Dyslexia awareness week in Scotland runs from the 29th September until the 6th October. Dyslexia and different learning styles will be explored during our assemblies over the next couple of weeks and we will take part in this in a number of ways. We will hear from our DFS (dyslexia friendly schools) community group during our whole school assembly, we will then participate in different activities during our stage assemblies. Then, on Friday 10th October, as well as a dress down day, we will have a no pens day. This means that all learning will take place in different ways throughout the day but no pens or pencils will be allowed… outdoor learning, digital technology and active learning will take place to celebrate all learning styles.
All posts by Mrs McCreadie
Primary 2 curricular update
Primary 2 Curricular Blog Post – Miss Livingston and Mrs Strachan
Welcome back to a new school year! As our learners settle back in, we are excited to start the new school year. This term is all about building upon the foundation laid in Primary 1 while also introducing new challenges. Our first two weeks have been about getting to know each other, building friendships and routines and revisiting our learning from Primary 1 so we are ready to start developing new knowledge and skills.
Literacy
Within literacy this term we are continuing to develop our knowledge of phonics, introducing a new sound every week along with two new “common words”. This in turn helps us with our reading and writing. For reading we are focusing on our tools for reading and prediction. This involves reading for enjoyment, looking at the front cover, title and illustrations of a book to help our understanding. As well as this we will continue with our weekly new books to practice reading aloud and improving our fluency as we come across new words. For writing, we are focusing on descriptive writing and ensuring we can read our writing by using full stops and capital letters.
Numeracy
This term for numeracy we will be focusing on Place Value with Miss Livingston, and Shape with Mrs Strachan. For place value we will look at estimating, recognising and ordering numbers 1-20, before moving on to look at numbers 1-100. Within shape, we will be looking at identifying, naming and describing 2D and 3D shapes
Health and Wellbeing
Primary 2 have been looking at understanding and identifying our emotions and feelings. We have done this through our PATHS, which is a whole school programme. Lessons will include feelings, actions and problem solving. Each child will also get the opportunity to be “Pupil of the Day”. They will receive compliments from peers on this day and get special responsibilities. We have also developed our understanding of emotions and feelings through looking at the story, “The Colour Monster”. Throughout the day pupils have their “How are they feeling” check in station where they can put into practice identifying their emotions.
Within PE, we started focusing on developmental games which allowed us to expand on our friendships and team building skills. We will now be looking to move on to develop our balls skills and start a block of Football. Just a reminder that our PE days are a Tuesday and a Thursday. Please ensure a full PE kit is brought into school and pupil names are on items. This can be left on their peg during the week.
UNCRC
As we begin Primary 2 we have explored the UNCRC Rights of the Child. Together, we created a class Charter with the theme of Superheroes, the idea of “Protecting our Rights”. This class charter is a classroom promise to be considering our rights, needs and wants while also thinking about our school values of kindness, faith and responsibility.
Religious Education
In Primary 2 pupils will be learning about being made in the image of God and that we are all unique. Pupils will also be developing our understanding of prayer and celebration of Mass through our celebrations at Mass on the first Friday of the month and liturgical celebrations.
Topic
Our topic to start the year will be “Grandparents”. We will be exploring the past to understand how our Grandparents lived and compare their lives to our own. This will involve looking at our family trees, creating a timeline of key events in the past as well as looking at a range of media such as music, radio, and films.
We are looking forward to an exciting new school year filled with new friendships, fun and learning opportunities!
Miss Livingston and Mrs Strachan
Period poverty talks
At Mount Carmel we provide period poverty packs to all of our children and families, should they require it. These packs are readily available in the girls toilets as well as at our front foyer for all to access. With this comes inevitable questions from some of our children. Mrs McCreadie will have a chat with girls from Primary 5, 6 and 7 on Thursday 11th September. This will provide the girls the opportunity to ask questions in a safe and respectful environment. The girls will take part in this conversation in their class groups and it will not be done in a whole group setting. If you do not want your child to take part in these conversations, or you have any questions yourself on how this will take place, please call into the school office. Thank you!
Friday Mass 29th August
We are delighted to be attending our first mass for the new session on Friday 29th August at 10am where Primary 7 will lead us in our readings. Everyone is welcome to attend and we hope to see some of you there!
WIDER ACHIEVEMENT ASSEMBLY – AUGUST
Dear Parents and Carers.
Our first wider achievement assembly will be held on Friday 29th August. During this assembly, we will celebrate the children’s achievements from during their summer holidays. This can be anything from receiving a medal, to completing a level in swimming or learning how to ride their bike. Anything that the children (and adults) are proud of. Please send a photo and a short sentence of what the achievement is to
eamountcarmel.ps@eastayrshire.org.uk
by Wednesday 27th August.
Thank you,
Mrs McCreadie
Catering Update
Hi everyone and welcome back to our pupils and their families. We hope you have all had a great summer. It is wonderful to see the children settled in their new classes after the summer, looking smart and ready to learn in their uniforms. Thank you!
We have a little update regarding our kitchen and some upcoming work that will be carried out. East Ayrshire Council was due to begin renovations to our kitchen area during the summer, unfortunately this was unable to begin when planned and the work is going to begin in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, our amazing catering staff will be cooking the children’s lunches from Hillhead school and transporting the food from there to our lunch hall ready for the children to eat at the usual lunch time. As much as this is a change to how the staff will provide lunches, there will be minimal disruption for the children. Free fruit will still be available for children to access at break times and lunch times. We will keep you updated with any changes in the near future.
Thank you for your understanding in this matter,
Mrs McCreadie
Uniform exchange – TODAY
A gentle reminder that our uniform exchange will be available for all between 9am and 12pm today, Thursday 24th July. Please come along and help yourself.
Thanks
Uniform exchange – Thursday 24th July
Hi everyone. We hope you are all having a lovely summer holiday! Our uniform exchange will be open on Thursday 24th July from 9am until 12pm for anyone who wishes to access this.
Thank you!
FUN DAY
A great big thank you to your fabulous parent council for an amazing fun day. The children (and staff) had an amazing day filled with bouncy castles and ice cream. Take a look at the photos from today 💙
Fun Day
A little reminder that children can wear their own clothes for Fun Day today. They are also welcome to bring in their bikes and scooters for some outdoor fun. Thanks everyone 💙
Heads Of Ayr Farm Park
What a wonderful day we have had on our whole school trip. The children (and staff) have had great fun.
Wider Achievement Assembly
Due to Sports day being rescheduled for Friday 20th June, our wider achievement assembly has also been rearranged for Monday 23rd June.
Please send in your child’s achievements to the school’s email address below. Let’s have lots of achievement winners for the last one of the year!
Thanks everyone,
Mrs McCreadie
eamountcarmel.ps@eastayrshire.org.uk
Curiosity Cube at Mount Carmel
Recently at Mount Carmel, we were lucky enough to experience the curiosity cube and it’s team. This cube explores A.I. in our world and how it affects our day to day lives. The children took part in quizzes, puzzles and even had a go at coding. A great day was had and we would like to thank the team at MERCK , especially Caitlin, for this amazing opportunity. Here are some of our wonderful children (and staff) enjoying the cube!
May Raffle Winner!
A huge congratulations to Livia in Primary 3 who is the winner of our May raffle prize.
And a big thank you to our parents for your ongoing support with our raffles, whether this is buying tickets or donating prizes for the house hamper.
Thank you!
WIDER ACHIEVEMENT ASSEMBLY
Our very last Wider Achievement assembly of the session is on 20th June 2025. Lets make it the best yet!
Please help us celebrate the children’s achievements by sending in a photo and short sentence explaining what they have achieved. This can be anything from overcoming a fear, to participating in a show or moving up a belt in karate.
We love to hear what the pupils are participating in when not at school.
Send your photos and a short sentence to eamountcarmel.ps@eastayrshire.org.uk
I look forward to seeing them all!!
Thank you, Mrs McCreadie
Curiosity cube
The wait is finally over. The curiosity cube has arrived and is currently being set up in our playground for the children to explore. We can’t wait until tomorrow 💙
P6 Leadership
Our wonderful Primary 6 are getting ready to welcome their buddies for fun filled activities during their Welcome Wednesday transition day this week.
Primary 6 – Term 4 curricular update
Term 4 P6 Class News
Welcome back to the final term; a busy and exciting one for Primary 6. During this term, P6 will prepare to transition into Primary 7 by applying and interviewing for Captain and Vice-Captain roles. P6 will also have the chance to apply to be a buddy to our new Primary 1’s in August. P6 will get the opportunity to meet the Pastoral Care team from St Joseph’s Academy. Probably the most exciting news is that rehearsals for the Summer Show have started. Alongside all these exciting events lots of learning and teaching will still be taking place as outlined below.
Literacy
Reading
This term our focus returns to fiction texts. P6 will read and study books appropriate to their level. Focus comprehension strategies this term is understanding the difference between fact and opinion, inference and author’s use of language. All pupils will complete a final fiction reading assessment at the end of the block of lessons.
Writing
The focus for the term ahead in terms of writing will be recall and recount writing. We will also look at writing using the format of a comic books. This only enriches the writing experience for the children whilst still achieving their learning outcomes.
Numeracy
This term P6 will focus on Fractions, Decimals and Percentages. The pupils will experience level appropriate tasks and activities. The revision of multiplication tables will be encouraged across all groups. Topmarks games can help with the rigor of x-tables at home.
Beyond number numeracy will be taught by Mrs McCreadie and Miss Campbell. The class will learn all about angles, area, perimeter and measurement this term.
Health and Wellbeing
At the start of the term P6 will complete a mini topic on Food Hygiene. P6 will explore the practices and conditions necessary to ensure food is safe for human consumption and how to prevent contamination and foodborne illnesses.
Expressive Arts
The Expressive Arts are key to any child’s education, giving them opportunities to enjoy being creative and imaginative, expressing emotion, performing for different audiences, and being part of audiences for others, as well as learning key skills in Music, Art and Design, Dance and Drama. Our Summer Show ‘Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ will incorporate all key areas of the Expressive Arts. A school show is a fantastic team-building exercise and it’s a great way for children to understand what’s possible when everyone pools their skills and weight.
RME
P6 will also continue to work on their Pope Francis Faith Award, focussing on Piety and Wisdom.
The children will be looking at Mary, mother of God in the month of May. The class will also be looking at God’s Loving Plan this term.
In Primary 6 we promote hard work and amazing attitudes. Our reward card system allows pupils to gain reward cards for Wonderful Work, Amazing Attitude, and being a ‘Superstar.’ When the pupils gain five cards, they can choose an individual reward. They can also choose to go for a class reward once everyone reaches five reward cards; this promotes teamwork within the class.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continuing support.
Take Care,
Mrs Terras and Mrs McCreadie
Dobbies Community Gardens
Our wonderful school was entered into Dobbies Community Gardens competition and won £50 as a runner up prize. This money will go towards the development of our sensory garden. A big thank you to Dobbies in Ayr
#teammc💙
BIG GARDEN CLEAR UP!
It is our big garden clear up today at 3 o’clock. If you can spare even half an hour, the school would really appreciate it. Hope to see you soon!!
WIDER ACHIEVEMENT ASSEMBLY
It’s the perfect time to get those photos sent in for any wider achievements your child has celebrated recently. Our next assembly will be on the 9th May so be sure to send in a photo and a short explanation on what the photo is about. Send your child’s photo to
eamountcarmel.ps@eastayrshire.org.uk
Thank you!
March Raffle winner
AND THE WINNER IS….
Aidan in Primary 2.
Well done Aidan and thank you to everyone who bought a ticket for our March Raffle. Keep your eyes peeled for our special Easter raffle prize.
SCIAF Whole School Assembly
On Wednesday, we welcomed into school our beautiful Sister Juliet and Frank from SCIAF. Frank talked to us about where our money was going and why our fundraising is so important.
We are so proud of our children in Mount Carmel School, raising so much money for people who are less fortunate than us. To quote Frank, our children are “a shining example pf what a well behaved school looks like.”
Well done to everyone!
P6 OUTDOOR LEARNING
Primary 6 took advantage of the beautiful sunshine today and got out and about completing some data handling in our local community.
STRYDER
We were so excited to kick off our SCIAF FUN DAY with a visit from STRYDER.
Stryder helps us to walk to school as much as we can as it helps us to keep fit and helps our environment too!!
Reconciliation
We would like to congratulate our wonderful children in making their sacrament of Reconciliation. They were absolutely wonderful and we agree with Father Jim that they behaved like angels.
Well done everyone 💙
STRYDER VISIT
We are delighted to announce that we will have a very special visitor in our playground tomorrow morning. Stryder will be in school before 9 o’clock to welcome the children in before the day begins, Make sure to give them a big wave if you see them!
P6 STEM EVENT
Our wonderful P6 class were invited along to East Ayrshire’s STEM event at St Joseph’s Academy this week. There, they met the other P6 children from our Education group and began forming friendships which marks the beginning of their transition to the high school. The activities ranged from a virtual tour of a submarine from the Royal Navy, to programming and coding robots. Everyone had great fun!! We definitely have some future engineers at Mount Carmel.
The Exchange Primary School Counselling Service
Please see the link below for the most recent newsletter from our colleagues at the Primary Counselling service.
https://sway.cloud.microsoft/SE4W3ZgNN35uHxRw?ref=Link
WIDER ACHIEVEMENT ASSEMBLY
Our next wider achievement assembly will take place on Friday the 28th March. As a school, we love to hear about all of the wonderful achievements our children are celebrating. Whether it is a swimming certificate, participation in a dance show or learning to ride their bike without stabilisers, we want to celebrate these achievements!
Please send any photographs with a short sentence on what has been achieved to Mrs McCreadie on eaMountCarmel.PS@eastayrshire.org.uk
Thank you!