Author: Mrs WRIGHT

Sharing our Learning/ Meet the teacher

We were delighted to welcome parents/carers to our classes this afternoon.  Mrs Wright and Mrs Findlay got a chance to speak with many of you.  Comments included-

” Really good opportunity to see what is going on in the class.”

” Liked the opportunity to work together. The task was really challenging”

“After speaking with the school there have been really positive changes in the class.  My child is very happy in school.”

Recent surveys tell us that most parents find school staff approachable and have many opportunities for families to be involved with the school.  However most parents surveyed wanted guidance on how they could help their child learn at home.  We hope today offered an opportunity to see how children learn within the classroom and we will plan further  workshops which will give parents this information.  We have already planned this for P1 parents on Monday 30 September from 2.00 pm to meet the teachers and receive information about your child’s learning.

Welcome back to big changes!

 

We are delighted to welcome our children back to a much improved Onthank Primary.  Although not yet complete we want to thank Onthank staff, parent volunteers  and East Ayrshire staff who worked over the weekend to get everything ready for pupils. Our new classes look great and we look forward to  welcoming pupils.  Read more

National Parental Involvement and Engagement Census

Dear Parent / Carer,

As a valued parent we would appreciate your support in completing the National Parental Involvement and Engagement Census.   All parents of school pupils in Scotland are being asked to take part in a census to let us know how you feel about your involvement with your child’s school and their learning.

Parents and carers are the most important influence on children’s lives and research shows that when parents are involved in their child’s learning, children do better and achieve more at school.

 The Census wants to hear from all parents to help drive continuing improvements in educational outcomes for their child(ren) and can be accessed via the following link :

Primary – https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/EACPrimaryParentalSurvey/

This confidential survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete . Click the link below to access additional information about the survey and to view the Privacy Statement.

https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/Information-for-parents-and-carers/Parental-involvement-and-engagement-census.aspx

Pupil Equity Fund

Information about our Pupil Equity Fund will be available at our Parents’ afternoon/evening. 

Pupil Equity Funding is additional funding allocated directly to school and targeted at closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

Parents and carers, children and young people and other key stakeholders will be given the opportunity to be involved in  planning what we use this money for.    We will be asking for Parents and carers opinions over the next few weeks and this is an agenda item at our next Parent Council meeting  which takes place on

Monday 25th March at 7pm.

 

How much money Onthank Primary receives depends on how many children are registered for free school meals. For every child that is registered, the school receives £1,200 in addition to their normal budget.

The link below gives more information but please feel free to speak to a member of the Senior Leadership Team on Thursday.

Information leaflet for Parents and Carers

P1 Termly Overview

Termly Overview – P1 term 3 1819

We would like to invite P1 parents to an information session next

Wednesday 6th February at 3pm.

We intend  to give parents an update on our improvement plan, more information about learning in Primary 1 and effective ways to use Bug club and support your child.

Anti-Bullying Week #ChooseRespect

#ChooseRespect

Onthank Primary is taking the pledge to join Scotland’s  #ChooseRespect campaign.

We are looking for parents to support us during Anti-Bullying Week.

Before you give advice, get some …

 

The following guide gives parents and carers useful information.

Bullying-a-guide-for-parents-and-carers-2016

 

 

 

Ayrshire Schools Competition ??‍♂️?‍♀️

Congratulations to our swimming team, who represented our school on Saturday at the Citadel in Ayr. All the children swam brilliantly and made us feel proud!

October Holiday

We can’t believe the first term is already over – it has gone in so quickly!

We are tickled pink to be on holiday – especially our staff team who wore pink today to raise money for Breast cancer.

 

Onthank Parent Council – Click on the link below to take you to our Parent Council Blog.  This also can be accessed above on our Menu.  This blog was created and is updated by parents.

We are very proud of all the work children, staff and parents are doing to develop their ICT skills.  Our blog helps us on our journey as an ECO school, working towards our first school’s digital award and following East Ayrshire policy to be paperless.  Working together we do want parents to be informed however we know that a few people are not finding information easily.  We want to help so please help us to help you.  Can you please complete this form to help us improve.

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

I recieved a text on Friday 12th Oct(required)
I recieved an email on Friday 12th Oct

We hope you have a restful October break, and  look forward to welcoming the children back into school on Monday 22nd October.

Parents’ Appointments and questionnaire

We look forward to welcoming parents to school later today.

Please take time to visit our dinner hall and taste what’s on offer.  We would like to increase the number of children in P1, 2 and 3 eating a free school meal.

Attendance

We are looking to improve attendance rates and reduce the number of children coming in late to school.  If there is an issue our management team would like to work with you to make things better for your child.  Please speak to us after your appointment.

Parental Questionnaire

Please complete the online questionnaire which relates to aspects of our improvement plan and how you can be involved in school.

 

 

Family Workshop Reminder- Managing Children’s Behaviour

Tuesday 2nd October is our final  family workshop on

Managing Children’s Behaviour

The letter was sent out to P1 and P2 parents in August however even if you did not return the slip please do come along.

Please click on the link below

Family Workshop Programme

Starting our 60th birthday celebrations!

September 1958 – September 2018

In September 1958 children first came to Onthank however our school wasn’t officially opened until 1959.

We started the celebrations at our McMillan coffee morning today.  Thanks to Heather who made our cake and Mrs Findlay who displayed old photos.  We are looking to create a website with photos and stories from the past 60 years.  If you have any photos or stories to share please send them to

eaalison.wright@glow.sch.uk

or bring them into school for us to scan.

Parent Council Meeting

We need you!

The next meeting of the Parent Council is on Monday 17th September at 7pm in the school staff room.  It will include the AGM.  If you are interested in coming along for the first time to see what it’s all about you will be made very welcome. It is a friendly group and a great way to learn more about what goes on in the school.

If you can’t make the meeting but would like to help out please contact the school.

Onthank is ‘Officially Amazing’

CONGRATULATIONS

As we approach the end of term we would like to say well done to all our pupils. We reflect on all their achievements and look forward to when we can view everybody’s  strengths and achievements through their Glow e-portfolio.

We all believe that Onthank pupils are …

,

***We received a phone call this afternoon from an East Ayrshire employee to give us some very positive news. His parents were in Millport on Monday while our P7s were there and he told us the shopkeepers were praising Onthank pupils and staff. He said “The toy shop owners were saying Onthank pupils were the best school who had visited them this year”. Polite, mannerly and pleasant children.”?He said this was the same story in other places. “Kids and teachers from Onthank were a credit to the school”.

Well done P7s. I hope you all enjoyed your pizza today”.?

Diary Dates

 Diary

 Dates
Tuesday 22 May  P7s to Elim Hall / Other Half of P6 to Danger Detectives
Wednesday 23 May P3 & P4 Sports 1.30 pm / P7 to Kilmarnock Academy Expressive Arts Day
Thursday 24 May P5, P6 & P7 Sports 10.00 am / P1 & P2 Sports 1.00 pm
Friday 25 May Holiday
Monday 28 May Inservice Day
Wednesday 30 May P3s to Heads of Ayr Farm Park / Alternative P6&P7 Sports 10 am/ Parent workshop Internet Safety 3.15- 4.15
Thursday 31 May Cycle Tests am / Alternative P3 & P4 Sports 10.00 am / Alternative P1 & P2 Sports 1.30 pm  / P5s to Glasgow Science Centre
Jun-18
Jun-18
Friday 1 June Race For Life – Whole School & Community
Monday 4 June P7 Ties Assembly / Onthank’s Got Talent 11.00 am
Tuesday 5 June P2s to Eglinton Park
Wednesday 6 June P7 to Kilmarnock Academy Induction / New P1 Induction Lunch
Thursday 7 June P7 to Kilmarnock Academy Induction / Grange Academy Induction
Friday 8 June P7 to Kilmarnock Academy Induction / Grange Academy Induction
Monday 11 June P7 to Dalguise Residential Visit / 60th Birthday Celebration
Tuesday 12 June P3 Water Fun Day (if bad weather the next dry day)
Friday 15 June P7 return from Dalguise
Tuesday 19 June Onthank ECC Concert am and pm / Moving Up Day
Thursday 21 June   P7 Fun Day
Friday 22 June BBQ Lunch Menu
Monday 25 June P6s to Culzean Country Park / P7s to Millport
Tuesday 26 June P7s Leavers’ Lunch
Wednesday 27 June Prizegiving & Leavers’ Assembly 9.45
Thursday 28 June   Beach Party
Friday 29 June School closes 1.00 pm

Letter for Parents and Carers


 

 

Dear Parent/ Carer,

The Parent Council and school would like to write a joint letter to you about the incident reported in the Kilmarnock Standard this week which happened in April last term. 

Parent Council

The Parent Council has reviewed the incident with EAC and agree with the conclusions that the school acted promptly to locate and retrieve the children concerned. We know and are concerned that this can happen in any school.  However, we are confident that we will all learn from this unfortunate incident to ensure that we limit the possibility of a re occurrence happening again.
School

As a school we have worked with both families to reassure them of how seriously we viewed the matter and feel it is important to protect the anonymity of the children.  As the incident has been reported in the press it is important that you know the relevant information has been given to parents concerned.  At our last Parent Council meeting we reported this Health and Safety incident occurring during a lunchtime and described the actions that have been taken by the local authority and school working together.  We have consulted with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Health and Safety team. Already there have been improvements to gates and a new gate has been purchased.   As you are probably aware staff have been monitoring the gates until the new one is fitted.  As a school we have ensured our pupil Health and Safety team have been working with adults and the steps they have introduced include safety circles and safety lines.  Staff speak to the children regularly about the importance of staying within the school grounds for their own safety and about road safety near to the school.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Parent Council and the wider school community for their support and for the work you all do at home to reinforce this important message.  The school and Parent Council continue to work in partnership and have a meeting planned for next week.

If you have any concerns we can discuss them at our weekly Wednesday morning drop in.  I would also like to invite all of our parents and carers to attend a safety talk at the school on Wednesday 30th May.  We had already scheduled an Online Safety Workshop from 3.15pm to 4.15pm and I can answer any questions you may have about security within the school and our playgrounds at this event.

Yours sincerely,

Scott Thomson (Chair of Parent Council)

Alison Wright (Head teacher)