Welcome back after an unexpected ‘snow day’ holiday!  Thank you again for your community team spirit and support in clearing the snow.  This severe weather closure has highlighted the importance of ensuring we have the most updated contact phone numbers. Please see our office staff if you need to update your details. Thank you.

P6 Lagganlia Camp

What wonderful experience this week for our P6 children…to head up north to the snow-covered mountains and icy lochs. Huge thanks to the staff team who went with them…I’m sure you will join me in this appreciation of their time and effort.

Thank you, Mrs Browning, Mr Hutcheson, Ms Binnie, Miss Little, Miss McKenzie and Mr Goodfellow.

Here are some of the children’s highlights from camp…

I just loved having hot chocolate pancakes while sitting on the banks of Loch Morlich. Hitting the bullseye and red lots in Archery.                                                                      Everyone encouraging each other during the abseiling.                                                        Cutting through the ice with our oars at Loch Insh.                                                                        Making a’ mushroom shelter’ with the parachute before having hot chocolate and roasting marshmallows over a campfire.                                                                                              Building bridges during bushcraft. Cheering each other on in the tree climb.

Please check out the school website for our Lagganlia Camp photographs.

Hermie Stars

Congratulations to our Hermitage Park Stars of the Week who demonstrated they were successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.

am nursery	P1a Inana	P2/1 Erika	P3a Ayla	P4a Kaitlynne	P5a Dominik	P6a	P7a Chloe
pm nursery	P1b Sophie	P2 Magda	P3b Weronika	P4b Jude	P5b Amelia	P6b	P7b Amy

Fair Trade Fortnight

The Fairtrade committee has been working with Mrs Black and Miss Alexander, to celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight.  We were recognised as a ‘Fairachiever school’ which is the top award a school can be granted! This award recognises our commitment to fully embody Fairtrade into our daily life and work to raise awareness of Fairtrade in our local community. We will show you more details and photos next week, but here are some activities your child may want to join in;

• A daily ‘guess the amount of Fairtrade teabags are in the jar’ competition. It is 20p per guess. The prize is a Fairtrade Easter egg
• Fairtrade Tuck shop. Your child will tell you which day their class is to go. Items range from 30p to £1.00
• A Fairtrade Bake sale on Friday 16th March

As a family you may consider making Fairtrade choices in your shopping this week. Your child can help you find these items.

World Book Day

Last week we had planned a variety of fun activities to celebrate ‘World Book Day’, however due to the snow we were not able to enjoy this week fully. Every child, from nursery to P7, was to draw a character from a book. We are still planning to do this in the coming weeks, with all drawing being displayed in school.  Teachers from P4-7 displayed a book in their windows and after break pupils got to choose which book they would like to hear. Finally we had planned to have a ‘dress as your favourite character from a book’ on the Friday, however due to the snow this was cancelled. We would like to now invite all children to dress as their favourite character on Friday 23rd of March.

P4a Sharing Learning Assembly

Thank you to Ms Milne and P4a for a very informative sharing learning assembly. I loved the presentations of the important buildings in Leith, and those illustrations were amazing. We were also treated to an original version of Three Craws…and very entertaining it was too. What a creative class!

Talk Things Over: Unit 5 Home Activity

We have learned that:

• At times we all feel worried
• If worries are not dealt with, they can sometimes get out of control
• If you are struggling, it is important to ask for help

Activity                                                                                                                                                We would like you to make a Worry Monster together. A Worry Monster is a 3D junk model monster with a large mouth. The Worry Monster can help children to manage their worries. When they write down their worry, they can post it in the Worry Monster’s mouth. It can also make it easier for some children to express their worries if they don’t want to share them.

From Studio to Stage Performance

Hermitage Park have been selected for the third year to perform at ‘From Studio to Stage’ at the Queen’s Hall on Wednesday 14 March. Our Junior and Senior Choirs will perform, along with a P4 dancer. Tickets are available from the Queen’s Hall Box Office.

Hermitage Park Schools Association Chilli Movie Night

This event has been rearranged for Thursday 22 March between 5-45pm and 8-15pm. There are still some tickets available. The children are invited to come in their onesies or pyjamas. Please note all children are to be dropped off and collected by an adult.

Please email hp.schoolassociation@gmail.com if you wish to attend.

Dates for your diary:                                                                                                                              Friday 16 March: Mindfulness Workshop for Parents and Carers                                              Friday 16 March: Fairtrade Bake sale                                                                                        Thursday 22 March: HP Schools Association movie night

If you any concerns, please do let me know.

Kind regards,

Natalie Borrowman

Acting Head Teacher