All posts by Mrs McNulty

Stars of the Week 12/2/21

Well done to this weeks Stars of the Week who demonstrated one of our school VALUES this week! We are extremely proud of you all for working hard to display our school values whilst Remote Learning.

Primary 1 – Katie H for DETERMINATION

Primary 1/2 – Ciara O for DETERMINATION

Primary 2/3 – Kal M for DETERMINATION

Primary 3 – Carson B for RESPONSIBILITY

Primary 4 – James M for DETERMINATION

Primary 4/5 – Lucy S for AMBITION

Primary 5/6 – Harry P for DETERMINATION

Primary 6/7 – Callum O for DETERMINATION

Primary 7 – Chailyn P for RESPONSIBILITY

Dress To Express – Children’s Mental Health Week 2021

A huge well done to everyone who took part in Mrs McMurdo’s Wider Achievement Challenge of Dress to Express last week. We loved seeing photos and videos of you all dressed to reflect how you feel and your explanations were super!

Apologies that these photos were missed from our video, but they are too good not to share! Thank you Mary and Miss Mason for your fabulous entries!

Jolly Readers – E-Readers available for FREE!

We are delighted to announce that Jolly Learning have now made all of their Jolly Phonics Readers available as e-readers for Android and Apple devices FOR FREE!

Jolly Phonics e-readers now available! — Jolly Learning

This is the reading scheme we use in school. As we are progressing with new learning, our class teachers will be continuing to use class readers as a resource. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to download these whilst this offer is available.

Spanning 93 books across 5 levels of decodable readers, they will help you to support your children remotely as they practice their reading skills anywhere!

You can access the books by clicking on the links below:

For the Google Play Book Store:

Jolly Phonics Orange Level Readers

Jolly Phonics Red, Yellow, Green and Blue Level Readers

For the Apple Book Store:

Jolly Phonics Orange Level Readers

Jolly Phonics Red, Yellow, Green and Blue Level Readers

 

Appropriate Use Of Microsoft Teams

Our teaching staff and Senior Leadership Team actively monitor the class use of Microsoft Teams and it has came to our attention that in some cases in recent days, class Teams pages have displayed some undesirable behaviours.

  • Please keep the general channel related to school work. Your class teacher may add a ‘chatty channel’ which will allow you to chat with your friends, but please refrain from doing this on the general channel as work posts then get lost amongst the chats.

  • Make sure that what you are typing is appropriate. Staff and your peers can see this. Any offensive of hurtful comments will be deleted. Please remember to be kind.

  • Please be mindful of what time you are accessing Teams. Try to keep this within school hours.

  • Whilst in a Live lesson, please conduct yourself as you would be encouraged to be in class, well behaved and mannerly at all times.

We encourage our parents/carers to monitor this closely too.

Thank you for your continued support.

No Printer… No Problem!

We are aware that many of our families do not have access to a printer. Our teaching staff try hard to not be heavily reliant on worksheets in the daily tasks they set, but sometimes a worksheet perfectly sums up the aim of the lesson.

If you don’t have access to a printer, fear not!

There are some options:

  • You can create your own version of the worksheet on paper or in a jotter (please remember we have staff available to assist you at the school between 10am and 12pm Tuesdays and Thursdays if you wish to collect resources to support Remote Learning).
  • Alternatively, if you have access to an iPad or iPhone device, you can use ‘mark-up’ to annotate the worksheet and then save as a photo to then submit to the class teacher. The video below shows you how to do this.

Live Sessions – Parent and Pupil Guidance

As we continue to offer Live interactions as part of Remote Learning between our pupils and their teachers from P3-7 via Microsoft Teams, we will be introducing this now for P1-2/3 pupils through VScene.

P1-2/3 children will find instructions about how to access VScene on their class blogs. Please note that a PIN number to enable secure access to VScene will be sent by text message to these families.

We previously sent out parent and pupil guidance around online learning. Please find it attached again below for your reference.

PARENT-AND-PUPIL-GUIDANCE-Microsoft-Teams

Please note the main points to be aware of:

  • Make sure you have a quiet space to work as background noise can interfere with the live stream if your microphone is not switched off.
  • To protect your privacy, you have the option of having your camera on or off. Alternatively, you can use the background options to blur your current background or choose a different one. Mrs McNulty likes the beach one as it makes her feel like she is on holiday! 
  • Behave in the lesson as you would do in school. Your time on the Live sessions is limited so make sure you paying attention so as not to miss any vital information which will help you with the work that follows.
  • Keep an eye on your class blog/Teams page for times of any Live sessions taking place so as not to miss out. Set an alarm to remind you to be online at that time.
  • We appreciate that parents/carers may be required to assist your child get logged on and set up, particularly with the younger children, however, once they are set up, it should only be the child who appears on the screen, not the adult. This is a platform for them to communicate with their teacher, and although we appreciate they may need some support, this must be done off camera.  If you as a parent wish to discuss something with the class teacher, please use the class teacher’s email or contact the SLT to discuss.

Thank you for your continued support as we navigate this new territory  together!

Resources to support Remote Learning – we are here to help!

We are aware that some families may require additional resources to support their child whilst Remote Learning. Therefore this week we will have a member of staff in the reception area of the school on:

Tuesday 26th and Thursday 28th January between 10am and 12pm.

If you require any resources please drop by.  We will have stationary, paper and jotters to help your child record their learning during the coming weeks.

Please come to the main entrance of the school, ensuring you adhere to the socially distanced markers present, wear a face covering and sanitise upon entering the reception area.

Happy birthday Rabbie!

As you will all be aware, learning about the life and works of Robert Burns is a big part of our curriculum and heritage here at New Cumnock Primary.

Normally, this time of year is busy and exciting with poetry, signing and instrumental rehearsals taking place in preparation for school, regional and even National level competitions!

Unfortunately, these competitions have been cancelled this year due to the current Covid restrictions.

However, here at New Cumnock Primary, we still want to celebrate the work of our National Bard and showcase our pupil’s poetry talents to our wider community!

We received lots of video entries for our Burns celebration, and Mrs McNulty was delighted that she was able to use every one that was sent in. Thank you so much, we hope you enjoy!

Please find below some ideas and activities if you wish to celebrate Robert Burns’ birthday with your own Burns Supper at home tonight.

How to celebrate Burns Night – History Scotland

Burns Night Activities For Kids (activityvillage.co.uk)

Make Your Own Tartan Craft (activityvillage.co.uk)

t-t-17804-burns-night-information-powerpoint_ver_3

cfe-lg-33-all-about-robert-burns-powerpoint_ver_4

UPDATE: Please check this video upload below if you had difficulty with the previous video playing on your device. If you are continuing to experience problems, please contact Mrs McNulty at danielle.mcnulty@eastayrshire.org.uk