Head Teacher: M.R.Tremmel

Gullane Primary School Muirfield Terrace

Gullane EH31 2HL

Tel/Fax: 01620 843455 gullane.ps@gullane.elcschool.org.uk

http://edubuzz.org/blogs/gullane Dear Parents/Carers Another session draws to a close and what a busy session we have had. When I reflect on the diary I am always amazed at what the school packs in over the year and the events the children have had access to through sport, expressive arts and the range of visitors who share their world with them. I am also very grateful to the number of our parents who give up their time to support the children and the staff. I would like to thank you all on behalf of the staff. I would also like to say a huge thank you to the whole staff team here and I am privileged to work with them on a daily basis. Our inspection was only a week ago but it seems like an age. We had seven guests for most of that week and they were impressed by your young people. Any information on the outcomes will not be until after the break. There will be food for thought and we will manage any recommendations they may make. My elder daughter is to be married on the 12th July and this has added a layer of work on top of a busy schedule! I am looking forward to the first week of the break to recoup my energy and complete the finishing touches to the arrangements. My younger daughter has also graduated from university so maybe by the time I come back to school I won’t feel so poor! I hope that you will all have something to look forward to during the summer break even it is only the 21st of August! On this note, we have been informed that all secondary and primary schools are to return on Thursday 21st August and not Wednesday 20th August. This additional in service day for primary schools was announced this week and I sincerely hope that this will not cause any undue issues for our families. Money The date to order milk has now passed and the next cycle will not be until after the start of the new term. Please look out for the dates. Uniform orders will now not be taken until after we return. Please remember to pay for lunches on the day as we will not have time to pay any outstanding bills before the break. Facilities Management will bill the school and we will not be able to recoup those funds.

Sports Day We are sorry that Sports Day is not going to be on a Friday as I know many families wish to attend but the weather and visitors made that a challenge! Our P7 class are at secondary school this week and as they manage and run the event it would not be possible this Friday. We have decided (sent text to confirm) that we will go for Monday 30th June from approximately 1.30. This means we will have lunch a little earlier so that we can start on time. We are also hosting an Olympic and Commonwealth athlete on Monday morning. ‘Olympian Susan Egelstaff will be coming to Gullane Primary School on Monday 30th June at 11am. Susan was at the London Olympics and is a Commonwealth Games medallist in Badminton. The whole school will hear her talk and get a chance to see her medals and ask questions.’ ‘Susan is a big supporter of children having access to sports facilities and is particularly impressed by the Gullane Sports Development Trust. The Trust aims to provide the whole community access to a floodlit AstroTurf pitch and clubhouse.’ Very exciting and thank you to Mrs Simon for setting this up – pretty cool guest!

Staffing I have now organised the classes and staff for next session. As I always say, things can’t be set in stone as we never know what is round the corner but I have worked on this and I am happy that this is the most likely set up. P1 classes have a maximum class size of 25 as do composite classes. The other classes are set at a maximum of 30. I work closely with East Lothian Council to ensure that I do not ‘fill’ a class and this allows for the possibility of new families arriving in our catchment area to have a place in their catchment school. So… Nursery Mrs V. Travers Nursery Nurse Team Miss R. Mair Mrs M. Carter Mrs K. Gillies Additional Nursery Nurse to cover the additional hours as of August 2014 is to be confirmed following interviews. P 1 Miss L. Kane Current P1 room P 1/2 Miss S. Brannan Current P1 room P2 Mr J. Dagger Current P2 room P3 Mrs A. Gordon Current P3 room P4 Mrs M Cowie Current P3/4 room P4/5 Mrs F. Valente Current P4 room P5 Mr A. McEwan Current P5 room P6 Mrs L. Johnston Current P6 room P7 Mr G. Adamson Current P7 room

Mrs A.M. MacIver will oversee support for learning in the limited hours that we are able to fund. She will liaise with me as well as our educational psychologist in East Lothian Council – this would be the norm. We have one other part time member of staff to appoint and I will let you know who this will be when interviews are concluded and the preferred candidate cleared with HR. Staffing across school Mrs A. Mancey–Business Support Administrator, Mrs Ross-Clerical Support, Mrs Cameron-School Auxiliary/Playground/Dining, Mrs Elderfield and Mrs Bailey-Classroom Assistants, Mrs S. McHardy-Special Needs Auxiliary, Ms Hamel and one other which is to be confirmed following interview- Playground Supervisors. I have attached class lists for P1, P2, P4 and P5. This should help families so they know which child is in their own child’s class and which class your child is in if the class is a composite. It may be useful to remember that composite classes are set by age – no other criteria. – this in a separate letter. Certain classes do not change so if you do not get an additional letter your child’s is moving on as they are presently. As you know we will be saying ‘Arrivederci’ to Mrs K. McGrane who will taking a career break for the next 18 months. We also say ‘Arrivederci’ to Mrs Herdman who will be on a career break for the next 3 years. We wish them all the best and look forward to their return to our school family and I know how much we will all miss their presence in school. Retiral Mrs Pamella Mitchell, Senior Cleaner, will be retiring at the end of this session. Mrs Mitchell has worked in Gullane Primary for 25 years. All her children attended GPS and now her grandchildren are with us. Mrs Mitchell is a diamond of a lady – this school is the best kept and best presented of any school I have worked in over my career. She has picked up more sweatshirts, gym shoes, shorts, books, pencils and rubbers than she would care to remember! She knows that glitter is a pest to get off a carpet, that glue on tables is something she is used to, hand towels should really be in a bin, shredded paper is a way of school life but she never lets this get in the way of managing an efficient and caring team. This school is buffed and polished to perfection! Mrs Mitchell will be an enormous loss to Facilities Management in East Lothian and she will be missed by all of her school family – It won’t be the same without you Pam! Written Work Children will be bringing home a range of items over the next few days. We have agreed together as a staff that every jotter and piece of written work will not go home at the end of the term. We feel that pupils’ written work shows a very good line of evidence of progression from August through to the end of a session. This will only apply to certain jotters and written work so you will receive some pieces for your memory boxes.

The PTA would like to thank all of you who supported this year’s Summer Fair. Without this support, we wouldn’t have raised in excess of £2,000! Special thanks must go to all of those parents and staff who volunteered to help set up, man stalls and clear up at the end of the fair as well as those who contributed towards the baking stall and tombola. The PTA couldn’t have managed this event without your help. We are also grateful to Falko’s and Gilmour’s Butchers in Macmerry who supplied the food for the BBQ at cost. We would like to congratulate P6 for working so hard on their stalls. In total, their stalls made in excess of £300, which is a fantastic amount. Well done P6! Congratulations to the winners of the Bake-off. There were some fantastic entries and stiff competition. As our two year period comes to an end, we would also like to thank you for supporting all of our fundraising activities which has raised in excess of £14,000 for the school (including a large donation to the Gullane Sports Development Trust). To date, the money has been used to purchase the hall’s sound and screen system, Science Workshops, playground equipment and basketball stands for both playgrounds. I am sure that Mrs Tremmel will inform you on how the rest of this year’s money will be spent. The AGM took place last Thursday and a new committee established with Clare Cavers at the helm as Chair. We wish the incoming committee every success. Finally, we have had to cancel the end of term disco, which was due to take place on Thursday 3rd July. I hope the children aren’t too disappointed. I am sure there will be more to look forward too. Thanks again, the PTA. I would like to send our very hearty thanks to the PTA team, ably led by their Chair Mrs L. Mackay. They have been a super team to work with and we are eternally grateful for their time and energy in raising so many much needed funds for our children here. Please remember to let us know if your child has done something out of school no matter how small or large – we love to know and we put up a card in school and mention the child and the achievement in our newsletters. We value your opinions and comments also. We are happy to accept the text for the information via email.

Congratulations!

Well done to… Benjamin P6, Archie W P5, Innis P5 and Jamie P5 represented the under 10 East Lothian basketball team in a Scottish tournament in Stirling. They came 3rd as a team and Benjamin was chosen as one of the Five Stars. This is the photo of him with the other Five Stars.

A well done to… Molly Chapman in P4 got through to the semi-finals of the David Hutchieson Swimming trophy at Haddington Swim Club last night-she swam better than she has ever done before. Well done Molly!    And well done to… Andrew Simon P7 for his achievement in winning the Gullane Hockey Club "Most Valuable Player" U12 Boy for the 2013/2014 season. Well done Andrew! Well done to the pupils below…. Gullane Hockey Club held their end of season awards on Sunday 15th June for the Under 10 and Under 12 years. Congratulations to the following players who were recognised for the 2013/2014 season – Most Valuable Player Under 12 and Under 10 years (boy) – Andrew Simon (P7) and Jack Lucas (P4) Most Valuable Player Under 12 years (girl) – Freya Walker (P6) Most Improved Player Under 12 years – Lucy Lucas (P6) and Under 10 years – Benji Edmondson (P4) Well done to… Lucy Lucas for running in the 5K Race for Life Cancer Research UK event at Holyrood Park on Sunday 15th June. A superb achievement! Well done to… Skye Sievwright P4 who was recently chosen to play for the East Lothian Dragons u10 basketball team. Last weekend they played in the national challenge and won! They are now the best u10 girls team in Scotland! A fantastic result. And well done to…  Calumn Sievwright P6 who won his overall age group, three golds and a bronze in the Gullane Swim Club gala.   Well done to…Congratulations to Sally Watson for winning 2 gold and 1 bronze medal and also the P4 trophy in the swimming gala. Very well done! And a well done to…Mia Lonie in P6 who took part in the Saltire Gymnastics Club Championships last weekend and won three bronze medals in her intermediate group (age 10-11 year olds). One for her floor routine, one for vault and bronze overall for her group. Well done Mia! A huge well done to…Madeleine Armstrong, P6, in the recent Gullane Swimming Club Gala. Madeleine surpassed herself by achieving 2 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze. We are very proud of her! A big well done to… Freya Walker in P6 won the P6 girls Swimming Cup, the Gullane Swim Club Individual Medley Cup and won the MVP (most valuable player) award for U12s at Gullane Hockey Club. A great sporting year for her!  Kind regards M. R. Tremmel Friday 27th June 2014 Be safe and enjoy a break with your family if you can. Take care and we will see you

all on the 21st August 2014

Community News and Information Instead of many flyers going home and adding to a paper mountain we put all such events in this section. If you are organising an event please write what you would like as information and we will endeavour to include in this section for you. We do not take any responsibility nor do we screen the quality of any the community projects and events advertised here.

THE READING AGENCY, LIBRARIES AND TESCO BANK Present

MYTHICAL MAZE You’ll be amazed at what’s going down at your local library this summer. It’s Mythical Maze, the Tesco Summer

Reading Challenge 2014! You’re going to love finding your way round the Mythical Maze. As you read, you’ll meet some larger than life

characters from myths and legends. Keep track of it all on your fold-up poster and complete the maze with stickers from the library.

To join in – it’s all FREE – head for your local library. For more information go to WWW.mythical-maze.org.uk

I am secretary of Haddington table tennis club and we are hosting (at the Haddington Corn Exchange) the inaugural East Lothian table tennis tournament, in conjunction with the EL Sports Hub and the Commonwealth Games Legacy. Entry is free and it is open to anyone living in East Lothian. ( This is all I was given!) Reminder! Dirleton Fete and Games Info to remind everyone that it’s on Saturday 12th July, 1-5pm.

Diary for the last week of session Monday 30th June Susan Egelstaff – guest speaker – whole school 11am

Sports Day pm (1.30 – fingers crossed and weather permitting!) Tuesday 1st July Nursery Assembly in Hall 10am. Wednesday 2nd July Leavers’ Assembly – Hall 9.15am

Friday 4th July Last day of Session 2013-2014 We will all close at 12noon on the last day – please join us at about 11.50 to see our P7 class on their way!