RESPECT * KINDNESS * POSITIVITY * CO-OPERATION
Emotional goodbyes….….to Mrs Ross this morning as the children from Morning Nursery had their graduation ceremony. Always a few damp eyes around, but today there were also parents and childminders saying heart felt farewells, not just for the summer, but ‘for good’, to Margaret Ross.
Parents and Carers of Children and Young People with Additional Support Needs will be pleased to hear about the work of Get Connected East Lothian.
Get Connected is an project that aims to make it easier for young people with additional support needs and their families to find and contact activity providers.
Team PPSCheck out our PTA and Parent Council pages….
….and to help the easy way, right from where you are sitting now – this is what you need 🙂
No two children are the same, no two adults are either, but there’s no two ways about it, when adults play with children and children invite adults to play with them, it’s like a whole load of fairy dust is sprinkled around.
“Giving our time to our children is one of the most magical gifts we can ever bestow upon them.” Remember that feeling when you were young and your mum and dad joined in a game with you? When they taught you a game they used to play? When you just all had a whole heap of fun together? Maybe it was a favourite aunt or uncle – or your friend’s parents that included you – whoever it was, it was a very special time in your childhood.
So now, we have a very special chance to share in some break-time with our kids. Join them in the playground Mon-Thurs (any day that suits you, and more than one if you can) during lunch break. Have fun together.
If they have hit that age that they don’t think it is so cool (hard to imagine of course 🙂 ) – then join their friends’ parents and just enjoy being reacquainted with games of your childhood again.
12-22 June ’17 is open to parents, grandparents and carers of children in PPS to roll back the years, get up to date with their games now – you might even want to just get a bit arty and create some story and number stones :).
If you have younger children too – please come on Wed of week 1 (14th June) or Thurs of week 2 (22nd June) – and, of course, keep a close eye on them. It will be a different experience for the pupils to have such little ones there too.
So, get your diaries out and score off BUSY on any of these lunchtimes…mark it up “Making Memories Together at PPS”
Any old Tech? Any old tech? Any, any, any old te…ch?
Well, we don’t need your old iron 🙂
Can you donate a camera to the school, working and suitable for using with SD Cards? From P1-P7, classes would like more for pupils to use. (Nursery may love too if sturdy build and good for developing fine motor control).
If you have any unused, suitable cameras, please do take to school after checking there is still a need (Just in case we start a deluge with this post as PPS parents and families are always so generous!)
ALSO – as part of being a Dementia Friendly school, we hope to develop the PLAYLIST for LIFE project in and through our school. To do this well, we are also looking for unused and working Ipods / MP3 players which can be donated for use. Launched in 2014 by Sally Magnusson, with her very personal account of the pathways created by dementia.
A moving interview can be found here Playlist for Life Charity and Sally Magnusson.
With the help of volunteers, we plan to develop a playlist for life with pupils and others in the village. A special connection between our lives, and music, is recognised to be very strong. More is shared in this wonderful film (trailer) and through this book. You may also be interested in this video clip with Dr. Maggie Ellis.
So – if you have suitable devices, which you would be happy to donate, please take these along to school, preferably in a small padded envelope.
Making a difference in small ways and many ways…..
Our grateful thanks to all the pupils who completed the Play Questionnaire leading up to Easter break – and to all the pupils who took part in Play Brainstorming session after lunch today. Amazing ideas – and now we will take some time to look for themes and ideas that could inspire development of the playground. Anyone who took home sheets of paper, to add ideas to today, should bring those back for the Parent Council by Friday (5th May).
The Spring Fayre PTA team has more fun planned to capture ideas so keep an eye out for more news about that.
ALSO – if anyone is digging in the garden or heading to somewhere with large pebbles / smooth rocks (eg. a stoney beach) over the next few weeks, please bring back some big smooth pebble style rocks to decorate into story stones, assuming it is allowed. You may even feel tempted to buy some from a local garden centre – and then we can create story (and number) stones with the kids too.
We hope to create collections for both Nursery and P1 – P7 to enjoy and be creative with.
This powerpoint was shared with pupils in Assembly (28/04/17) to encourage all to share their ideas about developing play in the playground. Knowing not all ideas will become a reality, but some could, and all will inspire is key to this fun consultation time. The mapping is becoming more of a chat and share session on Tuesday 2nd May, at the beginning of OUTDOOR WEEK and just after the Whole School Picnic. Morning Nursery children are welcome to come back with parents / carers to take part too – from 1:15 – 2 pm approximately.
In addition to other items highlighted through School Improvement Plan 2016:17 and actions to support Numeracy, Reflective Reading, Growth Mindset and our new HT’s transition into Pencaitland and East Lothian, the Parent Council had a few carry forward items from 40th Anniversary and new developments to explore after issues raised by Learning Council (pupils) and Parents / Carers around play and the environment for playing at PPS.
So – we created a short questionnaire for the pupils, with the pupils – and shared this in March 2017.
We created links – and a working group team of PTA, PC and other parents in Spring 2017.
We are exploring ideas which would benefit the pupils, develop important skills and improve enjoyment of time in school, with a focus on inclusion, well-being and practical.
With Haddington Cluster excited to have their own Loose Parts Play Development Officer, and other schools in East Lothian reaping the benefits of creating wonderful innovative approaches, it’s only right that PPS looks to build on it’s excellent reputation of yesteryear too :).
Maybe this: Transforming Primary School Playtimes and Playpods, but we will see what consultation with the children brings!
What can parents and carers do now?
If YOU have ideas to improve playground and inspire break-times, please share them.
Speak to a Parent Council member, or email parentcouncil@pencaitland.elcschool.org.uk
Some ideas will be shared with the pupils after Easter, examples of play landscapes and experiences in other schools. A mapping or Blue Sky exercise will be planned also to find out where the children like to play most, and doing what. It may work as a wish and stars type of consultation, but we really want to look at how the areas are being used now, and what the children would like.
The school is also considering how to approach improvements, especially with money in very short supply. In Feb/March the children have been given more open use of the tarmac area of the playground. No more ‘invisible line’ dividing infants from middle and upper school. Parents and close family members were invited to join the pupils on lunch break time, to support play with ideas of games played as children.
The PTA and other parents planned for time in Easter break to work on the sandpit area and new sandpit toys are being bought from PTA funds.
Colour and design for the playground can be reintroduced in simple ways – and this will also start to happen in summer term, following ideas discussed and agreed at the time of the 40th Anniversary.
Research states that the happier and healthier our children are, emotionally and physically, is an enormous boost for their learning and well-being. Playing in different age groups is incredibly important for social development of children and if we can build this into more intergenerational experiences – our community is strengthened too.
Free play – the children’s own choices over their time – needs to be recognised as the building block for life and so PPS is embracing play as key to education also.
Maybe PPS will end up being blogged about too.
Planning for outdoor space development needs thought, insight, expertise and fundraising…watch this space! 🙂
An information evening for parents and carers of PPS pupils
Join the Parent Council for a pr
esentation from Fiona Robertson, Head of Education, to explain more about the National Framework for Improvement.
Book tickets here.
Free event, but limited numbers.
Wishing all the pupils, families, PTA members, PC members and all the staff – a very happy, interesting, fun and ‘Can Do’ year ahead.
Congratulations to April Clark, first winner of the School Lottery draw on Christmas Eve – next winner due imminently too, so don’t forget, you can still get involved.
Winner of Champagne could be YOU!
