Learning at Canmore – Your Child’s Learning Journey
Welcome to Canmore Primary School.
Canmore is a very happy, nurturing and progressive school that ignites the interest in learning and achieving goals.
From the Early Years, we look at the whole child and recognise, not just academic but wider achievements and celebrate successes on a weekly basis at our School Reconnectors.
In the Early Years Department, your child begins their learning journey and we begin by establishing routines. This instils a feeling of security for children and a sense of belonging. Children learn best when they feel relaxed and have an understanding about what will happen next.
In Primary 1, we provide meaningful and engaging experiences where learning can take place. We encourage learning through Play and children are given lots of opportunities for this throughout the day.
Children are encouraged to use writing tools and ‘write’ down their ideas through emergent writing. They begin by learning the initial sounds of the alphabet (phonics) in a multi-sensory approach which allows for children’s different learning styles.
We use a variety of activities during our Discovery Learning such as painting, cutting, modelling, sand and water play to improve hand-eye co-ordination which in turn helps support writing.
Children use counting songs, rhymes and solid materials to understand the concept of number and are encouraged to use numbers in their day to day activities. Curriculum for Excellence promotes children’s learning across subject areas and developing skills that will be transferrable to other areas of learning. Children learn about their environment through Social and Science topic work, with examples like Our School, Winter, Shops and Shopping and Minibeasts topics. Part of their learning involves excursions out of school to places which will support their understanding. At present, trips out with school will not be taking place until further risk assessments and guidance from Fife Council is issued.
Outdoor Play and learning, as part of Health & Wellbeing is promoted at Canmore and the children also have Outdoor PE as part of their curriculum. They are asked to have an outdoor gym kit in school for this. Primary 1 is just the start of the exciting learning journey that you and your child will experience at Canmore. We hope you will enjoy being part of our family.
As your child moves through the school, they will continue their learning journey in a safe and supportive environment but will also be encouraged to develop their independence and take more ownership of their learning. This is done in a wide variety of ways:
- Setting personal goals and targets through their own learning journeys.
- Taking ownership of their learning and developing learner attributes to help them throughout their time in school and beyond.
- Researching and presenting personal projects to others.
- Taking on roles of responsibility in the school such as a Playground Problem Solver, who support younger children to resolve issues in the playground by asking our restorative questions:
1 – What happened?
2 – Is it a big deal or a little deal?
3 – Who has been affected?
4 – How can we make it better?
5 – How can we make sure it doesn’t happen again?
- Developing leadership roles as Head Boy, Head Girl, Depute Head Boy, Depute Head Girl, Captains, Vice-Captains, Ambassadors of our 4 Houses – Air, Earth, Fire & Water and Sports Ambassadors.
- Being a ‘Buddy’ to a new P1 or a new child to the school – checking their buddy has someone to play with at breaktimes, showing the new person around the school and being a ‘big friend’.
- Organising charity events, presentations or events for the school community such as Red Nose Day or fundraising to develop the school environment.
- Being on the Pupil Council and supporting decision making in the school on areas of concern to pupils.
- Being on the Eco Committee and supporting the school to extend practices in being environmentally friendly.
As your child matures and develops independence as they move through the school, we continue to value partnership with parents. We actively encourage you to work in partnership in a variety of ways, as will be appropriate, such as:
- Sharing your ideas and concerns
- Reviewing learning with your child through discussion of their Learning Journey
- Coming in to see performances or displays of work when Govt COVID guidance allows.
- Meeting your child’s teacher twice a year at parent-teacher contact (currently virtually)
- Supporting your child with their homework
In Canmore, we recognise the vital role you play in supporting your child’s education.
Canmore has an open-door policy and usually we welcome all parents to visit the school if you have queries or suggestions. We believe in parents as partners and working together to provide the best learning environment for our children. In the current climate, we will be guided by Fife Education policy but would still encourage you to contact the school via virtual means to answer any queries you may have.
We look forward to working with you.
