MARCH 2011

With the snow finally gone, the great flood of 2011 over (for now anyway) and the frost still here, I have finally managed to sit down and write article number 4.  As usual it is my aim to provide the Crier reading public with an update of Parent Council activities, what and how the school is doing, details of any changes and information on how the community can get involved with the school so here goes:

First, a bit of an appeal: The Parent Council AGM will be held on 27th April 2011 to appoint the class representatives and Council members for the up coming year.  Last year, as mentioned in a bit of a rant in my last article, the turn out at the AGM was a little disappointing and I am hoping we can get some new blood on the Council this year.  If you are at all interested in being involved in the running of the school, the extension plans (more on that later), fundraising (more on that later), interaction with the new team (more on that later) and generally getting involved at any level please come along ,the more the merrier (there may even be cakes!).

Some sad news: After twenty years as Head Teacher at Abernethy Mrs Jack decided, for personal reasons to retire at Christmas. On behalf of the Parent Council, the parent body and the children I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for the unwavering service, support and enthusiasm she gave to the school throughout her time here and wish her all the best for whatever she decides to do in the future, she will be missed by all of us.

New Head Teacher: On 17th January our new Head Teacher started in her new role, her name is Paula Morrison, she was previously the Principal Teacher at Burrelton Primary and also completed three long stints as Head Teacher. I personally am very pleased to welcome Paula to Abernethy Primary School, I hope she will be very happy here and that we can work together to make Abernethy Primary School a great place to be and continue in its role as a hub in the Abernethy community.

In a previous article I mentioned that the school is trying to gain Green Flag Status. We have now succeeded and been presented with our “green flag”. Congratulations to the children, staff and parents who have worked very hard to get us there, I am told that of particular interest to the assessor was the attitude of the children throughout the school from nursery to P7, the Eco Day which was a joint initiative between the children and the Parent Council and the way that the environmental ethos was evident throughout the school and the wider community, again congratulations to all involved, now we just need a pole for our huge flag!

As mentioned previously, the Parent Council is involved in the plans for extending the school.  The current situation is that the working group which consists of members of the Council and the wider Abernethy Community, including little old me, has met on three occasions to discuss / review / comment on the Council’s architects’ plans and although there are still a number of hoops to jump through before they will be agreed and therefore made publicly available, things appear to be going well and if they go ahead the current proposals will provide Abernethy with a great school which will serve the community well for years to come.  The next meeting of the group will be on 26th January and by the time this edition of The Crier is published we may know a lot more. Again, I will try to keep the community up to speed via this column on how things are progressing but feel free to get in touch and I will tell you what I can.

Christmas Fayre:  As you will no doubt be aware the Parent Council were planning the school Christmas Fayre at the beginning of December, as you may remember it snowed a little at the beginning of December thus the Christmas Fayre did not take place.  With this in mind we are proposing to have another crack at it and are currently looking at summer dates, we will let you know once another date has been decided.  In the meantime, as we are gluttons for punishment, we are proposing to host a bingo tea at the school, at 18:30 on Friday the 25th March. All are welcome to attend and tickets will be on sale from the school by the time you read this article, we are proposing to have Bingo, tea, cakes and a raffle and hope that you will be able to support us and bring your dobber to what will no doubt be a wild evening!    

If you have read one of my articles before, you know that I feel it is imperative that the parents and community have a voice and are aware of events and issues at the local school.  With this in mind we are now posting the minutes of Parent Council meetings on the school notice board so please feel free to get in touch if you have any issues, questions or comments.

The best way to contact me is via email and I have provided my address below along with the names of the other members of the Parent Council.