The Pupil Leadership team of our Head Boy and Girl and Depute Head Boy and girl met with Mr McLaren and Mrs Wieczorek to discuss several items of interest about school. Eryn is our minute taker. We had interesting discussions about the use of the playgrounds and how we set up assembly times. We are scheduled to meet again later this month. The Pupil Leadership Team and Eryn feed back to the wider pupil body about our discussions and bring any suggestions or queries to the table. They will be writing for our newsletters throughout the session too.
All posts by Mr McLaren
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. May I please remind you that we do not expect our pupils to hear unacceptable language at anytime while in and around school. I appreciate your support in this matter. We would ask that everyone respect the standards we set in school for our young people and lead by example by not swearing in and around our school.
Similarly, may I ask those of you who bring dogs onto the school grounds while collecting, or dropping off children, to be courteous to others who might not be at ease with dogs. Also to be aware of any dog mess that may occur on school grounds and ensure its removal for health and safety reasons. Dogs should not be brought into our school grounds at any time.
Out of Doors
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.
You’ve Got Mail!
After several years of tea parties we are having a change. We have special Clackmannan School postcards, some of which came through letterboxes during October, from all staff to share our successes both big and small.
Monitoring Latecoming
We do keep track of late coming to school. Children missing those first few minutes can mean that they are disorganised and rushed as they start another busy day of learning. We are aware that some children are arriving late because they are stopping off to buy their snack for playtime. We appreciate your support in ensuring that we are all ready to begin our school day on time.
Primary 6 Scots Wordbook
Mrs Elins is our Scots Language link to Education Scotland and has been working with her own class as well as supporting Scots across the school. She is currently organising our new look Scots Event and in the meantime thought you might like to see some of the learning her class has been undertaking.
Halloween Disco
A great night was had by all at the Halloween Disco held on Wednesday in town hall. Many thanks to the Parent council for all their organisation and time and well done to all the children who impressed everyone with their attitude and enjoyment!
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.
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
