August 2005
Dear Parent,
Welcome back to a New Year as a Hillhead Parent. There are a few pieces of
information, which I felt I should pass on to you.
STAFFING
Miss Caroline Oag was appointed as the nursery teacher between Hillhead
and Pulteneytown Academy. Miss Oag, who hails from the Wick area
previously taught in Aberdeenshire.
Another new appointment in the nursery is Miss Judith Mackenzie. She will
replace Mrs Audrey Mackay who has now left the nursery to pursue a
teaching qualification in Aberdeen. Miss Mackenzie is an ex pupil of
Hillhead who has recently completed her enhanced HNC in Child Care and
Education.
The Miss Donaldson of old is no more. At
the end of the summer holidays she was married and is now Mrs Begg. She
has moved up to team teach with Mrs Sinclair in Primary 6. Miss Gray has
moved down and is now the class teacher in Primary 1.
Ms Belford our Technology and RME teacher
will be absent for a number of weeks. Mrs Oag will cover classes during
this period
CAPTAINS and VICE CAPTAINS
Elections have taken place for the Captains and Vice Captains of each of
the house teams. The new list of office bearers reads.
Girnigoe Captain Naomi Sutherland
V. Captain Lynsey Sutherland
Shelligoe Captain Paul Cameron
V. Captain Emma Evans
Sandigoe Captain John Budge
V. Captain Chloe Graham
Whaligoe Captain Anna Falconer
V. Captain Kayleigh Huggins
ABSENCE FROM SCHOOL
Following the tragic events in West Lothian, parents are now asked to
notify the school if their child is to be absent that day. A number of
parents already follow this practice and it removes the obligation of
later writing a note to explain an absence.
HOOP EARRINGS
I have spotted a number of pupils wearing hoop earrings in school. These
are not allowed as there is the possibility that something can get caught
in such an earring and cause serious damage to the ear. Parents are
reminded that earrings of any type do pose an additional danger in gym
classes.
WINDOWS
At last the school windows are to be replaced. This will make a huge
difference to the external appearance of the school. Work will commence in
the week beginning September 12th. This will require us to decant classes
in to the library area whilst work is going on in their classroom. Almost
every window and door in the school is to be replaced so at some point
every class will be moved. Work will begin on the primary 4 classroom and
proceed on the basis of one class per week.
READING RECORDS
Many of you will have seen the new HOME �SCHOOL books which the school has
produced. These include important information about the school holiday
dates, emergency telephone system operated by Highland Council as well as
an abbreviated copy of the Homework policy. The Primary 4 � 7 also sets
out a strategy to assist children with learning spelling. We hope this new
link with home offers more to parents. This is in line with our school aim
of �fostering positive home/school links�.
AIMS SHEET
Pupils in the upper school have been busy identifying personal aims for
this term. The school thinks it is important that parents are also aware
of these aims and a sheet has been devised which asks for a parent�s
signature under the child�s aim. Please remind and encourage your child of
the aims they have made. They will be reviewed at the end of term.
In addition the school is keen to produce a single statement, which sums
up its aims. I will circulate a note on this issue shortly, asking parents
for their views.
ART PROJECT
The Primary 7 class is set to work with artist Liz O� Donnell over the
next five Thursday mornings. This will involve them coming up with designs
for metal gates for the cellars in the harbour wall, They will commence
their work by visiting the harbour area and possibly seeing a
demonstration of hot metal working carried out by local blacksmith Mr
Sinclair.
The Primary 7 class will also be visiting
the Safe Highlander Exhibition at Dounreay on Wednesday 7th September.
This allows the pupils to learn about personal and road safety in a
variety of �real life� settings.
ZOO LAB
Pupils in Primary 1 to 6 will have a visit by the Zoo Lab on Friday 9th
September. Classes will view a variety of living creatures and be able to
observe them at close hand.
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SWEATSHIRTS and
PRINTER INK
The school now has a number of second hand sweatshirts in a variety of
sizes. These can be purchased for a bargain price of �1.50 each. Please
see Mrs Elder in the office.
Printer ink is expensive and the school has recently purchased supplies
through Ink and Stuff based in Dornoch. A flyer is attached for this
company. We have found their prices very competitive.
TRIATHLON
Selected pupils from Primary 5 and primary 7 will participate in a
children�s Triathlon on Sunday 11th September.
WEDDINGS
Mr and Mrs Robert Begg (nee Miss Donaldson of
Primary 1) pictured at their wedding in Skye during the summer.
Another member of the
Hillhead community who was involved in a wedding over the summer was
Primary 4 pupil Chloe Sinclair. On the 5th of August Chloe was a
bridesmaid at her auntie Lorraine�s wedding at Dunbeath Castle. Chloe said
�it was like a fairytale wedding�. Chloe had double reason to be happy. At
midnight Aunty Lorraine surprised her with a birthday cake and all the
guests sang �Happy Birthday.�
FRIENDSHIP BUS
Monday September 5th is designated as Friendship Day at Hillhead. We are
fortunate in that we are the first school in the United Kingdom, which
will be visited by the �Friendship Bus� which commences a 10-month tour of
the United Kingdom. This bus actually takes on the appearance of a ship
and will be parked in the school car park all day on Monday September 5th.
The school buses will drop children off at the school close to the front
steps. They will not use the normal bus parking area. As always parents
are requested not to park cars or manoeuvre cars in this turning area.
During Friendship Day,
two visiting artists (theatre) will work with the entire Primary 6 class
to produce a short version of the play Mac Beth. This will be performed to
the school late on Monday.
Only 90 pupils can
visit the bus and this will be restricted to Primary 4, 5 and 7. Each
visit lasts around 20-25 minutes. The organisers have given no further
information about what happens on the friend ship bus as they wish it to
remain a surprise.
Each of the ten
cities, which hoped to win the 2008 City of Culture Award, has produced a
treasure chest of activities, which is designed to look at the themes of
friendship. Each class in the school will explore the contents of two of
these boxes during the day. School chef Andy Green will also be producing
some biscuits with a special friendship theme.
In addition the
Hillhead corridor competition, in which the winning pictures from each
class are hung up in the entrance area is based around the theme of
friendship. Each individual in the school has also coloured in a paper
chain figure to produce a wall of friendship in the dining room area.
The winning corridor
competition pictures from each class were -
Primary 1 Shaun Robertson, Keavy Taylor, Danielle Ross, Declan Gunn
Primary 2 Greg Morgan
Primary 3 Lianna Fraser
Primary 4 Erin MacDonald
Primary 5 Imran Amin
Primary 6 Kimberly Lewis
Primary 7 Each pupil contributed to an overall friendship quilt.
BIRTHS/NEWSPAPER
CUTTINGS
Please do tell us about any births or marriages within the school
community. We would also like any newspaper cuttings in which your child
features or any other achievement they have made outwith school. These are
important elements of our Pupil noticeboard.
OPEN AFTERNOON
An open afternoon will be held for parents and other family members on
Monday 3rd October. Further details will follow.
Finally I hope your child has settled well in to their new class. Should
there be any difficulties or concerns which you may have, please get in
touch with the school.
Yours faithfully
A Budge
Headteacher
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