Dear Families,

We are now at the end of our 2nd term of the school year, and the time has once again flown in. We have contended with an ongoing pandemic, Storm Arwen swiftly followed by Storm Barra, and we are emerging with smiles on our faces into an uncertain Christmas period - but I am sure all pupils and staff are looking forward to the rest, as they have most certainly earned it!

Thank you so much for all the kindness, support and perseverance you have all demonstrated since August - it has once again not been a straightforward term but I am grateful on a daily basis for the resilient, inventive and empathic members of staff and the supportive families we have at school who keep doing their best for our learners no matter what.

On Tuesday 21st December we will be getting the pupils together outdoors for a socially-distanced singalong, which will be a lovely end to the term, and remind us of the importance of gathering where we can whilst proritising safety.

We hope that, whatever your plans this festive season, that you get the opportunity to spend some quality time with your families and emerge ready as you'll ever be for 2022.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Best Wishes,

Andy Murray, Headteacher

Christmas Parties

All children have now enjoyed their Christmas Parties - Nursery even had a special visitor who came into the playground to speak to the school children too! See photos of Santa's visit @lairhillockps on twitter https://twitter.com/home

We must say a huge 'thank you' to our Parent Council for providing the food (and to Mrs Trilk and Mrs Wilson for bagging and distributing it at warp speed!)

Foodbank Friday

We held a whole school Foodbank Friday on 17th December, and as ever our school community gave so generously. Next term we have lots of Foodbank Friday dates (detailed below) but please remember that items can be placed in the Foodbank collection station at any time.

Class News

Primary 7

The start of this term coincided with Glasgow hosting COP26, therefore P7 were going global; considering all aspects of climate change, sustainability and how human activity has contributed to greenhouse gases.

We learned what the vocabulary meant, what the leaders hope to achieve at the conference and why it is necessary - from rising sea levels on Scottish Islands to drought and crop failure. Our Global Citizens of the future also discussed the UN Sustainable Development Goals - and how climate change impacts upon their progress. We considered climate injustice, and how some countries ignore the UN Rights of the Child; due to the insatiable global demand for new tech. minerals.

We learned about the science of the carbon cycle, and how it had remained relatively balanced until the industrial revolution. Pupils then transformed into carbon atoms and bounced round the classroom - either being captured or released.

And finally, it was all brought to life. Whilst learning the theory of more extreme weather patterns, many of us also lived through the realities of storm Arwen!

Additionally, pupils participated in a live nationwide Scratch coding session to "Save the sharks" and eliminate as much plastic as possible from our oceans. Good fun, but also very fast paced - needless to say they left me standing.

We have continued the sustainability theme to finish off our maths topic on co-ordinates and position. P7 are currently working on a challenge whereby they have to problem solve as a group of environmentalists tracking illegal logging in the rainforest. The challenge allows for the application of a range of mathematical skills, in addition to communication and applying logic and reason to justify their choices. It was fascinating listening to the different choices of locations for Base Camp - all with valid reasons.

As Christmas rapidly approaches, we have of course lightened the mood. Mrs Cantley and the pupils had great fun making oobleck and exploring the weird and wonderful properties of Non-Newtonian fluids. Our pupil`s ability to plot across four quadrants now means we are creating some lovely Christmas co-ordinate pictures, and we learned some Festive French vocabulary.

All that remains to finish off this term is our joint Christmas party with p6. This of course means the traditional, ( and favourite challenge....) of every teacher - Scottish country dancing for PE!

The class have been practising hard, and out of the chaos there appears to be emerging something which vaguely resembles the Dashing White Sergeant...... We may not be ready for "Strictly" just yet, but despite P7`s protestations - everyone is smiling when dancing!

Joyeux Noel.