Curriculum Update Primary 5

Welcome back to school! It has been so wonderful to welcome back the pupils of primary 5, they are settling in beautifully and have already started making progress in their learning.

 

Here is an update on our learning that will take place in term 1 August- October.

 

Literacy

The class novel this term is ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl. The pupils will complete various reading and writing tasks related to this appropriate to their level. This novel study also has links to other curricular areas including Health and Well-being, art and drama.

We will also continue using the ‘Bug Club’ reading resource to aid our comprehension skills.

Writing

P5 will focus on imaginative/ narrative writing this term. The class will be told the focus of their writing the night before so as to discuss ideas at home. This will be their ‘Talk Homework’.

Groups will look at planning their piece, punctuation, effective use of vocabulary and paragraphing.

 

Spelling

Groups will continue to experience the active literacy spelling programme, this will introduce common words and focus phonemes pertinent to their stage.

 

Numeracy

This term the children will experience shape and time as beyond number topics. This will involve 2D and 3D shape tasks. During time activities they will look at time telling, duration, am and pm and some groups will look at 24hr conversion.

Our number processes topics will include division for the circles and rectangles groups, addition for the squares group and place value activities for the triangles group.

At home children will benefit from timetables revision and experience of telling the time in everyday situations.

 

Health and Well-being

The PATHS programme will continue to shape our HWB learning. P5 have already started ‘pupil of the day’ and participated in discussions around feelings and how we manage our emotions. P5 will also look at healthy choices and some substances that could harm our bodies, appropriate to their age and stage.

 

RE

Preparations for First Holy Communion are underway and we are supporting the pupils in class with this. Booklets have been sent home for parents to access for those children receiving the sacrament.

In class we will introduce the Gospel of Mark, our P5 focus gospel. We will discuss our talents and skills and this will form the basis of our class charter.

 

It’s good to be back!!!!!

 

Primary 1 photograph-Kilmarnock Standard

EAC have made the decision that Primary 1 children in East Ayrshire should be able to have their class photograph taken outside for the Kilmarnock Standard.

We have arranged for the photographer from the Kilmarnock Standard to come to the school on Friday morning of this week to take a group photograph of our Primary 1 children. This will be taken outside and social distancing will be observed throughout the process.

If you do not wish your child to be in the photograph please let the school office know asap please.

Homework

Homework

Homework will be provided to Primary 2-7 children starting from Monday 7th September. Each child will bring home a plastic homework folder which will contain a grid with homework activities. The homework folder will also contain a card with login details for items which can be accessed online.

 

School Choir

Dear Mount Carmel Primary Choir Member,

I would like to invite you be part of the Mount Carmel Primary Choir Team on Microsoft Teams.
As we cannot yet sing in school together, I thought you could all be practising at home, so that when we do get back together we would have a song or two to perform and sing.
I have chosen two songs for us to do. The first is called ‘One Moment, One People’ a song about working together and making positive connections with each other, very important at this time. The second song is called ‘We Are the Children of This School’.
On the Team there are backing tracks and lyrics to help you learn the songs. I would like you to start with ‘One Moment, One People’. There is a unison voice version as well to help as a guide for the melody.
*Listen to the unison version several times to get familiar with the tune.
*While listening click on the lyrics/sheet music and start singing along.
*You will notice that half way through the song it splits into two parts, try and learn both and we will decide who sings what when we meet again.

I hope you will enjoy the songs and singing again. Have fun practising and I look forward to seeing and hearing your lovely singing voices soon.

Miss Donnelly
(Vocal Instructor)

Reminder – Coronavirus Symptoms guidelines

Please remember that if your child has new symptoms of coronavirus (persistent cough, high temperature, and/or loss of taste or smell), they must not attend school for 10 days after the onset of symptoms. However, if they are tested and receive a negative result they can normally return to school immediately unless a high temperature is present, in which case they should still stay away from school for 48hrs after their temperature has normalised without the use of medication used to suppress fever. Please also note that pupils will be required to isolate for 14 days if another member of their household has symptoms, unless they themselves are tested for coronavirus.

I understand the pressures parents/carers are under to send their children to school and I am aware of the difficulties placed upon parents/carers when children are unable to attend school. However, it is critically important at this time that we adopt a cautious approach to managing the risks from coronavirus, and make our school as safe as we possibly can for our staff and our young people.

Your support in being vigilant to any new symptoms of coronavirus and acting in line with the current Government guidance helps us create that safe environment we are all working hard to maintain and for that I am grateful to you all.

Kindest Regards

Carole McConville, Head Teacher

Collection of Pupils from Monday 24th August

From Monday 24th August there will be a designated area in the school playground for children to be collected at the end of the school day.

Primary 1 -3 parents/carers can continue to access the lower school playground at the end of the day to collect children.

Primary 4-7 parents/carers are required to wait in the Primary 6 and 7 playground to meet children.

The school gates will continue to be closed until 2.55pm.  We request that no one enters the school grounds until this time.

Dropping of children

From Monday 17th August we ask that parents and carers no longer enter the school playground to drop children at school.  Children will walk on their own from the lower school entrance gate and upper school entrance gate.  A member of the management team will be at these gates to welcome the children to school.

Primary 1 parents and carers may continue to enter the lower school playground until children are collected by their teachers.  We ask that from Monday 24th August Primary 1 parents and carers no longer enter the school playground to drop children at school.

The reason for these changes is that we want to keep children and families safe and support social distancing.

 

Lunch choice for Thursday and Friday

THURSDAY

  • Option 1 – Chicken Goujons with rice
  • Option 2 – Salmon fish fingers with baby potatoes
  • Option 3 – Pick and mix with gammon sandwich
  • Fruit/yoghurt/vegetable sticks

FRIDAY (P1 and P6 and 7 buddies)

  • Option 1 – Chilli Con Carne with rice
  • Option 2 – homemade cheese and tomato pizza
  • Option 3 – Pick and mix with tuna sandwich
  • Fruit/yoghurt/vegetable sticks/ice cream

 

Letter from Head of Education

Letter to all parents/carers from Head of Education


Tuesday 4th August 2020 10:29


Dear Parent/Carer,

I hope that this letter will find you and your family well and enjoying a well-earned summer break, albeit in rather different circumstances.

Following the recent announcement from the First Minister on the return of schools, I am delighted to be able to furnish you with further detail on our plans to reinstate education for young people in East Ayrshire. I speak for all staff when I say how much we have missed having our young people in our schools. I am very aware that this will be an anxious time for families and young people and hope that this communication will help you as your young people return to school. Our key focus as we return in the immediate sense is to support the wellbeing of everybody involved.  At this stage, I wish to express a note of sincere thanks to your Parent Council Chairs who have been an active part of our Local Phasing Plan workstreams and have attended several meetings over the summer break in this regard.

Date of Return of Pupils
As per previous communications, the Health and Safety of all has been our overriding priority. I am also acutely conscious that some of our young people require enhanced transition and many learners will not have visited their new schools until now.

With this in mind, almost all schools in East Ayrshire will undertake a “soft start” approach from Wednesday 12th – Friday 14th August to allow young people to experience what will be a new environment for all of us.  Individual schools will let you know their specific arrangements, including who should attend each day.

We have asked our schools to prioritise children in P1 and S1 in the first week, and know that the “very first day at school” for P1 is one to be cherished and celebrated. Please know that schools are making individual arrangements to allow parents to arrive with their children and capture this moment in some way.  Schools will communicate these arrangements individually.

Given this planned partial attendance of pupils, we would ask that any families for whom this causes difficulty, to please approach the school for assistance, bearing in mind that emergency critical childcare ceases on Thursday 6th August for Early Childhood Centres and Friday 7th August for school-aged children. All pupils in East Ayrshire should be therefore be attending full-time by Monday 17thAugust, other than young people with ongoing health issues, quarantining or self-isolating. We would encourage parents and carers to contact their school if there are any issues or concerns around attendance that schools may be able to help with.

Early Learning and Childcare (ELC)
Each ECC will work towards the delivery of 600 hours of early learning and childcare taking account of the refreshed ELC guidance and public health measures published on 30 July 2020.

ECCs that delivered 1140 hours prior to lockdown will begin to reintroduce the delivery of 1140 hours of funded early learning and childcare on a phased basis. The increased hours will also be introduced in the new build Nether Robertland Early Childhood Centre and the new build Netherthird Early Childhood Centre on the same basis.

Further information for each individual ECC will be published on the Council website during week beginning 17 August, which will set out the timeframe for the delivery of hours in each location. I would ask for your patience while our staff work through these detailed arrangements.

Wellbeing and Learning
Your child’s wellbeing will always be our prime concern and staff are ready to welcome your child back to school in a welcoming way that links to our ongoing work on relationships across all of our schools.  You can access our pupil wellbeing framework here:
https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/Resources/PDF/S/Supporting-wellbeing-for-children-guidance.pdf

In addition, we have been actively seeking views of parents and carers in regards to wellbeing and would welcome any further responses to our wellbeing survey which closes on Friday 7th August: https://eastayrshi.re/wellbeingquestionnaire

Our teams are ready to recommence learning at all levels, but a few activities such as choirs and assemblies are unable to run at this stage, as per guidance.  Children will also encounter some adaptations to PE and practical lessons to keep everyone safe.  Music tuition will also be delivered in a different way and parents /carers will be contacted where appropriate.

Transport and Arrival of Pupils
School transport will run as normal and pupils should access their assigned transport as normal.  Where pupils are dropped off at school by car, we respectfully ask that this is not directly at school gates to prevent entry areas becoming overcrowded.  Clearly this will not be the case for young people with additional support needs who require to be dropped off in school proximity.  Your child does not require a face covering for school transport, but is absolutely welcome to wear a covering should they prefer to do so.  Sanitation of hands will be expected on bus entry (for public and school transport) and staff working as escorts in taxis will be wearing a face mask.  Your school will also provide further information on pick-up and drop-off areas at the start and end of the day.

In accordance with government guidelines, parents will not be able to enter the school, and arrangements will be made with you directly should an emergency occur and you require to come to collect your child.

Ongoing Measures to Protect your Child/Children and Your Family
We have worked alongside your Parent Councils, Headteachers, the Council’s Health & Safety Team and Facilities & Property Management services over the summer period to ensure a safe return to school.

All schools have a set checklist and risk assessments completed in accordance with our Local Phasing Plan. There are a great deal of practical measures that we seek your support for as our young people return, in addition to the actions that we have undertaken/will undertake as pupils return.

All young people will be asked to wash or sanitise their hands on arrival at school and this will be encouraged throughout the day.  We would ask all young people to bring clean tissues to school where possible, and they may bring their own personal sanitiser if parents wish. School clothes should be washed as per normal routine and we ask that pupils limit personal items brought to school to those that are essential.

Clearly our cleaning routines are aligned with guidance, and indeed exceed this, communal areas will be cleaned regularly and access controlled to limit numbers in any toilet or limited space.  High traffic and “touch-point” areas will be cleaned regularly through the day.  Further information can be found here:
https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/CouncilAndGovernment/Coronavirus/Schools-ecc.aspx

With regard to physical distancing, the guidance is clear that there is no requirement for this in primary or secondary settings; however we wish to encourage this in all settings, particularly with our older secondary pupils.  We have issued guidance to all of our staff to reduce any unnecessary movement of pupils around schools and will encourage pupils to remain in groupings wherever possible.  A list of supporting actions has been issued to Headteachers to keep your young people and our staff as safe as possible, and signage and communications with our young people will reflect this.  Assemblies and other large gatherings such as school shows and Parents Evenings are unable to be held in the first term, subject to continued review and scientific advice.

Staff physical distancing from pupils is endorsed by the guidance at the standard 2 metres, and whilst we recognise that this will not be possible in all sectors, please understand that some of our staff will need to wear PPE where this is not possible.  We are already taking the most supportive measures that we can in recognising that this will be difficult for some of our pupils.

Catering
Detailed discussions have been ongoing with our Facilities teams and I am delighted to advise that a pre-order system will be in place for young people in our schools, this will take a differing format from primary to secondary.  Further details of school catering can be found at this link. https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/schoolmeals.

Schools are arranging a variety of ways to distribute food following detailed discussions between Headteachers and School Catering Managers and all issues around allergies will be taken account of as always.  We ask that our pre-order system is supported wherever possible to expedite the distribution of food to our young people and keep everyone as safe as possible.

It is likely that most food will be consumed in classrooms initially to prevent mass gatherings of pupils in dining areas.  Food will be pre-packed and will feature hot and cold options and pre-packed cutlery. No breakfast or break food will be available at the very start of term, but this will be under constant review and provision will be expanded in time as we begin to settle back to routine. We therefore ask that parents ensure that young people have access to breakfast and bring a snack, if needed, until further notice.  We are happy to assist any parents or carers who may have difficulty with this, please alert your school if this is the case.

Pupils can continue to bring a packed lunch and we ask parents to work with us in actively encouraging young people to remain on the school site for lunch, as we are unable to supervise any provision made outside of school.

COVID-19 Surveillance
A national COVID-19 surveillance system is being initiated for staff and senior pupils involving testing on a voluntary basis, and we have been working with our local Public Health Teams to plan for any scenarios that may arise in our schools or ECCs.  We ask that parents and carers support us in the following ways in this regard:

  • Please do not send your child to school or ECC if they, or any of your household, have symptoms or a diagnosis of COVID-19.  Please alert school immediately if this situation arises.
  • Please arrange to pick your child up from school immediately if you are contacted to advise that they are symptomatic, and follow subsequent medical advice.  Schools have to ensure that any child who is symptomatic is taken home, according to the guidance.

Contingency Planning
Please know that schools have contingency plans ready, should there be any change to this plan for return, either through any change to physical distancing or indeed local or national lockdown being required.  Clearly, we do not wish to use these unless necessary, but we hope that parents and carers will be reassured to know that these are readily available.

SQA
There is, as yet, no full announcement on the SQA exam diet for 2021, we continue to canvass on your behalf for clarity for our learners and staff, particularly given that these courses have indeed commenced. A separate communication has been issued to young people receiving results today.

Some Practicalities…
In summary, we absolutely appreciate that this will be a return to school involving a huge mixture of both anxiety, but also indeed joy as young people see their friends and staff again. As a final helpful list to parents, can you please support us by:

  • Reinforcing hygiene measures and social distancing with your child(ren).
  • Having your child bring tissues to school to capture any coughs or sneezes.
  • Ensuring your child does not bring unnecessary items to school.
  • Working with your school in a positive way, even if things are difficult, we all want to help.
  • Reinforcing positive relationships between children and our staff.
  • Using our meal pre-order system and giving your child a break-time snack and breakfast, please let us know if we can help with this
  • Not dropping children off directly at school gates (where possible), this will help us prioritise this space for young people with additional support needs who require this access.
  • Understanding that we are not permitted to allow visitors to school buildings, other than in emergency or other exceptional circumstances.
  • Following individual uniform advice issued by your school, as we appreciate some families will not yet have been able to access this.

Next Steps
Your school will send you a specific communication about their individual return plans within the next 24 hours.  Can I please ask that you bear in mind that school staff will return on Tuesday 11th August in regard to any further queries you have specifically.

Can I end by thanking you all so much again for your support of your child’s learning.  My teams and I simply cannot wait to welcome them all back to school.

Kindest regards,

LINDA McAULAY-GRIFFITHS
Head of Education

Sent To You By East Ayrshire Council