Burnbrae Primary School

You can download a PDF format to access links here or use the QR codes in the images below – September 23 Newsletter

You can download a PDF of the slides below to allow you to click the links or you can scan the QR codes from the slides –

Sending devices home

School transport arrangements
P1 and S1 pupils
Letters were sent in the post on 4 August confirming if your P1 or S1 child/young person qualifies for school transport and the arrangements. P1 and S1 pupils should take their letter to the school bus and show it to the driver on the first day of term. Their school will give them a bus pass in coming weeks. Indicative pick up times and the name of the bus company transporting your child will be available tomorrow (Tuesday) on the school’s website. if you were expecting a letter for your P1 or S1 child/young person and did not get one or you have misplaced your letter please email travelteam@midlothian.gov.uk.

P2-7 and S2-S6 pupils
Pupils in P2-7 and S2-S6 who previously qualified for school transport should go to the same stop and get on the same bus as per previous terms. Please use last year’s pass until a new one is issued. If you can’t find the pass, operators will still let your child/young person on the bus. Indicative pick up times and a reminder of the name of the bus company transporting your child/young person will be available tomorrow (Tuesday) on the school’s website.

Additional Support Needs pupils
The travel team is contacting parents and carers of children and young people with Additional Support Needs (ASN) directly about new arrangements. Otherwise the same arrangements will be in place as previous terms for returning ASN pupils.

Get in touch
If your child/young person has moved homes and their previous arrangements no longer suit please contact travelteam@midlothian.gov.uk who will be happy to help. Please also email the travel team with any other school transport queries.

Thank you to all the staff and children who contributed photos to make this slideshow possible.

A special thanks to P1 and The Wee Brae for providing the amazing backing tracks.

Thank you to Mr Carthy for all your support with our wonderful social enterprise. We are very proud of the learners and team involved.

Dear Parent/Carer 

We look forward to seeing you at the shared learning tomorrow. Please see the App for arrangements for your child’s class. 

The new developments on the school playground are nearing completion. It has been exciting to watch the progress and we are hoping that our community enjoys and looks after this new resource. It is a wonderful way to celebrate ten years of Burnbrae Primary. 

The bike pop up tent was a great success. They fixed 22 bikes and 2 scooters. 

Primary 7 pupils have completed their Bikeability Level 2.  

Children in P5 enjoyed their visit to the local building site learning about the job opportunities for the future as well as health and safety. 

P4 children are learning about the environment when they visit the Water of Leith Visitor Centre this week.  

Whole School Picnic

On Monday 26th June, we will have our whole school picnic. All children, including  Nursery, the CN and SCN provision will take part. Nursery and CN children will have their picnic in their own garden areas.

Children from P1 – 7 and CN  are encouraged to bring a blanket and a teddy from home to these events. Nursery children do not need to bring anything. 

The school kitchen will only serve cold lunches on this day. Letters will be sent home in advance to indicate whether you would like your child/ren to bring a packed lunch from home or to receive a lunch from school. 

Sports Days

All sports days within the mainstream school will take place on the fields behind the school, and will start at 13:30. Families are welcome to attend to watch each event.

• P5, P6 & P7 – Monday 5th June
• P3 & P4 (including P2/3) – Tuesday 6th June
• P1 & P2 – Thursday 8th June

The CN Provision Sports Day will take place on Friday 23rd June. Families are invited to join us on the sports field at 9:30am. Any children who usually attend their mainstream schools on a Friday are also welcome to join us. 

The SCN Provision will have a Sports Focused Day on the 7th June and then share videos and photos with parents and carers. 

Communication Survey Responses 

Thank you for your communication survey responses, we are in the process of collating  all the information from families and staff to review our procedures for August 2023.  Until this is completed we will continue to use the School App as our main source of communication for all Burnbrae Parents/Carers.

For  families using Seesaw in P1 – 3, some individual learners from P4 – 7 and the ELC,  Seesaw will only be used to share learning posts.  CN provision will continue to have news and events shared on Seesaw along with learning posts. Staff can post to Seesaw between the hours of 8:00am and 5:00pm Monday – Friday.  We encourage families to comment positively on  learning experiences shared and know children appreciate reading your comments. 

Communication  for appointments should be made through the office as is the normal procedure. Please continue to send direct messages to staff through email to Burnbrae.PS@midlothian.gov.uk  

Social Enterprise

Children taking part in Organic Planet have been invited to a special event in Glasgow on the 30 th May 1-3pm. The Big Issue magazine runs a special edition which features schools that are running social enterprises. Organic Planet  is being featured in the edition and consequently have been invited to the launch event.

Some children from Organic Planet will be invited to attend the  2023 Social Enterprise Academy Awards Ceremony at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh on Thursday 15th June 20221.30pm to celebrate the wonderful school based social enterprises created and led by young people from all across Scotland. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, Jenny Gilruth MSP is the VIP guest at the event this year.

Learning with and through Digital Technology

Children were invited to take part in interactive live lessons throughout the week beginning the 15th May.  Staff also had the opportunity to sign up for webinars to enhance their own knowledge of digital technology.

Further digital support for families can be found here – https://equipped.midlothian.education/devices/
http://burnbrae.mgfl.net/digital-technology/

Poltonhall Gala Day

This year our local Poltonhall Gala Day will take place on Sunday 4th June. We have two children representing our Primary school – 

• Alexander Sim
• Sophie Turnbull

And two representing our ELC  –

• Jonathan MacDonald – Oak Room
• Lyla Logan – Chestnut Room

As an ELC  we would like to support by taking part in a walking float. Children are invited to walk in the parade with their grown-ups and wear a colour from  the rainbow. We will meet at the bus terminus at Poltonhall at 11.30, the parade will leave at 12 noon and is likely to last around 30 minutes. We will walk as part of the parade down to the Rugby Field where you are then free to enjoy the gala day with your family. It would be lovely to see our ELC  families coming to support our nursery.

Danceathon

Thank you to all the parents/carers who donated and came along to support the P1-P4 Danceathon last Wednesday. Your very kind donations have raised over £5,000 for our school and we are still counting! We cannot thank you enough for your generosity. 

Transition 

Children in Burnbrae ELC have enjoyed walking to the main building to take part in weekly assemblies with P1 – 3 and visiting the P1 classroom. ELC children were delighted last week when all P1 children visited for a play together at the ELC climbing frame and outdoor spaces. Miss Johnstone has been visiting the ELC weekly to teach new songs and the children really enjoy her visits. Miss Mitchell visits the ELC regularly and is also visiting all our partnership settings to make sure we know  all children starting P1 at Burnbrae in August. 

CN/SCN

The CN Provision is looking forward to announcing its new name before the summer holidays. All parents, children and staff have been involved in the decision making process. We thank families for completing our questionnaire. We really appreciate your input and  feedback.

Our classes are continuing to enjoy learning experiences out with the classrooms. Our learners regularly  visit local facilities in our community, visiting Lasswade Library, Bright Sparks and Tesco regularly.

Some of our older learners had the opportunity to visit The Money Museum on the Mound. This was a very interesting experience which captured the interest of our learners. The staff at the Money Museum were full of praise for our learners.

We have been really busy at the SCN Provision getting ready for our transition to Hawthornden Primary School. We have visited our new school a few times now and we met some of our future classmates. 

Meanwhile, we are working with High schools to deliver an enhanced transition for all our P7 learners moving into this new chapter of their lives. To celebrate all the successes of our P7s this year we are going to have a P7 adventure week 19th -23rd June! 

Our weekly visits to Loanhead Library have been very successful and the SCN P5 learners have had the opportunity to go swimming on a Thursday, becoming more and more confident in water. We will organise an end of the year cafe soon, where parents and carers will be invited to celebrate this whole academic year! 

Just a gentle reminder to all parents and carers to provide children with a healthy snack and juice. We discourage children from  consuming sweeties, chocolate or fizzy juice during school hours. 

Parent Council 

There will be a Summer Fair run by our Parent Council on Saturday 24 June from 1-3pm

Parking 

Please can drivers park in the official car park opposite the school and refrain from using the staff car park. It is very congested at the beginning and end of the school day and children and adults using this area are at risk. Our priority is the safety of our children in the school community.

At Burnbrae Early all  official school transport (taxis and minibuses) drop pupils off in our delivery drop-off zone at the main Burnbrae Early door. As school transport use the delivery area, it is imperative that parents do not use this area for drop-off/parking.  Please park out of the school grounds if it is absolutely necessary to travel by car.  When parking, always do so with consideration for our neighbours and for pedestrians, thank you. 

Thank you for your continued support of the school.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Clarkson

Head Teacher

Important Dates – more dates to follow