All posts by Mrs Govans

Home Circles @ November 2024

In our Home Circles today we focused on Article 31 of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.

Article 31 states that ‘every child has the right to leisure, play and culture’.

We discussed how important it is to work together to make sure all areas of our school are safe, healthy and inclusive.

Our BIG focus was – 

  • In our playground you will see …
  • In our Dinnerhall you will see …
  • In Assembly you will see … 

Our answers will be used to create our new School Charters which you will see displayed around the school.

We also focused on our CATRINE Value of Teamwork.

Home Circles @ October 2024

In our Home Circles this week we focused on World Mental Health Day. We discussed how important it is to look after our mental health, as well as our physical and emotional health.

Our BIG questions were

  • why is it important that we look after our Mental Health?
  • what can we do to improve both our own Mental Health, and that of our friends and family?

Check out our brilliant answer below …

Girls Football Tournament

Catrine PS were delighted to have a team participate in the first Girls Football  tournament on Tuesday 1st October at Cumnock Juniors pitches.    The team played in six games – and won five of them!

We are so proud of how they represented Catrine PS, showing great teamwork, resilience and sportsmanship.

Team: Brooke, Emelia, Lucie (Captain), Sophie, Kayla, Harper, Gracie-Leigh, Paige and Kacey

 

September Home Circles

The whole school worked together in their new Home Circles for the first time this year, and what a wonderful job our P7 pupils did with their younger house members.

We completed a ‘getting to know you’ activity where everyone talked about their favourite things, ranging from Star Wars to Sea Cadets to football to pizza!

Then each Home Circle answered our Big Question based on our school Values –

C is for Community.   What is a community?  Which communities are we a part of?

Check out their answers below …

 

 

Catrine PS is Clean and Green!

Catrine PS is delighted to have been awarded an Eco-Schools Green Flag award by ‘Keep Scotland Beautiful’.

After an intensive audit, we were awarded our flag because

  • we have pupils from every class represented in our Eco Committee
  • we have regular whole school and community litter picks
  • our Clean Up Crews are doing a great job of improving our school playground and environment
  • we support biodiversity in our school grounds by making bird feeders and bird houses
  • we have regular clothes Swap Shops for school uniform, Hallowe’en costumes and Christmas jumpers/party clothes
  • we have Junior Road Safety Officers who regularly highlight the importance of safe parking on our School Streets areas

Our Green Flags are proudly displayed in our main playground and our main entrance, as highlighted here by Ellie, Dalton and Olly.

We have also been asked to present at the EAC Climate Conference next week at the Grange Academy – look out for an update next week.

PE Timetable

Your child will have PE in school on the following days.

Primary 1 – Tuesday and Thursday  (Tuesday will be a walk in the community)

Primary 2 – Tuesday and Thursday (Thursday will be a walk in the community)

Primary 3 – Tuesday and Thursday

Primary 4 – Monday and Wednesday

Primary 5 – Monday and Wednesday

Primary 6 – Wednesday and Friday

Primary 7 – Tuesday and Thursday 

For PE sessions, pupils should change into shorts and trainers/gym shoes.  It’s better if PE kits can be kept in school in a PE bag so that they’re always available.  All jewellery must be removed for PE sessions (including earrings). Please ensure all PE items are labelled with your child’s name and let us know if we can help with supplying any PE equipment.

End of Term 4 and school year thanks

As another successful school year draws to a close, it’s time to say Thank You to everyone at #TeamCatrine who helps to make our school run so smoothly.

Thank you to our Cleaning Supervisor, Helen, our Cleaner, Michelle, and our Janny, Mr McCreath, for making sure that our school and classrooms are clean and tidy, warm and safe for us to come into every day.

Thank you to our Catering Supervisor, Shelagh, and her kitchen staff for their lovely school lunches and for the sneaky chocolate cake that our P7 Leavers enjoyed today.

Thank you to every member of school staff – teachers and Classroom Assistants – for their professionalism, commitment and true sense of teamwork in providing excellent learning and teaching opportunities for our children.

Thank you to Mrs Robertson, Senior Clerical Assistant, for keeping the whole school organised and running like clockwork!

Thank you to Mrs Schendel, Depute Headteacher, for her tireless work ensuring all of our pupils are supported in their learning and wellbeing.

Thank you to our parents/carers, family and friends and wider Catrine community for your constant and unwavering support of all we do – it is appreciated more than you will ever know!

Last, but by no means, least – THANK YOU to our Catrine PS pupils for making us proud every single day.  Working in a primary school has its challenges, but the funny, sweet, inspirational moments that we share every day with your children make it the best job in the world.  Good luck to our P7 pupils as they move onto the Robert Burns Academy – stick in!!

Wishing you all a lovely summer. Take care, Mrs Govans x

 

P6 Big Sleepover

On Friday 14th June, our P6 pupils had their Big Sleepover.  They camped in the school grounds (well, on this occasion, due to the horrible wet weather, they slept in the school hall!), roasted marshmallows over a campfire in the playground and played an awesome game of staff/parents v pupils Rounders (which the adults won, of course).

Mrs Ferguson and Mrs Govans were the lucky staff who stayed all night, with Miss Burleigh, Mrs Campbell, Miss Brown and Mrs Schendel joining us for the team games and campfire.

Thanks to all the parents who joined in, thanks to Carolyn McFarlane at EAC LOST for organising it and special thanks to our P6 pupils for being awesome!  It was a brilliant night of giggles, midnight snacks, PJs in the school hall and very little sleep … 🙂

 

Our Prizegiving Celebrations

On Wednesday 19th June we held our annual Prizegiving Ceremony in the school, where we celebrated the wonderful achievements of our pupils throughout the last school session.

Please see our Prize-winners below.   We are so very proud of each and every one of them.

Catrine Values Winners

P1-P3 – Allan in P3  and P4-P7 – Ryan in P7

Sports Winners

Junior Sports – Coral in P5 and Leighton in P5

Senior Sports – Georgia in P7 and Ashton in P7

Winning House at Sports Day

Ayrbank with Captain Georgia

Winning House Trophy

Whiteflat with Captain Ashton

Marneil with Captain Marley

Excellence in Learning

P2 – Ellie, P3 – Braxton, P4 – Gracie-Leigh, P5 – Brooke, P6 – Ellie and P7 – Carter

Four Capacities of A Curriculum for Excellence – Class Winners

P2 – Poppy, Carson, Alfie and Nadia

P3 – Miley, Calli, Quinn and Carter

P4 – Esther, Evie, Jenna and Oscar

P5 – Noah, Jalyn, Leighton and Harry

P6 – Lenore, Lennox, Eli and Caleb

P7 – Millie, Marley, Ryan and Lexi

Individual Awards

P4 Literacy – Ashton and P7 Numeracy – Layla

Chess Champion – Josh in P7

Scots Verse Excellence – Brody in P5

Citizenship – Georgia in P7

June Home Circles @ 12.06.24

In our Home Circles on Wednesday we all focused on another article from the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.

Article 29 states that ‘education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment’. 

In our Home Circles we had big questions to answer … 

It’s Health Week at Catrine Primary School and ECC.

What changes would make Catrine PS a healthier school?

What changes would make Catrine a healthier village? 

Take a look at our answers below.

Football Team update

Delighted to announce that Catrine PS Football Team has made it through to the  FINAL of the Dimension DMI Cup!

Having won ALL of their games in the league stage, they reached the final by beating Ochiltree PS 6-3 in the semi-final last week.

We’re facing Crosshouse PS in the final, which takes place on Wednesday 12th June at Bonnyton Thistle Football Ground, Kilmarnock, with kick-off at 4.45pm.  Entry is £5 adults and £2 children/OAPS. All welcome – would be great to have a big support for the team.

We’re all very proud of our team and their success so far, and we wish them all the luck in the world in the Final.  Come on Catrine!!

Ryan D P7 (C), Connor P7, Charlie P7, Ashton P7, Daryl H P6, Caleb C P6, Curtis P6, Brody P5 and Alfie P5

 

 

Health Week 10-14th June

The whole school is looking forward to taking part in a wide variety of activities next week during our Health Week.  Every class will be out and about each day so pupils should come to school wearing sporty clothes – trackies, leggings, shorts, hoodies and trainers – so that they can take part in all of the great sessions on offer.  No football colours or crop tops please.

(Our P7s are heading to the Robert Burns Academy on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week so they should wear their uniform on these days).

It’s our Sports Day next Friday, 14th June, at 10.30am at Riverside Park.  Pupils should wear a t-shirt of their house colour, if possible, on Friday. We’re busy practising our races and remember to wear your trainers if you’re coming along so that you can join in with the Parents Races 🙂

Fingers crossed that the June sunshine makes an appearance next week!

May Home Circles @ 16.05.24

In our Home Circles on Wednesday we all focused on another article from the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.

Article 16 states that ‘every child has the right to privacy. The law must protect children’s privacy, family, home, communications and reputation (or good name) from any attack’.

In our Home Circles we had big questions to answer … 

What rules and procedures are in place in Catrine PS to keep pupils and staff safe?

What rules and procedures are in place at home to keep your family safe? 

Take a look at our answers below.

May Home Circles @ 01.05.24

In our Home Circles on Wednesday we all focused on another article from the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.

Article 31 states that ‘every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities, and focus on leisure, play and culture’.

In our Home Circles we had a big question to answer … 

Why is it so important that the whole community of Catrine, people of all ages, join in with activities to help improve our village?

Take a look at our answers below.

End of Term 3

Our Parents Night last night was a brilliant way to round off Term 3.  We had an amazing turnout of 98%!!  It’s always great to be able to update you on how your child is progressing in school and also to have a chance for a wee blether.

Thank you all for coming along to look through your child’s work and have a catch-up with their teacher.

Remember we close at 2.30pm today, and I wish you all a safe, happy and healthy Easter holiday.  Take care.  Mrs Govans 🙂

The Inclusion Committee

The Inclusion Committee held their last meeting on Wednesday afternoon.  We watched a PowerPoint about ‘Everyone is special, everyone is different’ and we talked about our similarities and our differences, and the fact that everyone is allowed to like what they want.

We then split into pairs and completed a Venn Diagram about activities, having a conversation with our partner about things they like doing, things that we both like doing and things that none of us like doing!  We had to cut out and stick in lots of activities and we had great blethers while completing this task.

The Inclusion Committee has made posters for around the school to remind everyone that we are all important and that we all matter.

Check out our photos – Mrs Watt and I even sneaked in a cheeky wee selfie!   Mrs Govans 🙂