Burnbrae Primary School

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

We welcomed visitors from Education Scotland to our school from 31 January to 3 February this year. They have written a letter to parents and carers of children at Burnbrae which you can read using the link below. 

https://education.gov.scot/education-scotland/inspection-reports/reports-page/?id=1822

Please find below a link to the current Burnbrae Primary Travel Plan –

Burnbrae Travel Plan 2023 

Midlothian Children’s Services, TATC (Team Around the Child Meetings)  Download as PDF – TATC Family Leaflet 2023

Burnbrae Primary School         
144 Burnbrae Road
Bonnyrigg
EH19 3GB

Burnbrae Early and Complex Needs – Hopefield Joint Campus
Rosewell Road
Bonnyrigg
EH19 3HL

https://burnbrae.mgfl.net/
Burnbrae Primary (@BurnbraePS) / Twitter

Play, Grow and Learn Together       Kindness, Respect and Curiosity

Dear Parent/Carer 

Important update

I am delighted to let you know that Burnbrae Early will now be open to all ELC children on Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 1 March 2023 for the usual opening hours. There will be a member of SLT in the building as well as the usual ELC staff. The school and provisions remain closed to pupils due to strike action. 

Pupil Progress Meetings

Pupil Progress Meetings will take place on 21 and 23 March for children in P1-7 at Burnbrae. SCN and CN provisions will discuss children’s progress at Child Planning Meetings or IEP meetings for each child at a time arranged to include families, partners and base school staff where appropriate. The ELC staff will arrange times to discuss the progress of their child directly with parents. Lost property will be displayed at Pupil Progress Meetings.

Thank you to parents who attended the sessions yesterday on the relaunch of Home learning. Your feedback was appreciated and the digital leaders presented well. The new home learning will start on Monday 27 February.  Further information can be found on the Home learning page on our website – https://edublog.mgfl.net/burnbraeps/learning-from-home/

World Book Day – Thursday 2 March 

Children will be engaged in live author events for World Book Day and other activities to encourage the reading culture in the school. 

Learning with and Through Digital Technology 

Pupil Digital Leaders have created a guide to support you to use Google Classroom from home, this is  available on our digital technology page on the school website. You will also find a ‘TAG’ guide to support you with questions and responses to posts on Seesaw. 

https://burnbrae.mgfl.net/digital-technology/

Parent/Carer Handbook

Please use the following link to access our Parent/Carer handbook – http://burnbrae.mgfl.net/our-handbook/

Thank You 

Thank you to all Parents/Carers who have recently visited our school to join us for shared learning, volunteer on outings, take part in an assembly or to support us in other ways.

If you would like to offer feedback on the time you have spent in either of our buildings please use the QR code attached. This code will remain open until the end of June and can be used time and time again.

Recent feedback from Parents/Carers – 

• I was provided with lots of positive feedback regarding my sons progress & how he interacts with others in the nursery

• The P7 cohort delivered a great quiz night. Confident and clear presentations. Evidence of lots of planning and preparation ahead of the quiz, with good team work and collaboration. A huge thanks to teaching/support team who volunteered and made the night such a success!

• To have school nursing service offering health and well-being support to the pupils of burnbrae primary and nursery. We were welcomed in and supported with concerns. The school, as always work well with us to have well-being concerns managed in a timely and safe manor. I hope the partnership of health and education long continues.

• It was great to have the opportunity to get back into the class and see what the children are learning.

• Thanks to the kitchen staff the meal was really good. I wasn’t sure how I felt about eating haggis at 11am, but it was lovely and spicy, delicious! The children also did an excellent job of hosting and checking our drinks and needs were being met. Every child who attended our table were pleasant, well mannered and polite which was lovely to see, well done everyone!

• The welcome from the students. Clear explanation of the digital learning process

• Well presented by all. Thank you for the update, will help us keep on top of home learning. The kids guide to Google classroom was very well done 

• Helped to understand what children are expected to do at home. I especially loved that children were involved in this session. 

Parent Council 

The Parent Council are organising a Fundraising Event for Families to celebrate Easter and spring. They plan to have activities in the PE Hall after school on Thursday 30 March. More information will follow. 

Staffing Update

Mrs Briggs has been successful in her application to St Andrew’s Primary. She has looked for an opportunity to work in the denominational sector and we offer her congratulations and well as thanking her for her significant contribution to the wider life of the school. Her last day will be Friday 10 March.  Miss Gillian Duncan will teach the class after that until the recruitment process is completed. 

Parking

Please prioritise children’s safety over convenience at drop off and pick up times. Park in the car park opposite the school and walk to collect your child or park a distance from the school to ensure the area is not congested. Do not use the staff car park for pick up and drop off.

Parking at Burnbrae Early and Complex Needs Shared Campus 

All official school transport (taxi’s and mini-buses) 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. 

Remember parking is readily available at the pavilion car park (by the rugby club) with a School Crossing Guide sited on Rosewell Road to get them across to the school side if you/your child are able to walk from there. 

Primary 1 Outdoor Space

As spring approaches, Primary 1 will be planting in our outdoor space.  If you have any unwanted plant pots, seeds, soil or gardening tools please drop them off to the office.  Many thanks.  

CN

The next shared learning event in CN will take place on Wednesday 8th March at 2:15pm – 3:00pm. This is an opportunity to play and learn alongside your child in their classroom. Mrs Hames will also offer information and support with Seesaw.

SCN

We are delighted to welcome our new learning assistant Lisa Reid, who is starting on Monday 27th February. 

Our P5-7 learners have started working on their JAZZ awards. The children have chosen to get active by jogging/ fitness classes, helping their community by doing litter picking, fundraising and gardening and choosing an adventure for later in the term. Follow up for details on SeeSaw!

Thank you for your continued support of the school.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Clarkson

Head Teacher

Important Dates – more dates to follow

We are in the process of updating our school website. So far we have completed the following:

• Added a new banner
• Added a ‘Latest News’ section to the top menu bar, clicking on ‘Latest News’ will help you to quickly find new posts
• Removed some of the old content
• Updated the welcome page and made this the static/home page