Darnley Primary
and
Visual Impairment Unit
Newsletter – January 2016
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2016. I’d like to wish you all a Happy New Year on behalf of the staff at
Darnley Primary and VI Unit. I hope this issue will keep you informed of the many and varied events that have
been happening in the school recently and also give you some details about forthcoming dates for your diary. I
have attached a reminder of the remaining holidays for this school session.
As it’s a New Year we will be taking the time to remind the children of the high expectations we have for them
in their behaviour, dress and general attitude. This means that we will be asking the children to walk safely in
the corridors, display excellent manners to their peers and staff and encouraging them to look smart by
wearing the school uniform in the correct manner. We have always enjoyed well behaved and well-presented
pupils who are a credit to our school; however it takes all of us to work together to ensure that this continues.
Many thanks for your continued support.
Dates for your Diary
Date
Event
Time
Location
Week beginning
11th January
12th January
Registration Week for P1s
All week
School
Determined to Dance – 8 week
block
School
13th January
Glasgow Badminton Final for
some P7/6 children
Athletics After School Club for P7
children
Parents’ Evening for P1a and P5b
1-2 P4
2-3P4/3
3-4 – After School Club
All Day
21st January
3-4pm
pm
Scotstoun Leisure
Centre
Community
Centre
School
Last swimming for P7 girls
22nd January
Sportshall Challenge for VI
children
am
Pollok Community
Centre
Staff Update
Unfortunately, Miss Milne will not be returning to Darnley Primary School and I would like to take this
opportunity to wish her all the very best for the future. Miss Hosie has joined the staff as a temporary teacher
having previously been at Darnley as a student teacher. I hope you will join me in welcoming her back to the
school and P5b.
Milk Bottles for P1
As part of their upcoming Polar Regions topic, P1 will be building an igloo from 2 litre milk cartons. If you have
any, could you please hand them in (rinsed out if possible) to the School Office? Many thanks.
Library
If you were in the school over our Festive events I hope you had the opportunity to pop into our new library
space situated in the infant end of the school. Thanks to an application from Mr McKean to the Scottish Power
Foundation Library Energiser competition we were able to completely revamp our library area and, as a focus
on literacy and particularly reading for enjoyment is part of our improvement plan, invest in some new books
which will hopefully motivate even the most reluctant reader into picking up a book. The initiative, created by
the Scottish Power Foundation as part of its sponsorship of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, gives
schools the chance to win a £2,000 investment in their school reading space as well as their own mini book
festival and an author visit.
We were one of two primary schools through out the whole of Scotland who were successful in the bid.
Darnley’s new library space was opened by Canadian born children’s author, Lynne Rickards, who read some of
her stories to P2 and P3 children and donated some of her books to the new space. We are keen to use the
space for a variety of different uses and would like to involve children and parents/carers to help us to decide
what to do. We will be in touch!
Sowing Seeds
P5b completed their work with Kerrie and David from Sowing Seeds on Thursday 3rd December when they led
the official opening of our Wildlife Area situated at the top entrance to the school beside the old janitor’s
house. Despite the rain, many parents and relatives came along to hear what the children have been learning
about and how they hope their area will help the wildlife in the area particularly in the winter. They also led all
the other classes on tours of their Beastie Mansion to teach them about biodiversity. Sowing Seeds have
worked with P3 to focus on the bird feeding area in the Sensory Garden and will return this term to start some
planting work with P2. All classes will have an area in the school grounds where they will be responsible for
planting and cultivating some food in Term 3 and Term 4. I’m looking forward to Harvest time already!
Festive Update
Thank you so much to you, your families and friends for your fantastic support of all our Christmas events both
financially and by attending events at what is a very busy time of year. It is very much appreciated.
Thanks to Glasgow Housing Association and Glen Oaks Housing Association for their donations which allowed
us to reduce the cost of the Panto trip and provide a goodie bag for the chidlren going. The children and staff
thoroughly enjoyed the Panto at Eastwood Theatre. Thank you to the Parent Council members who helped
make up the goodie bags too!
All money raised goes towards funding expereinces for the children such as school trips, after school clubs and
visting coaches and specialists to name a few. This year the children all developed their entrepreneurial skills
where they made a wide range of Christmas crafts such as reindeer dust, Christmas tree decorations and
Sportsock Snowmen to sell at the Christmas Fayre. The money that the children raised has been kept in the
classes for the children to decide what they would like to buy to keep them busy and entertained during wet
weather breaks and lunchtimes. They will work with their teachers to create a wishlist whilst remaining within
budget.
The Choir, led by Mrs Colrain, were out and about in the local community singing for charities and in local care
homes. They raised £159.12 for Ronald McDonald House when singing at St Enoch centre.
Cordia News
As a reminder, the Breakfast Club is open to all every morning in the school hall from 8am at the cost of £1.
There is no need to book or attend every day.
Lunch menus are available on http://www.fuelzoneprimary.co.uk/. Paper copies are available from the school
on request.
A number of parents/carers has raised concerns about lunches particularly around choices and availability of
what their child would like. P1-P3 go straight to the Lunch Hall for lunch whilst the rest of the school are called
on a rota basis to ensure that seven days they are first to be called in and should get their first choice. We have
also introduced an ordering form for Christmas Lunch which proved successful in that there was enough food
for everyone and they all received their first choice.
I have been in touch with Kathleen O’Donnell with a view to arrange a meeting with interested parties. There
are three proposals for a meeting on Thursday 28th January.
1) during school hours (2-3pm)
2) evening meeting (5-6pm)
3) Kathleen O’Donnell meets with myself and Elaine Caddell (chair of Parent Council) to discuss any
issues raised and we feedback to parents.
I have attached a tear off slip at the end for you to return your preferred choice by Wednesday 20th January
and I will be in touch to let you know the outcome.
Health and Safety
As in previous sessions, could I ask that parents do not drop their child in the school car park when dropping
off in morning or picking up after school? If you are picking up or dropping off out with normal times then the
school car park can be used. The Walking Bus will start on Monday 25th January at 8.45am in Sainsbury’s car
park on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The plan would be to increase the number of days as the number of children
using the Walking Bus increases as the weather gets better.
We are hoping that we have a snow free end to the winter however, if there are any updates for
parents/carers, we will look to use text, twitter and the school website as ways of communicating updates to
parents.
Could you please ensure that your child has a pair of indoor shoes that fit them and are in good enough
condition that they can take part in PE safely? As a lot of the children have had the same ones since August, it
may be worth a check to make sure they still fit and aren’t falling apart. Unfortunately, if your child doesn’t
have indoor shoes in good condition, they will not be able to take part in PE as they cannot do so safely.
Head lice – unfortunately we have had a few reoccurrence of head lice. Could I please ask that you check your
child’s head regularly and that you treat accordingly? Girls with long hair should keep their hair tied back as this
can help prevent the spread. If you need any help or advice, please see the following website
http://www.healthscotland.com/documents/25.aspx or contact the School Office for a paper copy of the
leaflet.
Parent Council Update
Happy New Year to everyone from the Parent Council.
December was a busy time for the Parent Council and we would like to say a big thank you to everyone who
bought a raffle ticket to win the tablet or cinema tickets and well done to the winners. Also we hope the
children enjoyed the Christmas disco. All money raised from the disco and raffle money will benefit all children
of Darnley Primary.
We look forward to another busy year working in partnership with school and we will continue to update you
of upcoming events in the newsletter.
Mobile Phones and Devices
We have noticed an increasing number of children bringing mobile phones and other expensive devices to
school. If a child brings a phone to school it must be remain switched off throughout the day and be given to
the teacher for safekeeping at the start of the day. It is not allowed to be used before 9am, during intervals or
Golden Time. Tablets or any other devices which take pictures are not allowed for Golden Time.
We would ask that, unless unavoidable, pupils do not bring mobile phones to school. Thank you for your
support with this.
We look forward to a very productive and happy 2016 and encourage all members of the school community to
take a full and active part in the life of our school. If you would like further information regarding any item in
this newsletter, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Kind regards,
Emma Nicholson
Headteacher
School Holidays for 2016-17
2015
2015 Return to School Monday 6 January 2016
Second Mid-Term
Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 February 2016
Easter
Friday 25th March and Monday 28th March


Spring Holiday
Monday 4th April – Friday 15th April
Please note that schools will close at 2.30pm on Friday 1st April
May Day
Monday 5 May 2016
May Weekend
Friday 27 and Monday 30 May 2016
Friday 24 June 2016
* Please note that schools will close at 1pm on this day
School Close
Inservice Days
Day 5 Wednesday 17th February 2016 All Schools
Day 6 Thursday 5 May 2016
All Schools
Cordia Meeting on Thursday 28th January 2016
Please circle your choice

I would attend the session during school day 2-3pm

I would attend the evening session 5-6pm

I would prefer Cordia representative to meet with HT and PC Chair and provide feedback
Name:____________________________
Child’s name:_______________________
Child’s class:_________
Please return to School Office by Wednesday 20th January.