Talented Children!

The children had a great time at the Valentine’s disco which the Parent Council organised. We have some very talented dancers with children winning prizes for their dancing at both the infant and upper school discos. We are all really looking forward to this year’s XA Factor which the House Captains have organised for Thursday 22nd February. I’m sure that judging this will be very difficult.

Staffing

At the beginning of the month Mrs Duncan, following competitive interview, was appointed as Principal Teacher in Cross Arthurlie. We wish her well in this permanent post.

Primary 1/1 parents will also now be aware that Mrs Burnett is pregnant and will be going on maternity leave soon, probably after the Easter holidays. I don’t have any definite arrangements for covering P1/1 during Mrs Burnett’s absence, at the moment but will letter parents as soon as possible once I have this information.

Improvement Planning

We are continuing to make progress on supporting children in building their resilience with their learning through Building the Learning Power. This month we have also had a focus on developing staff and children’s skills with IT. Internet Safety Day on Tuesday 6th February and assembly on the 7th ensured that all children are well informed about the potential dangers of being on-line and ways in which they can keep themselves safe.

We are very fortunate to have received a class set of Virtual Reality headsets from East Renfrewshire Council. As part of the in-service day staff learned how to use these and discussed ways in which children’s learning could be extended with this latest resource.

Chinese New Year

As a Confucius Hub we are very keen that our children become familiar with Chinese culture in addition to learning Mandarin. The 16th February was Chinese New Year and this year it is the Year of the Dog. Miss Thomson has organised an art competition for the school with children completing a drawing to celebrate this, with Mrs Chu being the judge for the completed entries.

On Tuesday 20th Feb Miss Thomson will also be going to Edinburgh with 15 children to visit the zoo and be part of the opening of the Confucius Hub there.

Many of the after school clubs this year have been linked to Chinese culture. Clubs such as table tennis, gymnastics and badminton have been possible due to additional resources which are part of being a Hub school. Next term we are very excited about our plans for family Chinese cooking . Make sure you look out for further information on this.

Parent Council

The Parent Council support the school with fundraising and as a mechanism for gathering parent views on matters which affect the school. They are looking to collect bottles prior to the Ladies Night, as usual any glassware should be dropped off at the school office.

Dates of next meetings: March 6th & May 1st (Barrhead High) and June 5th AGM at Cross Arthurlie

Events coming up: 3rd March : Ladies Night; 19th May: Spring Fun Day; 12th June discos : 21st June: Leaver’s Dance

Being Active!

We had fantastic learning and play last month when the snow covered the grassed area at the back of the school. Children in a range of stages throughout the school took their learning outdoors and had great fun measuring, estimating, discovering the properties of snow and experimenting and testing what made the most effective slides and why.

Please ensure that all children are suitably dressed for the weather to ensure that they can fully participate in all aspects of learning, both indoors and out.

Open Afternoon and Parents’ Nights

You will all have received information about the Open Afternoon on Tuesday 27th Feb and Parents’ Nights in March. We are really keen to gather parents views on Homework and the priorities for next year’s School Improvement Plan and are looking to do so during the Open Afternoon and Parents’ Night.

We are hopeful that by gathering your views at a time when many folks are already in school you will be able to contribute to the decisions, particularly as the issue of homework can have a direct impact upon family life.

Primary 5 Charity

Primary 5 are planning a ‘Wacky Hair Day’ on Friday 23rd February to raise money for the Royal Hospital for Children. Pupils can come to school on this day with wacky hair, for a small donation to this very worthwhile hospital. Pupils should wear their school uniform as normal on this day.

VIP Assembly

We had our third monthly VIP assembly last Wednesday celebrating the school value of respect. The following children were awarded VIP certificates : Eva Sellyn, Finn Shepherd, Grace MacDonald, Emily Kay, Lacey Miller, Alex McEleney, Lucie Johnston, Daisy Aird, Lau-en McKinnon, Niall McInally, Adam Wilson, Amy Docherty, Marley McEwan, Eve Hamilton, Ismail Haq, Calvin Brennan, Anna Dove, Kelly Rocks, Kyle Bone, Gilen Smith & Jack Girvan.

We also celebrated a range of achievements out of school:

Dancing: Mitchell Bryce; Football: Max Morrison, Lewis Murray and Zac Davidson.

Fiona MacDonald

Head Teacher