Author: Mr Lynn

We held our annual school Sports Day on Monday 10th June.  All children from primary 1 – 7 were put into teams and competed in a range of activities from football dribble to egg and spoon.  The favourite activity of the day was the space hopper race!  The classes then competed in boys and girls sprint races.  The primary 6 and 7 children completed a long distance marathon.  The sun shone and great fun was had by all!

On Monday 20th May Primary 7 left the school heading towards Kilbowie Outdoor Centre in Oban.  The children were full of excitement and anticipation as to what they ahead!  They will have the opportunity to try many different outdoor activities such as sailing, rock climbing, gorge walking and many more.

Pictures to follow

Over the past two weeks all pupils in Keir Hardie Memorial Primary have participated in a whole school Literacy Fortnight.  The aim of this was to raise standards in literacy and develop our pupil’s enthusiasm towards story writing.  All children worked towards creating a book with the pupils taking on the role of author and illustrator.  Each class based their book around their current class theme and this resulted in a diverse range of topics from Under the Sea to Fairytales, and The Hobbit to the Hunger Games.

Throughout the fortnight, all classes visited the local library in Newarthill.  Some classes also participated in Storytelling Workshops carried out by a librarian from Motherwell library.  Primary 4/5 went online and visited a website called ‘Author’s Live’ where they saw interviews and discussions with authors about how they write their book, their favourite being Michael Morpurgo.

At the end of literacy weeks we held a school assembly where the children shared their learning from the weeks and staff and pupils dressed up as a character from a book.  We were treated to a spectacular range of costumes ranging from a shark, fairytale characters, Harry Potter and many more.  Pupils were also given the opportunity to visit all the other classes to enjoy and appreciate each other’s work.  It was a huge success and the children felt a great sense of achievement producing their own book.

Pupil Feedback

Kelsey Hulme (P5)

“Some pupils were very confident and shared their learning at a special assembly in front of the whole school.  All children made a piece of writing which they were proud of, as this was a published piece of work.  All the teachers got involved too by dressing up as characters, this added to the fun.  I feel that this was a great success for the school and the pupils loved making their own books and dressing up.  This shows that learning in literacy can be fun and enjoyable when you link it with other areas of the curriculum.”

Primary 4/5 enjoyed an educational visit from North Lanarkshire Trading Standards this week to deliver lesson from The MACA Project. Lynne McInally, Fair Trading Officer, and her colleagues delivered lessons on the history of money and pupils carried out activities relating to budgeting and counting of money. The visit was arranged to assist with the teaching of Financial Education and helped pupils to understand the value of money in a real life context. All pupils who participated were awarded with a certificate. The ICT voting system was popular with the children and used to assess their knowledge.

Pupils are pictured with Crawford Morgan , Head of Protective Service, and Lynne McInally, Fair Trading Officer.

The parent council organised a very successful Spring Fayre which was held on Saturday 23rd March and raised a total of £2039.  All the money raised will be going towards school funds and the children will be consulted on how this money will be spent.  Many thanks to all who supported this event!

Keir Hardie had a crazy hair day and a non-uniform day where all pupils and staff donated £1 to Comic Relief.  We raised £173.60.

Primary 4/5 had a special visit from Dogs Trust on Friday 22nd March.  Pupils were inspired to contact Alison Russell, Education Officer at the Dogs Trust in Glasgow to seek some information about how to care and look after a dog.  The pupils have been reading novels for literacy in class which have been around the subject of dogs.  They used their ICT and literacy skills and sent an email to Alison who replied to the children saying “Oh what lovely emails, they really brightened my day!  And of course we would love to visit you all, how would Friday 22^nd March suit you in the afternoon??”

Alison brought her dog Alfie along and pupils learned how to approach a dog, groom and care for a dog.  They also thought about what dogs need to keep they healthy.  Pupils also learned the importance of picking up after your dog and one pupil was pictured practising the scooping after pooping! They also learned about the fantastic work of the Dogs Trust and how they care for unwanted dogs and put these dogs in touch eith new owners.  The pupils had a fantastic afternoon and received a certificate from Alison and Alfie.

Keir Hardie Memorial Primary recently held a Financial Education Week.  The aim of this was to develop our children’s understanding of the value of money and provide them with opportunities to develop problem-solving skills and life skills, and to do this in a creative and enjoyable way.

Throughout Financial Education week the school welcomed representatives from Airdrie Savings Bank, St Andrews Hospice and Adsa to raise awareness of money in real life.

Classes used this themed week as a context to develop learning across all areas of the curriculum.  Purposeful play areas were set up throughout the school, including a shop, a cafe and a bank.  The children had plentiful opportunities to develop their knowledge of money within real-life situations.  It was very enjoyable and worthwhile experience for all, which the school hope to develop further.

Financial Education Week helped to promote financial capability in all our children, which is an essential life skill and hopefully this will equip them with the skills to make good financial choices throughout their lives.

To all Parents/Carers

Spring Fayre Saturday 23 March 2013 11am-2pm

We are busy planning for the  Spring Fayre and have 35 great stalls and activities which will be fun for all the family. A flyer is enclosed with details of some of these and we would appreciate it if you could donate items from the following:

–      Bottle Stall – any type of bottle e.g sauce, shampoo, bubble bath, shower gel, wine, juice, lemonade, coke and everyone’s a winner!

–      Adult tombola/raffle – gift sets, candles, perfume, aftershave, sweets, chocolates or any unwanted gifts in good condition.

We also have some external stalls supporting us at the Fayre:

–      Bradleys Beads who sell a lovely selection of costume jewellery.

–      Sweetie Fairies who sell delicious chocolates and sweets wrapped especially for you or as a perfect gift.

–      Glitter Princess Bow-tique design pretty customised hair bands and clips.

–      Lanarkshire Print Services provide personalised items e.g. bags, Iphone covers, mugs etc.

–      Eileen Murphy sells lovely handmade, unique cards for any occasion and Easter gifts.

–      A Girl’s Best Friend provide a quality bespoke service encrusting shoes or clothes with sparkling jewels.

–      Vicky Anderson will take orders to embroider names/motifs onto clothing, cushions, towels etc.

–      Pamper Palace : Michelle (Hunter) and Clare will be offering Reiki and Indian Head massage – a great way to relax and unwind.

It would be really helpful if you could hand in your donations to the school as soon as possible to enable us to sort them into the appropriate stalls. Can those of you who have kindly taken a raffle sheet for the hamper, please either hand them into the school office or to Audrey Hulme

BY FRIDAY 8 MARCH? It would be great if you are able to have the sheets fully completed and as all the sheets have been handed out, this would mean a total of £500 which is a fantastic start for the Spring Fayre!

We are really excited about the Spring Fayre and are sure you will all have a great time and we will do really well raising funds for the school to enable our children to benefit from new learning and fun experiences.

Thanks a lot to those of you who completed the Parent Council Surveys, we will be analysing the responses and let you know the outcome.  As we currently have 12 Parent Council Members who represent over 100 families at the school, it is really important that we are aware of your opinions and ideas to ensure we are organising the appropriate events and acting on your behalf.

Thanks again for all your help and support and we look forward to seeing you at the Spring Fayre.

Gayle Dunlop, Chairperson

• Old clothing / shoes / sheets / towels