We are still looking for as many parents/carers as possible to complete our maths survey.

The deadline for the survey is Sunday 31st October.

We would love to hear your views about maths and supporting your child at home.  Your views will help us measure the impact of the work we are doing with National Numeracy this year.

The survey should only take 5 minutes and you have a chance to win £50 worth of books and games for your family.

Click the link below to complete the survey.

https://nn.typeform.com/to/xLcyBnNU

Thank you so much for your help.

Mrs Schendel

We really miss having our parents/carers in school to see all the fabulous learning that is taking place.

Mrs Schendel would love a blether with parents/carers of P1 parents about all things maths and will be in the main playground on Tuesday 26th October at 2.45pm.

Please come along and ask any questions you may have in supporting your child with their maths homework or to ask about the maths work taking place in the P1 classroom.

We still need to follow Covid-19 regulations so please remember to wear a face covering, unless exempt, and maintain social distancing.

If you are unable to attend but have any maths related questions you would like to ask please e-mail me at:

roberta.schendel@eastayrshire.org.uk

We look forward to seeing you then.

We have had a great week for Maths Week Scotland and I hope you enjoyed seeing all the different ways we do maths in school.  If you haven’t done so yet head over to the class blogs to see all the great work taking place.

Over the next few months I will be continuing to work with National Numeracy in involving parents in supporting children with their maths and building positive mindsets towards maths.  I look forward to sharing this experience with you.

A reminder that we would like as many parents as possible to complete the National Numeracy survey.  Here is the link again if you haven’t completed it yet.

https://nn.typeform.com/to/xLcyBnNU

Quote/top tip

Always promote a “can-do” attitude towards maths.

e,g, “Your number work is really improving!”

“I’m really impressed with what you can do.”

Try not to share with your child the idea that you were bad at maths or that maths was boring.  Research shows that as soon as this idea is shared, achievement goes down.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Schendel

As part of Maths Week Scotland and our partnership with National Numeracy we are keen to gather parents’ opinions about maths.  This will also to help us to provide evidence of the impact of the work we will be doing along with National Numeracy.

Parents completing the parent surveys can choose to opt in to a prize draw to win a bundle of books and games worth £50 and we are keen to hear from as many parents & carers as possible.

The link for the survey is below and should only take about 4 minutes. The deadline for completion is Sunday 31st October.

https://nn.typeform.com/to/xLcyBnNU

Our pupils have made a great start to Maths Week Scotland, keep checking the class blogs to see what they get up to this week.

Quote/top tip for today.

Never underestimate the ‘Power of Yet’.

Mrs Schendel

This week is Maths Week Scotland.  Although maths is a focus for us every day in school, Maths Week Scotland helps us to be more aware of maths around us and how we use it in our daily lives.

This week your child will be taking part in maths activities outdoors.  Keep an eye on the class blogs to see what they get up to!

This year the school is also delighted to have been selected to work with the independent charity National Numeracy on an exciting project which encourages children and families to do maths together.

As part of the project, we will be introducing National Numeracy’s Family Maths scrapbooks and activities. These activities help children and families to explore everyday maths at home together. They link the maths that children are learning at school with life outside the classroom.  Your child will come home with their scrapbook this week and some activities to complete with you at home.

You don’t need any special knowledge or equipment to work on the activities. Just talking about everyday maths can help develop children’s maths confidence. You might like to take photos, draw pictures, write calculations or create diagrams in the scrapbooks – it’s up to you!

National Numeracy has provided a scrapbook for every child in the school. We encourage all families to support their children’s learning by getting involved with the activities.

Later in the year, there will also be a chance for parents and carers to attend a workshop led by National Numeracy on supporting children to develop positive attitudes towards maths. All parents and carers will also be offered access to National Numeracy’s free online learning tool for adults, the National Numeracy Challenge.  More details on this will follow soon.

Throughout this week I will be gathering your views on maths, giving helpful tips on supporting your child at home and encouraging positive mindsets to maths.  Be prepared for some cheesy quotes like these ones I have on my office door!

‘Believe in yourself.  There is no such thing as a ‘maths’ person.  Everyone can reach the levels they want, with hard word work.’

And in the words of Ed Sheeran:

Please email me with any questions you have about supporting your child at home with maths and look out for some more posts throughout the week.

Mrs Schendel

What a year it has been!

We are so proud of all our children, families and staff who have been such superstars during this extraordinary year.  We have faced lots challenges but we have faced them together and achieved so much despite the obstacles in our way.

We have had such a fun week this week to end the year with walks to the park, skimming stones in the river, board games, outdoor games, escape rooms, movies and so much more! Mrs Govans has really missed being with us but she has been enjoying seeing photos and videos of what we have been up to.

P7 enjoyed their fun day on Wednesday and boogied the day away in their disco dome.  We wish them the best of luck as they head to the academy and look forward to hearing how they all get on next year.

We say goodbye to Miss Feighan, Mrs Stewart, Mrs O’Hare and Miss Robertson and thank them very much for all their hard work.

We are delighted to welcome Miss Edmond as our P3 teacher next year, I’m sure she will have a great year at Catrine Primary School.

Please keep a look out over the holidays on our blog and school app for all the arrangements for coming back in August.  Pupils return on Thursday 19th August.

I wish you all a very happy summer holiday.  Keep safe and I look forward to seeing you in August.

Mrs Schendel

Primary 7 are looking forward to their leavers fun day tomorrow.  Details of this are on the P6/7 blog page.

All other pupils will be taking part in some fun activities throughout tomorrow and the rest of the week.   Pupils can come to school in casual clothes for the rest of the week and be suitably dressed for going walks or playing outdoors.

A reminder that the school closes at 1pm on Friday.  Pupils will receive their school lunches before they are sent home.

Mrs Schendel

We are very excited to have acquired some new equipment for our infant playground to encourage loose parts play which helps develop skills such as creativity, problem solving and curiosity as well as developing social skills.  Loose parts are things like tyres, wooden planks, crates and plastic guttering.  Loose parts lets children play in many different ways – anything from making a pirate ship to building an assault course – the possibilities are endless!

P1/2 and P2 will be spending lots of time outdoors exploring this new equipment and might get a bit dirty! Pupils should come to school every day prepared to play outside. School uniform tops and jumpers should still be worn but children can wear trackies, leggings or older bottoms which you don’t mind getting dirty.

We look forward to seeing our pupils back tomorrow and can’t wait to see what they create with our new equipment.

Mrs Schendel

A huge well done to P6/7 who were the daily winners yesterday on the East Ayrshire Sumdog maths competition.

165 classes across East Ayrshire have entered the competition so to be the top class is an amazing achievement!

P4/5 are also on the leader board, so well done to them too!   All classes have until the end of today to take part in the competition.  Let’s see if we can have a final push to see Catrine Primary on the final leader boards.

Mrs Schendel

Over the past term P5/6 have been working really hard to improve their fitness.  We have gradually built up our times with our aim being to be able to run without stopping for 10 mins. Tomorrow we hope to reach our goal by heading out into the community for our first 10 min run.

If your child is in P5/6 please ensure they come to school with old trainers as it may be a bit muddy underfoot. A light waterproof jacket is also a good idea or an old jumper or fleece you don’t mind getting wet and muddy.

The children will be accompanied by Mrs Schendel and Mrs Watt and we will all stick together as a group.

Wish us luck!

Mrs Schendel

P1/2 and P2 have been really enjoying their walks on a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.   We intend to keep this going throughout December, weather permitting.  Please continue to ensure your child is suitably dressed on the day they are out walking (P1/2 Thursday, P2 Wednesday.)

The community seem to enjoy seeing us out and about and we get lots of waves and smiles.  If your child has a Christmassy hat or head piece they would like to wear for their walk I’m sure they would spread some Christmas cheer to those we pass.

Mrs Schendel

P1/2 will again be going out a walk tomorrow afternoon. Please ensure your child is wearing a warm waterproof jacket and suitable footwear.

Mrs Schendel

P2 will once again be going out a walk for PE tomorrow afternoon.  Please ensure your child is wearing a warm, waterproof jacket and suitable footwear.

Mrs Schendel

P2 really enjoyed their walk this afternoon. We went to feed the ducks. We learned that bread isn’t very good for ducks so we fed them oats instead.  We had a great discussion about where oats come from. Maybe you could ask your child if they remember what we discovered.

P1/2 will again be going a walk for PE tomorrow. Please ensure your child comes to school with suitable jackets and footwear.

Mrs Schendel

Weather permitting, P2 will again be going a walk tomorrow (Wednesday 11th November) during their PE time.  Please ensure your child has on a warm waterproof jacket and suitable footwear.

Mrs Schendel

Weather permitting, P1/2 will again be going a walk tomorrow afternoon as part of their PE programme.  Please ensure your child comes to school with a warm, waterproof jacket and suitable footwear.

Mrs Schendel

P1/2 will once again be going a walk tomorrow during their PE time.  The pupils are excited to go and see their art work in one of the shop windows and are very keen to go and visit the pumpkin patch in the square.  Please remember warm, waterproof jackets and suitable footwear.

Mrs Schendel

During our PE time tomorrow (Wednesday 28th October) P2 will be going on an autumn walk.  Please ensure your child comes to school with a warm, waterproof jacket and suitable footwear.

Mrs Schendel