The Scoop

Your update for

September 2026

The entrance sign of Olderfleet Primary School on a brick building with a blue sky background.

Welcome Back

Schools are a great place to work for a lot of reasons, but a big one is the chance to start afresh every year. There is nothing quite like the first day of September, when each class gets a brand-new set of glue sticks, pencils, rubbers, and exercise books. Thanks to the generous funds raised by our PTA, our teachers had a fantastic morning yesterday at IKEA picking out new supplies for the classrooms. We can’t wait to see you all again next week!

We are also excited to announce that our new, full website is almost ready! To finalise it, we just need a few up-to-date photos of our school in action. Peter Thomas Photography has kindly offered to take these pictures at no cost. Peter will be visiting our school on Wednesday 2 September, and the website will go live the following week.

This issue of The Scoop is your main update for September; any breaking news or date reminders will be shared directly through your child's class Seesaw.

Save the dates

  • First day back (early drop off and earlier drop off both available)

  • Peter Thomas photographer in school

  • Year One Discovery Day 9am-11am

  • P&O Ferries and Larne Port are marking Global Safety Day with lots of activities and our children will all be heading down to join in

  • TransformED Staff Development Day 1

    Staff will be reviewing and developing our planning processes to support the tailored learning approach we take with our family of learners.

    School Closed to Pupils.

An interior space with two wooden shelves, a small white dehumidifier, a black and gray rug, in a room with white walls, black window frames, a door leading to a corridor, and a bookcase in the background.

Massive Thank you!

This summer has been a busy one, with plenty going on in our building. Our main corridor has been transformed with newly opened spaces, a fresh coat of paint, and updated boards and signs. A huge thank you to Mr. ‘Non-Stop’ Keenan and his band of volunteers from Larne Congregational Church. We also want to thank Break Brand Consultancy for generously covering the costs of our internal graphics and signage.

A massive thanks to Karla for working hard all summer and doing a fab job with our uniforms! Karla was supported by Katrina, Sophia, and Ethan, along with other keen volunteers. It is amazing to have such talented people in our Olderfleet family! Thanks to them, we have been able to keep our uniform costs down without compromising quality.

On Monday, as Karla handed over another batch of sweatshirts, she suddenly realised she hadn’t even thought about uniforms for her own children yet!

Last but by no means least, a massive thanks to our resident legend, Mrs. Montgomery! She has been amazing, juggling uniform orders while simultaneously managing the purchase of new paint, rugs, furniture, and school resources.

Two children, a boy and a girl, in a classroom with science supplies, standing behind a blender filled with fruits, smiling at the camera.

The Olderfleet Blog

Over the summer Mrs Brownlees and Mrs Galbraith added to the Olderfleet blog. Both were looking back and reflecting on their teaching experiences. Mrs Brownlees looked back 3 years to when she was setting up our Hive provision, while Mrs Galbraith looked back a bit farther to her first few years in teaching, a time when Blazin’ Squad and Dido were in the charts.

Mrs B's Blog
Mrs G's Blog
Children playing outdoors with a colorful parachute in a grassy field under a blue sky with clouds.

Connect & Nurture

As part of PDMU this year, our children and staff will be taking part in an updated circle time framework called Connect and Nurture. While circle time is a long-standing tradition, this new approach has been adapted to reflect modern research into child well-being and personal development. Grounded in how the brain regulates emotions, this new structure is designed to help children feel safe, connected, and socially engaged—which is vital for successful learning.

We’ll share pictures and videos on Seesaw after each session so you can keep up to date with what we get up to.

We’ll be keeping you up-to-date through Seesaw for any reminders of dates or breaking news. You can also stay in the loop by checking our calendar to see what’s on in our school.