We are absolute trailblazers in our Mission to the Moon adventure!
We are working very hard to reach our target. Mr. Leslie our Janitor has helped us out by adding stencils to the upper playground!
Category Archives: Whole School News
Reminder- World Book Day Tomorrow!
Don’t forget it’s World Book Day tomorrow (Thursday 2nd March).
We are looking forward to seeing the children dressed up as characters from their favourite books if they wish OR you can just “Dress as you please” You don’t need to stress about buying a costume, why not customize some old clothes you already have at home?
And if you don’t feel like dressing up. that’s ok too, you can still take part in all the fun activities throughout the day!
Primary 7 Transition visit – Thursday 2nd March
Primary 7 will take part in their next transition visit on Thursday 2nd March. Children will leave for St Josephs just after 9am and will be back at Mount Carmel for lunch time. Please note that children should wear full school uniform this day (not own clothes as part of World Book Day activities).
Lenten Activities 2023
Please see below the weekly activities for our SCIAF Lenten Fundraising –
Thursday 2nd March – dress down for World Book Day
Wednesday 8th March – P3 and P4 Activity Day
Friday 17th March – wear green for St.Patrick’s Day (no football colours)
Friday 24th March – PJ and Movie Day
Friday 31st March – Easter Technology Challenge – bonnets/egg decoration and parade
We will be suggesting a cash donation to be put directly in class SCIAF boxes These will then all be collected and given to Fr Martin for the church collection.
We will also have the individual class raffles for Easter Eggs and the whole school raffle for the bigger egg 🙂
Mission to the Moon
This is the first week of our “Mission to the Moon” where we are encouraging families in active travel to and from school.
Please encourage children to walk, cycle, scoot to school and help us build up our S-miles and reach our targets. If a Parent/carer/sibling participates too they also collect S-miles!
Lockerbie 2023
And they’re off!……………………….
World Book Day 2 March 2023
World Book Day this year takes place on Thursday 2nd March. This year we will celebrate this with a ‘Dress as you Please Day’. Children can also bring their favourite book to school to share with others. We will also complete World Book Day activities in class.
We politely request a £1 cash donation for SCIAF. Children can bring this on the day.
Thankyou
Mission To The Moon
We are delighted to be participating in East Ayrshire Council’s Active Travel initiative Mission to the Moon. The aim of this project is to get young people walking to school in a bid to further reduce our carbon emissions here in East Ayrshire, while also reducing congestion at our school gates and promoting Active Travel.
Earning S-Miles (‘School Miles’)
Each time our young people travel to/from school by walking, scooting/cycling, they will earn an S-mile for their class.
Park & Stride – pupils will earn an S-Mile even if they walk part of the journey to/from school. Bonus S-Miles can be earned by parents/siblings/staff walking the journey to school too!
A walking circuit will be available in the playground for pupils who travel to school by taxi/bus and for any pupil who wishes to gather bonus S-miles for their class during break/lunchtime. Class walks, outings and Daily Mile time also earn S-Miles for classes.
Our Eco Committee will collate our S-Miles each week in school and send our totals to the Climate Change Team at East Ayrshire Council each month.
Our S-Mile Journeys
In Mount Carmel we have agreed that our first target will be to walk the length of the Zambezi River. This links to our Lenten SCIAF appeal, which this year is focused on supporting families in Zambia. Many children there walk up to 10 miles a day to get to school. The length of the river is 1599 miles and we hope to accrue the equivalent miles in 3 weeks.
We will try our best to collect the miles we need within the timescale we have set. Once we have reached our target destination, we will decide on our next destination and time scale.
The Launch!
We will begin collecting S-Miles week commencing Monday 20th February and continue on our travels during the rest of Term 3 and 4. Once all participating schools across East Ayrshire have banked 238,855 S-Miles, we can launch our EAC Clean Green rocket, sending it all the way to the moon!
We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress via our school app and blog throughout the year.
Mrs McGahon
Depute Head Teacher
Free Pre-Registration Training for a career in Childminding
Have you ever thought of a career in Childminding?
East Ayrshire Council provides Pre-Registration Training and support FREE to anyone residing in East Ayrshire who is looking to become a childminder. Please see the information leaflet below:
Ash Wednesday Reminder
** Reminder**
Please complete the form below only if you do not wish your child/children to receive ashes
The form Ash Wednesday Consent Form is now available and will take you 2 minutes to complete. Please be sure to submit it by 17/02/2023.
Thank you!
Learning Journals
The letter above went out to all pupils last week. Please check your emails (including junk) for your Learning Journals log in details. Please contact the school if you have not received your login email or are having problems accessing Learning Journals.
Thank you.
Ash Wednesday Consent Form
** Reminder**
Please complete the form below only if you do not wish your child/children to receive ashes
The form Ash Wednesday Consent Form is now available and will take you 2 minutes to complete. Please be sure to submit it by 17/02/2023.
Thank you!
St. Joseph’s Academy Mental Health Open Evening
Please find attached information about a Mental Health Open Evening at St Joseph’s Academy this Wednesday 8th February.
Dress to Express
****Reminder****
Dress to Express – Wednesday 8th February
Children are welcome to come to school in clothing to showcase their personality.
There is no cost for this.
Ash Wednesday
Please complete the form below only if you do not wish your child/children to receive ashes
The form Ash Wednesday Consent Form is now available and will take you 2 minutes to complete. Please be sure to submit it by 17/02/2023.
Thank you!
Pancake Day
Freshly made pancakes will be available at lunchtime on Shrove Tuesday as an additional item.
Toppings available will include:
Banana with natural yoghurt
Strawberries with ice cream
Active Schools Overview
Looking forward to an exciting block of sports input from Active Schools
February Newsletter
Childsmile Fluoride Varnish
Childsmile will be visiting the P1-4 pupils in school on Thursday 2nd February from 9.30am-11.30am for a catchup visit to administer fluoride varnish.
Dress to Express
Dress to Express – Wednesday 8th February
Children are welcome to come to school in clothing to showcase their personality.
There is no cost for this.
Change to PE Timetable
Updated PE days for all classes:
P1 – Wednesday and Thursday
P2 – Tuesday and Thursday
P3 – Tuesday and Wednesday
P4 – Wednesday and Friday
P5 – Monday and Thursday
P6 – Monday and Wednesday
P7 – Tuesday and Thursday
Please make sure your child has full PE kit with them on the relevant days and a reminder that no jewellery should be worn to PE.
Thank you
Multisports Reminder
*******Reminder*******
Active Schools will be running after school Multi Sports sessions from 3pm-4pm this term for the following –
P1/2 – Wednesday 8th, 15th, 22nd February and 1st March
P3/4 – Wednesday 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th March
Our sessions are limited to 30 spaces and children will be allocated a space on a first come first served basis. A letter has gone out with relevant information. Please return by 1st Feb at the latest.
Thank you.
P4-7 Badminton Community Club
P1-4 Girls Football
Primary 7 to Secondary School Application Form
Dear Parent/Carer
As you are no doubt aware, your child is due to transfer from primary to secondary education at the beginning of the new school session (August 2023).
Secondary school hand books are available at: https://eastayrshi.re/SchoolHandbooks
Please complete the online P7 transfer application at http://eastayrshi.re/p7transfer
Multi Sports Sessions
Active Schools will be running after school Multi Sports sessions from 3pm-4pm this term for the following –
P1/2 – Wednesday 8th, 15th, 22nd February and 1st March
P3/4 – Wednesday 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th March
Our sessions are limited to 30 spaces and children will be allocated a space on a first come first served basis. A letter will be going out shortly with relevant information. Please return by 1st Feb at the latest. Thank you.
Temporary Reduction in Breakfast Club Charges
As part of the cost of living support we are introducing free toast within the school dining hall to pupils for pupils to collect in the morning. In line with this we will also be temporarily reducing the cost of Breakfast Club food from £1.00 to £0.80.
Please note, this reduction to the charge is only temporary whilst we have Cost of Living funding available, and we will let you know when this reduction is due to end.
The Killie Winter Get-Together
The Killie Community are starting an initiative every Wednesday night from 5pm-7pm at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, whereby you can come along for a tea/coffee, hot food and some company. It is called
“The Killie Winter Get-Together”
and will run weekly until the end of March. Entry is via the glass door to the left of the Killie Superstore. There is no registration required.
P7 Term 3 Curricular Update
Happy New Year and I hope Santa was good to you all. And so we enter P7’s final year at primary!! Good to see all the pupils back after the holidays considering so many had been unfortunately unwell shortly before the break. Here is a brief overview of our learning focus this term.
Literacy
Our focus this term will continue to develop all reading skills through Bug Club guided reading texts. We will also be reading texts to identify fact and opinion and discuss the reliability of sources of information. We will also be looking at Scots language and poems. For writing, we are concentrating on discussion texts (discursive essays) until the February holiday then look at the narrative genre with a particular focus on using dialogue to advance the story.
Numeracy
The emphasis of our numeracy this term is on fractions, decimals and percentages and how they interlink. Having completed the set Number Talk discussions, we will continue to use Number Talk strategies to develop mental strategies using all four processes. The class are also working on skills beyond number with Mrs MacKinnon and will be investigating data handling.
Health and Wellbeing
The PATHS focus this term is looking at respect and how to deal with conflicts and identifying positive steps to de-escalate situations. We will also continue to praise and compliment children through Pupil of the Day. We are also exploring risk taking behaviour including substance misuse and practise basic first aid procedures.
Our PE days will now be a Tuesday and Wednesday. We will be first concentrating on fun fitness, creating personal fitness plans and setting personal goals. We also aim to develop our team game skills through netball where we will understand different roles within the team.
IDL
The topic this term is Scottish based and is looking at the Highland Clearances. We will be investigating important historical figures involved in the event, how people lived during that time and the mass emigration from the Highland area.
RE
This term we will be aiming to complete our Pope Francis Faith Award journals, revising all the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and giving evidence of them being used in the school, at home and in the community or Parish. As well as this, there will be a final reflection on how the Gifts will help support them as they develop and grow.
French
Mrs MacKinnon will continue teaching French with P7. Through a range of talking, listening, reading and writing tasks, this term the focus will be on describing the weather and looking in to current affairs within France as well as using the verb etre (to be).
Technologies
This term P7 will look at coding and understand its importance within society. We will use block coding software to program small digital devices and explore various commands to create games and move characters within games.
I look forward to working with P7 in their final year and will enjoy accompanying them on their trip to Lockerbie this term.
Mr Bertoncini
Primary 6 Term 3 Update
Term 3 P6 Class News
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday. We are now in Term 3 and we have a busy couple of months of learning ahead of us.
Below is an overview of the learning and teaching taking place in P6 this term.
Literacy
Reading
P6 start the term by focussing on Scots Language. We will be reading Roald Dahls ‘The Eejits’ in order to experience the Scots Language being read out loud. P6 will learn and discuss different Scots poems. They will choose a Scots poem to learn and then recite in class. In February P6 will listen to and learn to interpret different genres of poetry. In March focus will return to fiction reading comprehension through Literacy circles, again appropriate to their level. Focus comprehension strategies this term are fact and opinion and to identify the theme of different text types.
Writing
Through January, P6 will complete a block of lessons on Descriptive writing – writing in Scots Language. A Scots Kist (dictionary) will support the children during these lessons. Focus will then turn to Response Writing – in particular responding to different types of poems. Lastly P6 will learn the features of a discursive piece of writing and how to write a discursive piece appropriate to their level.
Spelling
The spelling groups will continue to experience the Active Literacy spelling program, this will introduce familiar words and focus on phonemes pertinent to their level and stage. The pupils will continue to experience the Active Spelling strategies throughout Term 3, these include diacritical marking, syllabification, and words within words. Some weeks pupils will be given topic-specific vocabulary as part of their topic. Grammar lessons will focus on speech marks, prefixes and suffixes.
Numeracy
This term P6 will focus on decimals, percentages and fractions appropriate to their CfE level. This is a key topic in P6 and will be taught in depth. Our Beyond Number topics are 2D and 3D Shape and Information Handling. Through daily Mental Maths tasks P6 will continue to consolidate the four operations. P6 are encouraged to practice multiplication tables using Sumdog and Topmarks games.
Health and Wellbeing
The focus this term is Physical Health. P6 will learn about the importance of sleep, exercise and healthy eating.
Our PE days are Monday and Wednesday. Pupils are asked to bring FULL PE kit on these days. If pupils are without PE kit the school will be able to provide pupils with required items of clothing. The focus in PE this term is Fitness, Netball and Block 2 of Gymnastics.
Expressive Arts
In January, P6 will have opportunity to learn and experience traditional Scottish songs. They will learn about tone, expression and volume through learning about poetry. P6 will have the opportunity to create pieces of Scottish and Spring art.
RME
Throughout Primary 6 the pupils will listen to and engage with stories from the Gospel of Matthew. This term P6 will continue to work on their Pope Francis Faith Award, reflecting of how they use the different gifts in their wider world. During Lent P6 will focus on the importance of the Easter Story.
Modern Languages
This term P6 have the opportunity to take part in weekly virtual French lessons with the aim to increase their confidence in reading, writing and talking in French.
Homework
Homework this term will include Spelling, Reading, Mental Maths, and one other curricular area (RME, topic, etc). Homework is issued on a Monday and is due back on a Friday. I appreciate and wholeheartedly support wider achievement outside of school. If there are any reasons why pupils cannot complete the homework, due to activities out with school please contact the school.
In Primary 6 we promote hard work and amazing attitudes. P6 are aware of the high expectations I have of them. 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.
If you have any queries or questions, please contact the school directly.
Thank you for all your support.
Mrs. Terras
