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

Please click on the link below to read a Transition letter for our P7 pupils from Mr McGurn, DHT at Robert Burns Academy.

P7 Transition Letter

Happy Tuesday to you all 🙂

Thank you to all pupils, parents, family and friends who participated in our Health Week and Sports Day last week.  It was wonderful seeing so many photos and videos of your Family Sports Day events – lots of effort had gone into preparing for races and organising equipment and it was brilliant to see.  Thank you.

All staff are gearing up towards getting back into both the school and ECC from next week – we are making plans for when we return in August and will share these with you as soon as they are approved by EAC.  The health and safety of our children is our main priority so we’re taking on board both local and national guidelines to make sure we get it right.

I’m looking forward to our virtual Parent Council meeting which is taking place via Zoom tonight – hearing the views and concerns of our parents/carers is so important at this time so let your Parent Council know if you have any questions.

Today’s challenge is an Estimation Challenge, and it might sound easier than it actually is.  Sit yourself down in the living room of your house and count how many doors there are in your entire house. Easy peasy!  Or is it?? 

Remember that there are external doors, internal doors, cupboard doors, cabinet doors, dolls house doors … the list is endless!  Try to count in your head – make an estimate – and then go around your whole house and count all the doors and see how close your estimate was to the correct answer.  You’ll be amazed how many doors there are in your house!  Challenge the other people in your house to make an estimate too. Let me know who got the closest answer in your household.

On Sunday I was walking up Cairn Table with my family and dogs, and I thought I was doing so well, until two wee rascals skipped past me shouting ‘hiya Mrs Govans!’ and then proceeded to RUN up the rest of the hill.  They were actually starting to come back down the hill before I had even reached the top! Although they made my efforts look pathetic,  it was a real treat to see Ellie and Leighton enjoying themselves with their mum, dad and Bella the dog in the lovely sunshine.

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

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

East Ayrshire Council have developed a dedicated Wellbeing Website at  https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/SocialCareAndHealth/Wellbeing/Wellbeing.aspx which is filled with advice on mental wellbeing, exercise, healthy eating and new activities to try. It also has a range of supports for those who may be struggling. There is a dedicated section for Children, Young People, Parents and Carers which I hope you will find particularly helpful during these challenging times. We will continue to add to this section therefore it would be helpful if you could email any suggestions to healthandsafety@east-ayrshire.gov.uk together with any feedback on the current content.

Thank you.  Nicola Stewart, Principal Educational Psychologist for East Ayrshire Council

Please click on the links below to read letters from Linda McAulay-Griffiths, Head of Education at East Ayrshire Council

Letter to parents and carers June 2020

Letter to pupils June 2020

Good morning and welcome to Health Week Thursday 🙂

It’s been brilliant to read your posts about all the activities you’ve got up to at home during our Health Week – so far we’ve had Mindfulness Monday, Tik Tok Tuesday and Walking Wednesday.  I can’t wait to hear about your adventures over the next two days, and I’m so excited for Sports Day!

Today’s challenge is a singing one.  We sing this all the time at school so make sure you belt it out, especially the whistling at the end 🙂

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

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Please click on the links below to read a letter from Head of Campus, Mr Gilchrist, about the uniforms for the Robert Burns Academy pupils and to see graphics of the new blazers and ties. Thank you.  Mrs Govans

P7 letter

The Barony Campus Badges + uniforms

Good morning and Happy Health Week 🙂

Another glorious weekend in the sunshine – and what a great way to start our Health Week.  Staff in both the PS and ECC have great activities planned for you all every day and we look forward to hearing about your health adventures throughout the week.

Today’s challenge is another food one …

Try to think of a fruit or vegetable for every letter of your name. I’ve managed most of my name but I’m stuck on letter V!  Answers would be appreciated!

M – mushrooms

R – radishes

S – strawberries

G – grapes

O – oranges

V – ????

A – apples

N – nectarines

S – spring onion

You can’t use the same fruit or vegetable twice, and if you’ve got a short name try to do your surname too.  During last week’s food tasting challenge we discovered that Eli likes beetroot, and that I like grapefruit but not pineapple 🙁

Wishing you all a brilliant Health Week and looking forward to our Sports Day on Friday 5th June – how I wish we were all together down at Riverside Park cheering on our pupils during their races!

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

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Good morning to another glorious Thursday morning 🙂

Your teachers are all loving their phone calls to their pupils that they’ve made so far – they’re so pleased to hear about your lockdown adventures and stories.  If your teacher 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 Jayden who was thinking outside the box by using a large laundry basket as his base item!

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.  Kay-Cee was her family’s winner with a brilliant score of 17/20 – great stuff!

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…

Also, I’ve got a wee surprise for you!  Your teachers are going to be phoning you this week for a chat – they can’t wait to speak to you and hear what you’ve been up to during this time away from school.  I know it’s exciting when someone phones you so you could maybe make a list of all that you’ve been doing so that you’re organised for when your teacher phones you.

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 – I’ve been sent lots of emails/photos of answers …

Check your answers against the list below and let me know how you got on.  No cheating!!

1. What’s the fastest land animal? CHEETAH
2. What’s the biggest animal in the ocean? A BLUE WHALE
3. What’s the only poisonous snake native to the UK? AN ADDER
4. How many lives is a cat said to have? NINE
5. What do you call a baby kangaroo? A JOEY
6. Do polar bears live in the Arctic or the Antarctic? THE ARCTIC
7. What do you call a group of sheep? A HERD/FLOCK (either is acceptable)
8. How many legs does a spider have? EIGHT
9. Is a koala a real bear? NO, IT’S A MARSUPIAL
10. What’s the tallest animal in the world? A GIRAFFE
11. What kind of animal is Shere Khan in ‘The Jungle Book’? A TIGER
12. What is an alicorn? A WINGED UNICORN
13. How many horns did a triceratops have? THREE
14. What bird, with a distinctive call heard at the start of summer in the UK, is famous for stealing other birds’ nests? A CUCKOO
15. What’s the name of the cat in ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’ book? HAMISH
16. Nala and Simba are what kind of animal? LIONS
17. What type of dog is Marshall from ‘Paw Patrol’? A DALMATION
18. How many brains does an octopus have? NINE
19. What’s the slowest animal in the world? SLOTH
20. A group of which species is known as a Parliament? OWLS

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)

Mrs Schendel and I have enjoyed speaking to lots of parents/carers and pupils this week during our phone calls, and it’s been great to hear how pleased and proud everyone is with your report cards.  We’re looking forward to catching up with everyone else over the next few days.

Today’s challenge is … an Animal Quiz.  When I was a pupil at Catrine PS there used to be an annual interhouse quiz called ‘Top of the Form’ – hands up if you remember it?

There’s 20 animal questions and you can either have one quiz master asking all the questions, or you can split the people in your house into teams and play together.  I’ll post the answers up on Friday afternoon so that you can work out who are the winners. Good luck!

Animal questions

1. What’s the fastest land animal?

2. What’s the biggest animal in the ocean?

3. What’s the only poisonous snake native to the UK?

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

5. What do you call a baby kangaroo?

6. Do polar bears live in the Arctic or the Antarctic?

7. What do you call a group of sheep?

8. How many legs does a spider have?

9. Is a koala a real bear?

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

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

12. What is an alicorn?

13. How many horns did a triceratops have?

14. What bird, with a distinctive call heard at the start of summer in the UK, is famous for stealing other birds’ nests?

15. What’s the name of the cat in ‘The Lighthouse Keeper’s Lunch’ book?

16. Nala and Simba are what kind of animal?

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

18. How many brains does an octopus have?

19. What’s the slowest animal in the world?

20. A group of which species is known as a Parliament?

Last week I set a Wheely Good challenge, and Sophie and Connor aced it by building the best wee bogie in Ayrshire! Their mum sent me great photos of them sawing, hammering and drilling bits and pieces together to create their masterpiece – take at look at their hard work.

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

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Good morning, and welcome to another week of home learning.

I’ve received some lovely emails from parents/carers/pupils stating how proud they are of their school report – it’s always nice to hear from our families.  I hope you liked the wee hug too 🙂

Today’s challenge is another singing one. 

With the recent change in the weather (where has the sunshine gone?!) I’m finding it a wee bit harder to get out of bed in the morning so this song is going to kickstart my day.  We sing this song at assembly on Monday mornings to get our week started, so I hope you feel energised and wide awake after singing it today.  We do have some actions for the song and it would be great if you could make up your own at home too.

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

Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

Good morning.  I hope this finds you and yours safe and well.

Please look out for your child’s report card in the post this week.

I was very proud reading through their teacher’s comments and remembering all of their successes throughout this year, and I know you will enjoy sharing their report with your family.  We’ve certainly managed to cram a lot into every school day from August 2019 to March 2020 🙂

Also, Mrs Schendel and I will be phoning parents/carers for a  blether again this week.  Mrs Schendel will be phoning P4/5, P5/6 and P7 parents and I’ll be phoning P1, P2 and P3/4 parents.  Please remember that our call will come up on your phone as NO CALLER ID – please answer as it’s only us looking for a wee chat!

Wishing you a great week.  Mrs Govans

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 – especially Daryl in P5/6 who sent us a photo of the epic bruise on his knee because he fell off his scooter…

Hannah in P2 built an awesome bike ramp in her garden, and Lauren in P4/5 built a lego house complete with pram with wheels – great stuff!

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 @ Judith.govans@east-ayrshire.gov.uk

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

Millie in P3/4 created a  beautiful Fairy Garden

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 – remember to wear your helmet if you’re out on your bike!

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

Aimee in P4/5 getting ‘help’ from wee sister Ruby to do her schoolwork on her laptop 🙂

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.  All classes have work on their class blog relating to this and , as tomorrow is a holiday, there will be no work posted by teachers, so have a wee read through their VE Day activities.

Today’s challenge is another singing one .  We sing this regularly at assembly, 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 🙂

As I never managed to speak to all of our parents/carers in P5/6 and P4/5 last week I will be phoning again today, and I look forward to having a good blether with some of you.  It’s always great to hear how everyone – our pupils and their families – are getting on.  Remember, you can email us at any time with any issues/concerns.

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 was glad to hear from some pupils that they tried my challenge and have discovered new foods to enjoy – Daryl now likes pies, Robbie likes noodles and Lauren likes her dad’s curry.  Success!

I’ll try another three food items 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?

I look forward to reading some of your jokes later on your blogs or emails – we love when you share your work with us online.

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 …

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