https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:b3c16b85-32cd-445c-bb05-37f68b061ca1

Please find links to HMIe surveys:

Parents / Carers (Primary) Parents / Carers (ELC)

 

 

23-10-23.docx

Week beginning – 1/2/21

Mid Term Break – Monday 8^th February & Tuesday 9^th February

10^th February – In-Service Day (school will only be opened for staff on this day)

Hope all the staff and children have a well-deserved break.

Key Workers – In line with current guidance, children of keyworkers should only attend school on the days that are absolutely necessary. If possible children should be learning from home if at all possible. Recently the number of children attending school is increasing, so please where possible keep your children at home if you can.

Home Learning– Once again we are delighted by the number of children accessing their learning at home. Thankfully Teams has been running much better the last few weeks however if you are still having problems accessing this app please contact the school for support.

Team Meets – These have proved to be very successful and it has been lovely to see the children who are learning from home. Each class will have two planned meets per week, please encourage your child to join if possible. It is a great way for them to keep in touch with other children and the teacher.

Digital Learning Information – There is a section on the website for this offering useful advice and tips. Mr Anderson has made and uploaded a video on how to access the NL Virtual Classroom which you may find useful.

Jotters – These are still available to pick up at the silver gate between 8.30am and 8.45am every day.

Staff Rota – Staff continue to have one week in school and one week working from home. Please note that staff rotated to be in school will also be supervising pupils in class, therefore will only be available on Teams at certain times throughout the day.

Uniform – Children are not required to wear uniform if they are attending school. They should wear warm clothing suitable for outdoor learning and break times.  The windows in the bays are open to increase ventilation therefore the school is cooler than it normal is at this time of year so a few extra layers of clothing may be required.

If you have any queries or concerns, as always, please do not hesitate to get in touch either by phone or email. As always we appreciate your support during these very challenging times. We will continue to keep all our children and their families in our prayers. Stay safe.

 

 

 

 

Week beginning 6/1/2021

Firstly on behalf of all the staff can I wish you and your family a very happy, healthy New Year. Certainly not the start to the year we would have wished for but hopefully in the next few months we will begin to see things improve and return to some sort of normality.

As you know schools are now only open for keyworker and vulnerable children. Forms for keyworkers can be found on the school and NL website. Please pay particular attention to this part of the advice:

If you are a key worker and are unable to work from home, all schools, family learning centres and nurseries will be open for children and young people during existing times, when they will receive in-class learning. Lunch will be provided.

This service is only available to children of key workers (in the list attached) and vulnerable families. If another parent/carer is able to work from home, then your child must stay at home. Key worker support should only be accessed where you have no other alternative.

If you are a keyworker and require your children to attend school you must provide confirmation of your keyworker status to the school. This is a requirement from the Local Authority.

This week, Glow username and passwords will be posted to you along with Reading Eggs and Sumdog details. Your child will need to log into Glow to access his/her class’ team.  Teachers will post weekly plans and be available online during normal school hours to support your child with their learning. Can I ask that if you as a parent/carer have any concerns, worries or queries please contact the school using the usual forms of communication.

Staff are working extremely hard this week to ensure digital learning is ready to begin on Monday and have already attended on-line digital courses to increase their capacity in this area.

Teams can now be downloaded onto Xboxes and Playstations. Details on how to download Teams can be found on the school website.

Most children received a jotter during the last lockdown however if you require resources to support home learning please do not hesitate to get in touch and arrangements will be made to get these to you as soon as possible.

During the last lockdown we strived to keep in touch with our children and their families regularly and we will continue to do this over the next few weeks. Please therefore ensure the school has correct contact details especially phone numbers and email address. Regular updates will continue through school app, email, twitter and school website as normal.

If your child is attending school can you make sure they wear warm clothing as the windows in the bays will be opened to increase the ventilation in the school, following,  guidance from the Scottish Government.

P2/3 – We are delighted to welcome a new member of staff, Mr McIntyre (no relation to Mrs McIntyre) to the school. He will be taking over responsibility for the Primary 2/3 class. Mr McIntyre will post a short introduction of himself along with a photo on the class’ team.

Infant Registration – Children who attain the age of 5 years between 1 March 2021 and 28 February 2022 should register for starting Primary 1 in August 2021. Information regarding this can be found on the school website or NL website.

Nursery Application – Information regarding nursery applications can again be found on the school website.

Finally I would like to take this opportunity to thank your all your support and understanding last year. It has indeed been a very challenging time for children, staff and families but we all should be very proud of how we coped with all the challenges of 2020.  Our vision statement certainly embedded itself into our school community this session.  Stay safe!

 

 

 

 

Week beginning 7/12/20

Christmas Activity Days – This week our Christmas Activity Days begin:

Thursday for Primary 7 and Friday for Primary 6. Children should come to school in their party clothes. Thank you to the support staff have worked very hard to make the Learning Zone very festive. I am sure the children will have a great day.

Panto – Unfortunately due to the weather last Friday the panto did not go ahead as many staff did not get into school until well after 9.00am. It has now been rearranged for Tuesday morning at 9.30am, third time lucky, fingers crossed!

Christmas Lunch – Tuesday 8^th December.  Please note that children will not be able to order lunch on that day.

Christmas Cards & Gifts – Please do not send any gifts or cards into school, we would not like to upset the children by refusing to accept them. If you wish your child can bring in one card for the class which will be opened by the teacher and displayed in the class.

P7 Christmas Enterprise – There has been a great response to this and thank you for supporting our Primary 7 pupils who worked hard over the last few weeks to make these crafts.

St Andrew’s Hospice Christmas Shop – There are still some goods left for the children to purchase. This will remain open until the school closes on 23^rd December.

Easyfundraising – When you sign up as a supporter, 4,400 shops and sites will donate for free, every time you shop online. This includes all the big names like eBay, John Lewis & Partners, Argos, ASOS, Expedia, M&S, Just Eat and many more!

Some parents have already signed up and found it easy to do so. All donations are paid directly into the school bank account.

https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stignatiuspswishaw

 

Questionnaire Response – Thank you to those parents (around 25%) who took the time to respond to the recent questionnaire. There were some queries and concerns that can be addressed easily within school and we will look to do so as quickly as possible. On the other hand, some of the issues which were raised are unfortunately resulting from the current crisis we are facing due to Covid-19 and the knock on effect of this. I am really pleased to say that parents have highlighted their understanding of this when raising these issues and agree that this is a tricky time for schools to provide full access to a normal school setting. We agree, things are not ideal at the moment, but hopefully in the next school session this will be addressed as things return to normal.

Firstly, all the very kind comments about the school are very much appreciated and it is very clear that almost all parents who replied understand the current guidelines prevent the usual parental partnership events from taking place. It very much came across that our new parents are finding this difficult as they do not have any previous experience of the school. In light of this the Primary 1 teachers agreed that they would call the parents to hopefully give some reassurance about how well their children have settled into Primary school. If we are still in this situation in March and cannot have parents’ evening, all teachers will phone parents with an update on the children’s progress.

Almost all parents were happy with the report card and felt it gave concise and useful information about their children. Currently Literacy, Numeracy and Health & Wellbeing are the three core subjects which schools need to focus on as part of the recovery programme. As a Catholic School we also ensure we deliver the ‘This is Our Faith’ R.E. programme. Other curricular areas are planned when covering topic work (BGE – Broad General Education).

For example, currently there is no singing or PE allowed indoors and as a result of such restrictions the current curriculum is not as diverse or wide as normal. However, teachers in the school are striving to ensure the pupils are receiving as broad and general an education as possible, which takes a lot of planning and ingenuity.

A few parents requested an explanation of the Curriculum for Excellence working levels. This is normally included in the final report card in June however as staff we agreed that we would change the wording of this to make it clearer for parents.

There were also some comments regarding changing guidelines and self-isolating procedures and how these impact on families. As the situation is evolving, unfortunately so do the guidelines. As a school we must ensure that we follow the current guidelines and be assured that the health and safety of the children and the staff are always top priority.

Staggered starting and finishing times have been organised for both schools and most parents adhere to these times as well as the wearing of face coverings around the school. Both schools communicate this to parents regularly through regular channels and most co-operate with these guidelines.

Another issue raised was that the dinner hall was still being shared with Wishaw Academy. The hall is indeed used by both schools but it is divided in two so that both schools are completely apart for the duration of lunchtime. The school yard is also zoned into two areas for the separate schools, and within our school, the yard is divided again so that only two classes use part of the yard at any one time. The astro pitch is now only used for outdoor P.E. with each school allocated one pitch. Currently we do not have facilities for indoor P.E. as the gym hall is currently used for packed lunches.

A number of parents are concerned about handwashing routines in the school. Presently routines are in place for the children to wash their hands at least four to six times a day. They also use hand sanitizer in between times when required. This is obviously quite disruptive to the school day as it is quite time consuming but it is very well organised and runs as quickly and smoothly as possible in order to minimise the class timetable.

The school strives to ensure there is good communication with parents and carers and again this was recognised by all parents who replied to the questionnaire.

We also understand there are a number of issues with the new Parent Portal system and these have been reported to the authority. Unfortunately, in school we are unable to access your details due to GDPR and as such we are unable to assist you with using the system. As always, our staff will try to provide advice if possible.

Below is a link to some useful videos and information to support with issues you may encounter.

 

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/nl/itsc/parents-portal/

 

I would also like to highlight and share a small number of the comments which reflect the confidence and appreciation you have in our school and our staff, for which we are very much thankful.

 

‘Yes, I trust the school staff completely, they have all coped well in a difficult situation.’

‘I think the school is doing an amazing job at a very difficult time.’

‘Well done to all staff for working so hard and in such difficult circumstances, to keep our children safe and learning again.’

‘Thank you so much St Ignatius’ family’

‘We think you are all doing an amazing job in such a difficult situation and even though we are not having as much interaction as we would have imagined, we feel that our daughter is not only being educated and cared for in a safe and secure environment but that she is growing in confidence with new experiences and knowledge, coming home each day excited and happy. Testament to you all. Thank you!’

 

 

Week beginning 30/11/20

Happy St Andrew’s Day

Christmas Arrangements

A letter was sent home last Friday with details of Christmas arrangements for this year.

Can I ask that you do not send your child into school with any cards or gifts, except one for the whole class, as these cannot be accepted and we would not want to upset the children.

Thank you for your co-operation and understanding with this.

Christmas Jumpers – Children can now wear a Christmas jumper over their uniforms to school for the month of December.

Christmas Lunch 8/12/20 – Payment of Christmas Lunches must be made by ipayment through the Parents’ Portal. Unfortunately the school cannot accept cash payments. Please note that on 9^th & 10^th December only soup and sandwiches will be available for P1 –P3 children and P4 – P7 children who are in receipt of free school meals.

Easyfundraising

You can now support St. Ignatius Primary School – Wishaw on easyfundraising! A great way to raise funds for the school.

When you sign up as a supporter, 4,400 shops and sites will donate for free, every time you shop online. This includes all the big names like eBay, John Lewis & Partners, Argos, ASOS, Expedia, M&S, Just Eat and many more!

https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/stignatiuspswishaw

Please join and support the school, all money raised benefits all our children!

Coronavirus

If your child has been asked to self-isolate by Track & Trace can you please let the school know the date he/she are due back to school please. Can I also ask that if your child has been tested please let the school know as this absence has to be recorded as suspected Coronavirus until confirmed either way.

Home Learning

Every month your child’s teacher will upload current learning onto teams. This will let you know what learning is taking place in the class and activities that will help you support your child. Primary 1 children also received a home work pack and will now be given a reading book at the appropriate level. Sumdog and Reading Egg passwords have also be given to each child and I would urge you to use these resources at home.

St Andrew’s Hospice & Christmas Fundraising

St Andrew’s Hospice shop still has some stock left and will continue to be open throughout the month of December.

Christmas hamper and 50/50 raffle tickets now on sale as well as Santa’s Secret Sleigh Gift tickets (£2.50)

PFTA Meeting – Tuesday 1/12/20 at 6.00pm. If you wish to join this virtual meeting please email ht@st-ignatius.n-lanark.sch.uk for the link.  Everyone welcome.

Week beginning 23^rd November

Tier 4

As we have now moved into Tier 4 new restrictions are in place that we must follow. Please check the following site for more information:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-protection-levels/pages/protection-level-4/

Again can I please ask that when around the school grounds you ensure you wear a face masks and adhere to social distancing at all times.  Thank you to those who are following the current guidelines, if we all stick to these rules the sooner things will return to normal.

Sacraments

Thankfully all the Primary 4 & 5 children have now received the Sacraments they should have a number of months ago. The services were very different from how they usually are but nonetheless were still as special. The Parish community and Father Stephen worked hard to ensure these services were carried out as safely as possible and I would like to thank everyone, including the staff, who gave their time over the last week to attend these services.

St Andrew’s Hospice Christmas Shop

The shop still has plenty of stock and so far has made £700. It will remain open for another few weeks.

Christmas Fund Raising

From the beginning of next week raffle tickets will be sold for Christmas Hampers and the 50/50 prize draw. Tickets will also be on sale for the Secret Santa Sleigh. A form will be sent home with the children, please complete this and return to the school with correct money.

Primary 7 Christmas Enterprise

The Primary 7 children are busy making Christmas Crafts goods which will be on sale very soon. Again an order form will be sent on with a list of goods and prices that can be purchased.

Christmas Jumpers

Christmas jumpers can worn to school week beginning 30^th November.

Christmas Parties

Children should come to school in the morning dressed for their party. There is no need for them to go home at lunchtime to get ready as they will be spending a day in the Christmas Learning Zone, taking part in fun activities and games.

Primary 7	10/12/20
Primary 6	11/12/20
Primary 5/6	14/12/20
Primary 4	15/12/20
Primary 3/4	16/12/20
Primary 2/3	17/1/2/20
Primary 1/2	18/12/20
Primary 1	21/12/20

 

Christmas Lunches

Christmas Lunches will be on 8^th December this year. If your child wishes to have a Christmas lunch please complete and return the form your child has been given to the school as soon as possible. This year the lunches will be served in the classrooms so that will give the opportunity for all the children in each class to dine together whether they are packed lunch or a school dinner. On Wednesday 9^th December and Thursday 10^th December only soup and sandwiches will be available from the lunch hall.

 

Second Hand Uniforms

We are still gratefully taking in second hand uniforms in good condition. Many families and children have benefited and it makes sense to recycle uniforms.

PTFA

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 1 December at 6.00pm via Webex. If you wish to join this meeting please contact the school for log in details. Please consider joining if you can, always good to welcome new members.

Class Masses

We have now already had two masses in the school for Primary 6 and Primary 7 classes. This has been very welcome as currently we cannot visit the Church and as a Catholic School this is very much an important aspect of school life. This week is Catholic Education Week and for this year the theme is ‘Jesus Christ, the way, the Truth and the Life’. RE lessons will cover this theme and we hope to create a display showing the pupils’ work.

Pope Francis Faith Award

This will resume this week for the Primary 7 pupils who have enrolled for this, however this will take place during the school day rather than as an after school club due to current restrictions. A number of Primary 6 pupils have recently enrolled and session will begin soon once their workbooks have arrived. This award has been very successful over the last few years and we are keen to ensure the pupils continue to be given the opportunity to take part and complete the award before moving on to high school.

Questionnaire

If you haven’t done so already can you please take a few minutes to complete this form. It will close on Friday and any questions, queries or concerns will be addressed and sent out to each parent by the usual methods.

 

Weekly Blog – Week beginning 16^th November

 

Sacraments

Congratulations to the children who received the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist on Saturday. It was a lovely service, very different from the usual celebration but nonetheless just as special.

This week the Primary 4 children will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Tuesday and Wednesday evening and on Saturday, the second First Holy Communion service will take place.

Please keep all these children and their families in your prayers.

Illness

Please keep your child at home if he/she is showing any signs of illness at all, just to be on the safe side.  Please also let the school know about any track and trace advice you have been given with regards to your child having to self-isolate. A record of dates and length of self-isolation periods have to be kept by the school and reported to the authority daily so please ensure you pass this information on to the office staff.

Please access Teams if your child needs to self-isolate as this will provide up to date class work. Reading Eggs and Sumdog can also be used to support learning. If for any reason you cannot access Teams please get in touch with the school and we will advise you how to do this. If you cannot access the internet at home, a homework pack can be sent home instead.

A Polite Reminder

I am glad to see that most of our parents and carers are wearing masks or face coverings at drop off and pick up times, as stimulated in recent Government guidelines. Can I ask, that if you can, please try to follow these guidelines in the interest of everyone’s health and safety including the children’s.

St Andrew’s Hospice Shop

The St Andrew’s Hospice Shop in the school has been very busy and Mrs Phee had to send for more stock at the end of last week! The children have loved buying their goods from the shop and so far over £500 has been made, so again a big thank you for all your support with this.

Christmas Arrangements

Christmas lunch and party dates will be finalised this week. Again these events will be very different from the normal Christmas activities but as a staff we will do everything we can to ensure that the children enjoy this special time of year whilst remaining safe. As usual Christmas jumpers can be worn to school at the start of December.  Christmas lunches will take place in the bays and each class will be allocated a day in the ‘Christmas’ Learning Zone to have their party and enjoy lots of fun Christmas activities.

As part of the usual Primary 7 enterprise project, where the children make Christmas craft goods to sell at Christmas events, these goods will be available to purchase from the office. This will be run in the same way as the St Andrew’s Hospice Shop. Children will be given order forms home to select goods before purchasing from the office.

 

PTFA Christmas Fund Raising

Christmas is the time of year when the PTFA raise the most amount of funds for the school. For obvious reasons this year, there will be no big events, such as the Christmas fayre, school concerts and services.  It was decided at the last PTFA meeting to organise a couple of fund raising events for this year, such as a Christmas hamper raffle, Secret Room Christmas gifts & the 50/50 raffle. More details will be sent out nearer the time so please if you can support these events as all money raised benefits all our children.

. Questionnaire

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to complete the questionnaire so far. There have already been a number of issues and concerns that I am keen to address and answer. This will remain open for few weeks to give everyone, who wishes, a chance to complete. Link can be accessed through school app.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week beginning 9/11/20

Masks/Face Coverings

Thank you to all parent and carers who are following guidance and wearing masks around the school. Unfortunately there are still a number of people not wearing masks and not following social distancing guidance. Following this  guidance will help prevent the spread of this virus and help to get things back to normal, which I am sure is something we all want. Please can I ask that you follow the guidance when around the school grounds.

Car Park

Over the last few weeks there have been a number of complaints about parents/carers parking in the staff car park off Campbell Street. Children are crossing the road at this point and are not aware that cars are entering or exiting here. Although so far there has been no accidents, it is only a matter of time before a child is hurt if people continue to use this car park.

Track & Trace

If your child has been asked to self-isolate by Track & Trace can you please let the school know the date he/she is due back to school please.

Labels

There are a number of school sweatshirts, jackets and other items in the lost property box which have no name labels therefore we cannot trace who they belong to. Pease ensure all clothing has a name label or initials written on the clothing label for easy identification. It is a shame all these clothes and items are lying unclaimed and very often have to be put into the bin at the end of the year.

St Andrew’s Hospice Christmas Shop

There was a lovely article in the Wishaw press this week about the fantastic fund raising efforts of the school and local community for St Andrew’s Hospice. Children were given order forms on Friday for St Andrew’s Hospice Christmas goods which are now on sale in the school office. Please continue with your very generous support of this charity over the next few weeks if possible. Normally we would sell these goods at all Christmas events which unfortunately will not be going ahead this year so we need your support more than ever now.  Again thank your generosity so far in supporting this charity.

Award System

As you know each class has a ‘worker of the week’ and ‘pupil of the week’ award. These awards have been running for a few years now with all the children striving to receive one. As a staff we recognise that many children work hard all week and do not receive an award at the end of the week as we cannot give one to every child.  However please be assured that they will receive verbal praise from their teacher and Senior management team as well as receiving stickers in their jotters and house tokens for their house.  Over the course of the year teachers try to ensure that each child in their class does receive an award. Please be assured that we recognise the efforts of the children in a variety of ways.

Sacraments

This Saturday a number of Primary 5 children will be receiving the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, please keep these children and their families in your prayers.

 

Week Beginning 2nd November 2020

Parent Portal

Can I please ask that you make sure that all information is up to date on the Parent Portal,  especially email addresses.  Important information is being sent out regularly by email and can I ask you to take the time to read this.  Unfortunately we cannot change email addresses on the portal, so please check the correct details have been entered to ensure you receive all communication from the school.

P7 Partnership Evening

Normally at this time of year Primary 7 children along with their parents, attend St Aidan’s High School as part of their transition programme. Obviously this cannot happen this year however a virtual Team Event has been set up. Details have been  given to all P7 children  and I would urge you to join this with your child.

Primary Partnership Events 2020/ 2021

From Monday 2^nd of November – Pupils invited to submit questions about faculties/ subjects using channel on Teams page.

Q+A with Faculty Heads will be posted November 16^th – 26th

Week 1		Week 2
Monday 16th	Introduction from HT and School Captains	Monday 23rd	HSPO
Tuesday 17th	Maths, Business and Computing	Tuesday 24th	Social Subjects
Wednesday 18th	English, Drama and Modern Languages	Wednesday 25th	RE
Thursday 19th	PE, HFT and Technical	Thursday 26th	Pupil Support
Friday 20th	Science	Friday 27th	Performing Arts

Halloween

A big effort from all the staff ensured the children had a great day on Friday. It was very different from our usual party with our friends from Wishaw Academy but every class in the school enjoyed fun games and activities while keeping safe in their own class bubble.

PTFA Meeting

 The first virtual PTFA will take place on Tuesday evening at 6.00pm. If you wish to join this meeting please contact the school for log in details.  All new members will be more than welcome. Fund raising this year will be a major focus as our usual fund raising events such as school concerts and the Christmas Fayre will obviously not be taking place so we need to think of new and creative ways of raising funds.

Face Coverings

As from today face covering must be worn at drop off and pick up times. Please follow this important advice to keep everyone safe in the campus.

Late Coming

Many children are arriving at school well after the start time of 8.45am. I understand that at times this is unavoidable but we are finding that it is the same children every day . This is very disruptive to the classes where lessons have already begun. Can I ask that you make an effort to ensure your child is in the school yard for the bell ringing for the start of the school day at 8.45am.

Sacraments

Dates for Sacraments are as follows:

First Reconciliation 17th & 18th November at 6.30pm

First Communions 14th & 21st November at 11.00am

Please keep these children and their families in your prayers.

In-Service Day

This will take place on Monday 16th November. Children should not come to school on this day.

 

 

Week Beginning 26th October 2020

I am sure that you have already heard the sad news about the young teacher, Jennifer Stirling, from Wishaw Academy  who tragically  passed away during the October week. Staff have spoken to the children about this and on Friday, during the minute’s silence held in the campus, the staff and children said a prayer for her and her family. We will continue to keep Jennifer, her family and the community of Wishaw Academy in our prayers over the coming weeks.

School Improvement Priorities

This session’s improvement priorities for St Ignatius PS  & Nursery Class are:

Priority 1: Improve attainment in Numeracy and Literacy across Nursery and School

Priority 2: Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children with a focus on Covid Recovery

Priority 3: Improvement in children and young people’s health & wellbeing

Nursery Priority: Improvements in transition processes across Early level with a focus on play-based learning to further develop 1140 hours provision

This session’s priorities mostly continue on from last year due the Covid situation and closure of school. As always, the school and nursery strive to ensure that we are constantly evaluating and improving our service. In the next few weeks a questionnaire will be made available for your comments and suggestions, please take the time to do this as we value all feedback and use this to further improve the school and nursery.

Timekeeping

Thank you to all those parents are endeavouring to make sure they abide by the correct drop off and pick up times of 8.45am & 2.45pm.

This is of upmost importance just now to avoid crowding at the school gates. A number of children are now coming into school well after 9.00am, through the school foyer, increasing the number of people using this space which we are trying to avoid. The same problem is also happening at home time. Please can I ask that you collect your child/ren promptly and leave the area as soon as possible therefore reducing crowding at the gate.

Apps

There are a number of online resources that the children can access from home and will support their learning in school. All children have received passwords and usernames for Sumdog, Reading Eggs and Espresso. Please log in with your child and use these resources at home. The free trial for Reading Eggs ends on 19th November and we are hoping to purchase a year’s subscription at a cost of over £1,000. However there needs to be a large percentage of children accessing this in order to ensure good value.

Flu Immunisations

These will take place in the school on Thursday.

PTFA

First Meeting – Tuesday 3rd November at 6.00pm. This will be a virtual meeting. Login details will be sent to all PTFA members. If you wish to join this meeting, please contact the school and these details will be sent to you by email. New members are always welcome.

Fundraising events organised by PTFA last session allowed the following to be purchased:

Mini ipads for each class which are used to support learning

New sports kits

Leavers’ hoodies for Primary 7 children.

Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to any  fund raising events and to the PTFA for their time and energy over the last few years.

The trim trail and outdoor classroom are badly needing repaired and presently children cannot use this equipment. Over the next few weeks we hope to raise funds for these repairs. Please support us with this if you can.

Halloween Parties

These will take place in the class on Friday. Children should come to school dressed up if they wish but with no accessories please. We are looking forward to having a fun, spooky day!

Spooky Hunt

The nursery children thoroughly enjoyed taking part in their annual spooky hunt in the school forest. The children all managed to get back safely to the nursery before the witch returned from her shopping.

Students

On Monday we welcome two PGDE students to our school. Mr Waring who will be in the P3/4 class and Miss Foley who will be in the P2/3 class.

Snacks

A number of children have been bringing lollipops to school for a snack. As the children are outside and running around the stick could cause potential risk of injury. Can I ask therefore that children do not bring in lollipops to school as they will not be allowed to have them for snack.

A number of the teachers have noticed that children are bringing juice in their water bottles. As these bottles sit on the children’s desks it can be very messy if juice spills over jotters and books. Also we are a health promoting school and advocate that water is sipped throughout the day and not juice.

Please do try to ensure your child brings water to school. School water bottles are on sale for £1.

Thank you for your co-operation with this.

 

 

 

Week Beginning 19th October 2020

I hope all our children and their families had a lovely October holiday. It is lovely to be back and a  joy to see the children happy to be at school and now very familiar with the new routines and procedures that are in place to keep them safe. The staff have all worked extremely hard during these challenging times to provide the children with the level of care and education you have come to expect, so a huge thanks to all of them.

St Andrew’s Hospice Appeal: The current total on the Just Giving page is currently £1,135, this does not include any donations brought into school on the fund raising day.  We hope to have a final total before the end of the week, so watch this space, we are hoping to reach £1,500.  This has been a very successful fund raising event led by our Primary 7 children, and I know they would like to thank everyone who has donated so far. They are delighted.

Sacraments: Information has been sent out by email to the parents of those children who will be receiving the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation in November. Can I ask that you keep these children and their families in your prayers at this time.

Halloween Party: Class parties will take place on Friday 30th October. Children may come to school dressed in costumes for the full day. Unfortunately children will not be allowed home at lunch time to get changed or allowed to bring any accessories with them. So please no masks, wands, swords etc. There will be lots of fun games and activities for the children and we will endeavour to make this as fun a day as we possibly can while still keeping to Government guidelines.

Water Bottles: School water bottles are now available at a cost of £1.  If you wish to purchase one please speak to Mrs Pearson at the silver gate in the morning.

Social Distancing: Thank you for your efforts to ensure social distancing at the school gate. So far we have been very fortunate to have had no positive cases in the school and this is due to the huge efforts of the children, staff, parents and families.

Interim Reports: These will be sent home next Friday so please check your child’s bag.

Reading Eggs: A number of children have been saying how much they are enjoying this resource. Used regularly  this will greatly support your child’s progress in reading, so I would urge you, if you have not used it with your child yet, to do so. We have a free trial until 19th November, after that it costs around £5 per child for the year, good value if it being used by most of our children but expensive if only a few are using it.  A short questionnaire will be sent to you some time in the next few weeks for your views on this resource. Please let us know what you think as this will help us make the decision on whether to purchase this or not.

Finally I would like to say a big thank you to Mr Fionda for looking after our school so well in my absence especially at such a challenging time. He was greatly supported by our teaching, nursery, support and office staff throughout the last few weeks, so a big thank you to them all too. I very much appreciated all your good wishes, thoughts and prayers over the last few weeks and can honestly say I am delighted to be back at school feeling fit and well.

 

 

 

Good Morning!

I am delighted to say that, all being well, this will be the last blog I send out before Mrs Pearson returns to school following the October Holiday. I’d like to say thank you to all the staff, pupils and our families who have made my job easier while Mrs Pearson has been off.

 

Attendance and Time Keeping: We have worked extremely hard to ensure we remain open as normal and all children are able to be in school. We have been very lucky and I know this will in part be due to both you and St Ignatius’ staff working very hard to keep all our pupils and staff safe. Thank you for your continued effort and support.

However, I must highlight that we continue to focus on attendance and time-keeping even in the midst of the current national situation. A number of children are regularly coming into school late in the morning or have inconsistent attendance. This disrupts the child’s learning, the learning of their classmates and makes it very difficult for staff to plan learning and next steps. Please support us in improving this across the whole school.

As such, I would remind you once again, that unless your child is showing symptoms of Covid-19 or you have been asked to isolate, we would expect to see the children attending school. As always, other illnesses should be dealt with in the normal manner by contacting school to explain absences.

Home Learning: A reminder that home learning has now been uploaded to your child’s class team. As always, if a paper copy of this is required please do not hesitate to let us know and we will arrange for a copy to be sent home.

Walk to School Week: This week is national Walk to School Week and we would encourage families to take part in this if possible.

St Andrew’s Hospice Wear Yellow Day – 09.10.20: This Friday we will be asking the children to wear yellow to school as part of fundraising activities to support St Andrew’s Hospice. Children will be asked to donate £1 each to wear yellow and further fund raising activities will be planned by our P7 children.

Reading Eggs: Reading Eggs is a new app which supports reading. We have organised a free trial of the app over the next six weeks and we would love for our families to make use of it. Usernames and Passwords will be issued this week. Google ‘Reading Eggs Login’ and use your child’s details to enter the app. You will not need to organise a free trial or any other subscription as we have organised this already with the company.

Sacraments: After the October Holiday details regarding our Sacraments will be issued to all families involved. Currently, the dates provided so far remain in place and we are planning around this. We continue to monitor current advice from Scottish Government, NLC and Motherwell Diocese to ensure that preparations are within guidance. We will continue to do everything we can, along with Fr Stephen, to make the day as special as possible for the children.

 

Thank you once again for all your support.

Mr Fionda

 

Tuesday 29th September

Good afternoon and welcome back!

Firstly, I hope that you have all had a safe but fun long weekend and made the most of the good weather we had for the most part.

Secondly, in light of current developments across the country, I am really pleased to say that we remain open as normal and that all children are able to be in school. We have been very lucky as a school and I know this will in part be due to both you and St Ignatius’ staff working extremely hard within the evolving guidance to keep all our pupils and staff safe. Thank you for this continued effort and support.

As such, I would remind you once again, that unless your child is showing symptoms or you have been asked to isolate, we would expect to see the children attending school.

 

House Day: The children raised £140 on the day. Thank you for your generosity.

Home Learning: A reminder that home learning has now been uploaded to your child’s class team. As always, if a paper copy of this is required please do not hesitate to let us know and we will arrange for a copy to be sent home.

School App: Many of our parents have come to rely on the school app as a great way to keep informed of what is happening in school and also as a way of school providing updates about issues as they arise in school. We would appreciate any contributions from our families to help fund the app to support our school communications.

Water Bottles: Just a reminder that currently our water fountains are not in use and as such we rely on families to provide the children with water bottles for both their packed lunches and for use in class. Unfortunately, we are unable to fill the bottles in school if they run out.

 

Thank you once again for all your support.

 

Mr Fionda

 

Monday 21st September 2020

Good Morning!

I hope that you are all keeping safe and well.

Once again, I’d like to thank you for your patience during this time, and like us, I know you will be keeping an eye on current guidance from the Scottish Government. As always, we will be doing our utmost to ensure the children, staff and our families are safe.

I reiterate that we remain open as normal and that all children should be in school. If for any reason you have concerns regarding this please contact me. St Ignatius’ Primary and Nursery staff continue to work extremely hard to keep all our pupils and staff safe. As such, I would remind you once again, that unless your child is showing symptoms or you have been asked to isolate, we would expect to see the children attending school.

Our school day continues to be 8.45am – 2.45pm each day.

 

23.09.20 – House Day: The children can wear their house colours on this day in order to celebrate House Day. We would ask that the children donate £1 to school funds if they are able.

Home Learning: A reminder that home learning has now been uploaded to your child’s class team. As always, if a paper copy of this is required please do not hesitate to let us know and we will arrange for a copy to be sent home.

School App: We have renewed our subscription for the app which is rather costly. A number of our families have generously contributed to this already, for which we are very grateful. However, we would appreciate any further contributions from our families to help fund the app to support our school communications.

Digital Learning Links: Please take a few minutes to read these useful links regarding Digital Learning from North Lanarkshire Council:

In-Service Day/September Weekend: Thursday 24^th September is an in-service day for our staff and as such the children will not be in school. The school will also be closed Friday 25^th and Monday 28^th September. Have a safe and well-deserved break.

 

Thank you once again for all your support.

Mr Fionda

 

Monday 14th September 2020

Good Morning!

I hope that you are all keeping well and finding that our routines in school are becoming more settled and familiar for both our pupils and families. Again, I’d like to thank you for your patience and understanding over the past week or so as the campus dealt with ongoing issues.

I am delighted to say that we remain open as normal and that all children are able to be in school.

St Ignatius’ Primary staff are working extremely hard within the evolving guidance to keep all our pupils and staff safe.

As such, I would remind you once again, that unless your child is showing symptoms or you have been asked to isolate, we would expect to see the children attending school.

23.09.20 – House Day: The children will be able to wear their house colours on this day in order to celebrate House Day. We would ask that the children donate £1 to school funds if they are able. Further activities will be planned for the day by P7 who will be organising the day as part of their ongoing fund raising efforts for the school.

Home Learning: A reminder that home learning has now been uploaded to your child’s class team. As always, if a paper copy of this is required please do not hesitate to let us know and we will arrange for a copy to be sent home.

Interim Report: As you will no doubt be aware, large gatherings such as parent’s evening will most likely not be possible this session. As such we will provide you with an Interim Report in October to ensure you are informed of your child’s progress.

School App: Many of our parents have come to rely on the school app as a great way to keep informed of what is happening in school and also as a way of school providing updates about issues as they arise in school.

We have renewed our subscription for the app which is rather costly. Therefore, if possible, we would appreciate any contributions from our families to help fund the app to support our school communications.

Thank you once again for all your support.

Mr Fionda

 

day 31^st August 2020

 I am delighted to be able to say that our boys and girls are now very much back into their learning and when walking through the school it is brilliant to see them all enjoying being back with their friends and our staff.

Our new routines and the guidance in place have been tricky to get used to in some cases but generally speaking the children and staff have become accustomed to how school is now and we are all doing our best to adapt to new guidance as it appears and also to make the most of the situation we have.

You can be really proud of your boys and girls, who have taken this in their stride and done so with great enthusiasm too, and a well done to you, their families, who have worked really hard to support the children, staff and the wider school campus by adhering to the new rules so well. This has made our job so much easier each day and your patience and understanding has made or job easier. Thank you!

Home Learning

In the course of this week we will have new Teams set up for all our new classes. Look out for suggested home learning tasks in your child’s class Team. Teaching staff are working hard to prepare their new planning for this month and as soon as this is ready further information will be posted. Your child will be informed in class when home learning is available.

Once again can I remind you that home learning tasks are offered as additional activities to support your child and can be accessed as and when you are able to find time. The tasks are not compulsory and should not become an added stress in these tricky times when so many of us are working longer and less flexible hours or are busy.

Your child’s teacher will also send a reminder of Glow usernames and passwords home in order to ensure everyone has access.

Please let us know if you require support with this.

Twitter and School App

Please continue to make use of our Twitter feed and the School App for updates in school and for posts showing our children enjoying school and working hard each day. Staff are trying to keep our Twitter feed full of photos and short videos of the learning taking place in school.

If you have any issues accessing the App please contact the school.

Car Park

I am really pleased to say that this week our parents and families have made a real effort not to use the staff parking area behind the school. This has made a huge difference to the traffic both in the morning and after school. Your support in this is very much appreciated.

However, this week we very lucky not to have sadder news about the car park after two children were almost knocked down crossing the road at the entrance to the car park. Our staff are very vigilant but after two near misses, I would urge you to remind the boys and girls about how busy and unsafe this road can be. We will also remind the children in school.

Certificates and Pupil Assemblies

 We are currently experimenting with ways to allow our children to celebrate their successes in school on Fridays as we have always done. Last week we were able to give our pupil and worker of the week certificates out to our hard workers and this week we will attempt to have our P7 children present their pupil assemblies to each class using Microsoft Teams to video conference across the school. We are excited to try this and we know this will be great fun for all the children.

Contacting Teaching Staff

As you will be aware, during lockdown, it became necessary to ask teachers to allow their email addresses to be made available to our families. This helped us to make sure any issues with online learning were resolved quickly.

However, now that we are back in school, staff will not be able to keep on top of the number of emails they have recently been receiving. Teaching staff will no longer respond directly to emails as before and will pass any correspondence onto our management team.

As such, I would ask that from now on for any concerns or questions about your child’s learning or any other issue, you make contact with myself using the email address ht@st-ignatius.n-lanark.sch.uk or contact the school by phone.

Unfortunately at this time it is very difficult to meet in person but we will attempt to use other means to ensure your concerns or questions are dealt with quickly.

Thank you once again for all your support and positive feedback since our return to school. Again, if there are any updates regarding new national or local guidance we will promptly advise the school community and work together to make changes for our children as stress free as possible.

Finally, I have obviously been in regular contact with Mrs Pearson this week. She is in great spirits but very much missing the school and all the children too. She has even said that being at home is a bit boring without all the boys and girls to talk to.

Thank you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 16th June

Apologies for not getting this out to you yesterday but it has been rather busy in the school as I am sure you can imagine.

House Week – It has been lovely to see so many photos of the children enjoying the House activities that have been

planned for this week. We thought this would be a nice way of bringing the children virtually together for the last full week of this session whilst also supporting our linked charity – St Andrew’s Hospice. Please support this charity if you can. It is really easy to  donate:
Text 70085 with the following message
SAH3 for £3  SAH5 for £5 etc.

P1 Transitions – It has been lovely to welcome our new Primary 1 children into the school this week. This looks very different from our usual transition programme but we are delighted that the children have had the opportunity to visit their class and meet their teacher in very small groups of two for a short time. As I am sure you are aware everything we do just now has to be very carefully thought out and risked assessed to ensure everyone’s safety.

P7 Graduations – As a staff we have had a lot of discussion about this and feel it would not be appropriate to have a graduation where awards are given out virtually.
Our hope is that sometime in the next session, when things, hopefully return to normal, we will  invite our present Primary 7 back for a proper celebration of their time at primary school. The Primary 7 teachers have been working hard over the last few weeks to put together a presentation of the children’s time at primary and this will posted on Teams next week.
The hoodies have still not arrived, we are hoping we receive them before next week so that we can get them to the children, we know how eager they are to receive them. We have few other lovely mementos for the children that they will also receive as a reminder of their time with us. We will get the school ties delivered to each child once they arrive in July.

Uniform – You will receive information regarding this along with your child’s report card next week. Uniform is still expected to be worn at school, however we have decided to make things easier for our P1 – P3 children and ask that they wear a white polo shirt either with or without the school badge. (Primary 1 children can wear shirt and tie on their first day at school for the purpose of photographs)  Black trousers, skirts, pinafores, jumpers and cardigans should continue to be worn by all the children.  Primary 4  to Primary 7 children should continue to wear white shirt with school tie.

August 2020 – At this moment in time information regarding how the children come back to school in August is being finalised by the Local Authority. Hopefully by next week this information will be made availabe to you by letter and through our usual forms of social media.

Best wishes and stay safe

Monday 8th June

Good Morning, hope everyone is well and enjoyed the weekend.

As from today staff will now been in school for some of the week organising the classes for the return of the children in August. We will work hard to ensure a smooth and safe return for our children.

Next week we look forward to meeting our new Primary 1 pupils and their parents into the school for a very short visit in small groups. It is a shame we can’t provide the normal transition programme but at least the children are getting the opportunity to visit the school and meet their teacher.

We are still waiting the delivery of the hoodies for the P7 children. As soon as they arrive will be in touch so that the children can collect them along with their High School ties.

Before the end of the term you will receive, in the post, your child’s report card along with information regarding the arrangements for coming back to school and the name of your child’s class teacher for next session and which class he/she will be in. I know the children are always anxious to find this out!!

From next Monday we are planning on having a House week,  the teachers will upload on teams a list of fun activities your child/ren can take part in. We are also hoping to have virtual Sport’s Day that week.

It has been great to see so many photos of the children enjoying activities from ‘Our Natural World’ topic. Please keep sending these to us.

As always please keep in touch and do not hesitate to contact me by email: ht@st-ignatius.n-lanark.sch.uk

Monday 1st June

Good Morning to all our children and families. It was lovely to have another sunny weekend and hopefully many  families managed to meet up together safely outside. As from today the Senior Management Team will be in school beginning preparations for the children to return to school in August, with teaching staff  returning next Monday to continue with these preparations.

School will be quite different from when the children left in March but we will try to make this transition into a blended form of education as smooth as we can. Before the end of June you will receive more information regarding the arrangements for returning to school in August.

The good news is that we will be able to offer a short visit for our new Primary 1 children, giving them a chance to visit the school and meet their teacher.

We are still waiting on the Primary 7 children’s hoodies arriving, as soon as they are here we will be in touch with arrangements on how they can be collected from the school.

‘Our Natural World’ planners have proved to be very successful, we were delighted to see so many families working together on the activities. Please continue to send in your photographs.

 

Wednesday 27th May

Hope everyone is well and had a lovely holiday weekend, unfortunately the weather wasn’t as good as we had hoped but nice to see the sunshine out again this week.

You will probably already have heard through the media and press that teachers will be returning to school in June in order to prepare for pupils returning in August. I will keep you updated regarding this over the next few weeks.  As I am sure you are aware that this will take some organisation and planning on behalf of all staff members but it is good to see things moving forward as we come out of this pandemic.

If you have not already done so can I urge you to make sure your child is accessing Teams. This form of Home Learning will continue for the foreseeable future and is a great way to keep in touch with the school and your child’s teacher.

Report Cards – Teachers are currently completing report cards, these will be posted to you some time in June.

Whole School  Topic Planners – Each class now has a topic planner – Our Natural World. We thought it would be a good idea for the month of June if we could do a whole school topic. This will hopefully make it easier for some home learning sessions, if you have more than one child in the school! Please share photos or any work completed with regard to this with us. We are always delighted to see and hear from the children.

Transitions – There is now a transition team available for St Aidan’s HS & Our Lady’s HS. You should have received the access code to this. If not please get in touch with the school and I will get this sent on to you. Again I would highly recommend that your child accesses this as the high schools have worked hard to provide your child with  transition materials that will hopefully familiarise your child with the school.

Hoodies – These have very kindly been ordered and purchased by the PTFA. We are planning on organising a day when the Primary 7 children can come to the school in small groups, social distanced of course, to collect them. More information regarding this will sent out as soon as the hoodies arrive!

Clyde Valley Hub – Can I remind key worker parents that the hub is available for you to use if required. Also if you feel your child would benefit from attending the hub due to family circumstance please get in touch with me as I can now make referrals to the Hub for these children.

Please contact me if you have any queries or concerns by email: ht@st-ignatius.n-lanark.sch.uk

Monday 18th May

Good Morning to all our families and children. Hope you are all well.

I hope that the Primary 4 children and their families managed to join the mass, that Father Stephen very kindly offered up for First Communicants,  on Saturday morning. It was  lovely mass  to remember our children on what should have been a very memorable day for them.  When this day does come along it will be day of great celebration I am sure, for the children, staff and families.

This Thursday is Ascension Thursday, a Holy day of obligation. Normally the whole school would attend mass on this day, so we would ask if you could join us at 10.00am on St Ignatius Parish Church Facebook page, where Father Stephen is streaming the mass live.

We hoped you enjoyed the Guess the Staff First Communion photo, I know the staff had great fun doing this and were not very good at guessing who was who!!!

A number of children have been adding decorated hearts to the fence on the Chapel house, this is lovely to see and a great way of maintaining the links with our parish, home and school.  A number of families have also sent in photos of their May altars at home. Each class would have had a special altar to Our Lady during the month of May so we appreciate that you are trying to keep this lovely tradition at home. We are also posting a daily Angelus challenge on twitter which you may wish to take part in.

We were delighted by the effort you made for Uniform Day, it really was lovely to see the children in their uniforms, they have all grown so much since we last saw them but it was great to see them looking so happy and healthy.

As I am sure you are aware this week is Mental Health Awareness Week, the teachers will be posting a number of activities related to this on Teams. Twitter will also be updated throughout the week with information and resources that you may find useful.

From next week we have decided to do a whole school topic ‘Our Natural World’. Teachers will provide activities and learning linked to this topic which you can do as a whole family. Please continue to send in photos and upload any work the children have been doing at home. We love to see what the children have been doing.

Primary 1 transitions – there is a new section on the website about Primary 1 transitions. Please share this information with any friends or neighbours who have children coming to the school in August.

Please note that if you receive a  blocked call it may be from your child’s teacher so please answer.

A number of the teachers are volunteers for the Hub and therefore  will not be available on Teams the days they are in the Hub.

Holiday – Friday 22nd May and Monday 25th May. Please note the school will be ‘closed’ on these days.

We hope you and your family manage to relax and enjoy the long weekend. School will  ‘reopen’ on Tuesday 26th May.

 

Monday 11^th May

I hope everyone is well and enjoyed the long, sunny weekend. Today is an in-service day for staff and we have a planned a virtual staff meeting this afternoon on Teams.

Using Teams has offered not only a platform for providing Home Learning for our pupils but a great way of letting you keep in touch with your child’s teacher. Please use this if you have any comments or queries about the home learning provided. You should now also have your child’s teacher’s glow email address, where you can contact staff directly.

Again please do not hesitate to contact myself on:

ht@st-ignatius.n-lanark.sch.uk

Contacting Parents

Mr Fionda and I are still in the process of contacting parents. As I am sure you will be aware this is taking time but we are trying to speak to every parent/carer in the limited time we have access to the school. We will be in school tomorrow to continue with this so hopefully if we have not been in touch so far, we will be tomorrow.

Transitions

A number of parents have been understandably enquiring about transitions, both for our children coming into Primary 1 and the P7 children moving on to High school. At present there is no advice to state when the schools will reopening and indeed how this will look when they do. As soon as this information and guidance are available, plans will be put in place for these important events and the information passed on to you as quickly as possible.

Uniform Day – Friday 15^th May

This Friday our Cluster schools along with many other schools in Scotland are having a uniform today. This is to promote a sense of community and a reminder to our pupils that they are ‘still at school’. Could you please upload any photos onto Teams so we can post onto twitter. We would love to see as many children as possible in their school uniforms.

First Communion – Saturday 16^th May

Please keep the children in Primary 4 in your prayers this week as they should have been receiving the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist on Saturday of this week. Father Stephen has very kindly made a video speaking to the children from the Churh, which will be uploaded onto Teams this week. He will be saying a mass on Saturday for the children and there will be live link to this.  We will send out the details for this as soon as hear from Father Stephen. Also there will be a fun First Communion activity posted on Teams and twitter for families to complete. We hope you enjoy!!!!

Jotters

Just a reminder there are jotters and resources in Morrison’s and the U Save shop in the Bield that you can collect for your child. I know that lots of children enjoyed receiving these, a little reminder of school.

Home Learning

Please remember that we appreciate all you are doing at home to support your child’s learning but understand that each and everyone one of us has issues at home that we have to deal with. The words below, which are taken from an article on-line at the six week  point of lock down, and shared by many schools, perfectly sums up the present situation:

Dear Parents in the UK,

Today marks six full weeks since our country went into lockdown.

You have had your children home for the same time now that you would if they were on summer holidays. People will say ‘but they are your responsibility’ and whilst that is true, no-one could have imagined this period of time.

You have protected, nourished, educated, supported and entertained your children during a period of national and international uncertainty and fear. You have experienced emotions for yourself and your family that you never knew existed, never mind experienced before.

Six weeks is a long time.

Think about how you feel at the end of the summer holidays, how ready you are for routine, how badly your house needs cleaned from children home, how much work you are ready to catch up on. Remember that exhausting feeling of having little sleep, much less money and hearing ‘mummy/daddy’ every time you happen to sit down.

And you wonder why you are exhausted after six weeks of lockdown?

You are amazing! You have achieved something no other parent ever has during out time. You have faced six weeks unable to take your child or children anywhere, six weeks of no parks, holidays to break up the boredom, no day trips, no family to help. On top of that you have juggled work demands, loneliness on a level never experienced before, information overload from the internet and emotional turmoil of not being able to see people you hold dear. Even getting food to eat has been a major drama!

So it’s ok to feel drained. It’s ok to feel like you would sell your soul right now for five minutes alone. It’s ok to feel uninspired about another day of home schooling, another day of never ending laundry and cooking.

It’s ok to be so very tired.

Six weeks is a long time.

But you have made it.

Be proud of yourself. Stand tall.

History will show you for your courage, your children will remember this period as a time knowing they were safe and loved and teachers everywhere are deeply grateful that you are there for your children when they should be but can’t be.

In short: you are awesome!

And so are your children.

Credit: Faith Mummy

 

As always take care and stay safe.

 

 

 

 

 

4th May

Contact

If we haven’t already been in touch, we are hoping to do so tomorrow when Mr Fionda and I are in school. It has been lovely to reconnect with some of our families and it is reassuring to know that everyone seems to be doing well.

Please continue to stay in touch by emailing ht@st-ignatius.n-lanark.sch.uk

I will be sending out the teachers’ glow email accounts so that you can directly get in touch with your child’s teacher. I will send these email addresses out by app and email directly.

Jotters

Please feel free to drop in and pick up school jotters and resources from either Morrisons or the U Save shop in the The Bield. We are delighted by the response to this and will be restocking tomorrow:)

Reports

As Parents’ Evening was cancelled just before the school was closed, the staff all agree that  you would appreciate information regarding your child/ren’s progress for the 2019/20 session. Currently the teaching staff are writing reports and these will be sent by either post or email to you sometime in June.

First Communion

A number of parents have been asking about this and if there is a new date. Unfortunately we can’t reschedule a date for this or First Reconciliation until we receive confirmation from the Bishop.  In the meantime please keep the children who would have been making their First Communion on Saturday 16th May in your prayers.

Friday 15th May – School Uniform Day

For a little bit of fun can we ask that your child could wear  his/her school uniform on this day and upload  a photo onto Teams or email to school. We will then post them on the school twitter.  A number of schools will be taking part in this across Scotland.

29th April

Yesterday Mr Fionda, Mrs McIntyre, Mrs Ferguson and myself started to contact as many parents as possible on the phone. It was lovely to speak to some of our families, especially the children. We are hoping to get in touch with everyone before the end of next week.

All teachers are regularly updating  Teams. We have a large number of children now accessing Teams however from speaking to parents yesterday, it is clear that there are still some issues accessing  this.

Microsoft Teams needs to be downloaded onto the device your child is using and can be accessed using their glow username and password.

There is a chat section in Teams where teachers and pupils can communicate with one another. It is a great way for your child to keep in touch with his/her friends and teacher however this should not be used by children as a social media chat room. This chat area is closely monitored by the class teacher and the Senior Management Team and we are seeing some children using this late at night. I would appreciate your support by monitoring how your child is using this section too.

Please keep in touch with us either through twitter or email and continue to send your photos and videos. t is always lovely to see the children.

All contact details can be found on the school website.

Best Wishes from us all here at St Ignatius Primary School & Nursery Class

20th April 2020

A warm welcome back to our St Ignatius Virtual School from all the staff. All the staff managed to have a lovely Easter break and we hope you and your family did too.

Home learning has resumed on Teams, with all the teachers uploading new learning today. Please allow your child to use teams to communicate with his/her teacher, regarding any problems or issues they may be having or indeed to share any good news. A number of children have already uploaded some home learning to share with their teacher. This is easy to do and a great way of keeping in touch.

Again if you have any issues with teams or glow please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailing – ht@st-ignatius.n-lanark.sch.uk. You can also communicate directly with your child’s teacher through teams.

Please also check the useful websites section on the school website for online resources that will support you with home learning. If you have still not accessed teams there are videos in this section explaining how to do this.

Try, if you can, to do some home learning daily with your child at a time that suits you and your family. We understand that things are difficult and that every family has a variety of issues that they are having to deal with just now. Home Learning should not be stressful but a time that should be enjoyable for you and your child/ren. Your job is to make sure they are happy and safe, we will get them back on track with their learning when they return to school.

Mr Fionda and I intend to phone every family over the next few weeks for a catch up. We have limited access to the school so we will try our best over the next few weeks to get in touch with everyone.  It will be lovely to hear how our children are getting on – we do genuinely miss and care for them.

As always stay safe and be assured that we will continue to keep all our St Ignatius children and their families in our prayers.

 

Best Wishes

Mrs Pearson and all the staff from St Ignatius Primary School & Nursery Class

 

Spring Break – 6^th April – 17^th April

Happy Friday everyone:)

Today will be the last day of Home Learning for all our children and families.  Take a well-deserved break and enjoy spending time with your family over the next two weeks. Don’t worry we will resume our online learning though Glow and Teams on Monday 20^th April. Hopefully most of the problems accessing this have been resolved however please get in touch using the email address:

ht@st-ignatius.n-lanark.sch.uk

if you are still having any problems.

Please do not contact teachers through their glow email accounts as this will not normally be picked up by them. If you could make initial contact with myself using above email address, I will ensure this gets passed on to your child’s teacher as quickly as possible.

I would appreciate your co-operation with this.

Hub – This will remain open during the holidays for children of key workers.

Finally can I just say a big thank you for your co-operation, support and patience during this difficult time.  On behalf of all the staff at St Ignatius Primary School and Nursery Class we wish you a restful, enjoyable and holy Easter break. #staysafestayhome

 

Wednesday 1st April

Just a few updates today!

Teams – Teachers have now added a pupil folder onto teams, this will allow you to upload any photos or videos of your child’s home learning. I am told it is easy to do! This is a great way of keeping in touch and I know the teachers are really appreciating any feedback or communication from their pupils.

The useful website section has been updated with more useful websites and some literacy and number activities for you to try at home. Motherwell Diocese  have also provided some useful resources to support with praying at home.  Remember the children prayed at least four times a day at school and was a very important part of their school day. Praying daily as a family is great way to support your child emotionally and spiritually through this difficult time.

Espresso – This  is an excellent on line resource and covers many curricular areas. The school has paid for this and was often used by the teachers to support learning in class.  All you need to do is google Espresso login- username: student17518  password: primary

Sumdog– All children have a login for Sumdog. This is an excellent way of developing and challenging  your child’s maths skills. Most children are confident using this as they used it regularly in school.  Please let me know through email if you need your child’s login for this.

Currently there is a Sumdog competition running in the school until Friday. We can track who is using this and how often so we will check on Friday and announce the winner.

Photos – Keep sending us your photos – we really do appreciate seeing the children.

Twitter – Please also keep a check on twitter. We are daily tweeting great ideas for you to try at home.

If you have any worries or concerns please get in touch:

ht@st-ignatius.n-lanark.sch.uk

St.Ignatius’PS@HtIgnatius

School APP – please email for login details

Best wishes from all of us at St Ignatius Primary School

 

Monday 30th April 

Hope this finds you all well and that you all had a lovely weekend in the sunshine.

As always can I ask that you keep a check on the school twitter account and website. The website has new section with a link to Dr Jenny Nock’s website. She is providing daily updates that you may find useful to support you and your family.

The teachers are working hard to keep the children’s home learning up to date on teams. Primary 7 children have been communicating through teams to each other daily for 30 minutes to allow them to keep in touch. This has been working well and we hope to enable this service for the Primary 6 children this week.  If you are having any problems accessing teams please get in touch by email (ht@st-ignatius.n-lanark.sch.uk).

Please also use the school website as we will regularly update the useful website section. 

It has been lovely receiving photographs of the children and the staff really appreciate seeing them. We are missing our children and thinking of you all. If you have a twitter account and are posting photos of your children working at home please tag the school @HtIgnatius #stayhomestaysafe

As always keep safe and keep in touch:)