January 2017 Issue 4
Happy New Year!
Well, we have come back to a very busy and exciting new year! 2017 looks like it will go at the usual fast pace, full of energy and enthusiasm from all! Please do read on to find out some details of plans so far…as well as some of the usual newsletter features. As always, I welcome your comments and thoughts on every aspect of school life and look forward to continuing our partnership working.
School Improvement Planning
I’m sure you will recall the information given in issue 1 with regard to our school priorities for this session. Staff have been working with these at our regular after school collegiate time and I give the following update.
- Numeracy – Mrs Jamieson is our numeracy leader of learning and has received extensive training as part of Glasgow City Council’s ‘Glasgow Counts’ programme. Mrs Jamieson has worked individually with all pupils in P4-7 in order to conduct assessments which will guide our intervention model due to start this term. Mrs Jamieson will model lessons and team teach in most classes, allowing intensive support for pupils mainly in numeracy, but also across all aspects of mathematics.
- Literacy – Our library is almost ready for regular use and we thank the parent council for the contribution to support purchasing new furniture and books. A big thanks also to those who have bought from the school book fairs provided by scholastic. We receive a generous percentage of sales and at present we have £276 to spend
- Health and Well-Being – we have been focusing mainly on healthy eating and healthy lifestyles. We are trying to encourage pupils to change unhealthy crisps and sweets snacks for more healthier ones, and we give awards to commend pupils for making these good choices. We are not demanding that pupils change their eating habits, but teaching them that healthier options are better for the body.
- Sustainability – We await our Eco award. This process no longer offers a ‘green flag’ but we aim for ‘Global Goals’. Work has been completed throughout the school and application has been submitted for assessment. We hope to hear very soon.
I hope you find this brief summary useful, but please do get in touch if you would like more information on how we continue to try to improve the service.
Fruity Tuckshop
In order to support pupils in making healthy snack choices, we are starting a healthy tuckshop. To begin with, this will be offered on a Tuesday and Wednesday and we hope to identify most popular items to sell. We will have bananas, apples, tangerines and grapes to start us off, all with cost of between 20-30p. Pupils will get more information on exact prices in the next few days.
Transition
We have successfully begun a transition programme for nursery-primary. Children from St. Roch’s nursery, Sighthill Nursery, Royston Nursery and Rosemount nursery visit us once per fortnight to take part in some structured activities along with some of our primary 1 children. We hope to continue this for the foreseeable future.
SOS
Our primary 7 pupils are taking part in Glasgow’s Sense over Sectarianism programme along with pupils from St Stephen’s primary. This is based around the novel ‘Divided City’ and aims to encourage clear and simple anti-sectarianism messages. Pupils are enjoying the work so far and look forward to their next trip to St Stephen’s on Wednesday.
School Attendance
Please can I remind all parents and carers that attendance at school is compulsory. Attendance figures are not good at present and this is very disappointing. If pupils are off school their education will suffer. I understand there are times when absence is unavoidable but this should not lead to an attendance percentage lower than around 97%. Attendance is tracked every month and if your child’s attendance is lower than 90% I will require to meet with you to discuss.
Intergenerational Work
Linked with curriculum for excellence outcomes, our primary 5/4 pupils will engage in some work with the older members of the community. Pupils will visit the Rainbow Hall on a Thursday to share some experiences of playing ‘old fashioned’ games and singing old songs. This fits well with a number of aspects of the curriculum whilst at the same time, being an enjoyable experience for the pupils. Skills such as reading and understanding instructions, sharing resources, taking turns and the development of social skills has somehow been lost with the fast paced ever developing world of technology, and it is time we increased priority of these life skills.
Annual Royston Clean Up event
The clean up will take place for P4/3-7 pupils on the 1st March. This year, our youth forum members are planning the event, which involves booking the venue, ordering and requesting resources and support from the council and making purchases for the ‘goodie bags’. This has been a real learning experience for pupils supported by Spireview Housing Association. All pupils will be closely monitored in small groups by adults and we will be preparing them for this by engaging in conversation about why this is important. The main aim is to ensure our pupils understand the value of their community and grow to respect and look after it.
Staffing
A regular feature in the newsletter now due to the importance of you knowing who is in school working with your children. Our staffing remains stable at present. In addition, we have a new volunteer Christina McDonald, working with P1 P3/2, P4/3 and P6/5. Christina is fully disclosed and works closely with the class teacher. Mickdona out regular volunteer will stop soon to have her baby! We thank her so much for all she has done for Royston pupils and wish her good luck in her up and coming life changing event!
We will soon be joined by 2 teaching students who will work in P6/5 and P7. This will be their final placement and they will be with us until May.
We continue to have our reading partners from Clydesdale Bank who come on a Wednesday and Thursday. They enjoy coming and our pupils benefit from some one to one support.
Open Afternoon
Our next open afternoon is on the 7th February 2-3pm. Another opportunity for you to see your children ‘at work’. I do hope you can manage to come.
Formal Parent Appointments
Parent Appointments will be held on the 23rd February, from 3-7pm. You will be given your appointment time for this evening. As always however, we are available to discuss matters with you at any time throughout the year; just let us know.
Photographer
Tempest photographer will be in school on the 2nd March. More information about this to follow.
Holiday Dates
School will be closed for the mid-term break and in-service training from Friday 10th February and re-open on Thursday the 16th February. School will finish at 2.30pm on 31st March for the Spring Break and re-open on 18th April at 9am.
Car Park
Car park gate will be closed at 3pm every day as this has not to be used for parents and carers picking pupils up. This is becoming a real health and safety risk with pupils running across the car park and cars exiting the car park while pupils exit school from the gate directly beside the vehicle exit. I must ensure all possible measures are in place to ensure pupils are kept safe and this is necessary.
Jane McShane
Head Teacher
