Full House for First Grandpar
Full House for First Grandparents Day
Carol Snow Reports
We had a very successful first Grandparents’ Day on Friday, 14 May. The turnout was amazing and the sun was out too! One hundred enthusiastic and happy grandparents piled into the dining room area to get good viewing seats for the start of the morning activities. Both the Parent Council and the school were delighted with the tremendous support for the event.
The day started with a school assembly with every class doing something to entertain our guests. There was singing, “When I’m 64” and “You cannae shove yer granny off the bus”, poems, drawings, and even a sketch based on a classic piece of Monty Python – I don’t think we will ever really know how different it was growing up in the 1940s compared to now! There was much laughter in the hall throughout the performance.
Grandparents were then taken to their grandchildren’s classes to see the classrooms and share the school day experience. The first activity was making a picture or illustration together which would then form part of our memory quilt – now on display in the school main hallway. In some classrooms grandparents willingly shared experiences and memories with the pupils.
The Grandparents, having worked hard all morning, like the children, then deserved a well earned recess. This gave them an opportunity to meet other grandparents and speak to staff and Parent Council members. With volunteers and staff working together as a team, our guests were watered and fed in the 20 minutes or so that we had allowed – phew! That was a bit of a workout! Grandparents then returned to the classrooms for another short spell and finished off their morning with a tour of the school grounds and garden.
Video
Thanks
There are a number of people I would like to thank:
· All the pupils and school staff for making such an effort at the assembly and in the classrooms.
· P7 pupils for being so helpful in getting the Grandparents into the school and class registered, for guiding them around the school, for helping serve the cakes at break time and for helping to tidy up.
· Members of the Eco group who helped to guide Grandparents around the garden and school grounds.
· Fellow Parent Council members, Alison Glencorse, Jane Scott, Dorothy Ogilvy, Ralph Averbuch for their assistance on the day, as well as Marion Thom and Ann Archer for volunteering to help us. Everyone’s help was much appreciated in setting up and serving tea/coffee and cake, assembling the memory quilt, populating the map of where grandparents come from, and clearing up.
· Dorothy Ogilvy, Alison Glencorse, Ian Archer, Stella Birrell for their homebaking.
· Ralph Averbuch for taking photos.
· Graham Wilson of the PTA for lending us tea/coffee supplies.
· The school’s admin staff for their assistance on the day.
· Everyone else involved with this event – please accept my most sincere apologies if I have forgotten to mention you specifically.
Finally, to thank the families and the Grandparents for coming to support their grandchildren and their education.
Judging by the positive remarks I have received, I think this is an event we just might repeat in future years. Once again, thanks for all your support.
Carol Snow, Chair
Parent Council