Community News – Page 9 – Royston Primary School

14 May, 2018

May Newsletter (With Important Dates!)

May 2018 Issue 6

The last term!

It seems quite unbelievable that we are in May already and racing through the last term of the session. In some ways this has been a speedy year, but in others, not so much! Building works have been a real challenge to pupils, staff and parents this session and have certainly impacted on our usual way of working. However, I am delighted that they are nearing completion. The final stage of opening the main stairwell will happen early next week with the main door being brought back to use again. Snagging lists will be created before the end of June and scaffolding should be completely dismantled by the end of June. I am looking forward to seeing the building again! I want to thank you all for your patience and understanding with our works, it has been an experience!

Reports and classes

Teachers are now in the final stages of preparing your child’s full report. These will come to you at the end of May. We also endeavour to give you information on your child’s next class and teacher as we know some pupils get anxious about this as we complete this term.

Term 4 Clubs

Clubs this term are going very well. Pupils appeared to be a little overwhelmed by the number of clubs this term. This was simply because space has been restricted in other terms due to building works. Please keep the note of clubs handy as this will give you information on end dates. All clubs finish on different dates depending on who is leading the club. For example, some of our clubs are being led by student teachers and they will end next week. We also have some clubs yet to begin. The information given was very full, giving you all required information. Please do keep it handy. Information will also appear on the school website.

Wee Write

The ‘Wee Write’ festival workshops have been re-scheduled due to snow. Some of our classes will be attending these. They will be exploring specific age and stage appropriate authors and investigating some of their writing. Classes as follows:

P6/5 – Alex Nye – 17th May p.m.

P6/5 – Varied authors – 18th May p.m.

P7 – Maz Evans – 18th May p.m.

P5/4 – Chae Strathie – 21st May a.m.

All outings are to Mitchell Library and pupils will be transported by private coach.

Transitions

Early years transitions are going smoothly at present. Our nursery intake pupils have been to school for a ‘play date’ with primary 1. We will also welcome them back to take part in our sports day. Our induction dates are 22nd and 30th May 1.15-2.45pm where we will have input from some key partners and give support in completing the many pro-formas required when enrolling in school. I will also soon be seeking out some willing current primary 1 parents to come along on the 30th May to share their experiences with our new parents. If you might be willing to help me in this, please do let me know.

Secondary transition information is in the process of being passed on. This year, we will be passing our pupils to 5 different secondary schools, each one has their own way of gathering information and involving pupils. At present we have met and shared with 3 secondary schools and will be arranging meeting times with the others very soon. Smithycroft induction days are 22nd and 23rd May and information from Smithycroft will be coming to relevant parents very soon.

Sports Day

Sports day date is 5th June – weather permitting of course! P1-3 will take place in the morning, with P4-7 in the afternoon. You are most welcome to come along and cheer the pupils on! We might even involve some of our ‘willing’ parents and carers this year! Wear comfortable footwear!!

Summer Outings

This year P1-3 will be visiting Briarlands Farm Park on 13th June, and P4-7 will go to Camera Obscura and surrounding areas on 11th June. Please note, P4-7 pupils will not return to school until approximately4pm. The total cost of our summer trips this year is £1927 for entry tickets and transport. We will require £2 per pupil for their trip this year with the bulk of the cost coming from school fund.

Ardentinny Primary 7 Residential

This experience has been an on-going saga as our primary 7 parents and carers will confirm! The length and cost of the experience have changed several times in order to ensure as many primary 7 pupils as possible can attend. We have also applied for most of the money through funding and grants and confirmation of success has come at different times. However, we are now in an excellent position of being able to offer primary 7 pupils a 3 night residential experience in June with qualified instructors, accommodation and food in Dunoon for £10. I am very hopeful that we will have good uptake on this as it is an opportunity hard to beat.

End of term service

Our end of term service and leavers assembly will take place on 21st June. Time TBC. This is always a very happy and positive assembly where we give out awards for effort and learning, as well as citizenship and sport. We will follow up with tea and coffee. I really hope all parents and carers will be able to attend.

Crazy Hair Day

We will be having a crazy hair day on Thursday 24th May. The cost of this is 50p and this will go towards summer outings.

The ‘wee lunch shop’!

Thanks to Tesco warehouse clearing we have a range of new items that we will be using to set up a ‘wee shop’ at lunch time. Pupils love to be the shop keeper and we will keep costs low for pupils to buy things. There is a range of things like pencils, stationery, notebooks etc. This will start up next week.

Rag Bag

We will soon reinstate our rag bag collection point. At present the rag bag collection box is not in use, however we have requested that the bags we have be uplifted as soon as possible. If you have a bag or bags to donate, please do bring them from next week onwards and put them at the bottom of the main stairwell. We will have them collected from there.

Janitorial Cover

At present our temporary janitor is Stephen. He has been working very hard to keep things running smoothly in school, however he will not be staying long term. When I have more information on who our permanent janitor is, I will let you know.

Usual Things…

I realise that it is the end of term, however I want to write down a few reminders as we are seeing a few things beginning to slip…

Gym Kit – this comprises of 3 things. T-shirt, shorts (or leggings/joggers) and indoor shoes. Pupils must have full gym kit for every PE lesson.

Jewellery – Glasgow City Council policy is that no jewellery is worn during any physical activity. Your child should be able to remove own jewellery and if not, this must be removed prior to coming to school on PE days.

Water – we have a water only policy in Royston Primary. During class, pupils can have plain water. At play and lunch time they can have flavoured water. No fruit shoots, capri suns, fizzy drinks or coloured water should be brought to school.

Holiday Dates

School will be closed on 25th May and 28th May for holiday weekend. School will then close for the session on 26th June at 1pm.

As always, please do get in touch if you would like to speak with me about anything…

headteacher@royston-pri.glasgow.sch.uk

Jane McShane

Head Teacher

28 March, 2018

How to add the Read Write Count app to your device

Glow Guide – How to add the GIC Read Write Count (RWC) app to your device

Note: You will need to be connected to the internet for this.

The Read Write Count app is web-based, so it can’t be downloaded from an app store. However, you can create a shortcut on your smartphone or tablet home screen. Once you’ve downloaded it, the app is available offline, and will only need to connect to the internet for any updates, or to access any external links, such as Youtube, or the RWC/SBT website

Please also bear in mind that – as this app is free – there is a small ad banner (educational and targeted ads only – i.e. it may come up with ads for things you have searched for in the past).

iPhone/iPad:

Open Safari (will only work in Safari, as this is Apple’s own browser)

Or (if you have iOS 11.0 or above) you can simply open your iPhone / iPad camera, hold it over the QR code above, then follow the pop-up link.
Click the icon with an arrow coming out of a box, either at the
bottom of the screen (iPhone) or top of the screen (iPad)

Select Add to Home Screen
Make any changes you need to the name (bear in mind a limited number of characters will show) and select Add. The app will appear on your home screen.

However, the app icon may not be where you want it to be. To move it to another page:- Depending where you want to move it, drag it with your finger along to the very left or right of the screen. It should flick into the next screen along, and you can keep doing this until it’s on your preferred page.
– Press the large home button at the very bottom of your iPhone/iPad to stop the wobbling and lock the apps in place.
– Press and hold the app icon until it wobbles

Android:

Open Chrome to access the internet.
Go to: http://apps.appshed.com/1108642 or http://bit.ly/2B6UbsqOr if you have a QR code reader app (free from the Google Play store), open this and hold your camera over the QR code, then follow the pop-up link.

The Read Write Count page will open. Select the three dots from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
Choose Add to Home screen
Make any changes you need to the name (bear in mind a limited number of characters will show) and select Add. The app will appear on your home screen.

26 February, 2018

Refurbishment Update

February 2018

Dear Parent/Carer,

I write to update you on the next phase of the refurbishment programme. At present, internally we are on track for completion in around 6-8 weeks. Externally however, due to poor weather conditions, work is running behind schedule. This has been unavoidable but has very little impact on teaching and learning for our pupils. The following work will commence this week.

East Stairwell (janitor side of building) This stairwell has now opened for use by all. West stairwell (main entrance and office side) is now closed. The expected duration for this is around 4 weeks. The main entrance now will be the East stairwell (janitor side). The main office has now been re-located to that side of the building, with a temporary and mobile buzzer entry system installed. We also have temporary phones in place using the same school number. In addition, the school emergency mobile is charged and ready to use if you cannot get through on the usual number. The mobile number is 07918 331 015

Due to the relocation of myself and other staff, we also have mobile internal transmitters (walkie talkies). Therefore, all processes should remain as they are just simply managed from the opposite side of the building. I expect some hiccups and I ask for your patience in dealing with these.

As of tomorrow (Thursday 22^nd Feb) all pupils who normally line up in the front playground will line up at the janitor side of the building as there will be no entry at the main entrance. If you come to the school at any point, you will come to the janitor side of the building also.

Playground – Due to difficulty in gaining safe access to the back playground at play and lunch time, all pupils will have their recreational time in the front playground. The back playground will be closed off from tomorrow (22^nd February) until further notice. Playtime and lunch time will be staggered to ensure pupils have enough space to play and move around.

Dining Hall – The dining hall is progressing well and should be open for use again at the end of next week – 2^nd March. The pupils have accepted the picnic style lunch in the gym hall very well and appear to have enjoyed this adventure! Due to our dining hall closure, parent appointments on 27^th February will be in the primary 4/3 class, all class teachers will consult from there. You will be directed on your arrival.

I must praise the pupils especially in their tolerance of the continued building and refurbishment work. They have been a credit to you and to school in the acceptance and the positive attitude they display, as they work day to day with various work going on around about them. I am really proud of them! Glasgow City Building have also commented on how polite and mannerly the pupils have been as they show the same respect for the workers as they do for school staff.

I thank you also for your continued support in this matter as we look towards the long term gains of this challenging time.

Kind Regards,

Jane McShane

31 January, 201831 January, 2018

February Newsletter

January/February 2018 Issue 4

Happy New Year everyone…I hope everyone has a happy and successful 2018!! This message is a little late…my apologies. Our refurbishment programme seems to be taking up most of our energy at the moment, but we can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel! We have a very busy term coming up with the diary full of opportunities for pupils across all stages in school.

Stay and Play

We have now had two very successful stay and play mornings in school and we are set to host these again. You will have already received a letter about this, but just to remind you of the organisation…

Tuesday 6^th Feb – P1 and P4/3

Wednesday 7^th Feb – P3/2 and P5/4

Thursday 8^th Feb – P6/5 and P7

All sessions are from 9.15-10am and you are welcome to join your child in class to observe and take part in some of their learning activities. This is a super opportunity to see your child ‘at work’ and I do hope you can manage along. If you are not able to attend, please do get in touch and we can try to arrange an alternative time/day. If you would prefer to e-mail me with regards to this my e-mail is:

headteacher@royston-pri.glasgow.sch.uk

Refurbishment

Our refurbishment programme is moving forward at a steady pace. Obviously we want this finished as quickly as possible but we don’t want to rush things. Our internal works is on track but external work has been delayed by around 5-6 weeks due to weather. I have already sent out a detailed update on different aspects of the programme, please refer to this for more information. As always, I am happy to speak with anyone about this and how we strive to minimise the impact on the pupils.

Quarriers

We continue to work closely with Quarriers organisation to provide support for pupils’ mental and emotional well-being. This is going very well with our worker Christine gradually building up positive relationships with pupils and staff. She is keen to meet with more parents and is available for you to pop in for a chat on Wednesdays 9-9.30am and 2.30-3pm.

After school clubs

As you will be aware, our afterschool clubs have had to be reduced due to our refurbishment programme. We are almost at a stage where these can be hosted again and we are looking to have a variety of clubs for different age groups. More information to follow soon.

Parents Evening

Our next parent meetings will take place on February 27^th. Parent’s appointments will be given out to all parents with parents/carers requiring interpreters being hosted the following week.

Trips and future events

P5-7 will participate in the event ‘How to Fix A Broken Wing’ on 16^th February. This will take place in school and addresses the issues around Global Citizenship and Sustainability.

Around 30 pupils will be attending cross country championships on 20^th February. Pupils have opted in to this opportunity.

P1 will be going on a trip to the Kelpies on the 21^st February in line with curricular work in class.

P3/2 will be going to Vikingar centre and bird sanctuary on the 22^nd February in line with curricular work in class

P4/3 will be attending the Egyptian showcase at Kelvingrove in March.

P6/5 will be attending Amazonia in relationship to their class learning on the Rainforest.

This is just a very brief overview for the next few weeks…not all opportunities are listed here!

School Attendance

I am very disappointed that since November our overall attendance rating has dropped. Pupils need to be in school every day or their learning and development WILL suffer. It is a very simple message to give. I know that every parent/carer wants their child to get the best from the education on offer and for this to happen, they must be in school every day. Please be rest-assured, if your child is ill during the school day, we will get in touch with you. In light of this, please can you ensure your contact details are kept up to date with our admin staff. It is vital that we have the correct contact numbers for you and emergency contacts.

World Book Day – 2^nd March 2018

In response to some feedback gathered last year, we will be celebrating this event in a slightly different way this year. There will be no dressing up. We will be having a pyjama party where pupils can wear their pyjamas and bring a book and a cushion. We will have a lovely ‘reading day’ Pupils will read themselves, listen to their peers reading and opt in to teacher stories. The whole day will centre around reading but with a more relaxed feel, focusing on reading for pleasure.

Transition

Upper transition work has already begun with Smithycroft staff beginning to get to know the pupils in P7. Although many of our pupils are not intending to attend Smithycroft Secondary, we must assume they will go there until their placing request for another establishment is confirmed. Smithycroft staff have been visiting and this will continue. We have also managed to forge links with St Roch’s Secondary in light of the fact that many of our pupils attend there. We will be able to take part in some of their transition activities with staff coming to get to know our pupils. We have some keyboarding lessons being taught by St Roch’s staff and pupils are enjoying this opportunity.

Our nursery transition programme is about to begin. We will be having monthly events, linking in with nursery pupils in our catchment area. Last year this proved very successful and we will look to replicate the programme whilst making some minor tweaks where required.

Credit Union

Credit Union runs on a Wednesday with school staff accompanying pupils to Spireview Housing association offices to deposit their money. This is a great way for pupils to begin to learn about finance and credit. If you would like your child to participate, please request an application form at the school office.

Healthy Snack

We continually encourage pupils to try to make good choices with snacks. Pupils can win awards at our Friday celebration assembly for having a healthy snack each day of the week. Once a pupil has 5 awards they will then get to go on a special outing or receive a special treat. This week, our 5 award pupils are going to the local park as a treat for making healthy choices with snacks. Pupils are excited about this and I hope we will be able to have lots more pupils winning awards.

I would also like to remind you that pupils are only allowed to have water at school. Flavoured water is fine for playtime and lunchtime but during class time, only plain water should be consumed. We actively promote drinking water as this stimulates brain development and ultimately increases pupils’ capacity to learn.

Child Protection

Policy, procedures and actual practice in child protection is being reviewed across Glasgow City Council at present. In light of this, it is important I let you know that I am the child protection coordinator for the school. In my absence, Ms White will take on the role. Should you have any concerns regarding the protection of children please do share it with us. We are able to pass issues on to social services and will record any information which may impact upon a child’s health and well-being or learning and development in school. We have very clear procedures in place and comply with all legislation and policy in place.

Midterm holiday dates

School will be closed to pupils on Monday 12^th, Tuesday 13^th and Wednesday 14^th February. We will return as normal on Thursday 15^th February.

School will them close again on 29^th March at 2.30pm for spring break. Pupils will return as normal on 16^th April.

Jane McShane

Head Teacher