Dear Parents and Carers
I hope you are all well. It is so lovely to see the sun shining again after the rain we have experienced. In true Trinity fashion we have continued to have our learners outside – as the saying goes ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes’. With that in mind please do make sure that your child comes to school with a suitable jacket and outdoor footwear. As well as knowing that fresh air has benefits for our wellbeing we are also continuing to ensure that our school is well ventilated in line with COVID guidance. Time outdoors allows us to manage this.
Learning @ Trinity
As you know our values at Trinity are Creativity, Perseverance, Kindness and Respect. This term we are seeing what might be an effect of the last 18 months on some of our learners. In simple terms there is an increase in the number of children who do not respond positively to being asked not to do something (we are having to be firm in saying that no means no), we are seeing an increase in children who will argue back and who can come across as being quite rude as well as some of our learners being unable to see the other side of a situation and accept their part in it. These last months have been tough on everyone, not least our children, and I am confident that together we can work through this. Please do not think this is pertinent to everyone at school but as part of our learning about respect we will be focussing on these aspects and ensuring that we have high expectations regarding behaviour. We are very much in a partnership with parents and carers and value the support that you give us. It is always helpful if you can take a few moments to chat to your own child about how they behave and what you expect from them.
Respect and Kindness go a long way!
Office and staffing update
As you are aware Katie Berry, our front of office clerical assistant, has now started her career break. Interviews for her post will take place tomorrow. In the meantime we will be operating a ‘reduced office service’. Please bear with us. We have a rota of very competent P7 learners who will assist Mrs Boath first thing in the morning. It is extremely helpful if everyone comes to school at the correct time, using the correct gate and with everything that they need – thank you. Being late, even by a few minutes, is disruptive to learning for everyone.
The office will be closed from 1.00pm each day to allow Mrs Boath to undertake her own job.
The fact that school has operated fairly normally this term and nearly all our learners are settled and progressing well is testament to the commitment, flexibility and professionalism of all our Trinity community as we have not had our full staff complement in school since the INSET day of Aug 16th. We are ever hopeful that next term will be a lot more settled but continue to ask for your understanding with this.
Start and end times to the day
We are hoping to make adjustments to the start and end times of the school day in the not too distant future. Unfortunately we do not yet have a specific date for these changes to happen as we are awaiting updated guidance from the Scottish Government. To allow you to consider what impact the changes may have please see below for the proposed times :
There will be NO change for P1 and P2. 9.00am – 3.00pm (Mon – Thurs) and 9.00am – 12noon (Fri) This allows for 22.5hrs of teacher contact.
P3 – P7 : move to 8.45am – 3.10pm (Mon – Thurs) and 8.45am – 12noon (Fri). This allows for 25hrs of teacher contact.
These times have been agreed taking into account the consultation with parents, carers and staff (survey in June). Whilst there will still be a ‘gap of time’ between P1 and P2 and the rest of the school we have managed to reduce the gap to 15mins in the morning, to 10mins at the end of the day and to no gap on a Friday lunchtime.
Uniform sale and lost property
Weather permitting preloved uniform will be available at the back gate tomorrow morning (Thurs 7th Oct). Please do take a moment to have a look as there are so many items looking for a new home. We simply ask for a donation to be made to school funds. The amount of lost property in school is unbelievable. If items are named they will make their way back to their owners. With no name this is impossible to do so items are washed and placed in the preloved uniform boxes. There are nearly brand new cardigans, sweatshirts etc.
Halloween
Everyone is welcome to come dressed up for Halloween on Friday October 29th. This is always a particularly fun day for all our learners and there will be Halloween activities to enjoy. Please look out for information about a fundraising opportunity from our TPSA.
Friday October 15th – non uniform day
School closes for the October holiday at the usual time on Friday October 15th. As it is the last day of term it is a non uniform day if your child wishes to dress up or down. It will also be Mrs Martin’s last day at Trinity as she takes up the post of Acting HT at Blackhall. Having been a part of Trinity for 21 years we’re gearing up for a bit of an emotional goodbye!
Thank you for your continued support.
Kind regards
Jacqueline Scott
Trinity Primary School 