BA Newsletter PDF BA Newsletter March 2017 | Page 5

Page 5 of 12
Primary News
Changes to Primary Playground
Parents will have noticed that the fence in the
P4-7 playground has now been extended so
as to enclose the playground when the gate is
shut. This change was made in consultation
with the Parent Council with a view to making
this a safer environment for our young people.
The gate is opened at the beginning and end
of the school day, but will remain closed
during the day. Parents are welcome to
accompany their children into the playground
as usual in the morning, but may also prefer to
stand beyond the gate.
We are also currently working closely with
parents to bring about some imaginative
changes to both our playgrounds in the near
future, and will keep parents posted about
these developments.
Basil Death Trust Award
We are extremely grateful to the Trustees of the
Basil Death Trust who have been most generous
in awarding the Primary Department £500 to
support the teaching of coding.
We have used the money to buy a class set of
thirty Codebugs and accessories to complement
the two we previously received from the Scottish
Council for Development and Industry as part of a
valuable package to promote Science,
Technology, Engineering and Maths in the Primary
School.
Mr Liney will be trialling their use with P4-5 in the
Summer Term before rolling them out across the
Primary Department next year.
March 2017
Positive Nursery Inspection Report
Our nursery had an unannounced inspection on
8th February. We were very pleased with the
subsequent report which can be found at this
address:
http://www.breadalbane.pkc.sch.uk/BA/wp-
content/uploads/2016/03/Nursery-Inspection-
Report-16_17.pdf
The following are some quotations from the report:
All those [parents] who completed our
questionnaires ‘agreed’ or ‘agreed strongly’ that
they were happy with the quality of care and
support their child received.
We saw that children were busy and purposeful.
They interacted well together and made full use of
the space and resources available to them.
We saw evidence of how working with parents
was having a positive impact on children’s
learning and development.
Whiteboards and displays shared information with
parents who were also encouraged to come into
the nursery to join in with activities.
We found staff to be trained and motivated. Staff
presented as respectful of each other creating a
nurturing environment and positive ethos, which
was reflected in the children’s attitude towards
each other.
The service was supported by a very strong, well
organised management team, who worked well
together... They had a clear vision for the nursery
and the improvement agenda to support this.