COVID-19 guidance was changed recently. Here is some information to help you and your children on return to school.
First Day Back!
Good Afternoon Everyone!
I wanted to touch base with you all prior to starting back at school next Thursday 19th August. I hope you all have had a fantastic holiday, spending time with your loved ones. The summer holidays have gone in so fast!
Our Head of Education sent out letters via our school app on Friday 6th August, outlining the updated national guidance. I hope you feel reassured by these. All staff are ware of the new guidance and will be further briefed on the in-service days, reinforcing what this means in practice for New Cumnock Primary School.
Playground Supervision
The school day begins at 9am and there will be supervision in the playground from 8.45am. Please ensure your child/children are not arriving before this time.
Please see the table below to identify which gate your child should enter in the morning. Siblings must enter via their own class entrance/exit point. I would advise parents at the end of the day to pick up the youngest sibling first and ask the other child/children to wait inside the school gates until you walk to their gate to collect them.
Primary 1 Arrangements
On both Thursday 19th and Friday 20th August, all new P1’s will attend school from 9.30am to 12pm. From Monday 23rd August all pupils will be in school from 9am to 3pm.
As outlined above, P1’s should come in via the Community Entrance at the front of the school building. Staff will be waiting there on the first day to support the children and direct parents/carers where needed.
We appreciate that it is a big moment for both pupils and parents and we want to make the transition into school as special/easy as possible for everyone. Therefore, there will be an opportunity for our new starts to get their pictures taken at our ‘First Day at School’ photobooth should they wish to access this. Staff will organise this ensuring COVID procedures are in place.
School Uniform
We have always prided ourselves on how smart our children look in their school uniforms and hope you will support us with this. Our uniform consists of:
Skirt, pinafore, trousers (leggings on PE days only)
black or grey
Blouse/shirt white
Sweatshirt/Jumper red, black or grey
Polo shirt white or red
Tie red and white
Sweatshirts, polo shirts, fleeces and rain jackets can be purchased anytime from Donsport and Kenny’s within 0290 in Cumnock. Local supermarkets also tend to sell some of the items listed above.
Within our school reception area we have a Uniform Recycling Station where we stock a wide range of good quality uniform that has been washed and packaged. Please contact the school office on 01290 338404 or our Home Link Practitioner on tracey.bradford@eastayrshire.org.uk should you wish to access this.
Physical Education
PE can now take place in school. However, children should come to school dressed in jogging bottoms/leggings on PE days only, along with school polo shirts. School shoes can still be worn and children can change into trainers once in school.
PE will not take place during the first two days. Class teachers will notify parents when their class PE sessions are to give parents time to get kit organised.
Personal Belongings
Can I ask that all personal belongings have names on them. This makes it easier to identify lost items. Keeping in line with COVID guidance, toys etc, should not be brought into school. If a child requires a transition object from home, this should be kept in their school bag and not be passed amongst their peers.
Children are encouraged to bring in a a bottle of water to school which can be kept in schoolbags and accessed if needed. Pupils will need a small snack for interval.
A reminder that children in P1-P4 receive free school meals, as well as those entitled to a free meal in P5-P7. Remember to top up your Parentpay account if you pay for your child’s meal. If they would prefer, your child may bring a packed lunch instead. Please do not send your child to school with any nuts, as we have children with nut allergies.
Throughout the session, the main forms of communication will be via the school app and on our GLOW website, please check regularly.
COVID Safety Reminders
Staff will remind the children on return to school about the actions they can take to keep themselves safe. It would be great if parents and carers could also reinforce the main messages below prior to our children returning.
Thank you for your ongoing support and I look forward to another successful year working in partnership with you!
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the school office (01290 338404) on the 17th and 18th August when staff will be in school during our two in-service days, should you have any questions.
Kind regards,
Mrs Joanna McMurdo
(Head Teacher)
Robert Burns World Federation Youth Concert 23/7/21
As you will all know, our Burns Heritage is a huge part of our school life. Unfortunately the Robert Burns World Federation were unable to host their annual Schools Competitions this year.
However, in their absence they have collated performers to showcase a Youth Concert, featuring our very own Lucy W from P7 who will be reciting poetry and representing Ayrshire in doing so!
The concert will feature pupils from across Scotland and we are so proud of Lucy being invited to perform too! The concert will be streamed on Zoom tomorrow evening (Friday 23rd July) at 7.30pm. The meeting link and join code has been sent out to families on the school app. If you are unable to access this and would like to receive the code, please email Mrs McNulty at danielle.mcnulty@eastayrshire.org.uk.
New Cumnock Primary Prize Giving 2021
Today we are delighted to share our Prize Giving ceremony with you all. It is not how we envisaged our ceremony to be, as we love it when we all gather in the church at this time of year to celebrate your successes. Nevertheless, we have worked together to mark this momentous day in our school calendar and we hope you enjoy it! So sit down, get a cup of tea and enjoy our Prize Giving ceremony from the comfort of your own home.
We will begin with Mrs McMurdo’s Head Teacher Speech.
No Prize Giving is complete without a few words (or a tune) from our beloved Minister, Rev. Cuthbert.
Thank you to all our certificate winners for posing for your photo either at school or at home. We are delighted to share these with you now.
Now onto our Hunter award winners. Each year, one child from each class is awarded this prestigious award. Listen carefully as each teacher shares their reasons for choosing their award winner this year. We want to extend a huge thank you to The Hunter Foundation for their continued support of our school and our annual Prize Giving.
And now onto our wonderful P7s. This is certainly not the way we wanted your school years with us to end. We are extremely proud of you all and cannot wait till we can have you all back to celebrate your time with us. We wish you all the very best of luck in your future.
Some final words for our P7 Leavers. A huge thank you to Mrs McTurk for sharing this poem with us last year, it is wonderful and so fitting for this occasion! Click on the link below if you wish to download a copy to keep.
Unfortunately we have had to make some changes to our original staffing plan for next session. We appreciate that this is short notice and apologise for this.
It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce that NCPS will be losing Mr John McClure this year. Mr McClure has secured a permanent contract at Drongan Primary School, where he will take up his post in August.
A huge virtual hug goes out to you Mr McClure! We have loved having you as part of Team New Cumnock. We wish you all the best of luck for the future and hope our paths cross again one day.
Next session we are sure you will join us in welcoming Mrs Kirsty Mair. Mrs Mair is a probationer teacher and will now be taking the P6 class in August.
Some fun facts about Mrs Mair…
- She lives in an old police station.
- Over the summer she is doing a charity team cycle to see how far she can cycle a tandem in 24hrs. (Wish her luck… as she thinks she’ll need it!)
- She can touch her nose with her tongue.
- If she had a super power she would like to be able to fly!
- She loves science, rugby and visiting new places.
Another new addition to our staff is Mrs Donna Agnew. Mrs Agnew was with us for a short spell last year and we are delighted to be welcoming her back in August where she will teach the P5 class.
Some fun facts about Mrs Agnew…
- She loves making learning fun.
- She has been a teacher for 30 years – and loves it as much today as she did at the start of her teaching journey.
- She loves Florida – she has been 7 times and is booked for next year (hopefully!)
- She adores animals – her pets have included a snake, tarantulas, cats, aviary birds, marine and pond fish and most recently honey bees!
- She loves technology – especially robotics.
Mrs Ramsay and Miss Mason are excited to be undertaking a Pupil Support role next session.
Next session Mr Hastings will begin his new role as Deputy Head Teacher at New Cumnock Primary and Mrs Clarke will take on the role of Temporary Principal Teacher when we return in August. We wish them both all the very best in these posts.
And this marks the end of our Virtual Prize Giving ceremony. Thank you for tuning in. We hope you all have a lovely, relaxing summer holiday and we look forward to seeing you all again in August.
Stay safe everyone.
Team New Cumnock x
P7 Leavers Newspaper Pull-Out
The Cumnock Chronicle are running a pull-out of P7 leavers and they are looking for East Ayrshire schools south of Kilmarnock to submit individual pictures of pupils who are finishing up for inclusion in the paper.
They are looking for individual photos of pupils to be sent across to ayrshireschools@newsquest.co.uk along with the pupils name and school they are leaving.
NCDT SummeRRR Programmes for Kids and Young People
Would you believe it’s the Summer Holiday’s already!!?!?
We have plenty coming up for the young people in our community and it’s all FREE!
See attached our flyers and below the registration links. Pre registration is essential! Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate people who “turn up on the day” without having completed the pre-registration forms. So, if you your child is undecided at this point then please still register them and that way they can still attend!
We can’t wait to get started and make some amazing memories in 2021!
Registration Links:
New P1s – https://forms.office.com/r/dXcsXKGVWb
P1/3 & P4/6 – https://forms.office.com/r/rp4YrYEf2V
Active Schools “Get into Summer” – https://forms.office.com/r/2jLHwGaGMB
Thanks
Tammy & Laura
Happy Retirement Reverend Cuthbert!
We are very sad to see Ms Cuthbert leave us here in New Cumnock after so many years of service to not only our local Parish Church but to our school and our local community.
We have many fond memories of our time with Ms Cuthbert and have compiled them in a book for her from the pupils of New Cumnock Primary. We will deliver this to Ms Cuthbert with a gift from us all at New Cumnock Primary when it is safe to do so.
We also wanted to share a video from the pupils, who will always think of Rev. Cuthbert every time we hear this song as it is one of her favourites!
We wish Helen all the very best in her retirement and the future. Please keep in touch with us!
Learning Journals Feedback
Dear parents/carers,
To support us when completing our Standards and Quality Report, we are keen to gain feedback from parents and pupils who have been part of the Learning Journals Pilot in the infant stages this session. This will only take a few minutes of your time. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. If you could click on the link below and complete the Form by Friday 25th June please. You may wish to discuss this with your child and include their thoughts and opinions on Learning Journals as well as your own.
Many thanks in advance.
Virtual Bump Up P1-7 Week Beginning 21st June
Next sessions P1s (Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Armour)
Due to the current isolation and staffing situation within the school, we unfortunately must cancel the ECC Bump Up this Wednesday. Please refer to the school blog posts below where we have information for parents, introductions to our staff and an opportunity to ask any questions to our infant teachers. have a Form which can be completed if you have any questions
For our infant classes (P2-3) who will be receiving a virtual Bump Up opportunity, please click on the link below for their class Form where you can submit any questions you may have or information you wish to share with your class teacher for next year.
Next sessions P2 Form link (Miss McQueen)
Next sessions P2/3 Form link (Mrs Elliot)
Next sessions P3 Form link (Mrs Frew)
For our upper classes (P4-7) who will be using Microsoft Teams to access a virtual Bump Up opportunity, please see below for a ‘how to’ guide to support you in getting logged into Teams. You require your new Glow username and password to do so. Pupils have been added to their new class Team. In the final week of term, the new class teacher will post in this Team introducing themselves and giving pupils the opportunity to ask any questions they may have about next year or share any information about themselves to make them known to their new teacher.
Firstly, log into glow with your username and password. Please note this is case and space sensitive. Your username will start with eap.
Glow usernames and passwords are the responsibility of the pupils to access and keep safe, we are not permitted to share this information with parents and carers.
Once you have logged into Glow, select the Teams app on your launch pad.
Once selected, you may be prompted to use Teams in the web browser or to download the app from your app store.
When you open the app, it will It will then ask for an email address, this is your Glow username followed by @glow.sch.uk.
It may then again ask for your glow password to be entered.
Once in, you will see the Teams groups you have been added to. This will be your current class one, your class for next session 21/22 and any other extra curricular groups, for example, the school choir.
Click on the group you wish to access. You will see the general channel and in some cases there may be a homework channel. This will allow you to keep work related discussion separate from general discussion. There may also be resources shared in the files section for you to access.
Give it a go to check it is working, try sending a message to your class! This is a great way to keep in touch with your teacher and class mates and seek support when needed.
Some things to remember:
- Staff are monitoring these pages so any inappropriate content will be removed.
- You must use the channels appropriately, remember we can see everything you type, be mindful of what and when you type.
Prize Giving Cancellation
Unfortunately, due to the current isolation and staffing situation within the school, we must cancel our planned Prize Giving ‘mop-up’ and P7 Leavers presentation which were due to be held this week.
We do however, intend to still honour our winners by posting out certificates and will arrange for trophies and shields to be presented after the summer holidays when it is safe to do so.
We will still be releasing our Prize Giving video as planned and would love to have all our winners photographed, to be included in this.
We need your help!
Parents/carers, can you please take a photo of your child (in school uniform if you can) and email it to Mrs McNulty at danielle.mcnulty@eastayrshire.org.uk before Wednesday 23rd June.
This will then be added to the Prize Giving video which will now be released on the last day of term, on Friday.
Thank you for your support in enabling us to still celebrate our prize winners and P7 leavers.
