Please remember to bring your invitation with you on the day

Our doors will be open between 10.30am and 12.00. In the garden we will have a promenade play where, as you move around the paths, pupils from different classes will entertain you with little plays and songs from history. Some of our girls will be demonstrating their skills in Scottish Country Dances and Highland Dancing. Musicians will be playing Scottish songs. In the library we will be serving local food together with a celebration punch, and we hope you will enjoy looking at our display of our pupils’ work in the hall. We would also like to invite you to go and see your child’s class in action – some of them might be in the garden, others will be working hard on a range of activities in their classroom. You are very welcome to visit and see the wide variety of teaching and learning going on, and of course see the great work on the walls.

Our Nursery pre-schoolers have been invited to attend the Garden Party with their parents and our ante-pre-schoolers are welcome to visit the school after the nursery sessions finish. Please can I ask that buggies and pushchairs be left at the front door.

Please note: The Garden Party will finish at 12.00 and we will be asking people to leave the school building at this time in order that we can ensure our Primary 1 and Primary 2 pupils are able to leave in an orderly manner and can meet their parents in the playground.

A request for old school photographs
Did you come to Dunbar Primary School? We would like to put up a display of old school photographs – if you have any photographs of your time at Dunbar Primary School please would you send them into school by Thursday 7th May. Please remember to put your name and child’s class on the back so we can return them.

Parents - Win a Bottle of Champagne!
As part of our Homecoming celebration we are running a competition to win a bottle of fizz – in fact there will be 3 lucky winners. We have a large map of Dunbar with 500 squares marked on it and would like you to buy a £1 ticket and stick it on the square of your choice. Tickets will be available on the day of our Garden Party.

Primary 7 Photographs
The Courier will be coming in on Monday 11th May at 11am to take the P7 class photographs for a special transition edition.
As is tradition at DPS we will also be having a whole Primary 7 photograph taken at 9am on Thursday 7th May. Please can I ask you to ensure your son/daughter is wearing school uniform for these photographs.

Big Picnic
We had a great time in school last Tuesday to celebrate John Muir’s birthday. Everyone really enjoyed having a picnic lunch outside and we had fun in our garden learning lots of different things
about nature.

Punctuality
One day last term there were 44 children who were late for school. Please can I ask for your support in ensuring that your son/daughter gets to school in enough time to be ready to join their line as the bell goes. Unfortunately, too many children are running through the gates or are parking their bike as the bell goes. Learning starts as soon as the children reach the classroom and it is unfair to those children who always make it on time if the teacher is having to wait for latecomers or keeps interrupting the lesson as children turn up.

Cross-country
Congratulations to the pupils in Primary 6 and Primary 7 who represented the school at the East Lothian Schools cross-country championship last term and came first! A big thank you to Mrs Lyle and Mr Richard Taylor who trained the team over the winter.

Gala Celebrations
Congratulations to Chloe Young from P7c who has been chosen as the Gala Queen and to Rebecca Aitchison P7a and Amy Valentine P7b who are the attendants. Andrew Readman and Corran
Carrick-Anderson from Primary 2 have been chosen as Pages, and Rachael Gillespie and Kara McMaster are the Flower Girls. We are looking forward to seeing them all at the School Fair on Saturday 13th June.

* * * * *

It is a holiday for the pupils on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th May. Remember the pupils will also be off on Monday 8th June – this is an extra in-service for staff.

Rationale
The aim of our anti-bullying policy is to ensure that pupils learn in a supportive, caring and safe environment without fear of being bullied. The school operates a zero tolerance approach to bullying – bullying must be challenged immediately, dealt with sensitively and in a sustained manner.

Definition

Bullying is defined as deliberate, hurtful behaviour, repeated over a period of time, where it is difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves. Pupils and staff Dunbar Primary School- November 2008.

Bullying is anti-social behaviour and affects everyone; it is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

The four main types of bullying are:

• Physical ( hitting, kicking, damaging belongings)
• Verbal ( name calling, racist remarks)
• Indirect ( spreading rumours, excluding someone from social groups)
• Cyber (sending nasty texts, e-mails, phone calls)

Pupils must be encouraged to report bullying in school. This policy is designed to ensure that as a school we are alert to signs of bullying and act promptly and firmly against it.

Dunbar Primary School’s Approach to Dealing With Bullying

We believe that there are two components to effective anti-bullying practice: preventing bullying incidents and responding to them.

Punishing bullies does not end bullying. At Dunbar Primary School we stress that it is the bullying behaviour, rather than the person doing the bullying, that is not acceptable.

We positively encourage all pupils to take responsibility for their behaviour and its consequences and to make a commitment to take action to end the bullying and provide support for the bullied pupil.

We stress the role of the Bystander – the person who can intervene and help the situation. Research shows that bullying will stop in less than 10 seconds nearly 60% of the time when peers intervene. (Pepler)

At Dunbar Primary School we encourage the bystander to get involved and not just watch and collude. To report incidents or support someone getting bullied.

Our whole school approach has been developed by pupils, staff and parents and includes a range of strategies adapted to suit particular incidents, including:

• Ensuring that the whole school understands what bullying means, including what a bully is, what a victim is and what a bystander is
• Making clear that a zero tolerance approach to bullying is in place in school
• Encouraging children to report incidents without feeling they are telling tales
• Incidents are taken seriously, investigated and if necessary, acted upon, with clearly defined procedures.

We use the following strategies to ensure a positive ethos in which children feel secure to report incidents of bullying immediately:

• A behaviour policy for pupils and staff setting out clear guidelines for managing pupil behaviour both in the playground and in the classroom

• Whole school assemblies – to raise awareness of bullying issues and providing a whole school focus for anti-bullying activities

• Activities within the PSD programme specifically aimed at developing children’s own strategies to deal with bullying type behaviour – Six Step, Being Cool in School, Circle Time, Healthy Respect (P7)

• Providing a variety of activities/equipment for pupils to play with during school breaks

• In a recent survey and discussion our pupils suggested the following sanctions they felt should be used for anyone who has bullied another pupil: apologising to victim
loss of privileges
loss of break time/lunch time
behaviour monitoring chart
parents invited into school
follow-up meeting to check behaviour

• Every class teacher provides an opportunity for pupils to indicate and discuss worries and concerns e.g. worry box, worry books, golden bubble time.

Procedures For Staff

The following steps may be taken when dealing with incidents:

• If bullying is suspected or reported, the member of staff that has been approached will deal with the incident immediately.
• Staff will make sure the victim(s) is reassured and feels safe
• Staff will listen and speak to all children involved about the incident separately
• The problem will be identified and possible solutions suggested
• Staff will encourage a problem solving approach which will move children on from having to justify their behaviour – this may take the form of a group meeting to reconcile pupils
• Staff will reinforce the message that bullying behaviour is not tolerated in Dunbar Primary School
• Appropriate action will be taken quickly to end the behaviour
• Sanctions deemed appropriate will be applied
• If possible, the pupils will be reconciled
• If necessary, support will be given to the bully (bullies) to help them understand and change his/her behaviour
• A member of the Senior Management Team will be informed of the incident and the action taken.
• In a case of bullying, the incident will be recorded in the school record book – and a monitoring sheet sent to East Lothian Council (names are not included in the copy sent to the council)
• In serious cases, parents will be informed and will be invited to come in and discuss the problem.
• After the incident has been investigated and dealt with, each case will be monitored to ensure a successful outcome
• The anti-bullying co-ordinator (Headteacher) will be informed of all incidents, if not already involved.

Pupils Advice

Do not bully other people – it is not kind
If you see someone being bullied- help them or tell an adult
If you are being bullied TELL SOMEONE!
Use the class worry box.
Speak to your teacher – don’t exaggerate, be honest and stick to the facts.
Write it down or draw a picture if it helps you explain.
If it does not stop – tell the teacher again.

This policy will be reviewed annually to assess its effectiveness – the policy will be promoted and implemented throughout the school community.

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