January 2025 Newsletter

Welcome back everyone, we hope you all had a lovely Christmas break and are ready for the new term.

Christmas Performance and Church Service

Thank you to everyone for their support and fantastic feedback after the children performed the ‘The Fleece Force’ and ‘Christmas Around the World,’ in the school hall last month. It was lovely to see so many of you in Ayton Parish Church. Many thanks to all staff, Mrs Susan Patterson, Primary 7 pupils, and Mr. Graham Dolan for their support during these events.

Winter Transport

Please remember that during the winter months our School Transport team now use the Scottish Borders Council website to provide updates on school transport affected by weather or road conditions. The webpage can be found at https://www.scotborders.gov.uk/wintertransport and will be updated from 7.30am as and when required.

It is important to remember that in normal circumstances children should not wait more than 15 minutes for the bus, but in severely cold weather please make your own judgement. If you decide to take your young person to school yourself, you will be expected to collect them at the end of the school day.

Staffing

Miss Rebecca Morton has returned from maternity leave and has returned to her support for learning post on a Monday and a Tuesday. On a Wednesday morning, she will be teaching P1/2 to allow Mrs Pearson her allocated weekly mentor time.

Miss Tracy Renton has moved on to a new post at Eyemouth Primary School. We would like to thank Miss Renton for her hard work at Ayton Primary and we wish her well for the future.

We are also joined this term by Miss Brooke Heary who will be completing her student placement with us in P1/2 with Mrs Pearson

Reminders

Breakfast club is from 8.00am until 8.30am and costs 50p per day. This can be paid via ParentPay, please book in advance. If you use the Breakfast club service, please drop children off before 8.15am so they have enough time to eat and do not feel rushed. The playground is supervised from 8.30am, please do not drop your child off before this unless they are attending Breakfast Club. On mornings where weather is poor, the door to the school will be open and children should head straight to their classrooms.

If your child is absent from school or if there is a change in circumstances regarding pick up arrangements, please call the school office or email/groupcall so that the relevant member of staff can be informed.

School starts at 8:45am, we notice that several children have been arriving late in the mornings. Please try to ensure your child arrives at school on time to start their learning for the day. There is playground supervision from 8:30am with Miss Davidson, Mrs Virtue and Miss Sword.

School finishes at 3:10pm, please be mindful that staff have meetings/preparation to do before they leave work at the end of their working day and would appreciate your cooperation in collecting your child on time.

Please remember to provide your child with a snack at break time and a water bottle for use in class with water. Water bottles should be labelled with pupil name and can be filled at break time. Children are also welcome to bring in a fruit fix snack for the afternoons if they wish to.

P.E.

P.E. days for all children are Tuesday and Thursday. Children are to have P.E. clothes to change into before their P.E. lesson.

Primary 6 Greenpower STEM event

All children in Primary 6 in the Eyemouth cluster have been invited to take part in a STEM activity with our colleagues from Eyemouth High School. Ayton pupils will be joined by Reston pupils at Ayton starting on Friday 10th January. The project involves designing portfolios, the body work for the Greenpower Car.

Library Van

The library van will be visiting school on Wednesday 15th January, please ensure all books currently out on loan are brought in to school for this date.

Curriculum Overviews

Curriculum Overviews will be issued to parents on Friday 17th January. This detail information about learning which will be covered in class this term. If you have any queries about any aspect of your child’s progress, please contact their class teacher in the first instance.

Splash

One of our community partners ‘Splash’ will be working alongside class teachers on Wednesday 22ndJanuary during which time all pupils from Primary 1 to Primary 7 will participate in a pasta making event. We are looking forward to welcoming Splash back into the school following a successful visit previously.

Robert Burns Celebration

On Friday 24th January we will be celebrating Robert Burns in School. Children are invited to wear something Scottish/tartan to school to celebrate the Scottish Poet. We will be holding a special celebration in school with Burns poetry.

P5-7 Cross Country

Kendal Patterson, Active Schools Co-Ordinator has organised the P5-7 cross country to take place on Thursday 6th February from 10am until 12 noon at Eyemouth High School. Transport will be provided, and children will be back in school for lunchtime. Children should come dressed in warm outdoor P.E. clothes with a water bottle and snack.

EV2 permission forms will be issued through ParentPay nearer the time.

If any parents/carers have some free time and would be interested in helping with marshalling at the event, please contact the school office and we will inform Kendal.

School Uniform

Please label all items of school uniform including gym kit. Children are actively encouraged to wear school uniform in line with Scottish Borders Council’s School Dress Code. In the interests of safety, the wearing of jewellery other than a watch and stud earrings, is not allowed. We would like children to wear black school shoes.

Ordering School Uniforms

School uniforms are available to buy from ‘Fantasy Prints’ in Berwick and ‘Border Embroideries’ in Greenlaw. All orders must be placed through their websites:

Fantasy Prints: https://www.fpuniformz.com/product-category/schools/primary-school/ayton-primary-school/ or by visiting their uniform shop in Berwick.

Border Embroideries: https://www.border-embroideries.co.uk/schools/ayton-primary-school.html

Dates for your diary

• Monday 6th January 2025: All resume
• Friday 10th January: Primary 6 Greenpower STEM event
• Wednesday 15th January: Library Van
• Friday 17th January: Curriculum Overviews to be issued
• Wednesday 22nd January: Pasta making with Splash
• Friday 24th January: Robert Burns Celebration assembly– wear something tartan
• Thursday 6th February: P5-7 Cross Country
• Friday 14th February: Last day of term for February break
• Monday 17th to Friday 21st February: School closed to ALL – February break
• Monday 24th February: In Service Day, school closed to pupils
• Tuesday 25th February: School open to all
• Friday 4th April: Last day of term for Easter holidays