Onthank Primary School

Click on the picture to go to a new page which gives RESOURCES FOR RIGHTS LEARNING AWAY FROM SCHOOL

The following letter was sent to parents on our school app

Letter to parents and carers – 23.3.20

If you wish to access any of this provision you will require to fill in our e-form here:

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id

As you will read in the letter Onthank PS pupils register for James Hamilton Primary hub.

EAC are continuing to provide meals to Free School Meals entitled families – register at http://eastayrshi.re/familymeals

Hope all of our Onthank families and friends are all safe and well.

We will be keeping the main blog page free for important information, however, we wanted to share a couple of ideas which might benefit all of our pupils.

Each morning, Joe Wicks will be providing online PE lessons at 9am. We have all enjoyed taking part in his sessions before.

When it gets closer to bedtime, why not log onto Facebook or YouTube  each night at 7pm and listen to Chris Duke, the author of ‘Lucy’s Blue Day’ reading a chapter per night of his new book ‘Archie Unplugs the Internet’. A lovely routine to end the day. ?

Thinking of everyone at this difficult time.

We said Goodbye to Mr Boyd who is leaving Onthank to take up a new PT post in Glasgow. All classes had a fun last day( for the time being) in school  as luckily the weather was in our favour.

Good luck to our P7s. We will have you back at some point to give you an Onthank Send Off. You are a credit to Onthank ?. 

Please read the letter and follow the attached link.

Letter to all parents and carers – 20.3.20

We gathered together for class photographs this afternoon before saying our goodbyes.   We are all hoping to all be back together soon.

As we say farewell to seeing many of our children the P7 class of 2020 picked the following song ….

Our leadership team and staff are so very proud of our children.  An Onthank assembly favourite!

Congratulations to Holly in P5 who won East Ayrshire’s internet safety competition by designing an avatar.  Holly has won a DASH robot for the school, well done! ?

We have put together a learning pack for your child. As we don’t know the duration of the closure, we have attempted to provide a range of activities which we would encourage your child to complete throughout the day, please use your own judgement as every child and situation is different.

With such short notice we have not been able to differentiate for all levels of ability and would advise that your child completes what they can from the tasks provided.

Please regularly check Teams, the P7 Blog, and Bug Club as we will keep this updated with daily tasks and activities for your child to complete.

The jotter provided can be used to complete any written activities or assignments that cannot be done within the class Teams page or through another online format.

We would ask that, where possible, you try to keep to a routine of learning to support our young people, academically, during these challenging times.

P7 teachers will be available to answer emails from you and your children during the usual school hours and will try to respond as soon as possible.

Miss McKelvey     P7McK          eagillian.mckelvey@glow.sch.uk

Mr McNichol        P7McN          easteven.mcnichol@glow.sch.uk

Mrs Mills                P7M                 eacaroline.mills@glow.sch.uk

Onthank Young People & Families,

Our staff have been busy creating exciting and engaging home learning packs and digital learning activities for our young people.  

Activities, as always, will be active, fun and inclusive for all learners, regardless of ability.

Here is a summary for each stage –

Primary 1 – Pack with parent letter,  logins and passwords, jotter,  pencil, worksheets,  materials and ideas for cross- curricular activities, Information on P1 class blog

Primary 2– Pack with parent letter,  logins and passwords,  worksheets,  materials and ideas for cross- curricular activities, Information on P2 class blog

Primary 3  – Pack with parent letter ( logins and passwords sent with report),  jotter and P 3 class blog with a page for each teacher.

Primary 4 – Pack with a parental letter giving instructions on P4 blog,  range of worksheets, literacy, numeracy, jotter with Glow log ins.  

Primary 5– Teams page for communication, lessons, folders with maths and numeracy, literacy and french. 

Primary 6 – Teams page for communication, lessons, packs made up for individual children

Primary 7– Teams page for communication, ON-LINE lessons  posted daily,  folder with assessments, jotters etc

At Onthank we are very proud of the level of digital learning and ownership our young people have already achieved. All learners in Primary 5, 6 & 7 have been using Teams and communication between teacher and learner has already begun!

Click here for – Microsoft Teams Guidance for Parents

We will issue guidance on the amount of communication you can expect from teaching staff in the coming week. This will vary between stages due to the different activities planned by staff.

Learning Packs will be available today and tomorrow and will be given to pupils to bring home if they are attending school. Other resources such as sanitary items, toothbrushes and toothpaste are free to anyone who needs them. 

We are aware that some families are already self-isolating, therefore the school will get Learning Packs to you.  Please fill in the form below to let us know how you wish to receive yours. This form only needs to be filled in if your child has been absent from school in the last week.

You might be inclined to create  a minute by minute schedule for your child, however, like many of us,  they have never experienced anything like this before and will share the same worries and fears.

It is equally important at this time to comfort, care for each other and consider transferable life skills which can be learned at home. Why not take a break from Learning Packs and play board games, bake cookies, or to do a science experiment together?

Please also remember it will take time for all of us to adjust to this ‘new normality’.

Sincere thanks from Onthank Primary SLT and Staff for your understanding, cooperation and support in these unprecedented times. The offers of help and acts of kindness from our community is an outstanding display of your passion and genuine care for our young people.

We will miss our young people greatly, however remain encouraged Onthank Primary Community will reflect and learn from this and come back creating a stronger future for all.

Please continue to reach out to us during these times. We are all in this together.

Well done to Erin, Ellie and Mason.  They were the winners of the App design competition.  The ‘Make it Happen’ company were blown away by the amazing design ideas from our school. Thank you to all of our pupils for entering.

We would like to make sure we have the correct email address for all parents.  In these uncertain circumstances we will be contacting you at home via email.

Please ensure the school has an up to date email address by completing form below if you would like to give us an update:

Yesterday we distributed pupil reports. We do know that many children have not received them yet. To help us plan can all parents/carers please complete our online form.  Parents can pick up the school report if they are able to.  Reports which are not picked up will be posted.

Please click here to access the form

277 have been completed.

Answers to frequently asked questions-

• Children are being re- issued with their log ins and passwords.
• Online tutorials will be added to our School blog
• Staff will be posting on each stage’s blog
• We will make sure parents can access support
• Our school Bugclub code is kg9j

Primary 3

Nathan – talking about his Scottish project to the class

Max – working well with his peers

Mya – super instruction writing

Primary 4

Imogen – always trying to brighten up a situation

Lennon – making an effort to improve handwriting

All of P4K – getting to grips with GLOW blogs

Primary 7

Kerr – Cycling

Robert – making excellent use of our Class Teams page

Luke – an Amazing contribution to our Shape Lessons.

Deputy Headteacher’s Award

Sophie – being a kind and helpful pupil

If schools close in the coming days or weeks we would like the children to access Bug Club at home if possible. We have put together a step by step guide as to how to access it. In the meantime  can you please make sure your child is able to log on?

Thank you for your continued support.

1. Google              Bug Club

2. The top search says ActiveLearn:Login  –  click on that link.

3. That should take you to the password page.

4. Insert your personal login details.

5. The photos below show what to do. The “child”  we have used to demonstrate  this does not exist and is made up purely as an example.

6 . If you see a “bug” you click on it and your child will have a task to perform.

Remember you can access maths activities on Bug Club too.

Please click on the link below for the updated information on COVID-19 from Linda McAulay Griffiths, Head of Education.  This will also be sent to all parents/careers centrally via the school app.

Coronovirus symptoms letter – updated guidance – 17.3.20

Could  parents\carers please report child absences to the office in the usual way.

Thank you

Onthank pupils working together to share their thoughts on their class team’s page.

Primary 7 helped set up our new Glow Blogs. We told them what we liked doing in school.

We have been looking at patterns and we drew patterns with chalk on the playground. Our P7 Buddies helped us.

We had fun doing our Sport Activities with P7s  and Sports Committee leading us   –  thank you. We went to the gym hall and took part in lots of fitness stations.  Thank you for your kind donations.

For reliable information our school app will be our main source of communication with parents/carers. You should check our news and message sections. Please can any parents who have not downloaded the app, do so as soon as possible. Thanks.

To download on iPhone, please visit: CLICK

To download on Android, please visit: CLICK

P1 had fun on Friday for Sports Relief

We had our first session on Monday and it was lovely to see the children engaging with the discussion and the activities. All the children in the group were given a letter to take home to parents/ carers, explaining what we had talked about and asking if they could bring in either a photo, a toy or an item of clothing that they had when they were a baby for our second session on Tuesday 17th March (IF POSSIBLE!) so please check school bags.

I also still need permission slips returned from some of our group members.

We are keen to support parents to ensure all young people are Cyber safe, especially with the growing use of a wide range of Apps and online forms of communication (WhatsApp/TikTok/Instagram/Snapchat etc). As part of our continued commitment, we are delighted to promote our new ‘Safer Schools’ App. This App is a reliable source of advice on all things Cyber. It gives empowering, current and informative information on all current digital platforms/tools/apps in an accessible manner. We have a range of tailored user accesses (pupil, staff and parents/carers). To access your parent platform please:
-Go to your app store or Google Play and search for ‘Safer School’
-In school field type ‘East Ayrshire Council’
-The code for primary parents is: 7440
We would recommend that you discuss with your child about which apps and social media platforms they currently use/access. This will help ensure they know how to stay safe online – using the app to start these types of conversations is great.

We are taking part in Sport Relief on Friday 13 March 2020.  Pupils can come to school wearing ‘Sporty’ clothes (no football colours) and bring in a small donation.

The Sports Committee have created a timetable of activities inside and out (weather permitting) for our pupils to take part in throughout the day.

Primary 1

Noah – a super mixed up fairtytale

Macie – writing super sentences

Starla – using string to make our new phoneme – ch

George – being the best and ‘Smartest Giant in Town’

Primary 2

Alfie – Using your ‘sounding out’ skills to write words

Colin – trying extra hard to write in sentences

Cherelle – Fantastic daily writing

Primary 3

Lucy – showing super numeracy skills in Number Talks

Abbi – helping promote International Women’s Day

Zoe – linking division with multiplication

All of P3S – fantastic ‘Scotland’ projects

Primary 4

Evan – improving his writing and producing a great book blurb

Charlie – demonstrating super shooting skills in basketball

Shae – increased focus and attention

Tulisa – super progress &  motivation in writing

Primary 5

Tyler – making good progress in maths

Robbie – well presented literacy work in jotters

Lewys – being a confident performer in Literacy activities

Primary 6

Emily – showing a determined approach to new learning

Danyal – Showing maturity

Alex – consistent great effort and beautiful presentation

Lewis – participating well in the editing process during writing

Primary 7

All of 7m – being superstars at Inverclyde

Cameron – showing great sportsmanship at Inverclyde

Leon – has done some great work in Inverclyde

Deputy Headteacher’s award

Morgan – being very helpful in P1

A selection of photographs from last week’s visit have now been posted to the Primary 7 page of our blog.  Where possible we have tried to put them into different sports.

Change of menu for Friday 13 March as it is International School Meal Day.

Scotland – Scotch Broth Soup

Mexico – Chicken Fajitas & Wedges

China – Spicy Vegetarian Noodles

Italy – Pizza & French Fries

America – Chocolate Muffins

All served with Milk Shakes, Milk or Juice

P6/7 football training will resume tomorrow (Tuesday 10 March) 3-4pm. Training will take place on the AstroTurf so please ensure your child has warm clothing with them.

In preparation for Parents’ Afternoon / Evening we would like to organise time slots.  Appointments will be available on Thursday 19 March from 3.10 pm – 8.30 pm.  Please indicate below if you wish an appointment.

We are having a World Book Day menu tomorrow in our dining hall:

One Grain of Rice Soup (Chicken & Rice Soup)

Jack & The Giant BBQ (BBQ Chicken in a Yorkshire Pudding)

10 Fat Sausages (Beef Sausages, Potato & Veg)

Hooray for Fish (Tuna Sandwich Pick Miz)

James & The Giant Peach (Stick Veg & Fruit Pots)

Alistair and Charlie both competed in a taekwondo competition at the weekend and were successful winners. Alistair won a bronze medal and Charlie won silver. Well done , we are all proud of you.

Today our local MP Alan Brown came in to visit Primary 3 as part of the Scotland topic.  We asked him interesting  questions and learned lots about his job and his  passion for Scotland . Harris , Robbie , Lucas and Maddison gave Mr Brown a tour of the school to show off some of our excellent work.

We all read Mr Wolf’s Pancakes and Heather came to our class to make pancakes. The pancakes tasted delicious.

Due to unforeseen circumstances Mrs Mills will have to cancel tomorrow’s after school Coding Club for P4-7 pupils ? Apologies in advance.

World Thinking Day 2020 is embracing the theme of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. World Thinking Day is celebrated on 22nd February every year. It is celebrated around the world by organisations such as Girl Guides, Brownies, Scouts, Rainbows, Beavers, Boys Brigade and Anchor Boys.

We invited our pupils to wear their organisation uniforms to school today.

Everyone looks so proud to belong to their club.

Mrs Bell will be starting an initial group for P3 and P4.  All pupils have been spoken to about it at Assembly and a letter has been sent home. Parents will be offered a date to come and find out more about this programme which aims to support children deal with loss and change.

Seasons for Growth information sheet

Mrs Bell will be starting to work with P2 for the Massage in School programme., starting on Monday 24th February.

MISP initial info letter updated

To celebrate World Thinking Day, pupils from any voluntary youth organisations are allowed to wear their uniform to school on Friday 21st February 2020.

World Thinking Day is held every year and is a time when we celebrate and think of other Rainbows, Brownies, Guides Clubs and beavers across the world.

P6 are visiting the Palace Theatre to see ‘Lifeboat’ (World War II Drama) on Monday 2 March 2020.  The bus will leave school around 12.15 pm and return by 3.00 pm.  The children will have an early lunch on this day.

The cost of this outing is £7.50 per pupil to be paid through ParentPay – if you would like to pay via Paypoint please call the school for a Barcode Letter.

The Athletics Team will train at the Athletics Arena, Queens Drive, Kilmarnock on Wednesday 26 February from 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm.

Please complete form below:

The Athletics Team are taking part in the Athletics Regional Final on Friday 28 February. They will be leaving school just after 9.00 am and returning around 2.00 pm.  The competition is on from 10.45 am – 12.45 pm.  All parents welcome to attend and support the Team.

We have a change of menu tomorrow in the Dining Hall – a Valentine’s Buffet.

Chicken Strips / Sausage Rolls / Sandwiches / Pizza Slices / Mozzerella Sticks

Red Velvet Cupcakes / Strawberry Ice-cream

Milk / Milkshake / Juice

The price for this is £2.15 to be paid through ParentPay (or free if your child is in P1-P3 or entitled to free school meals).

Primary 1

Shane – Working hard with French numbers.

Oscar – Working hard at all times in class.

Starla – Contributing to a class discussion about interesting sentences.

Emily – Fabulous Phonics, well done!

Primary 2

Ava – Outstanding effort and writing

Connor – using spelling strategies to write larger words.

Euan  – Fantastic writing

Primary 3

Blaine – Super spelling

Charli – trying hard with her Scottish poem

Shanai – settling in well to her new school! Lovely girl!

Khayri – super 2 x table work

Primary 4

Jack – always trying hard and always smiling

Olivia – being very helpful in class

Asmaa – writing super sentences about the Titanic

Esa – reciting her poem beautifully

Primary 5

Ryan – Progress in  maths

Lewis – Good comprehension answers for All about Castles

Amy – fantastic work in writing

Primary 6

Liam – Learning his poem

Chloe – A fantastic Scottish Burns recital poem – The Puddock

Daniel – Being an excellent contribution during class discussions

Primary 7

Katie – Motivation to learn even when facing challenges

Andrew – has done some great work in currency conversion in Numeracy

P7S – being a pleasure to teach. Good Luck!

We are having a Leaving Pizza Party for Mr Simpson on Thursday 6 February in our Dining Hall for pupils.

Our menu on this day is:

Cheese & Tomato Pizza

Ham & Pineapple Pizza

Chicken & Sweetcorn Pizza

All Pizza served with Fries & Salad

Chocolate Muffins or Ice-cream

Milk, Milkshake, Juice or Water

The cost of this is £2.15 (to be paid through ParentPay) or free if your child is in P1-P3 or entitled to a free school meal.

Primary 1

Ruby – Super Subtraction!

Zak – An outstanding recount of The Three Little Pig’s Story

Cara – Excellent Subtraction Work

Ava – Writing a super sentence on her own

Tyler – making his own book

Primary 2

Callum – Super answering in class and at group times

Sonny – Becoming an independent worker in literacy and numeracy

Baylee – Amazing sentences

Primary 3

Brandon – Excellent phonics

Georgie – Super imaginative story

Hannah – having such a bubbly friendly personalty and a caring heart!

Aidynn – Super attempt at joined handwriting

Primary 4

Amy – super subtraction of a 3 digit number from a 3 digit number.

Jaxon – A positive attitude to all learning in class

Lennon – being a ‘Titanic’ expert

Primary 5

Erin – for her great ideas for her story writing

Emma – displaying a very hardworking and respectful attitude in P5

Primary 6

P6A – fantastic poetry recitals

Kerr – always working hard in class

Aimee – great commitment and pleasant manners at all times

Charlotte – writing an excellent report on Britain Prepares for War

Primary 7

Brandon – understanding and calculating percentages

Primary 1

Zac  – Super reading

Calvin  – Excellent reading skills when decoding his words

Liam  – trying very hard to blend words

Rebecca  – writing an interesting letter to the friendly dragon

Primary 2

Olivia  – excellent effort in completing tasks

Emily – writing in sentences and using joining words

Abigail  – amazing poetry recital

Primary 3

Hannah  – beautiful handwriting

Josh  – being a super sorter of sounds

Jessica – fantastic improvement in maths! WOW

Dylan – behaving very well during ‘Massage’ with Mrs Haining

Primary 4

Molly  – fantastic writing using adjectives and similes

Riley – working hard in class tasks

Lewis  – best boat design which held 96 cubes!

Leighann – best boat design which held 96 cubes

Tulisa  – reciting her 4x table perfectly

Primary 5

Rowan  – super shield homework

P5I – fantastic poetry recitals

Oliver – great story writing!

Lyla  – her positive attitude and excellence in PE

Primary 6

Melody – great participation in class discussions

Mia – fantastic fractions

Mia – working well in maths

Aran  – super use of division strategies!

Primary 7

Bailey – always having a very positive work ethic

Leyton  – trying hard to learn his poem for our Scottish Assembly

P7S – being tremendous buddies to P1B

Firstly, a huge thank you to all parents and carers who were able to make us aware of the changes and difficulties that were occurring when logging in to BugClub recently. Having investigated this, it appears logging in to BugClub has changed.

When searching for BugClub in your internet search engine, please type in ‘Active Learn BugClub login’.

This should take you to this page:

Click on the top link: https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk/login?c=0

You should now get to here:

Click on the ‘Log In’ button to take you to the new login page on the ‘Pearson’ website where you enter your BugClub login as normal:

A reminder that our school code is kg9j.

We are looking for good quality games that could be used in our classrooms during wet playtimes.  If you are having a clear out after Christmas and have games that you no longer need/want, then please send them into school.  Thank you for your continued support.

An opportunity has arisen to support another school in our local authority and Mrs Findlay has agreed to the request made by the Head of Education to support Sorn Primary for a short period of time.  She will maintain close links with Onthank and this will allow the Onthank management team to expand their remits during this time and experience additional responsibility.  This temporary transfer will begin as of Monday, January 13th.   On Monday Miss Cook will be available to support Infant registration.  Throughout the week other Principal teachers will be asked to carry out aspects of Mrs Findlay’s remit.

Primary 7 parents are aware that Mr Simpson is leaving and we now know he will continue at Onthank until the February holiday this will gives us plenty of time to plan a smooth transition.

If parents have any questions please contact the school on 01563 525477.

Primary 1

Corey – making sensible choices and trying hard

Emma – writing super sentences

Riley – trying really hard to make positive choices

Hannah – achieving a personal goal

Primary 2

Sofia – super Numeracy work – well done!

Kyle – using various movement skills well during PE

Tehya – learning lots of letters in our alphabet

Kerr – always being helpful in class

Primary 3

Jay – super subtracting

Amelia – fab Christmas news writing

Logan – super subtraction skills

Mylie – always being well behaved and mannerly

Primary 4

Ross – working hard on his maths even though he found it very hard!

Maddison – supporting her classmate during an ICT task

All of P4K – working super hard on addition with carrying

Alfie – displaying lovely manners

Primary 5

Luke – well considered answers

James – always displaying a responsible attitude

All of P5T – their hard work and enthusiasm in numeracy

Primary 6

Nathan – super participation in discussion & having a great attitude to his learning.

Jennifer – always working hard

Tom – great improvement in literacy assessments

Jay – Excellent effort in all curricular areas

Primary 7

Jamie – enthusiasm for all learning

Brandon – returning to school with a positive mental attitude

James – his tremendous performance during mastermind

Mrs Irving’s Homework Club will be starting again tomorrow – Thursday 9 January from 3.00 pm – 4.00 pm until further notice.

Please click on link below for info regarding P1 Registration:

P1 Enrolment Flier 2020

As we welcome our children back to school tomorrow, work is starting in the Primary 1 and 2 playground to expand Onthank Early Childhood Centre. Construction work means the gate nearest the NUKLEUS community centre will close.

The middle gate will be re- opened along with all other gates. To avoid congestion we would like to change entry and exits for Primary 2, 3 and 4 children. Primary 2 children will enter and exit the building from the doors that were previously used by Primary 3 and 4. Primary 3 and 4 will enter and exit school from the P5, 6 and 7 playground. Staff explained this to pupils before we stopped and we will also be available on the first day back to help direct all pupils to the correct entry point. We were able to discuss this at our Parent Council meetings and thank parents for their input.

Please see the map below for entries and exits:

During our Buddying time, P1B and P7S designed Christmas cards to give to our friends at Onthank ECC and Crossgates Care Home. We delivered these cards today where they were received with great thanks by children and adults alike.

We even joined in singing Christmas carols with our friends at Crossgates: