School Newsletter - Danestone Primary School

School Newsletter
Volume 10 Issue 5
The Chinese symbol for monkey
Chinese New Year, also known as
the Spring Festival, follows the
lunisolar Chinese calendar, which
means the date changes from
year to year.
The festivities usually start the day
before the New Year and
January 2016
continue until the Lantern Festival,
on the 15th day of the New Year.
Each Chinese New Year is
characterised by one of 12 animals
which appear in the Chinese
zodiac. The Chinese zodiac is
divided into 12 blocks (or houses)
just like its western counterpart,
but with the major difference
being that each house has a
time-length of one year instead of
one month.
This year it's the Year of the
Monkey, the ninth animal in the
cycle. People born in the Year of
the Monkey are characterised as
quick-witted, curious, innovative
and mischievous. The next Year of
the Monkey will be in 2028.
What is lucky for the Monkey?
Lucky numbers: 1, 7, 8
Lucky colours: white, gold, blue
Lucky flowers: chrysanthemum,
alliums
Lucky directions: north, northwest,
west
Your sign is derived from the year
you were born in the Chinese
lunar calendar.
Rat:
2008, 1996, 1984, 1972, 1960
Ox:
Our annual Burns Shield
competition has taken
place over the first few
weeks of term. Children
rehearsed Burns or
Scottish poems at home
and recited these to their
classes. Following a vote,
each
class
was
represented by one or
The 2016
more acts at our Burns
Burns Shield
Assembly on Monday 25th
Winners and
January. The standard and variety of performances
runners up
was once again excellent making the voting
process very difficult for both staff and pupils.
On Tuesday 26th January, our winners were announced and prizes,
certificates and the Burns Shield presented. The winners were;
1st Place: Louis Robertson & Callum Watt (P7B) – Auld Lang Syne
2nd Place: Neave Cooper & Nell Leguy (P6) – Celebration of the Doric
3rd Place: Charlie Milne (P1P) – Grunny’s Flea
Special Staff Winner: Sophia Law (P7M) – Nothin’ in my Hand
Headteacher - George Roberts
The successful finalists were:
Iona Davies
Charlie Milne
Daniel Christie
Leo Grilli
Jack Anderson
Grace Law
Emma Duncan
Tom Carson
Hayley Milne
Jonathan Pan
Keison Howie
Neave Cooper
Nell Leguy
Finlay Wharry
Adam Masson
Alex Kelman
Sophia Law
Louis Robertson
Callum Watt
2009, 1997, 1985, 1973, 1961
Tiger:
2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962
Rabbit:
2011, 1999, 1987, 1975, 1963
Dragon:
2012, 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964
Snake:
2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965
Horse:
2014, 2002, 1990, 1978, 1966
Goat:
2015, 2003, 1991, 1979, 1967
Monkey:
2016, 2004, 1992, 1980, 1968
Rooster:
2017, 2005, 1993, 1981, 1969
Dog:
2018, 2006, 1994, 1982, 1970
Pig:
2019, 2007, 1995, 1983, 1971
School News Letter
Action research is simply a
method of school improvement.
Individuals or small groups of
teachers look at a problem or an
area of sc ho ol l ife and
systematically work to make the
required improvement. They will
analyse the situation, reflect on
relevant educational research and
then plan and implement an
intervention which they feel will
make the necessary improvement.
To evaluate the impact of any
planned improvement the teacher
will collect & examine evidence in
the form of qualitative and
quantitative data. Their findings
will then be written up into a short
report and made available across
the school team to enable whole
school improvements from
individuals work.
As part of this year’s school
Chinese
Calligraphy
On the 30th of September 2015 the ace committee had a meeting.
During that meeting they agreed on making a playground charter.
There is a simplified version for P1-3 and a more complicated version
for P4-7. The playground charter has all the rules you need to follow
in the playground and all the rights of a child such as the right to play
and the right to be safe. The ACE committee revealed the charter to
the school at an assembly last week. We hope you remember the
playground charter when you’re outside at playtime.
P7’s Rebecca and Katie
For the month of February Primary
7 will be taking part in an
Enterprise project to make as much
money as possible from £1. There
will be two groups involved with
the task: the community group and
the school group. We will be
doing lots of different money making tasks and by running events
we will be learning many different business in Africa. We hope you
life long skills. All the money goes can come to some events we’re
to people who need to start up a holding.
Headteacher - George Roberts
As part of our Mandarin
curriculum all the Oldmachar
ASG schools are supported by
the University of Aberdeen
Confucius Institute to develop
Mandarin writing skills. For our
schools to fulfil the requirements
of the 1+2 language learning
strategy our pupils must be able
to write as well as talk and read
Mandarin. This is very important
for those pupils who continue
their Mandarin studies onto
qualification levels. To support us
develop the appropriate skills we
have a day a week where a
calligraphy (Chinese writing)
teacher works with our P3-7
classes.
Our class teachers are also
students in the classes and are
learning with the pupils. They
then take this learning back to
their own class and practise their
skills before their next lesson.
You could ask your child to show
you what characters they know. I
think you will be surprised by
their skills!
improvement work all our
teachers are involved in a variety
of action research projects. Each
intervention is planned as a
hypothesis or question which
through research can be
answered. An example of this
being ‘will a focused effort to
improve children’s self-esteem,
develop their’ resilience?’
Action research is a very valuable
tool to aid school improvement
and to ensure we are providing
the very best learning
opportunities for our pupils.
Notices
Tuesday 2 February
Parents Evening
~~~
Wednesday 3 February
Parents Evening
~~~
Monday 15 February
LOCAL HOLIDAY
SCHOOL CLOSED
~~~
Tuesday 16 February
In-Service Day
SCHOOL CLOSED
TO PUPILS
~~~
Wed17 February
In-Service Day
SCHOOL CLOSED
TO PUPILS
~~~
Thursday 18 February
Parents Event with
Chris Ward
Educational Consultant
~~~
School News Letter
Children and Young
People’s Career Education
Standard Entitlements
The HSK is an international
standardised exam that tests and
r at e s C h i n e s e l a n g u a g e
proficiency. It assesses non-native
Chinese speakers’ abilities in
using the Chinese language in
their daily, academic and
professional lives.
HSK consists of six levels, To
attain HSK level 6 a learner needs
to know 5000+ Chinese
characters which would be
more than an average native
speaking Chinese person would
know.
In November 2015 Miss Petrie &
Mrs Mungavin both sat the HSK
level 1 exam at Aberdeen
University. Their results arrived
from Beijing in January and
along with Miss MacDonald
from St Peters RC School, they
are the very first primary teachers
in Aberdeen to gain Mandarin
qualifications.
We are very
proud of their achievements and
their continued studies. Both
teachers spent two weeks of
their last summer holidays at a
university in Beijing studying.
We are hoping to secure two
more places for this summer to
enable another two of our
teachers to visit Beijing and study
Mandarin.
Child
Protection
Our role in school is about
ensuring that all our pupils are
healthy, well cared for and able
to learn.
If you have any concerns about
the care or welfare of a child you
can talk to Mr Roberts, who is our
Child Protection Manager or
contact Aberdeen City’s Child
Protection Unit on
01224 306877.
Parents, employers, teachers,
education partners and Skills
Development Scotland are working
together to ensure that the ten new
Curriculum for Excellence Career
Education Standard entitlements
are delivered over the course of
children’s educational careers. All
of Scotland’s children and young
people will be able to say:
I experience a curriculum through
which I learn about the world of
work and job possibilities and
which makes clear the strengths
and skills needed to take
advantage of these opportunities
I am developing skills for learning,
life and work as an integral part
of my education and I am clear
about how all my achievements
relate to these
I have opportunities to engage in
profiling that supports my
learning and the development of
skills for work and future career
choices
I am developing an understanding
of the responsibilities and duties
placed on employers and
employees
I enjoy a learning environment that
recognises and promotes diversity
and supports me to understand
that it is everyone’s responsibility
to challenge discrimination SDS
I am developing an understanding
of enterprise, entrepreneurship
and self-employment as a career
opportunity
I know where to find information
and access support making
effective use of online sources
such as My World of Work
I am developing careers
management skills (CMS) as an
integral part of my curriculum
I am further developing career
management skills through the
involvement of Skills
Development Scotland (SDS)
careers advisers in group and
individual sessions as appropriate
to my personal circumstances
and needs
I have access to a broad range of
pathways through my Senior
Phase (S4 onwards) including
learning opportunities leading to
work-related qualifications
Headteacher - George Roberts
By Lewis P7M and Jonathan P5B
Before Christmas, the internet
safety committee held a
competition to decide what their
new name and mascot would be.
Most classes participated and
what a lot of entries we received!
After carefully looking through
them all there were loads we
loved but sadly we couldn’t pick
them all.
The committee voted and we
selected a new name, mascot
and a committee rhyme!
New Committee Name
www.safetyheroes
by Pia Anderson P3P
New Mascot
Cyber Officer
by Finlay Wharry P6P
New Rhyme – Robot Danestone
by Ciaran Cadger P3P
Robot Danestone says his
are great,
They learn at an astonishing rate.
But be careful what you
do online,
And think safety first every time!
Please can I ask for your assistance
in ensuring that all of our pupils
have appropriate indoor shoes
and a shoe bag to store them in.
I am aware of a number of
children not wearing indoor
shoes. When asked they are
saying they do not have either a
shoe bag or indoor shoes. My
suspicion is they are not
bothering to put them on.
Some are wearing outdoor shoes
that are making our carpets dirty.
Some are also marking our hall
and corridor floors which is taking
the cleaner hours to clean off.
Others are not wearing shoes at
all which is a concern if we need
to evacuate our building.
If you are purchasing new indoor
shoes for your children please do
not buy shoes with black soles as
they are marking our floors.
Once parents have had the
opportunity to reinforce the need
to wear indoor shoes and have
checked their children have the
appropriate shoes at school, I will
be taking golden time off pupils
who I find not to be wearing
indoor shoes or not putting them
away in their shoe bag at breaks
and at the end of the day.
P5 Space
Link Up
with
Middleton
Park
By Jack, Simon and Zac.
January 2016
Kildrummy Castle 877 Points
Fyvie Castle 872 Points
Dunnottar Castle 864 Points
Drum Castle 825 Points
Castle Fraser 768 Points
Crathes Castle 718 Points
P5 have been learning about
space with Middleton Park
through TePL. During our first link
up Middleton Park introduced us
to Henry the alien who had
crashed down on earth. They
explained their project and what
they wanted us to do. In our
second link up. We had been
sent tasks to complete. We had to
find items on a map using clues,
and then work out what the item
were. We really enjoyed this!
Then in class we had to create an
eco-friendly vehicle to take our
object back to Middleton Park. In
our last link up we shared our
vehicle designs and got to see
theirs. We really enjoyed the link
ups with Middleton Park.
School News Letter
There has been a lot of excitement
in Nursery. There is a strange
structure growing in the home
corner! Could it really be an igloo?
It looks like an igloo………watch this
space! (thank you to Mrs
McDonald, she has been coming in
after Nursery to work on the igloo,
she is a star!)
We have been experimenting with
water and ice. Our water tray has
had icebergs in it, the penguins
have enjoyed skating down the icy
slopes. We also filled some clear
rubber gloves with water and
sparkly bits, we put them in the
freezer and WOW! Frozen hands!
(one child was overheard saying,
‘that was just amazing’)
In the afternoon Nursery we
welcome our five new children,
who came just after Christmas.
They are settling in really well.
HAPPY DAYS IN NURSERY!
Two hours that could
revolutionise your
understanding of how
your child learns
Co-operative
Learning
Everything Parents
Need to Know
6:00-8:00pm
By Molly O’Connell and Rohan Towler
On Friday and Saturday the 15
and 16 of January class act drama
(run by Julie O’Connell) did a
musical theatre showcase at the
art centre theatre called ‘Reach for
the Stars’. We performed lots of
songs from a range of different
musicals and every one really
enjoyed it. Many children from
Danestone were in the show and
they all performed very well!!
English Lessons for Adults
There are many opportunities for adults for whom English is not their
home language. ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Language)
courses are available from a number of organisations in Aberdeen. If
you are interested in finding out more please contact them directly or
ask at school and we will help you find the right course for you.
ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL ADULT LEARNING COURSES
Email: Lifelonglearning@aberdeencity.gov.uk
Tel: 01224 346446
NORTH-EAST SCOTLAND COLLEGE
Information about ESOL at North-East Scotland College
Information & Booking Centre: Tel 01224 612330
Email: enquiry@nescol.ac.uk
SUNNYBANK COMMUNITY CENTRE
Email: sunnybankcommunity@gmail.com
Tel: Wilma on 01224 261727
Facebook: Sunnybank.Community.Centre
INTERNATIONAL HOUSE
Website: http://www.ihaberdeen.com/
Email: info@ihaberdeen.com
Tel: 01224 634006
Headteacher - George Roberts
Thursday 18th
February 2016
Delivered by
Chris
Ward
Global Educational
Consultant
Danestone
Staffing
We are delighted to welcome
back Mrs Kerr after her maternity
leave. Mrs Kerr works on Tuesdays
and Wednesdays and is currently
teaching in P4 for a morning and
in P1P for the rest of the time. Mrs
Kerr’s knowledge and expertise is
a very welcome addition to the
team.
With Mrs Kerr’s return we are fully
staffed which is wonderful as
almost every school in Aberdeen
has some sort of vacancy due to
the severe shortage of teachers in
the North East of Scotland.
Raising Attainment In Reading
Mrs Toet attended a literacy
co-ordinators meeting. She
shared information regarding
significant aspects of learning with
all staff.
New reading books were
purchased to ensure we have a
progressive set of reading
materials
Encouraging a wider range of
pedagogical classroom practice
Mrs Toet & Miss Blair lead the first
of 6 whole staff training session
designed to support teachers to
embed co-operative learning
pedagogy into their teaching.
Health & Wellbeing Curriculum
Improvement - Physical Wellbeing
Mr Gary Giles & Ms Trish
MacQueen (Aberdeen City PE
curriculum support officers) met
for 1:1 mentoring meetings with
all our teachers to support them in
their teaching of high quality PE.
Health & Wellbeing Curriculum
Improvement - Online Safety
The newly formed
www.safetyhearos school
committee presented at a school
assembly. They are tasked with
developing an internet safety
curriculum for our pupils, parents
and community.
Health & Wellbeing Curriculum
Improvement - Holistic Planning to
Support our Most Vulnerable
Pupils
No update this month
1+2 Language Learning: Chinese
Language & Culture
A new beginners Mandarin staff
evening class began this month.
This is hosted at Danestone but is
open to all Aberdeen City
teachers.
Technology Enhanced
Professional Learning (TePL)
Project Teacher Action Research
All teachers were implementing
their action research interventions
before analysing their results and
beginning to write up their
summary reports.
Danestone Primary School
Fairview Brae
Danestone
Tel: 01224 825062
Fax: 01224 707796
School News Letter