Category: Health and Wellbeing

Children’s Mental Health Week 2020 – Find Your Brave

Children’s Mental Health Week 2020 took place between 3rd – 9th February and this year the theme was ‘Find Your Brave’.

Mental Health problems affect about 1 in 10 children and young people. Through our Health and Wellbeing programme in East Ayrshire we strive to support our pupils by offering many opportunities to share how they are feeling and to look at strategies to help them when they may be feeling sad, stressed or anxious. Pupils learn that their emotional wellbeing is just as important as their physical wellbeing.

Last week, many classes looked at ‘What makes you feel brave?’ and encouraged pupils to try something new to build confidence and to feel good about themselves.

The main message always given is that there is always someone to talk in school whether it is a friend, the class teacher or another member of staff.

Gym Kits

Hi everyone

We are looking for some help.  Many of our pupils don’t have full gym kits which makes it harder for them to access the full curriculum correctly.

If you have any spare gym shoes or shorts that your children have outgrown would you be kind enough to send it to the school and we can have a bank of kits to help all pupils take P.E.?

Thanks in advance

First Minister’s Reading Challenge – Dyslexia Friendly Schools

Today our DFS ambassadors (P4K) have been busy organising the launch of the First Minister’s Reading Challenge.

It is believed that reading has the power to change lives and that developing a love of reading in childhood can have a huge impact on educational attainment and future wellbeing.

The First Minister’s Reading Challenge is open to every pupil in P1-P7 in Scotland. We know that reading journeys can be personal to every single child but, to encourage and motivate schools and pupils to get involved, a number of challenges have been set that we hope will inspire and develop a love of reading.

Find out more about taking part in the First Minister’s Reading Challenge by clicking the link below:

https://www.readingchallenge.scot/about/information-parents-and-carers

Where will your reading journey take you?

Santa Dash – THANK YOU

Onthank Community,

We are thrilled to announce our Santa Dash raised a grand total of £1663.90 for Onthank Primary School! Well done!

Your generosity, encouragement and support is never taken for granted and nothing would be possible without it. Just look at what we achieved – together. Thank you!

Bring on our 2020 events!

#ouronthank #ourcommunity

Koala Protectors

As a RRS we have a duty to offer support where we can to other countries in need.

The pupils have been discussing the tragedy in Australia and have been asking how we can help.

We have made a donation to the WWF charity to become ‘Koala Protectors’. Our donation will help towards the care needed to help injured koalas and to help in the restoration phase after the fires.

We will also receive updates from WWF.

Our actions have helped towards the following Global Goals for Sustainable Development…

Lucy Pear Visits P4

Last year P1-4 enjoyed a visit from the author Chris Duke who wrote the book ‘Lucy’s Blue Day’. This is a delightful little book which is a stimulus for discussing emotions.

Lucy Pear has magical hair which changes colour depending on her emotions. Lucy is excited when her hair is purple, angry when it is red and blue when she feels sad.

She soon learns that it is #OkNotToBeOk and that these feelings will soon pass.

Violet in P4K was so excited to waken up on Christmas morning to discover that Santa had brought her a Lucy doll. Lucy visited the ‘Rocks’ rotation group during Health and Wellbeing and she listened to the class checking in with their hair colour of the day.

Children's Mental Health Week 2020 will take place from 3rd February – 9th February 2020 and as always we will be supporting our pupils by offering opportunities to share experiences, emotions and we will have a focus on the theme ' Find Your Brave'. More information to follow.

RRS – Global Goals

In 2015, world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for a better world by 2030. These goals have the power to end poverty, fight inequality and address the urgency of climate change.

As we are now in 2020 there are only 10 years to achieve these goals for sustainable development.

Everyone can contribute to making sure the Global Goals are met.

As a Rights Respecting School we will be familiarising ourselves again with these goals and be considering how we can help to make a real difference.

IT’S TIME TO ACT, FOR PEOPLE AND THE PLANET!

P4 have been learning about the Global Goals during Health and Wellbeing time. Everyone is very motivated to play their part.

SANTA DASH INFORMATION

SANTA DASH – FRIDAY 20TH DECEMBER

On our final day of term, Friday 20th December, and to celebrate Christmas Onthank style, our school will be raising funds in our very first ‘Santa Dash’!

Pupils are invited to dress up with a Santa accessory (Hat/beard/suit/full costume!) and each stage will walk/jog/run around the school building singing Christmas songs!

Pupils will stay with their class, teacher and be supervised by additional staff throughout our Santa Dash!

Family members are invited to join their young person on the Santa Dash – dressed up together! If you intend on participating, please arrive at the main office 15 minutes prior to the starting time.

STAGE TIME STARTING/FINISHING POINT ROUND THE SCHOOL
P1 9.15am – 10.15am Main Entrance Once
P2 9.15am – 10.15am P1/2 Playground Once
P3 11.15am – 12.15pm Main Entrance Twice
P4 11.15am – 12.15pm P3/4 Playground Twice
P5 1.30pm – 2.15pm Main Entrance Three Times
P6 1.30pm – 2.15pm P1/2 Playground Three Times
P7 1.30pm – 2.15pm P3/4 Playground Four Times

 “I’m doing a Santa Dash to raise funds for my school, would you like to sponsor me?”

We invite our pupils, (and parents!) to complete the sponsorship form which pupils will be given tomorrow by asking family, friends and neighbours to sponsor their Santa Dash.

Please hand in your sponsorship form and all raised funds to Mrs Andrew in the office on Thursday 19th December.

This information will also be given in letter form to all young people tomorrow.

Thank you for a wonderful year of Community events and fundraising for our school and we look forward to sharing more memories together in 2020!

Merry Christmas!

See you at the Santa Dash starting line!

#ouronthank #SantaDash #HoHoHo

 

Athletics Champions ???

Fantastic achievement from our current athletics team – making us champions 3 years running! Huge amount of talent and team spirit was shown from all involved.

Thank you to Murrie for helping us train and to the supporters who endured the freezing cold arena! Brilliant to have some of our ex-athletes supporting us too! ?

AB557D5C-98FF-4346-B6A1-5A86768995AB

 

Sportshall Athletics Final

The Athletics Final will take place at the Athletics Arena, Friday 8th November. The competition starts at 6.30pm and will finish approx 8.15pm.

The team should arrive at 6pm in black/dark leggings/shorts, athletics t-shirt and should bring a non-fizzy drink and snack. Please bring a warm jacket/jumper to wear when not competing as the hall is cold.  Seating is roughly calculated at 2 seats per child.

Let’s go Onthank!

Please complete the permission form below:

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

 

Love to Live. Live to Party! ZUMBA FITNESS IS BACK!

Onthank Families,

After welcoming over 70 members of community regularly to his classes, Mr Swan is back with Adult Zumba Fitness!

Day: Thursday

Time: 6pm – 6.45pm

Should I?: YES!

No registration or sign up required, just come along every week and be Beyoncé for 45 minutes!

Spread the word, bring friends and lets raise our spirits to the sky!

Ditch the workout and join the party at Onthank Primary School!

#OurOnthank #ZumbaFitness #Whynot?!

After School Gymnastics Reminder Information

Dear Families,

We jump excitedly into a new school term tomorrow and welcome Gymnastics to ‘Our Onthank’ after school activities thanks to our partners at Active Schools!

As per the letter issued last term, please be reminded of the pupils and dates for Gymnastics Group 1:

GYMNASTICS CLUB START DATE: 22 OCTOBER 2019 (tomorrow!)

GYMNASTICS FINISH DATE: 19 NOVEMBER 2019

TIME: 3pm – 4pm

LOCATION: Onthank Primary Assembly Hall

Group 1 Register

P1B Sofia S
P1B Olivia B
P1B Zeryn C
P1B Millie Mc
P1B Patrick Mc
P1M Jack D
P1M Alfie B
P1M Poppy H
P2C Rebecca S
P2K Elise H
P2S Jessica M
P2S Emily G
P2S Olivia H
P2S Carter L
P2S Sophie M
P2S Sophie H
P2ST Hazel P
P2ST Mia C
P2ST Liam R

Pupils will have the opportunity to change into their PE kit at the end of the day.

Pupils will be collected from their class at 2.55pm by Gymnastics Instructor Shannon and taken to the assembly hall. Families will be invited into the hall at 4pm for collection and sign out from the main entrance.

If due to any circumstances your child can’t attend tomorrow, they are more than welcome next week.

Gymnastics Group 2 pupils will be reminded the week prior to the timetable change.

After Christmas, sign up will open up again for children who have not participated in Gymnastics this term in order to give everyone an opportunity.

PLEASE NOTE P4-P7 GYMNASTICS WILL COMMENCE NEXT WEEK, TUESDAY 29TH OCTOBER 4PM – 5PM.

Sign up is closed for this class and will reopen after Christmas.

Any questions, Mr Swan is happy to help, anytime.

#ouronthank #gymnasticsfun

 

Harvest Assembly : World Porridge Day

We celebrated World Porridge Day at our assemblies. We asked for “loose change” – a huge thank you to everyone who donated- we have a fantastic amount of £185.  We offered pupils a taste of Heather’s porridge and showed the film from Mary’s Meals: What a Difference a Meal Makes. We can feed a child in Malawi at school for £9.80 a year. We will be able to feed many children. Thank you.

We are in the finals!

Congratulations to our P7 Athletics Team who qualified for the East Ayrshire Sportshall Athletics Final! 🙂                      Image result for well done clipart

The final will take place at the arena Friday 8th November, time to be confirmed.

Training will take place at the arena Wednesday 30th October and Wednesday 6th November, 4 – 5pm.

Please complete the permission form below:

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

 

 

Athletics Heat Winners

Congratulations to our athletics team who won their heat this afternoon. Amazing talent and teamwork was shown by our pupils. 

Go Team Onthank! ??

 

Sportshall Athletics Heat

Our P7 Athletics Team will be participating in their heat Wednesday 2 October at the Athletics Arena. The team will leave school at 11.45am and return at approx 2.45pm.

Children should wear sports clothes and athletics T-shirt to school that day. If possible, please bring a packed lunch. A packed lunch will be provided for anyone entitled to one. A non fizzy drink and healthy snack can be  taken to the competition.

At this stage of the competition, parents/careers are not required to attend.

Please note, there is no athletics  training next week. 

 

P4/5 After School Football Information – SIGN UP NOW!

P4/5 Families,

We are delighted to announce P4/5 After School Football starting on Monday 9 September 3pm – 4pm!

Training will run every Monday from now until Christmas, except school holidays.

Click on the After School Activities Blog Post below to sign up NOW!

Pupils are encouraged to bring a change of clothes for Football and be ready to ‘train in the rain’ with coach and staff member Kris.

Kris will collect signed up pupils from their class at 3pm and bring pupils to the office for collection at 4pm.

We look forward to welcoming our P4/5 Team on Monday!

#OurOnthank #Score #AchieveYourGoals

P7 Athletics Team

Our athletics team will be training weekly at the athletics arena, starting Wednesday 4 September, 4 – 5pm.

Children should wear sporty clothes and trainers. They should bring a non fizzy drink and any inhalers or medication they may need.

Car sharing has worked well in the past. Please let us know if your child needs to leave early for another commitment – that’s not a problem.

Please complete the form below if your child is in the team.

← Back

Thank you for your response. ✨

Onthank is Blooming!

Our school is in bloom.
Kale, broccoli parsnips, herbs, sage, radishes, potatoes, peas, runner beans and carrots

 

 

Over the summer the P6 Dig for Victory effort has produced an abundance of fruit and vegetables. Pupils will return to school next week and can enjoy some of the produce we gave to the kitchen to prepare. Well done everyone in last sessions P2, P3, and P6.

Chris Duke visited East Ayrshire today!

P1-4 pupils were excited today to meet Chris Duke, the author of the story ‘Lucy’s Blue Day’.

Chris travelled for 3 hours today to visit Galston Primary, Onthank and Hillhead Primary to share a very powerful message.

The day started with the Kilmarnock Standard photographer speaking to Brooke Hannah in P3W who shared her writing with Chris and he has used it on his Facebook and Instagram pages.

Other pupils showed art work related to the various emotions shared in the story of Lucy with the magical colour changing hair.

P1 and P2 then met Chris and also Mary MacInnes who has been selling handmade products to raise money to donate a copy of the book to all schools in East Ayrshire. Mary is a local girl who attended Loanhead Primary School. She wants to spread the message to the community that ‘It is ok not to be ok’ and that blue days will pass.

Some p1 pupils showed their super work!

Chris and Mary complimented the P1-P2 audience!

P3 and P4 also listened well and asked some super questions at the end of the session.

Look out for the article and photos in the Kilmarnock Standard.

Copies of the book can be bought online at www.lucysblueday.com. A version suitable for older children is available to pre order. (P+P not included – discount code is invalid now)

Lucy’s Blue Day – Author Visit

More classes have become familiar with the book ‘Lucy’s Blue Day’ which explores emotions and explains that it is ‘Ok to be not ok’ and that there are people we can talk to when we are feeling a little blue.

Lucy’s hair changes colour depending on her emotions.

This delightful book has led to great class discussions, super stories and fab artwork in various classes.

Brooke Hannah in P3 shared a story with the author and he used it on a film reel at the ‘This Morning Live’ roadshow. Brooke was excited to hear that Dr Ranj, Rylan, Rochelle and Holly and Phil had seen her story!!?

Chris Duke, the author of the book is visiting Onthank on Tuesday 25th June and he will visit Galston Primary and Hillhead Primary too.

Chris has offered us a discount code to use online for buying a copy of the book shown. Our code is ONTHANK and the book can be bought at www.lucysblueday.com?.
The discount removes postage and packing. Chris will have the orders with him when he visits and he will sign books too if you wish.

The upper school version of the book can be pre ordered and will be released in August. A fab book with a powerful message.

Beautiful Inside and Out. Tonight- Thursday 23 May 7pm ❤️

Pauline Moriarty , founder of Beautiful Inside and Out (Scio) will be in school to inform us of the background , aims and expanding services of the charity with an emphasis on some of the things we can all do to promote the wellbeing of our young people. There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion , how to access support of Beautiful Inside and Out(Scio) for anyone of any age.

Pupils can attend this event with adult support. Parents, carers and friends please come along.

Positive Choices Week ??Week beginning Mon 20 May??‍♂️

Next week it is Positive Choices Week in school. All pupils will be involved in a variety of activities: eg judo, boxing, fruit tasting, Fitness activities, football, tennis, hand washing ,gardening, hygiene talks, cyber bullying talks,Tai kwon do,  curling ? and a spring Clean.  Pupils will be timetabled during the week to be involved in some of the activities.

RSHP Letter

Dear Parent / Carer

In line with East Ayrshire Council guidance, we are contacting you to inform you that this term as part of the Health and Wellbeing curriculum our children will be learning about Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP). The topic is fully in line with Curriculum for Excellence which is set down by the Scottish Education Department.

Our local authority is committed to the provision of quality teaching in Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood education in accordance with National Guidelines. It forms a key element of personal, social and health education in schools and is an important part of children’s preparations for adult life. The purpose of RSHP is to provide the learners with an understanding of how to maintain positive relationships. In addition pupils are encouraged to consider how thoughts, feelings, attitudes, values and beliefs can influence decisions about relationships.

It is very important that taking into account the age and stage of the child that we take steps to use a common vocabulary to describe our emotions, feelings and body parts.

Here are links to parent leaflets

RSHP Early level Parent Leaflet

RSHP First level Parent leaflet

RSHP Second level leaflet

If you wish your child to be withdrawn from RSHP lessons please contact me.

Yours sincerely

Mrs G Findlay

Depute Head Teacher

 

Operation Encompass

Onthank Primary School is now part of Operation Encompass

Operation Encompass is a unique Police and Education early intervention safeguarding partnership, which supports children and young people exposed to domestic abuse.

Please read the attached letter.

Operation Encompass Letter for Parents EAC

Operation Encompass supports us to get it right for every child.