary School wish to echo the Tribute made by the Provost.
If you wish to send your own message of condolence there is a link at the bottom of the post.
Tributes to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
East Lothian Provost, John McMillan, has led the tributes in East Lothian following the announcement of the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II.
“Today is a very significant day in the history of our nation and within our sorrow at The Queen’s passing we must also acknowledge the considerable contribution and example of public duty she made during her long reign.
“For the majority of people she was the only monarch they have ever known and her passing also brings to a close the modern Elizabethan era. Over the 70+ years of her reign she had been witness to many significant world events from the sadness of wars and conflicts to the joy of technological progress including the introduction of the Internet and major medical advancements that have eradicated previously endemic diseases such as polio.
“She was the most widely travelled monarch of all time visiting countries in all five continents but of course also retained a particular fondness for Scotland. She visited East Lothian on a number of occasions – the most recent visit was in 2016 to mark the 200th anniversary of Musselburgh Racecourse.
“During 2022, the year of her Platinum Jubilee, local communities across East Lothian including schools, businesses, community groups and individuals embraced the challenge of the Queen’s Green Canopy and planted trees in a variety of sites across the county that will serve as enduring tributes to her reign.
“East Lothian joins the rest of the nation, Commonwealth and wider world in a period of mourning that acknowledges the passing of an incredible individual whose commitment and longevity to public duty is unlikely to ever be equalled.”
Lord-Lieutenant’s message of condolence
East Lothian’s Lord-Lieutenant, Roderick Urquhart, today said: “I am deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty The Queen. I send my most sincere condolences to all of the Royal Family on behalf of the East Lothian Lieutenancy and the people of East Lothian.
“For more than 70 years, HM The Queen led a life of incomparable public service and duty dedicated to the nation. She was not just the Head of State of the UK and Head of the Commonwealth, but was also a figurehead of selfless devotion, dedication and service. She leaves a legacy which is unlikely to be matched for many generations.
“Her visits to East Lothian were many and varied over the years, and in particular I have happy memories of her visiting the Lamp of Lothian in Haddington in 2007, and joining the bicentenary celebrations of Musselburgh Racecourse in 2016.
“As Lord-Lieutenant I have been fortunate to carry out many duties on behalf of The Queen, including the presentation of Honours to local residents, and celebrating 100th birthdays and Diamond Wedding anniversaries, as well as presenting Queen’s Awards. On each of these occasions I have been aware of the huge respect and fondness for our monarch.
The recent Platinum Jubilee celebrations highlighted the desire of people of all ages to mark the occasion. In East Lothian, the Queen’s Green Canopy Platinum Jubilee initiative has resulted in many trees being planted across the county, by school and community groups, local businesses and individual residents, all of which together will leave a lasting legacy for future generations.
“Whilst in this period of mourning, we must also recognise the succession within the monarchy, and the inheritance of the Crown by her heir, Charles. As King, Charles will inevitably be a different monarch, but one who will help evolve a new modern relevance to the monarchy, as well as being a true and confident successor to HM The Queen, in continuing the twin roles of head of state and head of the nation and Commonwealth, in the 21st Century.”
Queen Elizabeth II meets the crowds on High Street in Haddington, July 1973
Welcome to the start of the new term 2022-2023. I am delighted that we are now working without the many COVID restrictions that were in place previously and I hope that you will start to see the impact of this on your children and yourselves as we work through the year.
There will be more opportunities for you to come into school to see the pupils’ work and get involved through our BOATS (Bring Our Adult To School) Days.
Some activities will still run on-line as parents have shared that they prefer this way, it is more time efficient and allows more people to participate. However, we will review these sessions during the year to make sure we are meeting the needs of everyone in our school community.
We are really keen to work with our volunteers again; you make such a difference in so many ways and we have missed you! If you would like to get involved we will be sending out more information on a letter later in the week.
Our start to the session has been very positive, the majority of our pupils were excited to come back to school, to meet up with friends and have been enthusiastic about the learning in their new year stages. I was really impressed with the behaviour and manners shown – a credit to you all.
The Primary 1 pupils were fantastic as they made their start to their primary years. I want to thank yourselves, our nursery staff and the P1 Team who worked hard to ensure the transition from Nursery to P1 meant the pupils felt confident, were resilient and happy to join our school.
Welcome to East Lothian’s Children & Young People Mental Health and Wellbeing information point. This site is intended to provide information and support for children and young people, as well as for families and staff supporting young people. Use the buttons on the webpage to explore information most relevant for you.
East Lothian Council has introduced Parentsportal.scot for P1 to S6 pupils. This is a new digital service to help replace the traditional school bag run, by providing direct communication to parents through a growing set of online services, using one single login.
The portal has been developed to help provide parents with a clear insight into their child’s education and to support transactional communications between them and the school.
Registration for a Parent’s Portal customer account uses the MyGovScot myaccount service. This is a secure and trusted service provided by the Scottish Government. Most parents have already registered with myaccount to use the SchoolPay online payment system and you can use the same login details for the Parent’s Portal
If your child still requires to have medication in school please complete the appropriate form from the links on our website and send it in at the start of the next term along with the medication:
East Lothian Council has introduced Parentsportal.scot for P1 to S6 pupils. This is a new digital service to help replace the traditional school bag run, by providing direct communication to parents through a growing set of online services, using one single login.
The portal has been developed to help provide parents with a clear insight into their child’s education and to support transactional communications between them and the school.
Registration for a Parent’s Portal customer account uses the MyGovScot myaccount service. This is a secure and trusted service provided by the Scottish Government. Most parents have already registered with myaccount to use the SchoolPay online payment system and you can use the same login details for the Parent’s Portal.
Message from the Senior Leadership Team:
What a wonderful start we are having to the new school year. A warm welcome to all our Primary 1 learners and new learners who have joined us from other schools, as well as all their families. We have a number of new staff who are settling in to their new roles
at our school.
This is the first time since March 2020 when we have no COVID restrictions in place and we are extremely happy about this, as I am sure you all are too.
As ever, partnership with parents and carers is hugely important. If you would need to contact us, please do so by phoning or emailing the school in the first instance and your query will be passed to the relevant member of staff.
What To Bring To School
– School bag
– Filled water bottle – please ensure this is water and not juice
– Small healthy snack
– Healthy packed lunch (if required) – please name the bag/box too
– Waterproof coat – named
– Appropriate footwear/clothing for PE
Please ensure your children do not bring any unnecessary items such as toys, etc into school.
School Lunches, Free School Meals, Clothing Grant etc
School meals are free to all P1-5 learners in Scotland. All school/nursery lunches MUST be ordered on SchoolPay. Please remember that if you would like your child to have a school lunch on a Friday then you must order this before 9.30am on a Wednesday. Even if your child is having a packed lunch brought in from home, it would be very helpful if you could login to SchoolPay and indicate this (one less thing for the teacher to do . If you think your child is eligible for Free School Meals or you need to renew this, you can now do this online at https://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/fsm
Please complete the online application form if you think you are eligible, even if your child is in P1-5. The form is for a clothing grant too so even if your child has packed lunch and or is in P1-5, if you think you are eligible then please do apply. If you need help to complete the form, please don’t hesitate in asking for help from SLT or any of the staff at the school offices.
PARENT COUNCIL AGM – TUESDAY 30TH AUGUST, 7PM ONLINE
The Parent Council AGM will be held online on Tuesday 30th August at 7pm.
At the AGM we elect the officials – Chair, Vice and Treasurer. This year in particular we are looking for a new treasurer and vice chair as Belinda & Laura (who have done amazing jobs) are stepping down. These are obviously crucial roles, the vice chair provides much needed support for the chair, taking on some of the work to allow more to get done. The treasurer handles the accounts and and without it pretty much all our endeavours will grind to a halt as we will be unable to either fundraise or pay out funds to support the school and our children.
If you have a few hours a month to either provide organisational support or to keep the books right and a hand on the purse strings please do consider it. Although it’s helpful to have the vice & the treasurer at our meetings you don’t have to commit to every one, just to keep us informed. If you want to know more, please e-mail parentcouncil@dunbarprimary.elcschool.org.uk
The Agenda (including the link to join the meeting) and minutes of the previous AGM can be found here:-
Year Stage dates will be on your stage Newsletter.
Tuesday 30th August Parent Council Meeting 7pm Online
Friday 16th to Monday 19th September 2022 – September Holiday Weekend
Friday 14th October 2022 – last day of term
Monday 24th October 2022 – In Service Day
The school will re-open for pupils on Wednesday 17th August 2022.
If you have uniforms to pick up both offices will be open from 9.00am on Monday 15th August and Tuesday 16th August,
You will also see below that the Uniform Bank is open at JOHN MUIR Campus for all ages from 10am till 2pm on both these dates. Many thanks to Dunbar Parent Council for organising this.
