School Newsletter

March 2019

Head Teacher - Elaine Page School News Letter

On Friday the 15th March, a group of pupils attended the Scottish Country Dancing Festival at the Beach Ballroom. The pupils who took part in the festival have been practising very hard with Mrs Nicolson over the last month and were all very excited about this festival. The over 10’s boys and girls won two sections dancing ‘Ladies Fancy’ and ‘Summer on the Beach’. The under 10’s boys and girls won one dance for the Charlestown Chaser. The other three teams did exceptionally well and came second in three dances. We are very proud of all our dancers who all performed so well on the day. We would like to thank all the parents for taking their children along on the day, it was a very long day, but all the pupils behaved wonderfully. We would also like to thank the Parent Council for supporting the school in this event and paying for the registration for this festival. Special mention goes to Caroline Milne for making the cumberbunds and hair bobbles with Tartan donated by our Parent Council member Kevin Ritchie. Finally, we would all like to thank Mrs Nicolson for giving up so much of her own time, coming into school on a weekly basis from October. She initially worked with all P4-7 class, before choosing the teams to compete in the festival. All the P4-7 pupils have learned so much from Mrs Nicolson and we are so lucky to have her working in our school.

SCOTTISH COUNTRY DANCING

March has been a very busy month at Danestone with lots of competitions, events and trips. This meant that we had so much fantastic news to share, we decided to put together a mini newsletter just to share our adventures in March. We hope you enjoy reading about everything we have been doing. We hope you all have a wonderful Easter holiday and we look forward to seeing the pupils back on Monday 15th April .

EDINBURGH ZOO

Even though it was a very early start, P5 were full of excitement as we headed down to Edinburgh and our trip to the Zoo. After an hour on the bus we had a comfort stop at Camperdown Park and enjoyed playing and eating our snack in the sunshine.

Upon arrival at the zoo we headed straight to the Education Centre where we had a 45 minute session with Wang Hu from the Confucius Institute. He told us all about his home town in China and then the words for animals such as panda and tiger in Mandarin. He was very impressed by the children’s confidence when speaking the language. We were able to eat our lunch outside whilst watching and listening to the penguins as their enclosure was situated next to the Education Centre. Lunch was very quick as we were all desperate to explore the zoo. Here are some photos of our day and the animals we saw. The baby Gelada Baboons were so funny and we watched them for a long time. It was a great day and the children were outstanding ambassadors for our school!

On Friday 15th March, a group of 4 Primary 6 pupils went to Woodside Primary School to participate in an event called the Euro Quiz. Sixteen different schools from across Aberdeen met up at Woodside for the competition and it was a wonderful opportunity for our Primary 6 pupils to take part in this City Wide event.

There was a total of four rounds, Languages, General knowledge, Geography & understanding Europe. The pupils reported that these rounds were very tricky. Luckily the pupils had been practising with Mrs Duncan and were well prepared. It was a tense contest and the pupils from Danestone did very well and came 8th out of the 16 schools there! Although they didn’t win, they were glad they had taken part and felt they learned a lot in the run up to the competition as well as during the competition. Well done to our competitors, we are very proud of you for taking part.

EURO QUIZ 2019

ROAD SAFETY COMPETITION

As you will be aware, we held a Road Safety poster competition this term to encourage people to park and drive safely around the school. The pupils came up with a range of exciting posters and last week the judging began. The Parent Council and the Castle Captains got together to vote for their favourite posters. It was a really difficult decision to make but eventually they came up with our winners. We have three runners up – Etienne, Wiktoria and Iona. Well done to all three of you for your amazing designs.

In third place we have Amelia and in joint second place we have Yasmine and Maisey. Well done to you all for your fantastic posters.

The overall winner was Imogen with her poster encouraging everyone to slow down. We look forward to seeing these posters outside our school very soon.

Members of our Eco Group join Aberdeen City Clean Up

Launch Of Clean Up Aberdeen 2019

Last Thursday ,21st March, Indy Stevenson p3 and Jak Fleming p4/5 went to the Beach Ballroom to attend the launch of Clean Up Aberdeen 2019. On arrival they got delicious pancakes and juice. There were children there from Kittybrewster, Brimmond and Cornhill primary schools to name just a few. We all got a lovely welcome from Kittybrewster, as they were hosting the event. Josie and Sophia were the two pupils who hosted the event and they did a fantastic job. The panel of four who are the decision makers for the city of Aberdeen City Council included. Councillor Jenny Laing, Craig Walker, Editor Evening Express, Adrian Watson , Chief Executive Officer, Aberdeen Inspired and David Selkirk, Director of Community Leisure Operations Sport Aberdeen City Council. We had a big discussion in the morning, about how we can all take responsibility and deal with the litter/waste

challenges that we face not only in our city but world-wide.

By Jak, Indy and Mrs Alexander

For the Primary 7 transition project we have been creating music based on three main ingredients for a music recipe; pulse, beat and rhythm. Over the course of seven weeks, we have been working on those main points to create our music based on an old chinese folktale called Tiger & the Fox. The type of rhyme we created is called a Haiku which is a Japanese style of poem. We used the three main parts of Tiger & the Fox for inspiration. Lesson 1 We were introduced to Shannon, who spoke about the ingredients for music, we sang a song that told us about beat and rhythm, then we were told about what we were doing over the course of seven weeks. Lesson 2 We played a game that taught us about pulse, one of the three main ingredients, then we kept on adding different rhythms at the end or the middle of the pattern of music. Lesson 3 We were told all about the Tiger and the Fox and were given the idea of what we were doing with the Japanese Haiku then we read the story and were split into six groups and those groups were put into either, beginning, middle or end. Lesson 4 We learned all about figure notes, which are lengths of beats. A haiku can have a maximum of five or seven words and four figure notes in each box. We all kept practising, because the next week we were going to be using them in a different way. Lesson 5 Shannon wasn’t there to be our accomplice, so we put the story The Tiger & the Fox into our own words (there could only be five or seven) in a box. Then we added figure notes which could be; one-half, one or two and a maximum of four in total (in a box). Lesson 6 During the sixth lesson we asked to bring in instruments that we had in our homes that we could use during the filming. Then Shannon filmed us singing our songs that we made in our groups, and edited them into a video. Lesson 7 Then Shannon finished editing the video and then we watched it in an (almost) whole-school assembly and then to a few parents that came in to watch it. We also went on a trip to Aberdeen University where we got to watch the finished videos from Middleton Park P7s and Forehill P7s, we enjoyed watching their bloopers!

Primary 7 Music Transition Project

Oor Wullie Trail We are delighted to announce that Danestone Primary are taking part in the Oor Wullie Bucket trail. Oor Wullie’s BIG Bucket Trail runs for 11 weeks from 17th June 2019 – 30th August 2019, culminating in a series of Farewell Events and nationwide auctions in each of the five host cities, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness.

Scotland’s first ever national public art trail will unite the country as it raises awareness and vital funds for Scotland’s children’s hospital charities.

The pupils at Danestone will be working together to design their sculpture before it is put on display in Aberdeen City. The pupils started their design ideas this week and are looking forward to choosing their favourite design and starting working together to create an amazing sculpture to represent Danestone Primary School. Follow our journey on Twiiter. @OWBIGBucket #DanestoneBIGBucketTrail

The Oor Wullie Trail has been organised to raise fund for Children’s hospitals across Scotland. All money raised in Aberdeen, will be given to The Archie Foundation. As part of this art project, we will also be holding some fundraising events for the Archie Foundation. Look out for more details about our plans after the Easter holidays.

Find out more about this exciting project here;

https://www.oorwullie.com

Our Oor Wullie sculpture was donated to us by the International School of Aberdeen. The International school are also taking part in the Sculpture trail, so we are looking forward to strengthening links and sharing our designs with their pupils. Some of our pupils have been working on our designs with Miss Willett and we are very excited to see what they have chosen for our design. Look out for more updates after the holidays.

@OWBIGBucket

#DanestoneBIGBucketTrail

Free School Meals Recently we have had a few parents asking about Free School Meals. It is easy to apply if you are in receipt of any of the benefits listed below. Pupils who receive free school meals use the same cards as everyone else in school, so no one knows that they are receiving this benefit. If you have any questions about Free School Meals, please come into the office and speak to Mrs Stephen, who will be happy to help.

https://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/education-and-childcare/school-life/apply-free-school-meals

In order to prepare all our pupils with the skills needed for lifelong learning and work, we hosted a World of Work Week across the school. During the week children had the opportunity to develop their understanding of various careers that will be available to them. Pupils were able to ask questions about skills needed in a variety of professions and how they link to the skills taught in school. Volunteers from a variety of professions visited us at school to share with our pupils their roles and responsibilities, daily routines, expectations and skills needed in their jobs. We were lucky enough to have visitors from the Fire Brigade, Bridge Vets, Scottish Ambulance Service, Active Schools, SSE, Party Box Aberdeen, a Nuclear Medicine Technologist, a Senior Staff Nurse, an Accountant and even a Police Officer. Children were able to try on uniforms, look at x-rays, read through tax rules books, listen to tips about becoming a vet, fire safety, who to call in an emergency, how to give CPR and even how to start their own business! As part of the week, pupils were asked to complete a homework task. Primary 1 to 3 were asked to think about what they wanted to be when they grow up. Primary 4 to 7 were asked to share what their ideal job is. The pupils really enjoyed sharing their aspirations and dreams in their classes and it was great to see such a variety of careers that our pupils are aspiring to! Pupils thoroughly enjoyed all the sessions over the past two weeks and were all really eager to share the skills

needed for lifelong learning and work. We would all like to say a massive THANK YOU to all of our volunteers

that took the time to visit us during our World of Work week and share with us the amazing jobs that they do!

WORLD OF WORK WEEK

April 2019 Monday 15th April School Resumes Friday 19th April Good Friday-School Closed Monday 22nd April P4 Swimming until 1st July, 2019 Tuesday 30th April Parent Appointments 5-7.30pm Wednesday 1st May Parent Appointments 3.30-6pm May 2019 Monday 6th May Mayday Holiday – School Closed Tuesday 7th May In-Service Day – School Closed to Pupils Thursday 9th May Archie Fundraising Event– 1.30-3pm Parents welcome to attend Tuesday 14th May Parent Meeting for Stirling Trip for P5/6 5.30-6pm Friday 17th May Sports Day (1st Choice) Friday 24th May Youth Games for one class– more details to follow Wednesday 29th Learning Journey sharing session -2-3pm Friday 31st May Sports Day (2nd Choice) June 2019 Monday 3rd June Paralympian Athlete Visit Sponsored Circuits Afternoon Wednesday 5th June Learning Journey sharing session -2-3pm Wednesday 6th – Friday 8th June P5/6 Stirling Trip Thursday 13th June P7 parents invite in to watch Leavers Performance at 2.30pm – More details to follow Friday 14th June Ante Preschool reports issued Monday 17th June Ante Preschool parent teacher interviews this week Thursday 20th/Friday 21st June P7 Transition Days to Oldmachar Monday 24th-Friday 28thJune P7 Activities Week July 2019 Monday 1st July Celebration Assembly for Pupils Thursday 4th July P7 Leavers Assembly 2pm– Parents invited Friday 5th July Term Ends—Non-Uniform Day

I am just writing to thank all the children at Danestone Primary School for the most generous donation of 38.5 kgs of items for our Foodbank which we received last Friday. What a fantastic effort ! Any support is greatly appreciated as we continue to try and help the vulnerable and disadvantaged across the city . Without donations such as yours, we would simply be unable to do this, so please pass on our grateful thanks to everyone involved Warm regards Dot Office Manager Instant Neighbour 5 St Machar Drive Aberdeen AB24 3YJ

TERM 4 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Instant Neighbour Food Bank Collection

When we reviewed our Behaviour policy, we decided to give termly treats to the Castle with the most points. The winner for Term 1+2 was Drum. This term we have another winner and that Castle is Fyvie. Fyvie chose to have a range of activities including Easter baking, Arts and Crafts and Sports activities outside. A great morning was had by all. Don’t worry, all the points from Term 1,2 and 3 will be recorded and be used to find out which Castle is the Castle of the Year.

CASTLE POINTS TERM 3 Crathes 321 Drum 394 Fyvie 398 Dunnottar 300 Kildrummy 395 Fraser 333

Castle Treat for FYVIE

We had a very successful school disco last night. It was wonderful to see all the pupils enjoying themselves and looking so fantastic in their disco clothes. They were all so well behaved and all seemed to be having an amazing time. Thanks to the Parent Council for organising and thanks to all the parents who came along to help out.

SCHOOL DISCO

PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION

On the 28th of March Mackie, Hannelore and Kirsten attended the Public Speaking Event which was held at Old

Machar Academy. We all had to write a speech for 2.5-3 minute for a specific topic. The topics were…

1. Children should be given the right to vote.

2. It is acceptable to close public libraries due to c

council budget cuts.

1. Water charges should be introduced to

reduce wastage.

1. A vegan diet will save the environment.

Greenbrae primary, Forehill primary, Middleton Park Primary and Danestone Primary all attended the competition,

everyone did really well with their speech. The winner was Kirsten Black with her speech about How a vegan diet

will save the environment! We all would to Thank Old Machar Academy for hosting the event and the rotary club

and Forehill primary for organising the event.