Latest News

March 2024:

End of Term Assembly: It is always lovely to see our assemblies well supported by our parents, and thank you once again to the PTA for providing tea and coffee.
Alford Netball Festival: Our netball players really enjoyed themselves at the Alford Netball Festival. It was the first time some of the pupils had played against other teams, and it was lovely to see the older players offer them plenty of support and encouragement.
Willow Workshop: We now have a wonderful willow tunnel in the playground! Pupils, parents and staff turned up one weekend to turn a pile of willow sticks into a wonderful willow tunnel. We think the pupils are going to have lots of fun running through it, and we might even extend it next year!
Tree Planting: What a fantastic day we had planting trees in the National Trust land above the school. By the end of the day they had planted a mini woodland, and we are looking forward to watching the trees grow.
Rotary Primary School Quiz: Well done to our P7s who represented Craigievar School at the annual rotary quiz. They did really well, coming an excellent 4th place.
World Book Day: Pupils looked super when they arrived at school dressed up as a character from their favourite book. They all took part in an exciting treasure hunt to solve book themed clues, and with each clue they had to find a word in an ‘I Love Reading’ Wordsearch.
P7 Transition Events: It’s that time of year when the P7 pupils start to venture out to Alford Academy, have online transition events, and meet Pupil Support Workers from the Academy. We know the time between now and July is going to fly by!

February 2024:

Lunchtime Clubs: Led by pupils, these clubs are extremely popular, and give our older pupils the opportunity to show their leadership and organisational skills. There is something for everyone, with this term have Art & Craft, Lego, Chess, Minecraft, and Junk Modelling Clubs.
Kemnay Netball Festival: Our netball team played really well at the first of the netball festivals for this year. This was a non-scoring event, so gave the pupils a chance of playing together against other teams, without worrying about winning or losing. For some, it was their first ‘proper’ game of netball, and they all showed great teamwork and knowledge of the game.
Forest School: Pupils in P4-7 enjoyed their first of six weekly afternoon Forest School Sessions. They are looking forward to continuing to develop skills and confidence whilst playing and learning in our woodland.
Visit from Orbs Community Bookshop: We had a super visit from Orbs Community bookshop, based in Huntly, where the pupils were allowed to choose books to buy using the money raised from our Sponsored Read. They chose a fantastic range of books including Scottish texts, accessible and dyslexia friendly stories and graphic novels. It was fantastic to feel the buzz and excitement around the topic of reading. Children also used their numeracy skills to calculate how much money we had spent!
Online Maths Competition: P4-7 pupils were completely engrossed in an online maths competition, competing against other schools in the UK. One pupil was even heard to say that they were now obsessed with multiplication and division! By break time, Scotland were top of the leaderboard, with Craigievar in 4th place!

January 2024:

Welcome to Miss Fisher: We are delighted to welcome Miss Joanna Fisher to the staff team. Miss Fisher will be teaching the P4-7 class up until the summer.
Burns Open Afternoon: Parents and friends joined us for an afternoon celebrating Robbie Burns. Parents joined the pupils for a quiz about Burns Night, and were involved in icing biscuits in the Scottish Flag design, making thistles out of paper, and creating their very own haggis. At lunch time, we were treated to an excerpt from ‘Address to a Haggis’ by Robert Burns, by two of our P7 boys.
Open Afternoon for new P1s: We welcomed some new pupils to the school for the afternoon and they had a lovely time playing with our current P1 and P2 pupils in the classroom whilst the parents chatted to Mrs McBride and had a tour of the school.

December 2023:

Christmas Party: After some super fun & games, we had a special visitor to the school! A fantastic way to finish what has been an action packed term!
End of Term Assembly: Thank you to the PTA for serving teas and coffees and organising the book prizes. It was lovely to see so many family members back in school.
School Shows: This year both classes put on their own show. The P1-3s did a super performance of ‘The very hopeless camel’, with the P3s reading their lines well, and all the children singing the songs with gusto. The P4-7 pupils told us all about various celebrations around the world, with some super songs, and interesting facts.
Visit from Laurence Findlay, Director of Education: We were pleased to welcome Mr Laurence Findlay (Director of Education) when he visited the school in December. Mr Findlay enjoyed his visit and we are very proud that he gave some very positive feedback, commenting on the high levels of engagement and enthusiasm the children showed in their learning . Our P7 ‘tour guides’ did a fantastic job showing Mr Findlay around and telling him about life at Craigievar School. Well done everyone.
Christmas Crafts: Both classes were involved in making some lovely Christmas crafts to sell at the Christmas Craft Fayre at Craigievar Hall.
Choir: Well done to our choir who sang beautifully at the Craigievar Hall Christmas Craft Fayre.
Christmas Lunch: What a delicious Christmas lunch we had, and the pupils all looked great wearing their Christmas jumpers!
Times Tables: The P4-7 class are all becoming Rock Stars! They are all using an online resource, TT Rockstars, which helps them learn their times tables, and it is definitely working!
Christmas Tree Decoration: 1st December can only mean one thing, and that is that it is time for the P7s to put up and decorate the Christmas Tree. This required logic for putting the branches in the right way, teamwork, patience and some style! Good job boys!

November 2023:

Health & Wellbeing: We had a couple of sessions from ALEC, with the P1-3 class learning all about ‘My Wonderful Body’, and the P4-7s learnt how to ‘bCyberwise’. Andy, who led the sessions, gave some really positive feedback about how well the children engaged with the learning and their positive behaviour during the sessions. Well done.
Sponsored Read: Well done to our older pupils for raising £510.00 during their sponsored read. This is a fantastic achievement and the money will be used to purchase new/slightly used books for our school library. Orbs book shop will be setting up a pop-up stall in February for the pupils to choose some books.
Scottish Book Week: We are delighted that our P4-7 pupils have been developing reading skills using the Accelerated Reader Resource and are gaining confidence in taking online quizzes on their chosen book. The children have been absolutely fantastic at working together to code all the books in the school library, organising them into different book bands. Older pupils have also shared the magic of reading with our P1-3 pupils as they received their Book Bag gifts.
The Legend of Craigievar: Earlier in the year, pupils in P5-7 did some work with Roddy Hamilton, the Ranger from Craigievar Castle and the National Trust for Scotland. Roddy worked with the children to produce a comic featuring a NEW legend of Craigievar, and the final comic has now been produced. We all think it is fantastic!
Lunchtime Clubs: This term, pupils and staff are running lunchtime clubs each day of the week. These include Art & Craft, Minecraft, Lego, Singing, and Chess, and they are proving to be very popular.
Rotary Shoe Box Appeal: We had 14 boxes donated for this appeal which is fantastic and they were very gratefully received by the Rotary Club. Many thanks to everyone who took part.
Beyond the Panda: Pupils in P4-7 are having three online sessions where they are learning all about the Giant Panda. They learn about the animals, their habitats, and about other endangered species. They are also learning some Mandarin. They are looking forward to an expert visiting the school for a day in December.
Gaelic: This term, pupils in P4-7 are learning Gaelic. They have started off with the numbers 1-10. It’s quite tricky!

October 2023:

Halloween Crafts: Many thanks to the PTA for another fantastic morning of Halloween Crafts. The event was superbly organised and the pupils all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
End of Term Assembly: At the end of term we welcomed many families and friends to our assembly. The P1-3 pupils sang a song, both classes showed what they have been doing in Kodaly, book prizes were awarded, and Mrs McBride led the pupils in a final fun song with actions! Thank you to the PTA for providing tea/coffee & cake!
Forest School: We all enjoyed a day of outdoor learning at the end of term. Pupils made clay models, used a saw to cut wood cookies, did some bug hunting, learnt how to light a fire using flint & steel, cooked potatoes over the fire, and made some super dens.

September 2023:

Resilience & Wellbeing Workshops: Both classes have had six, weekly sessions of Health & Wellbeing, working on things such as resilience, friendship and confidence.
Netball Team: Huge congratulations to our netball team for winning the Tullynessle Netball Tournament. There was some super team work, great passing, and accurate shooting!
Golden Tickets: We have a new rewards system for the pupils. Pupils can earn star punches in their reward card and when they get ten, they are awarded a Gold Ticket. Well done to our first winners of the Golden Ticket in both classes!

August 2023:

Open Afternoon: There was a super turnout to our Open Afternoon where parents were able to come in to school and meet the new staff and enjoy coffee / tea and a chat.
Welcome Back: We are delighted to welcome everyone back to another year at Craigievar School. We would particularly like to welcome our seven new Primary 1 pupils, and our new members of staff.

July 2023:

New Staff: We are looking forward to welcoming three new members of staff to our team in August. Mrs Lindsey McBride has been appointed as the new Head Teacher at Craigievar School, Mrs Jennifer Hunter is our new P4-7 class teacher, and Miss Gill Allan is joining the team as our PSA.
Goodbyes: As well as saying goodbye to our P7 pupils, we also said farewell to some of the staff. Mrs Grant has been Acting Head Teacher for the last eight weeks and in that short time has had a huge, positive impact on the school. Miss Pittendreigh leaves us to start her maternity leave and we look forward to hearing news of her new arrival when it happens. Miss Christie has finished her probationer year and we wish her all the best with her next teaching position, and finally we wish Miss Scholey, our PSA, lots of luck as she leaves us to start her PGDE year to become a teacher.
End of Year Assembly: It was lovely to see so many parents and friends at our end of year assembly. We started with a super movie which showed all the things that the school has done throughout the year – what a busy year it has been! Awards were presented for sport with the Wildcats winning the Inter-house football and netball cups, and the Pine Martens winning the overall sports cup. The House Cup, awarded for the most house points over the year, was won by the Pine Martens, who were only one point ahead of the Foxes. Well done to our individual winners as well, with awards for sport, achievement and citizenship. It was then time to say farewell to our P7s and wish them all the best as they move on to the next stage in their lives. A movie of their time at Craigievar School was wonderful to watch and we know that they all have great futures ahead of them.
Whole School Visit to Macduff Aquarium: A super treat for the end of term! The pupils enjoyed their visit to the aquarium, with a highlight being the touching pools. A run around at the playground at Duff House with a picnic lunch was good fun too.

June 2023:

Health Week: What an action packed week at Craigievar School! Specialist sports coaches came in to school to teach the pupils rugby, skipping, dodgeball and tennis. We had a super day when a bike track and climbing wall were set up in the playground, pupils made fruit kebabs and smoothies, they made friendship bracelets, did some mindfulness colouring, created coasters out of hama beads, made worry dolls and sewed bags to put them in, made stress balls, and took part in their inter-house football and netball tournaments.
Sports Day: What a glorious day for Sports Day. The sun shone, music was played, the pupils had a great time competing in their houses and in the individual races, the PTA organised ice creams for everyone, and the P7s had a water fight against the staff at the end of the day!
P1 Transition: It was lovely to welcome our new Primary 1 pupils to the school. They spent time in the classroom meeting their peers and other classmates, and also had a fun session in the wildlife garden.
P7 Link Week: The P7s spent the week at Alford Academy and returned to school having had a good week and feeling much more confident about starting their after the summer.

May 2023:

Craigievar Football & Netball Tournament: This took place on Saturday 13th May in glorious sunshine. The PTA did a fantastic job organising the event and were kept very busy selling burgers, bacon rolls & hot dogs. Teams from many of the small schools came to compete in the tournaments and there are some super netball and football players, with everyone showing great teamwork and sportsmanship. Well done to the winners, Netball: Midmar, P1-4 Football: Skene, P4-7 Football: Cluny
New Acting Head Teacher: We would like to give a warm welcome to Mrs Grant who joins the Craigievar School Team as the new acting Head Teacher. Mrs Grant is currently a depute at Alford Primary School and will continue this role for two days a week. Mrs Grant will be at Craigievar School on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Goodbye to Mrs Stoddart: Mrs Stoddart is leaving Craigievar School and returning to her role as full-time Head Teacher at Tullynessle School. We would like to thank her for being Acting Head Teacher at Craigievar since August and for all the things she has done for the school in that time. We will miss her leadership and enthusiasm and wish her all the best for the future.
Coronation Tea Party: It was lovely to see so many parents, family and friends at our Coronation Tea Party. There were some fantastic entries in our ‘Coronation Cake Off’, which not only looked amazing, but tasted yummy too! The Royal Photo Booth proved to be very popular, and the pupils enjoyed having a go at ‘Pin the tail on the Corgi’, guessing where the Crown Jewels were hidden, and trying to win some gold chocolate coins.

April 2023:

Welcome to Mrs Dennison: We are pleased to welcome Mrs Dennison back to Craigievar School to cover Ms Morley while she is on maternity leave. Mrs Dennison has a long link with Craigievar School having taught here from 2009 to 2019 and we are delighted to have her back as part of the team.
Scottish SPCA visit: We had a super visit from the Scottish SPCA. The P1-3 class learnt about the needs, emotions and behaviours of a pet rabbit and how to be a responsible pet owner. They particularly enjoyed meeting Carrot and Bob, the robotic rabbits. The P4-7 class had an animal adventure outdoor workshop and worked together to identify if an animal needs help and if it does, how they would go about doing this. They also learnt more about the many ways in which the Scottish SPCA helps animals.
Cluny Netball Festival: Our netball team played really well at the Cluny netball festival. There was some great passing, some super goal scoring and good teamwork.

March 2023:

Easter Egg Hunt: The Easter Egg hunt was great fun! Pupils had to work out clues which led them to various places in the playground, and they had to decipher codes which gave them the location of their Easter Eggs. A final hunt in the wildlife garden revealed the chocolate treasure!
Easter Assembly: Our usual end of term assembly took place, where the house point winners were announced, the book prizes were awarded, and the P7s served tea/coffee and cakes to the parents.
Easter Crafts: Thank you to the PTA for organising another super afternoon of crafts, this time with a Spring/Easter theme.
P7s Tree of Knowledge at Alford Academy: Our P7 pupils enjoyed a visit to Alford Academy where, along with pupils from other small schools in the Alford Catchment Area, they listened to some inspirational speakers from the Tree of Knowledge.
Rotary Club Primary School Quiz: It was great to have the Rotary Quiz back again after three years of absence due to the pandemic. Craigievar entered two teams, made up of pupils in P5-7, and they all really enjoyed taking part.
P7 Transition Events: The P7s enjoyed visits to Keig, Echt and Tullynessle Schools where they met up with P7s from other small schools in the Alford Cluster and learnt more about Alford Academy.
Judo Taster Session: A big thank you to Garioch Judo Club for coming in to school to run a Judo session for all our pupils. The pupils were very enthusiastic and had a super time, with several now wanting to join the local judo club.
World Book Day: Pupils came to school dressed as their favourite character and brought a book in to share with their friends whilst enjoying a mug of hot chocolate. The pupils also did a super job designing and decorating the doors in the school to look like book covers. Many thanks to the parents who came into school to read to small groups of pupils – they loved hearing the stories.

February 2023:

Youth Music Initiative: The P4-7 class had six workshops with the Youth Music Initiative project called “Where I Am”. Pupils spent time learning about the idea of inspiration and how to write lyrics, chord patterns and melodies. The class was also introduced to music technology and spent time creating percussion instruments from recycled materials before performing and recording their finished songs. Click here to listen to the finished song:
Craigievar – Weather’s Changing | YMI Aberdeenshire (bandcamp.com)
Pancake Day: You can’t let pancake day go by without making pancakes! This year the pupils learnt about Mardi Gras and enjoyed making carnival style masks to wear. They then took great care measuring out the ingredients for the pancake batter and mixing it well before pouring small amounts into the frying pans to cook! It was an afternoon of celebration with the pupils looking great in their masks and the pancakes were yummy!
P6/7 Residential Trip: Our joint residential trip with pupils from Tough, Tullynessle and Lumsden Schools was a great success. The pupils had an action packed few days and enjoyed bouldering, whizzing along the zip wire, having a go at archery and tackling the high ropes course. In their free time they could play table tennis, air hockey, spend time in the games hall, or just relax. A visit to the Highland Wildlife Park on the way home was a great way to end the residential trip.
Beanbag Chairs: Thanks to a very kind donation we have purchased four beanbag chairs for our Library area which have been a great hit with the pupils. They definitely help to create a comfy place to read quietly or work in small groups out of the classroom

January 2023:

Scots Week: The pupils all enjoyed Scots Week. Throughout the week they learnt poems, sang songs, did some amazing artwork of Robert Burns and the Loch Ness Monster, and even designed their own tartan and created kilts. They tried Haggis at lunchtime which they all agreed was very tasty, and then they had a Haggis Hunt where they had to decipher codes and workout clues to find the Haggis hiding places. Parents were invited to our Scots Assembly where pupils show cased what they had been learning, and we finished with some ceilidh dancing which was enjoyed by everyone.
Open Morning for prospective P1 pupils: It was lovely to welcome some new faces to Craigievar School and meet some children who will be starting school in August 2023. Our P7 pupils did some fantastic tours to show them around the school, the playground and the wildlife garden.

December 2022:

Christmas Party: There were lots of fun and games on the last afternoon of term, and also a surprise visit from a very special visitor, Santa!
End of Term Assembly: The children performed several songs from their school play, the choir sang a couple of carols, Simon Crouch gave a little talk, Mrs Stoddart told an interactive story, book prizes were awarded, house points added up, and everyone had a lovely time, with parents invited to stay for tea/coffee and cake afterwards, served by the P7s.
PTA Christmas Craft Afternoon: A big thank you to the PTA for yet another great afternoon of craft activities.
‘Lights, Camel, Action!’: The whole school gave a fantastic performance of ‘Lights, Camel, Action!’ to an audience of over 100 guests at Craigievar Community Hall. There was some really super acting, singing and dancing – Well Done Everyone!
Forest School: Forest School in the snow made it feel very Christmassy! The pupils toasted marshmallows over the fire pit, built dens and created some lovely Christmas Wreaths.
ALEC visit: Both classes really enjoyed the visit from ALEC. The P1-3 class looked at ‘Feelings’, while the P4-7 class topic was ‘Friends’
Christmas Jumper Day & Christmas Lunch: The pupils all looked lovely in their Christmas Jumpers, raising money for Northsound 1’s Mission Christmas, Cash for Kids.
The School Choir: Our little choir sang beautifully at the Craigievar Community Hall Christmas Fayre. A big well done to them all, and thank you to the staff, parents & family who came along to support them.
Open Morning: Parents were invited in to school to see what their children get up to first thing in the morning and also to see the work they have been doing this term. This was followed by tea/coffee and a chat, with a chance to look at all the wonderful Christmas Table decorations that have been sent in for our competition.
Christmas Table Decorations: Well done to everyone who made a Christmas table decoration for our competition. We had some great entries which are all on show in our hall. It’s going to be tough choosing a winner!
Christmas Tree: The P7s did a fantastic job putting up and decorating the school Christmas Tree. The hall is certainly starting to look very festive!

November 2022:

Week in a Jotter (reporting to parents): All pupils took part in producing pieces of work throughout one week which were stuck in to jotters and sent home to parents. This gave parents a snap shot of the work that is done in class and the feedback has been great. Not only have the parents enjoyed seeing what their child has been doing, but the children have loved showing the jotters to their parent. This will be done again in Term 3.
P4-7 Forest School: The P4-7 class were split in to two groups for this session, allowing them to work on their fire skills and knife skills. They learnt how to light a fire using a flint and steel and were successful in heating up water in the kelly kettles to make delicious hot chocolate. They also learnt how to safely whittle a large stick.
Remembrance Assembly: It was lovely to have Simon Crouch, our minister, back in school for our Remembrance Assembly. His main topic was the Falklands War which marked its 40th anniversary this year. Once again, the pupils supported Poppy Scotland, and also held a minute’s silence.
P4-7 Theatre in Schools Trip: The P4-7 pupils saw ‘Chalk About’ presented by Curious Seed. This was a playful, funny and sometimes moving look at how we see ourselves and others, featuring dance, chalk and chat. They all enjoyed the bus journey to Midmar Hall, proving that there are some great singing voices with good projection, all ready for the performance of our Christmas Show in December.
Planting Tubs: It was great to get some planting done in our big tubs by the pupil entrance and it will be lovely to see the bulbs come up in spring. A big thank you to Craigievar Gardeners for donating some compost, our fantastic parents for helping, and the pupils for doing a super job!
P1-3 Theatre in Schools Trip: The P1-3 pupils enjoyed watching ‘Four go wild in wellies’, performed by Indepen-dance as part of Theatre in Schools Scotland. It was a whimsical adventure featuring bobble hats, scarves, tents that have a life of their own and, of course, lots of fun in wellies!

October 2022:

PTA Halloween Crafts: Thank you so much to the PTA for organising a great afternoon of Halloween Crafts for the children. They all made some fantastic things and had a lovely time.
End of Term Harvest Assembly: It was super to see so many parents at our End of Term Harvest Assembly. The children sang some great songs and learnt how many food miles there were to make a pizza. Many thanks to everyone who donated tins / packets of food which will be sent to the Aberdeenshire North food bank.
Forest School: After the success of our first Forest School session for the term we had high expectations for our second session, and it was just as good! This time the pupils cooked bread over the firepit!

September 2022:

Parent / Teacher Consultations: It was lovely to be able to hold these in school again after the last couple of years of telephone consultations.
Forest School: Our first Forest School session of the term was held on Friday 23rd September. We had three sessions during the day allowing all pupils to have time in the Forest School area. They made wood cookies, built dens, made popcorn over the firepit, did some beautiful prints of leaves, studied bugs, and overall had a fantastic time. We can’t wait for the next one!
Tullynessle Football & Netball Tournament: Our P1-4 and P4-7 football teams played really well at the Tullynessle Tournament, demonstrating some great footwork and ball skills. There were some good shots made at goal, and some super saves made as well. Our P4-7 netball team showed fantastic team work, passing the ball well, getting in to spaces, and scoring goals. They finished as Runners-Up – Well done!
Wildlife Garden Bash: What a difference a few hours and hard work can make. The wildlife garden / outdoor learning area had become slightly overgrown during the summer, but with three large bags of weeds collected and some pruning done, it is now all ready for our first Forest School session. Thank you to the parents and pupils who stayed after school to help with the transformation.
Library Sessions: Many thanks to the parents who have come to school to help us rejuvenate our school library. There are lots of books to be sorted for our new library area, and we hope to have it all up and running very soon.
Informal Open Afternoon: It was lovely to see so many parents at our Open Afternoon. The P7s did a fantastic job serving tea and coffee to everyone, and passing round the delicious cakes. The children were delighted to be able to show the parents their classrooms, and some of the things they do during the school day.

August 2022:

Start of Term 1: We were very excited to welcome everyone back to school and hear all about their holiday adventures. We would like to extend a warm welcome to our new P1 children and our two new members of staff, Mrs Stoddart who is our Acting Head Teacher, taking on a dual headship with her other school, Tullynessle, and Miss Christie who is teaching the P4-7 class. We are all looking forward to a great 2022/23 session.