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 Catrine Primary and welcome to sports day!!!! 

I hope you are all ready to get stuck into the sports day activities today. Make sure and check the individual class pages for more details about your race and challenge!

All the staff at Catrine have been up SUPER early this morning to complete our relay race and let me tell you, you’re in for a treat!

WOOHOO…  GO TEAM CATRINE 🙂
TEAM WORK TO MAKE THE DREAM WORK!!

Now it’s over to you……

Family Race
Wheelbarrow Race
Measure out 5 metres, find a partner and complete 3 laps.

3 Legged Race  
Measure out 5 metres. Find a partner, tie your legs together, and complete 5 laps.

Family Challenge
Tug of War
Measure out 5 metres and mark the half way point. Find your team and PULL. You can use a dressing gown tie, scarf, skipping rope or anything that you can pull. The winner is best of three!

Good luck!

Remember to take as many pictures as possible and update your Blog with your results. We are so looking forward to seeing all your sports day posts! 🙂

Over and Out,
TEAM CATRINE! 

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

Well done to those of you who have managed to get set up on Teams and have left Miss Burleigh and I a message.

A reminder that I will be hosting a meeting for P7 pupils tomorrow at 11am.  This is a chance for you to get set up on Teams and have a practise before speaking to staff from Robert Burns Academy.  Please see the post below to see how to set up Teams on your computer, phone or tablet.  Remember you can email myself or Miss Burleigh for any help.

I look forward to speaking to you tomorrow.

Mrs Schendel

Today is all about walking. You can get your steps in by playing out in the garden, helping around the house or arranging a a walk with your family. We would love to see some photographs from your walk. You can do this by updating your Glow blog.

A reminder that Sports Day is this Friday! We hope to see you all participating in the activities and joining in on the fitness fun 😀 

Mrs McPheator and Mr Tickner from the academy would like to set up a transition meeting for the P7 pupils.  This would give pupils an opportunity to ask any questions they may have about starting Robert Burns Academy in August and for staff to pass on any information.

To do this the staff would like to use Teams.  Some of you may not have used Teams yet so Miss Burleigh has kindly made some help sheets for you.

If you are using a computer/laptop:

If you are using a phone, iPad or tablet:

If you have any difficulties please email myself (roberta.schendel@eastayrshire.org.uk) or Miss Burleigh (cheryl.burleigh@eastayrshire.org.uk) and we will help out any way we can.

Miss Burleigh has left you a message on the team.  Please reply and let us know when you have accessed it.

We will set up a meeting for Thursday at 11am to give you a chance to practise.  Look for a message about this on the Team and in your emails and try to join in.  This will let you know if you can work it ok before you meet with Mr Tickner and Mrs McPheator.

Good luck!

Mrs Schendel

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

Today is Mindfulness Monday.

Make sure to check your class page and join in on the mindfulness activities today 🙂

Health Week

1st June – 5th June 

Next week is Health Week at Catrine Primary. Your teachers have been working hard to create activities and challenges that have a health and wellbeing focus. We would love for you all to participate in these activities and share your learning on your Glow blog.

Sports Day

Friday 5th June

On Friday 5th,  we are going to be holding a virtual sports day. Each class will have their own set of races and challenges and we would love for you all to take part. There will be family events, pupil events and of course a staff event. So keep your eyes peeled for that!

I have listed the races and challenges that you will all be involved in down below to give you a chance to organise some of the materials that you might need (and maybe have a cheeky practice – I won’t tell anyone). Your class teacher will provide you with more details of your races, on the individual class pages. The races are slightly different to what you are used to. We have had to think of alternative ways to do the races in our garden. They are much more exciting and we know that you will have such a fun time participating in the races!

Races and Challenges

Primary 1

Race - Egg and spoon race (using an egg or a potato)

Challenge - 1 minute to do as many hops as possible 

Primary 2

Race - Bean bag race (balancing a teddy on your head)

Challenge - 1 minute to do as many star jumps as possible

Primary 3/4

Race - Hopping and jumping race (hopping forward and jumping back)

Challenge - 30 seconds to do as many speed bounces as possible  (jumping over towel)

Primary 4/5

Race - Sac race (using  a pillowcase)

Challenge - 1 minute to do as many burpees as possible 

Primary 5/6

Race - Hurdles race (using books, boxes and family members)

Challenge - How long can you hold a plank?

Primary 7

Race - Obstacle race (over, under, round garden objects) 

Challenge - 1 minute to as many speed bounces as possible (jumping over towel)

Family Event

Race - wheelbarrow race or 3 legged race 

Challenge - Tug of war (using dressing gown or scarf or something similar)

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       

Dear Parent/Carer

Following a key meeting between East Ayrshire Council representatives and Morrison Construction this week, please find the attached letter which we hope is helpful in framing the interim plan for those pupils due to attend the Barony Campus.

Please click on the link below:

Barony Parent Letter

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