Milton Primary School

A huge thank you to Invergordon Community Spirit who have very kindly donated an advent calendar for every pupil in the school. The children are delighted. ☃️

Breakfast Club Survey We were lucky enough to be selected by the Scottish Government to run a pilot project and provide a breakfast club – for FREE!!!

The plan is to serve a yummy, healthy breakfast from 8:00am onwards in the school games hall, with some fun activities also available afterwards. To start with the club would run for a limited time, from around the end of January until the start of the summer holidays.

We hope the club is a success and if it is, we might be able to continue it in the next school year or we could maybe provide more after school activities. We will need to know as soon as possible how many families would be interested.

We will try to provide for as many children as possible but spaces will be limited. Please answer the questions below, before the end of Friday 4th December.

We would love to hear any of your suggestions and it would also be a huge help if you could please also give some feedback on how you think this could help your family.

Please complete the following survey….. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfmz1chrjOI3Pjbvid23KRG-70lseI9F1N3cTAfnYzbGN76bA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Good afternoon

We have had a few complaints this week about children coming home muddy, wet and cold.

It is vital that children get fresh air and the grass is muddy.  Please could children come to school in suitable footwear and clothing that is waterproof. We have mentioned previously due to our Covid Guidelines that we should be trying to be outside as much as possible.

If you require wellies let us know and we can provide you with some so they can keep their feet dry when they are outside. As the temperature has dropped, the school building is colder as we have to keep windows open to ventilate so  you might want to put another layer on your child.

Can we now ask that your child is provided with a pair of labelled indoor shoes please that can be kept in school as the carpets are getting quite muddy now, this will also mean they are not sitting in wet shoes. We are more than happy for you to put in spare socks etc in their bag.

Thank you,

Mrs Dunnett

We rounded off Anti Bullying Week today by wearing odd socks.

At Assembly the children were asked why we were wearing odd socks. They were able to give a definition of bullying and what to do and provided loads of examples as to how and how why we are all different. It was clear they have learnt a lot from their activities and discussions this week.

Here is a picture of our odd socks to show that everyone is different and unique and that is okay.

In P567 Some children who forgot about the odd socks decided to sit out as they wanted to make the true message come through but we had a nice discussion about how choosing not to wear odd socks (or forgetting) is you being yourself and that personal choice is important. One child forgot about socks altogether and we thought it was best not to put a picture up with their bare feet 😂 such a lovely statement in support of us all working together as a team against bullying.

The Nursery children have been such busy bees this week following the journey of Puff by taking part in suggested Learning experiences set up by the Care and Learning Alliance. They created lots of beautiful crafts, went on a puff hunt and hosted their own PJ parties and sleepovers this week in Nursery. They’ve also been inspired to paint their own stones too. A huge thank you to Eilidh for supporting us and providing materials for the staff and children to use.

We are so happy to have our After School Clubs back. Mrs Sutherland sent across some lovely pictures of the amazing creativity that has been seen from P3/4/5 and P5/6/7 at Art Club.

Following our Parent Council Meeting last night an important item was raised about what to do if you are worried about a child out of hours in the Community.

In short, if you are concerned about a child or young person it is important to speak to a professional as soon as possible. This might be a Head Teacher, Health Visitor, Youth Worker etc for advice and support. They will know how to respond to concerns about a child’s wellbeing and should advise you of the next steps.

If you are concerned that a child may be at risk of harm from abuse or neglect then please contact one of our Family Teams (see following link for numbers.) If you are worried that a child is at immediate risk of harm then phone the Police without delay.

Please see the following Highland Website which details everything you need to know…
https://hcpc.scot/professionals/

Please see the following information which may be useful for some of you.

The Scottish Child Payment is a new payment for families on certain benefits or tax credits to help towards the costs of looking after a child. It’s £40 paid every four weeks for each child under six; this will be extended to under sixteen by 2022. The pre-application window opens from 9th November 2020, applications are being taken early to help manage demand as it is estimated that around 194,000 children under 6 will be eligible for the new payment.

Applications can be made by phone by calling 0800 182 2222 (lines open 8am 09/11/20), or by filling in a clerical application form which you can either download or ask for one to be posted to you by calling the freephone number, or use the online application which can be found at http://www.mygov.scot website alongside other payments.

Some key areas to note:

1. The payment is currently only available for children under 6 years old
2. 9th November 2020 – 14th February 2021 is the pre-application window; no payments will be made in this time, payment launches 15th February 2021
3. Payments will start being issued to eligible clients from the end of February 2021; SCP will be paid from 15th February for those that have applied prior to this date and are eligible
4. If the child turns 6 before 15th February they will not be eligible for the payment
5. The payment will stop when the child turns 6, clients should receive a letter about 4 weeks prior to the childs 6th birthday advising them their payments will stop

Mrs Dunnett

All classes got very creative this week whilst exploring their Human Body topic.

Primary 5/6/7 visited the Woods on Thursday. They worked collaboratively to complete some puzzles naming the various bones in the skeleton and then worked in groups to create their own using natural materials. Don’t they look fantastic?!

• 

• 

Primary 3/4/5 have been exploring the structure and function of the skeleton. They worked independently to create a paper model of a skeleton incorporating their name. The process was a challenge but we got there and I think the finished pieces look fantastic. Some children also worked very hard to name the various bones of the skelton using their chromebooks and information books to help them.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Primary 1/2/3 have also been producing some lovely artwork. They welcomed two new classmates yesterday to help them remember the names of various body parts which they have cleverly labelled. They’ve also been exploring the skeleton through play. E has made a wonderful job of connecting the bones using pasta!

• 

• 

• 

• 

We have loved looking at the variety of homework we received this week which we will share soon. Please remember to complete 1 task from the Human Body Grid each week as well as the set class homework which will be sent to you via See-Saw on a Monday.

The Nursery were delighted to accept a fantastic delivery to the garden a fortnight ago. It arrived on Halloween following a day of map reading in the Woods where they ran into some pirates would you believe?! We’ve no doubt this addition to the outdoor area will promote creativity and allow opportunities for wonderful imaginative play. I know the lovely ladies in the Nursery have been sharing some updates with parents via See-Saw.

A huge thank you to the Men Shed who worked so hard to build, paint, varnish and deliver the structure. Thanks must also go to the Highland Council members of staff who supported the boat to sail into the Nursery garden. The children, alongside Mrs Forth and Mrs June, chose the name Holly for the boat – their former teacher and co-worker. Mrs Forth got in touch with Miss Ross who was just delighted at the gesture.