Hi everybody, please click on the link below to view our CATRINE ECC VIRTUAL TOUR of the ECC. Clips of the rooms were filmed at the start of last week and actually, we feel we have enhanced them even further each day since. More resources have been added, more areas have been established and more visual signage has been designed by the staff to help aid our children in their settling in process upon our return.

We cannot wait to see all of our returning children and families, and of course we are very excited to meet and get to know our new families.

Unfortunately, at this stage we are still unable to confirm patterns of attendance in August due to the regular changes and updates in guidance at this particular time.

Please continue to follow our Twitter page, school APP and any new information here on GLOW for updates as soon as we get them.

https://youtu.be/cQsmMAYZKaM

Thank you for both your understanding at this time and your continued support throughout this challenging time.

Alana Speirs

Depute Manager

Good morning on the last Tuesday of Term 4.

I can hardly believe that it’s the last week of the summer term, and that the school and ECC finishes for the summer holidays on Friday.  This has definitely been the strangest term in my 25 years of teaching!!

I am so proud of the staff of both Catrine ECC and PS, who have been working in both establishments over the last few weeks.  They have organised our teaching and learning spaces into safe, fun and inviting spaces for our pupils to start back to in August – it hasn’t been easy as there’s so much guidance to follow but their creativity, enthusiasm and teamwork has ensured that we feel really prepared for the start of next session.  Look out for a couple of videos over the next few days as they share our August preparations with you.

Today’s challenge could be tricky…  Remember I challenged you before to build a tower the height of yourself using all different objects – and lots of you completed the challenge brilliantly! 

I’m challenging you to be creative again – your challenge is to create a line of DIFFERENT objects from one wall of your house to the other side of your house (for instance, in my house I would start at my dining room door, go through into the hall and finish at the front door – that’s quite a distance) and you must use different objects – you can’t just create a line of pencils and think you’ve solved the challenge.  Each object must be different, and must be touching the object in front and behind it.

So get your thinking caps on and I look forward to seeing your great efforts – you never fail to impress! 🙂

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

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Hi everyone

I am are very excited and look forward to welcoming you into Primary 1/2 after the summer holidays. I have made a little video to show you some of the wonderful things that we do here at Catrine Primary School.🌟😃

https://sway.office.com/CASW2m0UENXfDNZ5?ref=Link

Miss Burleigh

Please click on the link below to access recent letter from Linda McAulay-Griffiths – Head of Education.

letter from Head of Education

Today’s challenge is to see how many items within the household you can find with the number 4 – you can then draw a picture of the items you have found. If you wish to challenge yourself look for other numbers within the house and outdoors.

Well, I am sad to say that the way our rota for posting falls this will personally be my last home learning GLOW post before we stop for our summer holidays.

So ….. for my final challenge I would like to split it into two.

Ante pre children

Preschool children

(please note – due to hayfever issues and dodgy eyes I thought it best not to scare the children and try to make them laugh instead haha – these videos make me look better than I actually do in real life right now 🙂 LOL.

Have a great day everyone.

Hugs and virtual Hi-5’s from Alana xxx

New Primary 1 induction meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 23 June at 1.30 p.m. at Catrine Primary School. Please click on the link below for further information:

P1 induction invitation

If you wish any further information, please do not hesitate to contact Catrine Primary School on 01290 551436.

Thank you.

Happy Thursday morning to you all. 🙂

It’s been a lovely week in the ECC and school as staff have been back in – we’re only allowed a certain number of staff members in each day to comply with guidelines, but it’s been just great to catch up with everyone.

Lots of updates from EAC and the school will be coming your way over the next few days so please check our GLOW page and the ECC APP every day.

We are all, understandably, feeling a bit anxious about what ECC and school is going to look like in August so if you have any questions after reading the updates, please get in touch.

Today’s challenge is another one that is trickier than it sounds …

I challenge you to find an object in your house that is EXACTLY the same height or length as you.  Not something that is a wee bit taller or smaller but EXACTLY the same height or length.  In my house it took me ages to find something but I’ve discovered that the clothes horse/drying rail (or winter dykes as my mum calls them!) is EXACTLY the same height as me.  Let me know how you get on.

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

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Click on the link below for information from the Head of Education regarding places for next session.

Allocation of ELC places for session 2020-21

Number Catch Game with Active Apple Man

Really simple game that you can play with 2 players or just one.

You will need;

• paper
• pen
• ball

2 players

• First write several numbers each on a separate piece of paper, could be 0-5, 0-10
• Scatter your numbers all over the floor or preferably in the garden
• To begin start running around the numbers all over the space, being careful you don’t bump into anything and when the adult says so, run and jump onto a number
• Players can now call out the number that they have landed on and pass the ball that amount of times to the other player

( you could take turns with what number you choose to throw and even talk about for ex; “Is 5 a bigger number than 3?”) 

1 player

• Again use your number cards but this time when you land on that number could you try and do that amount of throwing up and catching yourself or bouncing off the ground or a wall outside

You could try different tricks with the ball, experiment and have fun.  This is a great opportunity to not only get some exercise but to focus on numeral recognition, counting skills, listening skills and turn-taking.

Have Fun ♥

Happy Tuesday morning to you all 🙂

Staff are allowed back in the Primary School and ECC this week, so Alana and Lesleyanne were in the ECC yesterday, with all of the other staff members coming in over the next few days.  It’s going to be great seeing them again – we’ve not seen each other since March!

Today’s challenge is another Estimation Challenge, as you all seemed to have such good fun with the Doors Estimation Challenge last week. 

Can you guess how many pairs of shoes you own?  Shoes can be any kind of footwear – trainers, sandals, slippers, football boots, wellies … Estimate how many pairs you have and then go and count them. 

Was your estimate close to your final answer?  Challenge some other people in your family to make a guess about their shoes total too.  Let me know how you get on.

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

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

We plan to make a simple “Virtual Tour” video for our new children and families starting in August. We hope that by showing them around our ECC and introducing them to our fabulous staff team it might help with the transition process and put their mind at ease a little about starting nursery in these uncertain times.

We can tell new parents what we offer and what we strive to achieve……but we believe your voices and views will be what they want to hear.

Under the circumstances this year our priority in August will be settling our children – both returners and new, it will be about emotional wellbeing and nurture, care and trust, relationships and respect.

We would appreciate it so much if you would take just 5/10 minutes to answer a few questions in relation to how you found your experience at Catrine ECC last year. We hope to use some of your responses in our short video.

Thank you in advance 🙂

Alana Speirs

Depute Manger

Good morning everyone. Hope you had a great weekend.
My task for you is bubble painting. We had great fun blowing bubbles and watching them pop on the paper. See how many bubbles you can make. Enjoy!
Here is what you need.

The Gingerbread Man

The Gingerbread Man is a story you may have read at home or in the nursery. If you have the book at home, ask a grown up to read it to you or if you don’t have it at home you can watch & listen to it on the link below. After the story tell your grown up what happened in the story.

• Can you remember who made the Gingerbread Man?

• What was the Gingerbread Man’s eyes & nose made of?

• What did the Gingerbread Man say when he was running?

Maybe you can draw a picture of your own Gingerbread Man or even make one out of playdough?

Send me pictures of your creations, I’d love to see them – eamarion.smith@glow.sch.uk

Last week one of our favourite shops, Dunelm in Kilmarnock, posted a competition on Facebook…….

Lots of parents, carers, family members and friends of the school and ECC voted ….. and guess what …… WE WON !!!!!!

We are absolutely delighted and want to thank both yourselves for voting and Dunelm for donating the fabulous outdoor toys.

The children in Catrine will ❤ them 🌈

Good morning and happy Thursday to you all – this week is just flying in!

We were delighted to be chosen as the winners in the Dunelm Kilmarnock Outdoor Toys competition – thank you to everyone who nominated both the ECC and the PS.  Alana, our ECC Deputy Manager, collected the toys yesterday – look out for her post and photo today and I’m sure the wide selection of toys will be well played with by pupils at both establishments.

As we had such a horrible wet day yesterday I’m giving you a skiddly challenge today – The Water Bucket Challenge.

You will need – one bucket/container filled with water, one empty bucket/container, a plastic cup and a timer.

This can get messy so this challenge is best done outdoors (and it might be even more skiddly fun if it’s done in the rain!)

Place the empty container at one end of the garden or path, and place the container filled with water at the other end.  Start the timer for one minute.  Starting at the end of the garden/path with the filled container, fill up your cup and run to the empty container, pour your water in and then repeat until your minute is up.  How many cups of water can you fill the container with in one minute?  Challenge the rest of your family and see who can empty the most cups into the container in one minute.

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

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Please note – ​​​​​​​an article was released in a local newspaper yesterday which stated that all EAC schools and ECCs  were starting back on 18th August 2020 – this is not the case. 

A starting date has still to be confirmed for a return for both pupils and staff.  Further information will follow regarding the start date for the August term.

On behalf of Linda McAulay-Griffiths, Head of Education

An Eggcellent Experiment!

What you will need : Eggs, clear cup or jar, distilled white vinegar and a bowl of water.

Firstly get an egg, allow your child to feel the egg and ask them to describe what the texture of the egg shell feels like. Encourage the use of words such as hard, firm, strong, flat and smooth.

Then get your cup/jar and gently put your egg in it, be careful not to drop it as you might crack the sell. Pour in the vinegar and ensure the vinegar covers the egg.

Leave the egg in the vinegar for 4-6 days, each day have a look at your egg and see if it looks different or if there are any changes. You could record any changes you see by the use of drawings or taking pictures using a camera.

After leaving your egg in the vinegar for 4-6 days, remove the egg from the vinegar and place it in a bowl of water. (Adults might want to help as it may need a little rub) Can you see any changes in your egg? Can you feel any changes in the texture of your egg?

Ask your child to describe how the texture of the egg feels now and compare it to how the egg felt before they put it in the vinegar. Encourage words such as bouncy, squishy and soft.  (Some of the eggs might even bounce however do be careful as they might burst) If they do burst explore what the inside of the egg looks like.

Ask the children why they think the egg has changed and where has the shell gone?

The vinegar dissolves the shell of the egg which then exposes the membrane of the egg and that is why the egg changes. (Introduce your child to the word dissolve)

While taking part in this experiment please reinforce that the egg is not cooked therefore the children should not eat this egg.