In November, we asked 3 ‘big questions’ in order to gather your views to inform our new vision and set of values for Gargieston PS & ECC.

Your feedback to these questions has been collated and there were many common themes in your responses.  We would now like to ask for your support in responding to this brief survey to identify what you think our school values should be.

The link below will direct you straight to the survey – there will be no request for email addresses or passwords.  You will be asked to select the 5 values which you think are most important from a list containing key words from your responses to the ‘big questions’.  The survey will take you less than a minute to complete.

With over 300 families across our ECC and school, your responses to this survey will form a large part of our consultation process and the creation of our updated school vision and values.

Thank you very much to the 50 families who have responded to our survey so far.  We look forward to receiving more responses over the weekend 🙂

The next meeting of the Gargieston Fundraising Group will be held upstairs at the oval table in The Park Hotel, Dundonald Road, Kilmarnock on Sunday 20th January at 7.30pm. It would be great to see new faces there. All are welcome.

The next Parent Council meeting will be held in the school meeting room on Monday 21st January at 7pm. Anyone that wishes to come along for the first time will be given a warm welcome.

You are reminded that you do not have to be a member of the GFG or parent council to attend either meeting.

Thank You

Thank you to everyone who attended the parent workshop last night.  Pauline’s presentation about the loss of her beautiful 13 year old daughter was emotional as well as informative.  I know we were all filled with admiration about the work Pauline and her charity carries out in memory of Jenna to promote positive feelings of self-worth in young people.

In reflecting on the presentation, there were 3 key points that stood out for me, both as a Mum and as a Head Teacher:

1. Talk to your children and listen to them – spend time together, ask them questions but most of all, put the screens off and really listen to what they are saying.
2.  Encourage a growth mindset – don’t underestimate the power of the word ‘yet’!
3. Be kind – to each other and to ourselves.  A smile, a kind word or a kind thought for someone can have such a positive impact on their day 🙂

Just a reminder that on Wednesday night this week, Pauline Moriarty, founder of local Scottish Registered charity ‘Beautiful Inside & Out’ (Scio) will deliver an outline of the background, aims and services of the charity, with discussion of ways in which all adults can promote positive mental health in our young people.
The school has strong links with the charity and would urge parents to come along and listen to Pauline talk about her personal journey and the development of the charity.

If you would like to come along at 7pm on Wednesday night, please scroll down to the initial post and add your name on the drop down menu.

On Wednesday 16th January at 7pm, Pauline Moriarty, founder of local Scottish Registered charity ‘Beautiful Inside & Out’ (Scio) shall deliver an outline of the background, aims and services of the charity, with discussion of ways in which all adults can promote positive mental health in our young people.

The school has strong links with the charity and would urge parents to come along and listen to Pauline talk about her personal journey and the development of the charity – its services were even praised by Theresa May during PM Question Time recently.

Please complete the drop down below if you plan to attend.

Thank you.

Primary 3a have been learning British Sign Language with Miss Caldow.

They have started to teach the whole school how to sign A Million Dreams at assembly today.  We can’t wait to learn the full song.

Well done to all the children who were recognised for being Superstars at assembly today – what a great start to 2019!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5h02QXqLG0

Our children in the ECC and Primary 1 are going to be becoming very familiar with this bright and colourful character over the next few weeks.  If we are very good, he may even come to visit us with Nan and Betty McCoo too.

The staff have been working hard to prepare some fantastic and creative learning experiences for the children with a focus on literacy but also covering a wide range of other curricular areas.  We are looking forward to welcoming Shirley Husband, the author of the McCoo books, to introduce our topic to the children on Tuesday morning.

The children really enjoyed sharing their learning experiences with me and each other with a drink of juice and a biscuit this morning 😊

Huge congratulations to Sam McCallum in Primary 7! After the regional qualifiers in Ayr during November, his superb time for 50m Freestyle means he has qualified for the Scottish Schools Championships later this month. He will be representing Gargieston at Tollcross in Glasgow on the 26th January.

Good luck, Sam and enjoy every minute of the day!