Author: Mrs Govans

Good morning to another glorious Thursday morning 🙂

The ECC staff are all loving their phone calls to the children that they’ve made so far – they’re so pleased to hear about your lockdown adventures and stories.  If your keyworker hasn’t phoned you yet – don’t worry!  They’ll be phoning over the next few days and possibly into next week as they’re blethering so much that the phone calls are taking much longer than anticipated!

Back in April I gave you a Food Tasting Challenge, and I received so many brilliant success stories about foods that you now like that I’m challenging you again – but with a twist.

Today’s Challenge is a Fruit/Vegetable Food Challenge. 

My oldest son has discovered that he now likes strawberries … after years of being offered strawberries and turning his nose up at them, they are now his most favourite food in the world!

There are so many delicious fruits and vegetables in the shops right now that I challenge you to try 3 new food items that you’ve always thought you never liked, or just haven’t tasted before.  Remember to let me know if you find a new favourite fruit or vegetable. I’m going to try pineapple, grapefruit and courgettes – I’ll let you know how I get on …

Tuesday’s Tower Challenge was a big hit – I’ve received so many brilliant photos of the most creative towers.  Well done to everyone who completed the challenge, including Oscar who had suitcases, pots and pans in his tower!

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.  Mrs Govans x

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Good morning Tuesday 🙂

I hope you all enjoyed a lovely relaxing long weekend with your family.  I went a HUGE walk with my husband, sons and dogs and my legs are still aching …

Thanks to everyone who took part in the Animal Quiz – I’d love to hear who the winner was in your family. 

I was tidying out my youngest son’s bedroom (AGAIN!) at the weekend and I asked him to tidy up his book shelf.  He proceeded to build a huge tower of books on the floor, and then added other items to the books to see if he could make the tower taller than himself – he did manage and then he had an even bigger mess to tidy up once he knocked the tower of books, Top Trumps cards and PS4 games over!

So today’s challenge is a Construction one – try to build a tower that is taller than yourself BUT you can’t use all the same objects!  For instance, you can’t just build a tower from Lego/Jenga blocks/storage boxes … that would be too easy.  You can only use three of the same items so you’ll need to get VERY creative and think about a wide range of items that you could use to build your tower that will safely stack on top of each other.  The taller you are – the harder the challenge!  I look forward to seeing the photographic evidence that you completed the challenge…

Keep telling us about your achievements during this time away from the ECC – Achieving Andy loves to hear what you’ve been up to!

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.  Mrs Govans x

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Well done to everyone who participated in the Animal Quiz.  Check your answers against the list below and let me know who was the winner in your house.  No cheating!

1. What’s the fastest land animal? A CHEETAH
2. How many lives is a cat said to have? NINE
3. What do you call a baby kangaroo? A JOEY
4. What do you call a group of sheep? A HERD/FLOCK (both are acceptable)
5. How many legs does a spider have? EIGHT
6. What’s the tallest animal in the world? A GIRAFFE
7. What kind of animal is Shere Khan in ‘The Jungle Book’? A TIGER
8. How many horns did a triceratops have? THREE
9. Nala and Simba are what kind of animal? LIONS
10. What type of dog is Marshall from ‘Paw Patrol’? A DALMATION

Wishing you all a lovely long weekend with your family 🙂

Mrs Govans x  

Good morning Thursday 🙂 (although I’m cheating a wee bit by posting this on Wednesday night as I’m working in the hub today).

I’ve loved reading through the certificates for all of your achievements at home – keep your successes and photos coming in as we loving seeing what you’ve been up to at home.

Today’s challenge is … an Animal Quiz.  There’s 10 questions so you can either answer the questions individually, with one person being the quizmaster or split your family into teams.  I’ll post the answers on Friday afternoon so that you can see who the winners are.  Good luck!

Animal questions

1. What’s the fastest land animal?

2. How many lives is a cat said to have?

3. What do you call a baby kangaroo?

4. What do you call a group of sheep?

5. How many legs does a spider have?

6. What’s the tallest animal in the world?

7. What kind of animal is Shere Khan in ‘The Jungle Book’?

8. How many horns did a triceratops have?

9. Nala and Simba are what kind of animal?

10. What type of dog is Marshall from ‘Paw Patrol’?

As always, stay safe, take care and keep in touch.  Mrs Govans x

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

 

Good morning and welcome to another week of home learning.

Today’s challenge is another singing one.  With the change in the weather (where has the sunshine gone?!) I’m finding it a bit of a challenge to get out of bed in the morning so I’m hoping that this song will help me start each day off on a positive note, as it’s all about waking up and getting ready for the day ahead. 

We sing this song regularly at Monday morning assemblies at the primary school so big brothers and sisters will definitely know it.  If it’s a new song to you, I’m sure you’ll learn it very quickly and will be singing it all day around the house.

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.  Mrs Govans x

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.u

PS I think Alana might have a wee surprise for you all later on today … 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5idAk316hpY

 

Good morning on another glorious Thursday morning 🙂

Well done to everyone who completed Tuesday’s Wheely Good challenge, and got out and about on their bikes and scooters in the sunshine.

Today’s challenge is all about Shapes.

Sitting here at my kitchen table I can see ..

a circle – the kitchen clock

a square – a photo frame on the window sill

a rectangle – an envelope waiting to be posted

Try to find as many different shapes as possible around your home and make a list of them all.  Shapes can be either 2D (flat) or 3D (solid). Challenge family members to make their own shape list and see who can find the most different shapes.  Look very carefully at small items – the lids of pens, keys or coins as they usually have some unusual shapes hidden away on them.

I look forward to seeing how many different shapes you can find around your house and garden.  Post your lists on your blogs or email them to me at Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk or to alana.speirs@east-ayrshire.gov.uk.  We love when you share your learning with us.

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch. Mrs Govans x

What shape is the envelope Owen is holding? and the stamp?

Good morning and welcome to Tuesday (apologies for the late posting of today’s challenge – ICT issues!)

This challenge is a wheely good one …

Today, try to use something that involves wheels.  You could go out on your bike, trike or scooter.  You could practise going your bike without stabilisers, if you’re still using them.  You could build a car/truck/cart for your toys using Lego or sticks – as long as your finished model has wheels and can move.

When I was wee I used to love building a ‘bogie’ with my Granpa Young in Cumnock. We used old pram wheels, cardboard boxes and odd bits of wood for the base, a skipping rope for steering and my feet were the brakes ….

How about asking an adult to help you build a ‘bogie’ (trailer/cart – you can call it whatever you like) for your toys to use in the garden?

So, today’s focus in all about wheels and I can’t wait to see your photos of what you get up to.

As always, stay safe, take care and keep in touch.  Mrs Govans x Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

 

A lovely Thursday morning to you all.  I’ve had a great laugh reading through some of your jokes from Tuesday’s HT Challenge.  Here are some of the jokes pupils have been sending me …

Harry P2 – What do you call a bear with no teeth?  a gummy bear!

Lexie P4/5 – How do you stop an astronaut’s baby from crying? You rocket!

Sophie D P5/6 – Why did the scientist remove her doorbell?  She wanted to win the ‘no-bell’ prize!

Connor P2 – What do you call an exploding monkey?  a bab-boom!

Aren’t they brilliant?  Keep them coming if you have any favourites you’d like to share.

Tomorrow is an important day in Britain’s history as it’s VE – Victory in Europe – Day, celebrating 75 years and, as it’s a holiday, there will be no work posted by ECC staff though they have left lots of activity ideas for you to do over the next few days.

Today’s challenge is another singing one .  We sing this regularly at assembly at the school, all up on our feet, moving around and being VERY loud and expressive – so make sure you and your family put 100% effort into singing this today.  Remember each verse gets faster so you might need to practise a few times to get it right ..

I would love to see some photos/videos on your blogs of you and your family pulling all these funny faces and dance moves.

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.  Mrs Govans x  Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Good morning to you all on this sunny Tuesday morning 🙂

I hope you’ve all received your ECC Report Card by now, and have enjoyed reading about your child’s achievements and learning during their time at Catrine ECC.  The wee surprises were lovely, weren’t they?  Thanks to Alana, Courtney and Janet for organising them.

Update on last week’s Food Tasting Challenge …

Beans – still a no-no from me, I’m afraid (yuck!) Coffee – another nope – couldn’t get past the smell.  Weetabix – I could maybe eat them for breakfast, occasionally, if there was absolutely nothing left in the cupboard.  I hope some of you found some new food items that you like.  I’ll try some different foods this week and let you know how I get on.

Today’s challenge – make today a ‘Tell A Joke Day’. 

Whilst helping my youngest son to clean out his room we discovered a Joke Book, and then spent the rest of the day telling each other corny jokes and making up our own puns.  So, Google ‘kids jokes’ and then share as many as you can with your family.

When Charlie was facetiming his papa later that day, he shared some of his jokes with him – it was great to hear them both laughing so much, and I’m going to use my dad’s joke to get you started on your Tell A Joke Challenge today.

Knock knock

Who’s there?

Disease

Disease who?

Disease wee troosers fit me?

Please share your jokes with us  as we love hearing what you’ve been getting up to.

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.

Mrs Govans x    Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Good morning and happy Thursday to you all.

There’s been a wee change in the weather this week – yesterday I had to put the heating on for a wee while as we were all frozen.  I much preferred last week when we were sunbathing in the garden … bring back the sunshine please!

My youngest son has always been a fussy eater, and we’ve had a breakthrough this week as he has discovered that he likes sausages!  He has been offered them loads of times but always insisted that he didn’t like them – even though he had never actually tried them. So, after giving them a go, he’s decided that they’re actually quite good!

So today’s challenge is a Food Tasting Challenge – I’d like you to try three things today that you’ve always thought you didn’t like the taste of and see if you’ve changed your mind.

The three things I’m going to try are – coffee, Weetabix and beans.  I’ll let you know how I get on in my next post on Tuesday …

Make sure to check with your family first about the three things that you’re going to try, and maybe even get them to identify  three food items to taste.  I look forward to hearing from you about the new tastes that you’ve discovered!

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.  I’m off to put the kettle on to make a cup of coffee – wish me luck!

Mrs Govans x   judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Good morning and welcome to Tuesday 🙂

Just before the schools closed in mid-March, at the Primary School we held another very successful Scholastic Book Fayre and we talked at assembly about the importance of reading in our everyday lives – in school, at home and when we’re out and about.

In our Home Circles we listed some reasons why it’s so important that we learn to read …

‘to fill in job and college applications’

‘to read bus, train and plane timetables’

‘to read texts and emails from friends and family’

‘to do our jobs properly when we’re working’

and my most favourite answer EVER

‘to be able to read bedtime stories to our weans when we are mums and dads’.

At the ECC you regularly enjoy listening to your teachers reading a story to you in your groups, and Alana organises brilliant Bookbug sessions, which are enjoyed by the whole family.

So, today’s Challenge is – to share/read a book with someone.

You could read the book to someone if it’s a story that you know well, or someone in your family could read the book to you and then you could have a go at retelling the story to them.   You could talk about the pictures in the book and make up your own story – endless possibilities with a book!

Find a nice, comfy, quiet place and time, get cuddled in and simply enjoy reading  a book.

I would love to see some photos of the book you’re sharing with your families.

When my two boys (now aged 16 and 11) were wee, their favourite books were ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ and ‘Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book’ – I’ve still got these books and I’m going to read them aloud today and I just know that they will enjoy hearing me reading these books (even though they might pretend that they’re not listening …)

As always, stay safe, take care and keep in touch.  Mrs Govans x

Good morning and welcome to another glorious Thursday morning 🙂

It’s been lovely to hear from Alana that some of you have been sending her emails and photos to let her know what you’ve been up to.  She shares them with me, and I really enjoy seeing how busy you’ve been.

Today’s challenge is another singing one.  As the weather has been so lovely, lots of us have been spending time in the garden.  I’ve enjoyed planting lots of bulbs (under the careful instruction of my mum via Facetime!)

So today we’re going to get your family singing The Seed Song.  At the Primary School we sing this regularly at assembly so big brothers and sisters will know this song! Organise your family into two teams – the first team sings the first line, with the second team being the ‘echo’, and then both teams come together for the last line of each verse and the chorus.  You can show off some dance moves during the instrumental section. 

I’ve attached a wee video of the song and the words – I guarantee you’ll be whistling this tune all day!

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch. Mrs Govans x

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcsyVVHHYc

Good morning Tuesday 🙂

Welcome back to Term 4.  It’s been lovely hearing about what you’ve been up to over the Easter holidays and, as usual, I’m very impressed with how creative you all are!  I’ve been sent photos of brilliant dens, some delicious home baking treats and some beautifully decorated Wishlist Jars, full of ideas and adventures for when the lockdown is over.

Today’s challenge is … take time to play a board or card game with your family. 

With a pack of cards you can play Snap, Gin Rummy, Pairs, Solitaire, Twist – I’m sure there are loads of card games that your family members can teach you that are suitable for all ages.  You could maybe FaceTime your grandparents/family members and ask them to teach you a game that they know. 

Board games – this could be a great time to learn to play Monopoly or Scrabble or any other games that you’ve got in your house.  If this is a new game you’re learning take time to learn the rules and get everyone involved.

One rule – NO FALLING OUT!  In my house, Monopoly usually ends up with a bit of an argument with someone accusing the Banker of stealing money …  try not to let this happen 🙂

Have fun, get out in the sun to play, try to do some of the great activities that the ECC staff have organised for you on GLOW, stay safe, take care and keep in touch.    Mrs Govans x

Good morning and welcome to a beautiful Thursday 🙂

Alana and Lesleyanne have been phoning all of our parents/carers over the last couple of weeks and they’ve both enjoyed having a wee blether with all of our families – and even some of the children, which was just lovely.  If you receive a call with ‘NO Caller ID’ – please answer as it might be Alana or Lesleyanne just phoning to have a wee check-in chat.

I’m planning to go on a bike run today with my boys – it’s been quite a while since I was last on a bike so wish me luck …

Today’s challenge is another practical one – it’s to learn a new skill in the kitchen.  Every one is having to help out more around the house so it’s important that we take on new responsibilities, whatever our age.

Your new kitchen skill could be buttering your own toast, putting your milk in your cereal independently, making a drink of juice for your family, helping to wash the dishes, helping to fill or empty the dishwasher, washing the vegetables/fruit … the list is endless!

Safety first – talk through what your new responsibility in the kitchen could be with your family members, as they know what jobs are suitable for you. Let them show you how to do the job properly and help you out the first few times, and then it’s over to you.

I’m sure lots of you are already great helpers in the kitchen so this is a chance to be set a new challenge and try something different.

I’m off to enjoy my breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast – prepared for me by Charlie, aged 11 🙂

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.

Mrs Govans x   

Good morning and welcome to the second week of our Easter holidays.  I hope you all had a lovely weekend, eating chocolate in the glorious sunshine.

Today’s challenge is based around Outdoor Learning.  It’s called Big Art Outdoors – I’m challenging you to create a piece of art without using any typical art supplies like paints, colouring pens, pencils or chalk.

Instead, you’ve to use outdoor materials like stones, twigs, leaves, flowers, weeds – anything you can find in your garden  – and use it to make a picture.  You can be very creative and also use bits of string, cloth and wood to help make your masterpiece.

I know that you are very creative when you’re playing outside in the Green Space at the ECC so I hope you have great fun working together with your family to create artwork outdoors in the sunshine.

So, get everyone in your house involved and remember to keep posting your photos to show off your work!

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.

Mrs Govans x

Good morning  and welcome to Thursday 🙂

The weather this week has been just gorgeous and I’ve enjoyed spending time out in the garden reading my book, and watching my husband work his way through the list of jobs I’ve helpfully written for him …  it’s all about the teamwork!

Today’s challenge is totally stolen from Miss McLean, who is our P2 teacher.  She encouraged her class to create a ‘Wishlist Jar’ and I’d like to borrow her idea and suggest that we all create our own version.

The idea is that when you think of an activity or event that you can’t do right now due to the restrictions in place, ask someone to write it down on a wee piece of paper and pop it into your Wishlist Jar.  Then, when we’re all back to normal go through your wishes and make them happen.

Your wishes can include – sleepovers with family or friends, picnics up the water, days at the beach, trips to the swimming pool, baking with your gran, going a walk with your papa, going to the pictures with your cousins … the list is endless.

So, find a jar or tub with a lid (I’ve washed out a beetroot jar) and then make a fancy label for it.  All of the people in your house can add their wishes and it’s something to look forward to.

Have a lovely Easter weekend, and, as always, stay safe, take care and keep in touch.

Mrs Govans x

Good morning to you all 🙂

I hope you’ve been managing to (safely) enjoy time outside in the lovely Spring sunshine.  To make the most of the glorious weather, today’s challenge is …

Build a den outside in your garden (or in your house) with your family

You can use anything – sheets, duvets, binbags, sleeping bags,  brush handles, clothes pegs, string, cardboard, chairs, boxes, trampolines ….

Think of the great times that you’ve had building dens on the grass in our Green Space at the ECC and use some of those ideas to help you build your den.

If you prefer, build your den inside your house somewhere – your bedroom, under the kitchen table or take over the whole living room (remember to ask for permission first …)  My boys used to build dens with their papa under the kitchen table when they were wee, and they used to eat their dinner there and sometimes even slept there too, all wrapped up in sleeping bags and pillows!

So, have fun, and I’d love to see some photos of you and your family in your dens on GLOW – you could try to squeeze some of your favourite toys into your den too.

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.

Mrs Govans x 

(Logan and Harris busy in their garden)

It’s officially the Easter holidays now and, although we won’t be gallivanting anywhere apart from the back garden it’s still a time to switch off from school work and enjoy quality time with our families in the (hopefully!) lovely Spring sunshine.

Staff won’t be posting activities over the next two weeks but I will still be posting my Headteacher’s Challenges on Tuesday and Thursday so remember to check in …

I’d like to thank every member of staff at both Catrine ECC and PS for their commitment, professionalism and positivity during the last three weeks.  Every member of staff is working behind the scenes to keep our ECC and school functioning and to ensure our young people are accessing appropriate, enjoyable and fun learning activities.

Thank you also to the parents, carers, families and friends of both Catrine ECC and PS #homeschoolarmy – what a wonderfully creative lot you are!  Some brilliant ideas coming through GLOW and emails about the home learning activities you’re enjoying with your family – well done to all.

And last, but by no means least, the children of Catrine 🙂

Let’s applaud them – ‘these wee heroes have stayed indoors more than they’ve ever known in their lives.  Their whole wee worlds have been turned upside down, full of rules they’ve never known. Every day they get up and carry on, despite all that’s going on around them, and they’re delighted to paint pretty rainbows and pictures to thank the ‘heroes’ out in the world working hard to keep us all safe.

So let’s acknowledge our wee heroes – our children, our groups, our pupils, our future – today, tomorrow and forever.  We are so proud of you all.’

Words copied from Twitter but I mean every single one of them.

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.

Mrs Govans x   

Good morning to Thursday 🙂

It’s hard to believe we’re nearly at the end of the second week of this new way of learning, and the smashing ideas that you’re all coming up with continue to impress us all.  We love seeing the photos of your daily activities so keep them coming!

Today would have been the last day of Term 3, and at the Primary School we always sing a certain song at our Easter Service.  Some of you may already know it – your big brothers and sisters at the PS certainly do!

So today’s challenge is to sing the Spring Chicken Song with your family – very loudly and with loads of actions!  It’s an easy song to learn and I bet your family will be singing it all day after hearing it!

As always stay safe, take care and keep in touch.

Mrs Govans x

Happy Tuesday!

I’m working at the Auchinleck Hub today and I’m enjoying looking at all their lovely displays and pupil work (and stealing a few ideas for when we’re all back at Catrine PS and ECC!)

Today’s challenge is another practical one, but a REALLY important one …

Learn to tie your shoelaces!

If you can already tie your shoelaces (and I know that some of our ECC boys and girls can) – relax, sit back and have a lazy day – you’ve completed my challenge already 🙂

If you can’t tie your shoelaces yet then this is a great time to learn with support from your family at home. Take it slowly and listen to the instructions given, and then just practise, practise and practise some more. It’ll be great if we can all tie our shoelaces by the time we return to the ECC and PS (and it’ll be much appreciated by all staff members!)

As always, take care, stay safe and keep in touch.

Mrs Govans