Two major events dominate my thoughts this week…P7’s trip to Kilbowie Outdoor Centre in Oban & our World Book Day celebrations.
I know many of you have been following our adventures daily, thanks to the frequent tweets posted by Mr Sharp. Our senior pupils had the time of their lives, making new friends they will meet again at high school and facing character-building challenges that they will remember as adults! I have received fabulous reports, confirming that we have here confident individuals, responsible citizens, effective contributors and successful learners. I am proud of every single one of you – thank you! I now look forward to seeing how you transfer the new personal attributes you have acquired into your daily learning and relationships back home.
However, I must also give a HUGE vote of thanks to Kirkshaws staff who left their own families for the week, to work 24 hours a day, to ensure our pupils had this experience that lasts a lifetime. I should point out that I had another 2 members of staff who also volunteered to attend for the week! I can’t thank our staff enough. Without their willingness to go the extra mile, trips like this just wouldn’t happen.
Whilst our P.7 pupils were away, everyone else immersed themselves in World Book Day fun. Daily DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) was enjoyed by every class when the DEAR bell rang at random times each day! Bookbug came to visit our nursery – can you believe it? He was welcomed by all our young learners who thanked him for the gifts of books he left them. On Thursday our pupils had the option of dressing up as their favourite fictional character, dressing down in their PJs for a bedtime story, or coming to school in uniform as usual (as we appreciate many children feel more comfortable dressed this way). During the week we had a range of assemblies, focusing on the careers of authors and illustrators (skills for work), sharing favourite books (skills for life) and an Inter-House Reading Quiz (skills for learning). The Quiz was a tight race, but Summerlee won, with the other 3 houses drawing in second place! AMAZING!
In other news, many thanks must go to our Fundraisers for running their Bingo Night last week. As always, our learners will benefit from their efforts. As many classes are planning educational excursions over the coming weeks, you will be delighted to know we will be able to subsidise every trip, thanks to these fundraising ventures. In all cases, we will endeavour to keep costs as low as possible to ensure all children benefit from the experience of outdoor learning away from school.
We also had the pleasure of welcoming the Care Inspectorate to our nursery this week. Staff, pupils and parents had the opportunity to engage with our inspector as she evaluated our self-assessment and offered advice for further developments. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this visit.
Looking ahead to next week; Bikeability2 starts (taking our cycling proficiency out onto the open road), Bookbug sessions continue for our nursery families and several staff take part in Nurture training events! There is no such thing as a typical week at Kirkshaws!
