Spring Forward, Fall Back

Next weekend our clocks go back and I always use the sentence above to remind me whether to add or subtract an hour. I love autumn and was lucky enough to be out and about in some lovely countryside during our week off school. Everyone is back with stories of fun and activities during the break and we have quickly settled down to the life of the school community. It is always nice to hear the children greet each other excitedly as if they hadn’t been together in weeks! The lines were full of chat and laughter and as I visited each class everyone was doing their “check-in” to share the best parts of the time out of school.

I know we adults often say that we don’t know where the time goes; especially in the context of all that we have to do, but seriously- how did we get to October so soon?!

This is a great term in school. Every term is packed full of learning and fun but with Halloween, Bonfire Night and of course Christmas all included in this one there is just an extra special buzz about the place. We will always try and keep you informed about everything that is coming up and with Parents  Nights,  and a new look Scots Event also being organised there will be plenty to get involved in so please check our website and watch out for the next newsletter in November. Class Dojo storyboards are also a great way to get a snapshot of what is happening and the messaging service is proving very popular too.  We all look forward to meeting up with as many of you all as possible and welcoming you into school throughout the coming months

Mrs Wieczorek

Gwen Mayor Trust

We were awarded a grant from the Gwen Mayor Trust to purchase four handheld GPS devices.  These devices were used to support learning in maths, literacy and social subjects.  The project children were involved in was to create information posters and website sections describing landmarks in the village of Clackmannan.  the children researched the history of landmarks in Clackmannan  including the TOLBOOTH theMannan stone, clackmannan tower and Clackmannan Parish Church and established the GPS co-ordinates of each of them.  They also created treasure hunts using waypoints for their peers where children had to follow trails and assemble clues to solve mathematical problems.

Digital Leaders Training 9/10/15

A very successful first training session. We looked at the different hardware we would need to become familiar with.

Here are some of them:

projector

processor

amplifier

keyboard

mouse

monitor

speakers

We briefly looked at the desktop and its icons too!

Next time we are going to see what all the hardware does and how it works in the IT suite.

 

The Global Goals

image

The Children’s Choice Committee were looking at the Global Goals. These are 17 priorities for the planet agreed upon by the United Nations on 25th September 2015.

Our  committee decided that we would like to work on goal 3 Good Health and Well-Being and goal 11 Sustainable Cities and Communties.

To contribute to these goals we are going to promote sustainable travel to school. The committee members are going to survey how pupils travel to school at the moment then we are going to promote different ways of travelling to school over the school year.

Watch  this space for news of our campaign!

Nursery News

Nursery News:

* The vision checks for our pre-school children all went well.

* Thank you for all your support with the Duraphat application. Nearly all our children participated in this.

* We have a teaching student Miss Baillie working with us until the October holiday.

* We are also being joined by Zoe Harvey who is an Early Years Educator student at Forth Valley College. Zoe is visiting this week and will then be with us each week on Thursdays and Fridays until January.

* The nursery photographs will be held on Friday 23rd October (this is not the same day as the P1-7 children). Photographs that include younger siblings will be done first so if this will be your choice, please be at nursery for the start of the session.

* Many thanks to our group of library helpers and for the parent helpers who have been with us on our walks when we have been out and about.

* Class Dojo is proving to be very popular throughout the school. Please make sure that you have signed up to this service so that you can get instant access to our nursery day through the class storyboard as well as using the messaging service. Any advice or issues just ask a member of staff who will be happy to help.

* School is closed to all pupils for our November in-service days on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th for staff training.

* Please remember that if your child has sickness and/or diarrhoea they should be clear of all symptoms for 48 hours before returning to us.

* The nursery Halloween party will be going on throughout both sessions on Friday 30th October. We look forward to seeing all the costumes but please remember not to make anything too scary! Costumes do not have to be Halloween themed.

* Our children change into gym shoes when we start our nursery session. Please make sure that your child has a pair of soft shoes to change into. Velcro makes the job much easier.

* Our popular Stay and Play sessions will take place as follows until 10.00am and 1.30 pm respectively;

* Blue Group 26th October

* Green Group 27th October

* Red Group 28th October

* Orange, Yellow and Purple Groups 29th October

Pantomime Visit

Pantomine Visit: This year the McRobert Art Centre are taking us all off to the kingdom of “The Little Mermaid”. As always we are all going along to enjoy this whole school festive event. P1-7 classes and the school team will be waving Mr Crews goodbye on Tuesday 1st December. The price of the outing is £9.00 per child. Our Parent Council has secured the funds for our buses through everyone’s generosity and hard work. Our grateful thanks as always. All payments should be with the school office no later than Monday 23rd November. Information and payment slip will be sent home at the beginning of November. If you do not want your child to go on this outing then please contact the school so we can discuss alternative arrangements. We are away until lunchtime. All lunches will be packed that day. These can be provided by the school meals catering service but must be booked in advance. Please advise us on the payment slip if you are ordering a school packed lunch that day.

Out of Doors:

As we notice the change in outdoor temperatures can I ask that all our young people be sent to school with appropriate outdoor clothing. We all enjoy using our outdoor spaces at playtime and lunchtime but also throughout the day as classes take learning activities outside. We also take part in sporting events that are held outside at this time of year. This session, we have all been inspired by The Daily Mile at St Ninians Primary School, and here at our school every class is participating in the Clackmannan Kilometre either using the park or the muga as we run, jog and walk for 10 minutes or so each day if possible.

Promoting Citizenship

We all influence our young people. Here in school we lead and work by example and support our young people as they gain their skills and knowledge of themselves and the wider community. It has been brought to our attention that several adults visiting the school grounds at the start and end of the school day are using inappropriate language. We would ask that everyone respects the standards we set in school for our young people and lead by example by not swearing in and around our school.