Walker Road School
May 2016
School News
Hello! It is hard to believe that we are already into May and planning for the end of school year
activities. The recent weather has been brilliant and the pupils have loved being outside learning.
We have finally finalised the dates for diary and have included these in this newsletter. Please
remember that the Blog is updated every week if not more regularly with dates and news.
So …what’s been happening?
BLOG
The address is: www.walkerroad.aberdeen.sch.uk
The Blog has been really successful and we currently have over 12,500 hits which is amazing
given it only really started in October. Please remember that we are now beginning to use it to
hear about your thoughts on different aspects of our school work and we would welcome ongoing comments.
Lunch System
The lunch system has been changed slightly and the pupils no longer use the coloured bands.
They are still using their cards to choose in the morning, but they now also use their cards to
show what they have chosen to our dinner ladies. This has made the lunch lines, quicker and
more efficient.
Big Noise
Big Noise Torry has been a huge success this session and the P3 Walker Road also left a great
impression on teachers from across Aberdeen at the Learning Festival where they performed.
Well done P3 – the staff were very proud!
Apple Store Visits:
Pupils from P5-7 got to visit the Apple Store last term and explore how they could use tablets to
support their learning. The pupils in P6 and 7 also visited Absafe and looked at internet safety.
Science Success!
Thank you to all who attended our ‘Sharing the Learning’ event for Science at the end of last
term. The pupils loved sharing all their learning and I believe a lot of parents were getting
involved in experiments too! It was a great success!
The Road Rio 2016
Since March we have been undertaking whole school challenges as part of our learning about
the Olympics. In the month of March we managed to read over 8,500 pages in our Read to Rio
initiative to encourage more reading amongst our pupils and staff. This term we are working on
Run to Rio and are clocking up the running (and walking) miles each day in our work to improve
our fitness and reach Rio by running 6,220 miles together. Run, Walker Road, Run!
House Reward:
Brilliant Balnagask won the House Reward last term and took part in an Easter Egg Hunt. They
had to find coloured eggs which matched a prize from Golden Lunch Tickets, chocolate, Haribos
and as a team earned enough eggs to have 3 extra breaks in the last week of term. Well done to
Kai and Abbi for leading them and to the other House Captains for their help.
Transition:
This is the term for Transition and as we prepare for our pupils to move on, either within school or
from Primary to Secondary, we will be working with them to ensure these moves are smooth.
Pupils will be able to spend time with their new teacher on Tuesday 21 st June in the afternoon.
Head Lice:
We have recently had some reported cases of head lice. Our school nurse has advised us that
we should all regularly check our hair and when we find live lice, treat them with lotion from the
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chemist, but also ensure that we continue to comb from root to tip for 7 days after hair has been
treated.
What is coming up this term?
There will be more to follow but here is what we have
so far!
Whole Term:
 P4 Swimming (every Wednesday)
 P7 Rowing until the middle of June (Friday pm)
 Nursery and P1 Transition sessions (on-going throughout term)
May 2016
9th – 11th
P3 workshops with River Trust at the River Dee.
11th May
P6 and P7 Fire Talks with the Fire Brigade
12th and 17th
P5s out at Tivoli Theatre and the Art Centre (Shop Front Design Project)
th
th
16 – 18
P3 Gone Fishing with River Trust (Banchory)
16th and 17th
P6s Fire Walk to the Gramps
th
16
Cromdale Information Meeting
20th
P4 (Room 9) to Aberdeen Youth Games at Aberdeen Sports Village
th
25
Morning Nursery Summer Trip (No Afternoon Nursery)
26th
Afternoon Nursery Summer Trip (No Morning Nursery)
th
27
P4 &P7 to University for Science Workshops (P4 require Packed Lunch)
30th
Last Transition Monday at Torry Academy for P7s
31st
P1 Induction Meetings
st
rd
31 – 3 June
P6 Cromdale Trip (24 pupils going)
June 2016
Reports for Parents will be issued this month.
6th
Nursery Inductions and P1 Big Noise Sharing session with parents.
9th
House Captain Interviews for P6s – more info to follow for P6.
th
10
Sports Day for P1- P7 at Tullos Field (weather permitting). Pupils are
asked to wear their House Colours.
th
th
13 – 17
P7 Activities Week (over £2000 raised this year for their trips).
17th
17th
17th
21st
23rd
30th
1st July
Dragons’ Den at Pinsent Masons (P6 only)
Whole School Den Day – every pupil building a shelter in the
playground.
P4 (Mr Duncan) to Tesco for Farm to Food workshops.
Swap Up Day for Transition (details to follow).
PTA Shorts and Shades Disco
P7 Prom (at Nigg Bay Golf Club)
Leavers’ Assembly at 9.30am. School finishes at 3pm for the summer
with school beginning on Tuesday 16th August 2016.
And finally ….
School Uniform
It is so lovely to see nearly everyone in their school uniforms. The children look smart and neat and ready
to work – and proud to be part of the Walker Road Team!
We always start the year well let’s see if we can finish the year well too! Please make every effort to
ensure your child wears school colours and appropriate clothing over this term. As part of this we will be
having a uniform sale (with special offers) to get everyone set up for next year. More information to follow.
Please help keep our kids healthy!
Recently we have notice a lot of parents smoking, either in our playground or at the school gates. Please
can we remind you that smoking is not permitted in our playground and it would be nice for our pupils not
to have to walk through smoke as they arrive at school. Please move away from the entrances and let our
kids breathe!
Jill Merchant (Head Teacher)
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