Well, that wasn’t in the plan! What a week in the life of Kirkshaws! Snow, ice and difficult journeys to and from school have made it tricky to function normally at times this week, but thank you all for the efforts you made to send your children daily. Learning continued, despite the adverse weather conditions.
It has been a pleasure meeting all our new P.1 parents, and some children too, at enrolment this week. I look forward to getting to know you all better as we work together over the coming years. It is amazing how many prospective parents are ex-pupils of the school. It was lovely to hear all your happy memories of your time at Kirkshaws. It is our aim to create similar memories to last a life-time for your children.
Despite the challenging conditions outside, we had many other visitors this week. Claire, from Oral Health, popped in to check on our toothbrushing programme. Did you know that all classes, from our Nursery to Primary 7, brush their teeth regularly in school? There is a worrying history of poor dental hygiene in Lanarkshire, but here at Kirkshaws, we are determined to buck the trend. Matt, from Entrepreneur Me, is continuing the work he has already started in Primary 6, as they launch their Do Good project. Look out for more details coming soon. Colin, from Tree of Knowledge, spent a day training Primary 7 in presentation techniques. We don’t stop at the Three Rs when teaching your children. We take great care to equip them with Skills for Learning…Skills for Life…Skills for Work!
At assemblies this week our older pupils met in family groups to help form our Curriculum Rationale. They have given me MANY ideas to incorporate into our vision for the coming session. Our younger learners discussed ‘Jobs for Girls & Jobs for Boys’! Do you know what we discovered? YOU CAN BE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO BE! This helped us continue to focus on our Motto of BELIEVE, ACHIEVE, SUCCEED. We celebrated the successes of our Marvellous Mathematicians at our whole school assembly today, and P.7 put those perfected presentation skills to good use, helping us to better understand our School Values.
In the Nursery, the staff have started creating new interactive wall displays. Look out for new information in the entrance hall next time you are in. They are also working hard to modify current sign-in and sign-out practices. Look out for information coming home on this next week.
However, the weather did cause us to alter some other plans. After school clubs, swimming and some parent meetings had to be cancelled due to the snow. We are confident that clubs will start again next week, although Mr Gall has already cancelled Cross Country on Monday as the ground conditions won’t be suitable after the week we’ve had!
So, did the snow ruin our learning this week?? No, we just adapted a little and made the most of the Topical Science opportunities that landed right on our laps!
Of course, the week ended a little abruptly for us all. HUGE THANKS to you all for heading back to school early to collect your children after the emergency closure notice today. Here’s hoping for brighter weather ahead!
