Law Primary Parent Council  

The Parent Council

• The first meeting of the year is Mon 12 Sep at 7pm Please fill out this form to get a link.  You can listen in, no active participation is expected.  All welcome – you do not need to be a class rep or have previous involvement with the Parent Council to attend.  They are a great opportunity to learn about the school and have any questions answered.
• You are encouraged to ask questions, share comments and bring issues to shape the agenda for the meeting.  These need to be submitted by Thurs 1 Sep so that we can discuss them with the Head Teacher before the 12 Sep.  Questions are not taken ‘live’ at Parent Council meetings.

1. Add them to this jamboard(anonymous)
2. Email the Parent Council (kept confidential – we never mention names) –  lawprimaryparentcouncil@gmail.com
3. Tell your class Rep – if you don’t know who that is email lawprimaryclassreps@gmail.com

• We also want to invite all parents to our coffee morning on Friday 2 Sep 09.00 – 10.00 at the North Berwick Community Centre.  We will provide SteamPunk Coffee, Tea and cakes.  There will also be toys for younger children so feel free to bring kids along too.  You can also ask any questions / share issues for the meeting here with the coordination team.

On 12th Sep we need to appoint a new Chair and Vice-Chair.  Please email the Parent Council if you would like to be considered.  We will include an overview of what we do and how you can help at the meeting on 12 Sep.

Best wishes

The Parent Council Coordination Team

Parent Council Meetings

Thanks to those that came to the last Parent Council meeting a few weeks ago:

• For those that missed it, the PowerPoint – including Mr Orr’s presentation on home learning – is HERE.
• The draft minutes are here however if anyone wants clarity on any of the questions / answers please email: lawprimaryparentcouncil@gmail.com  .

The final Parent Council meeting of 2021 / 22 is Monday 16th May at 7pm:

• To get the Google link fill in THIS FORM.
• To contribute to the agenda / ask a question please email us, add a post to the Jamboard or come along to our coffee morning.

Project Playground

We are trying to restock the playpod (please see the message below and attachment):

7 years ago a group of inspirational parents set out to make the playground at Law an inspiring and fun space to play. After lots of fundraising and support from our community they bought a container that acts like a giant toy box. It was named Charlies Pod after a Law primary pupil called Charlie Kay and the funds he had raised to support the project. The container was filled with recycled items that would otherwise go to landfill. These items were then used for loose parts play and the imaginations of children ran wild and free.  7 years on we want to relaunch Charlie’s Pod so the children at Law can once again enjoy loose parts play which has endless physical and mental health benefits. We will be training the P3 children in a week’s time which is really exciting.  So how can you help ? Well, we need to make sure the pod is well stocked. Do you have any waste products that could be reused? Do you have any items that could be recycled? If you do then let’s reduce our waste and support play in our community. Please see the attached poster to see the types of items we are looking for. Contact Melanie Kay on 07759423066 or email on kaymelanie185@gmail.com

DYSLEXIA INFO

This isn’t a Parent Council event, but we wanted to share this public event.  Join Sharon Hall and Dyslexia Scotland South East on Zoom for a whistle-stop tour of what dyslexia is and how you can support your child.  This free event will cover:

• Dyslexia – what to look for, how it may affect your child
• Homework – practical strategies and resources to use with your child at home
• Building self confidence
• Study skills – tips and tricks
• Understanding the education system

Here is the link if you want to have a look:  https://www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk/events/online-dyslexia-scotland-south-east-parent-masterclass

ONLINE SAFETY

Finally – if you missed it here is the zoom recording of the last Parent Info evening on ONLINE SAFETY: https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/YcHdhERzwY93jkVbSIH1V8DZ2mhcKmThhAh7QJZEj1WtLvph4M2O4XqrAH-uNw9q.oIUjZYnVn9Ys5cca

COORDINATION TEAM

After 2 years it’s time for the Parent Council team to step down and our hope is to find a new team to take forward the coordination before the summer holidays so we can spend time with you to do a proper handover.  Please email us if you are interested in getting involved..

Best wishes

The Parent Council Coordination Team

lawprimaryparentcouncil@gmail.com

Free event on Thursday 5 May. This event will NOT be recorded but similar events will be run in the future.

Join Sharon Hall and Dyslexia Scotland South East on Zoom for a whistle-stop tour of what dyslexia is and how you can support your child.

This free event will cover:

• Dyslexia – what to look for, how it may affect your child
• Homework – practical strategies and resources to use with your child at home
• Building self confidence
• Study skills – tips and tricks
• Understanding the education system

Here is the link if you want to have a look

https://www.dyslexiascotland.org.uk/events/online-dyslexia-scotland-south-east-parent-masterclass

Charlies Pod[16150]

Click to see more photos of it in use Charlies Pod[16150]

Dear Parents

7 years ago a group of inspirational parents set out to make the playground at Law an inspiring and fun space to play. After lots of fundraising and support from our community they bought a container that acts like a giant toy box. It was named Charlies Pod after a Law primary pupil called Charlie Kay and the funds he had raised to support the project. The container was filled with recycled items that would otherwise go to landfill. These items were then used for loose parts play and the imaginations of children ran wild and free.

7 years on we want to relaunch Charlie’s Pod so the children at Law can once again enjoy loose parts play which has endless physical and mental health benefits. We will be training the P3 children in a week’s time which is really exciting.

So how can you help ? Well, we need to make sure the pod is well stocked. Do you have any waste products that could be reused? Do you have any items that could be recycled? If you do then let’s reduce our waste and support play in our community.

Please see the attached poster to see the types of items we are looking for. Contact Melanie Kay on 07759423066 or email on kaymelanie185@gmail.com

Thank you in advance

Melanie Kay and The Project Playground Team

On 27th April at 7pm, the Parent Council will be hosting an online safety information evening, run by the charity SWGfL, whose mission is to ensure that children ‘benefit from technology, free from harm’.  Their website can be accessed here https://swgfl.org.uk/.

The evening should provide parents with information about the current popular technologies and how their children use them.  It will discuss the pros and cons of being online and provide parents with advice, coping strategies and resources to help them understand and engage with their child’s online lives.

Please use the link below to register for the evening, which will be held via Zoom.

https://forms.gle/1t3QurNnNrw8nqAy5

The session is free of charge for all parents and carers as the PTA have kindly offered to cover our costs.  However, if you are able to make a contribution, please do – no donation is too small!  We plan to offer regular events for parents and carers, so the money will go towards funding future sessions.  Donations can be made using the JustGiving link below.

https://justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lawpta2022

Thanks to those that came along to the Mental Health Info eve – please feel free to email us with any feedback or suggestions for other info evenings you would like to see.

Please find attached a PDF of the slides.  Mental Health and Wellbeing Information Evening

Here is the website Martin was talking about: https://sites.google.com/edubuzz.org/mhwb-information-point/single-point-of-access

A reminder of two events this week for all Parents / Carers:

Mental Health + Your Child:

• Google MEETS on Thursday 18 Nov, 19.00-20.30
• ALL WELCOME.  To register:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjGyO_5egW53V0Q7TYA6Tj23iDJYfnquDkCJamsxB6qXK2DA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Parent Council Coffee Morning:

• Lodge Grounds (Table Tennis Tables) on Friday 19 Nov, 09.00-10.00
• Steampunk coffee and cakes provided.
• ALL WELCOME including kids – just come along to meet us, suggest any agenda items for the next PC meeting, get involved with the PC or just eat our cake.

Best wishes

The Parent Council Team

lawprimaryparentcouncil@gmail.com

As you know we are a small coordination team – enthusiastically flapping about in between work commitments + family life so apologies if comms is a bit sporadic.  As ever extra hands and heads are welcome and needed – please email us if any of the issues and events below connect with you and you would like to offer support.

Some info about what we’ve been working on – update at the next PC meeting MONDAY 29 NOV at 19.00 via Google Meets.  Registration info to be shared next week.

You are also invited to meet us for Steampunk coffee and cake in the Lodge Grounds (table tennis tables) this Friday (19th) at 09.00.  Kids are welcome.  Come and meet us and tell us how things are going at school, suggest any agenda items for the next PC meeting, get involved or just eat our cake.

This is an update on some of the things our team are working on:

• We continue to work with ELC on the new nursery build – new drawings have been published HERE – our primary concerns have been safe and effective pedestrian access to the nursery (there is no car park) and the orientation of the building for better use of natural sunlight.  Take a look and feel free to email us with comments – this is going to affect kids and families in NB for many many years so we really need to get this right!
• There is a new nursery PC group – email us if you want to get in touch with them.
• We continue to push for the new path at the back of the school so that children don’t have to walk down Haddington RD.
• We have organised an info evening for parents on 18 Nov at 19.00 – MENTAL HEALTH + YOUR CHILD.  Register HERE.  Poster is also attached.  Please share with other parents / carers.
• We are undertaking an ambitious review and redesign of the school website and the handbook given to all new parents / carers.  We will be asking you to contribute to this at the next PC meeting so that you can tell us what you feel needs revising, adding, editing.  Thanks to the parents that have come forward to help with this already.  Anyone with a particular skill set in web design / comms would be very welcome.
• Project Playground is bubbling away in an enthusiastic mix of many colours.  Next step is convincing ELC to let them get their coloured paint brushes on the tarmac and building.  Watch this space.  Thanks to the PTA for submitting a funding application and fundraising such a huge amount of money at the brilliant yet soggy Halloween trail in the Lodge.  AMAZING work again PTA!
• Hate plastic bottles in the lunch boxes?  Thanks to parents for emailing us about this.  There is a petition you can sign HERE – if anyone wants to take this forward on behalf of Law please email us.  It’s such an important issue, but we just don’t have the capacity at the moment.  The least we can do is share the petition link.
• Reps – we are aiming to get a rep for every class at Law to improve communication between the school and parents, and especially to be a point of contact for new parents arriving.  Please get in touch if you would like to join the team of reps – they are a friendly bunch who we often supply with coffee and cake.  A great way to get to know folk in the school.

Have a great weekend!

Kate (Chair)

Mental Health and your Child

This is an invite to all Law PS parents and carers to come along to an evening event on Thursday 18 Nov, 19.00-20.30 via Google Meets.  BYOB!

It has been organised by parents and is being hosted by Martin Lahiffe, Mental Health Youth Worker for the North Berwick cluster.  He will be talking about:

• What is mental health and why it is important
• Strategies for parents / carers to support good mental health and well-being in their children
• Signposting to organisations and resources for additional support

There will also be a member of staff from the school attending, who will be able to answer questions about practices and policies at the school.

 ALL WELCOME.  To register go to:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjGyO_5egW53V0Q7TYA6Tj23iDJYfnquDkCJamsxB6qXK2DA/viewform?usp=sf_link

This session has been arranged following feedback from parents / carers that they would like to better understand how to support their child’s mental health, particularly in the context of the last couple of years.  Please feel free to bring questions or to just come along and listen in.  We’d love your support for this event; if successful we would like to host other information evenings in the future so please do let us know if you have ideas for other topics you’d like us to cover.

Any questions please email lawprimaryparentcouncil@gmail.com.

Best wishes

The Parent Council Team

Class representatives act as an essential link between the school and parents in their class, for issues and ideas in both directions.  Parents can consult their class rep for any matter that does not relate to specific individuals and the rep may answer it directly, or pass it on to the wider parent council or school as appropriate.

The types of things you are expected to do include:

• Advise any social media groups you may have, that you are their PC rep and that they can raise any issues with you at any time, not just for a PC meeting
• Follow Law Primary Parent Council on Facebook if you are on it
• Promote PC information, sub group work, and invitations to meetings and coffee mornings, to your class
• In advance of PC meetings, ask for any issues parents want raised – as constructive as possible.  Positive feedback is always appreciated too! This should be collated and emailed to the Parent Council, via lawprimaryparentcouncil@gmail.com.  If we get this a few days before the meeting we can raise it directly with Mrs Mackinnon for her Headteacher briefing if appropriate.  (Parents are still able to post ideas themselves if they prefer, on the jam board that is circulated to people on the email list ahead of each meeting).
• Attend the PC meetings and coffee mornings where possible and feed back from those to your class
• Let your class teacher know that you are the class rep for their class.  If there is anything they would like to disseminate or explain to the class’s parents they can choose to do so through the rep.
• Spread the word about the Parent Council and encourage engagement where possible.