RATHEN SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
29th September 2015
Newsletter 2
Staffing
After 13 years of teaching at Rathen School, Mrs
MacGregor is moving on to join the Support for
Learners team for the Fraserburgh Cluster. I
would like to take this opportunity to thank her
for her dedication and commitment over the years
and to wish her well on behalf of the staff and
pupils of Rathen School.
Golden Rules
Each class has
agreed on a set
of Class Rules
and
Responsibilities,
which reflect
the School’s
Golden Rules:
Telephone:
01346 532226
Mobile:
07999853906
Information line
0870 054 4999
Pin number:
02 24 80
Rotary Shoebox Scheme
The Rotary Shoebox Scheme transports and
distributes Gift Boxes to children and families
in Romania, Moldova, Belarus, Bulgaria, Albania
and Croatia. Flat pack boxes will be delivered
to school in October to be ready for collection
in the third week of November. Please
complete the attached slip if you would like to
take part. Thank You.
Values
In consultation with pupils and staff, our revised draft
set of school values are as follows. Please let us know
your views on the newsletter’s comment slip. Thank you.
Rewards & Sanctions
At our recent whole school assemblies, I consulted pupils and staff and the following rewards and
sanctions for P1-7 were agreed on:
Rewards:
Golden Time: 30 minutes of ‘Golden Time’ will be awarded to every child who is in the Golden book i.e.
no red cards received for the week.
Golden Week – everyone treated to an extended playtime with focused ‘zones’ when all children in
the school are in the Golden Book.
Sanctions:
P1/2 Verbal warning.
 Yellow card = parents informed + lose 5 minutes Golden Time.
 Red card = parents informed + lose 10 minutes Golden Time.
P3/4 Verbal warning.
 Yellow card = parents informed + lose 10 minutes Golden Time.
 Red card = parents informed + lose 15 minutes Golden Time.
P5-7 Verbal warning.
 Yellow card = parents informed + lose 15 minutes Golden Time + written assignment.
 Red card = parents informed + lose all minutes Golden Time + written assignment.
Parents are asked to sign notes home from school to confirm that they have received notification of
their child being issued a yellow or red card.
Homework
All pupils will be given a ‘last chance’ verbal warning for uncompleted homework and then the sanction
procedure explained above will be followed.
Fundraising Group – Christmas and Book Fair
Christmas Cards (with a
th
The Scholastic Book Fair will be in school from Wednesday 18 to personal touch)
25th November when pupils will be given the opportunity to browse Your child will be designing a
and buy books. The Book Fair will coincide with the Christmas Fair Christmas Card which will be
on Saturday 21st November from 10am-12pm, organised by the
professionally printed and sold
Fundraising Group. Please plan to come along and join us to get
in packs for you to purchase and
ahead of the Christmas rush. A variety of games and arts and
distribute to family and friends.
crafts activities will be available for the children in school, while
More details to follow from the
you browse around the many stalls and enjoy the refreshments.
Fundraising Group.
Techfest
Here are a few snapshots of P3-7 trip to Techfest in Aberdeen. Workshops and presentations they
attended included: Making Thins Move, Light Lab, K’Nex Engineering for All, Explore Your Universe,
Science and Engineering in the North East and How To Save The Planet in 45 minutes. Answers to
the question, “What did you find out on your visit to Techfest” were:
“I found out that the colour white is made out of lots of different colours in light”, Laura.
“We can draw pictures with light”, Lloyd.
“If you place torches beside a prism, you can make turquoise”, Emma.
Thanks to the parents who helped escort the children on the trips and thanks to the Fundraising Group for
subsidising the cost of the trip.
Parent Council
The next Parent Council Meeting will be on Thursday 19th November at 6:15pm. All are welcome to
attend.
Sickness and Diarrhoea
Guidelines from Grampian NHS Board:
There are simple measures that can be taken to help prevent the spread of infection both at school
and in the home which include:
o Remain at home until 48 hours after the symptoms have settled.
o Encourage thorough handwashing particularly after visiting the toilet and before eating.
o If you have concerns and symptoms persist after 48 hours, contact your GP.
o
Adverse Weather
Here is a reminder of the current methods we use to inform you of school closures:
 Waves Radio Station will broadcast frequent updates.
 School Information Line – 0870 054 4999, pin # 02 24 80
 Aberdeenshire Council Website – www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/closures/
Hopefully, we won’t need to use any of the above anytime soon.
Parent Interviews
Road Safety
We are planning to have our Parent Interviews
May I remind all drivers to adhere to the 20 mile
th
during Term 2 on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday
per hour speed limit in Rathen to ensure the
th
11 November. More details to follow.
safety of the pupils? Thank you.
Harvest Service
Rathen School Harvest Service will be on Wednesday 10th October at 9:30am in Rathen Public Hall
led by Lisa Ruth Lyall. Everyone is welcome to come along. Donations of fresh fruit and vegetables or
flowers would be greatly appreciated for our Harvest Table. After the service, the items will be
boxed and delivered to Senior Citizens in the community. If you are available to help prepare the
produce boxes please stay behind after the service. Also, please let me know of any Senior Citizens
in the Rathen area who have not received produce packages in previous years and we will add them to
our list. Thank You.
End of Term Services
Please note that due to the nature of the learning contexts (topics), each class will be sharing their
learning at upcoming individual class show case events. Therefore, only the following classes will be
the main participants in the end of term services due to time restraints:
P5/6: Harvest Service
P1-4 (Nativity), P5-7(Christmas Songs): Christmas Service
P6/7: End of Session Service
Upcoming Events
October
1st – Scottish Parliament Outreach visit to P5/6
7th – Harvest Service at 9:30am
9th – Last Day Term 1
26th – Day 1 Term 2
November
10th – Parents’ Evening
11th – Parents’ Evening
16th & 17th – School closed for In-service
19th – Parent Council Meeting at 6:15pm
Yours,
Alison Patterson
Head Teacher
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THANK YOU.
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PTO
Rotary Shoebox Scheme
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