Dear Parents/Carers, boys and girls,

We are most certainly in the midst of strange and challenging times.  I am writing to you, assuring you that my thoughts are with you all and with our families and wider school community.  Having not seen many of the children for some time now, I am struck by how much we, the staff, are missing them and missing our daily interactions with everyone.
We hope that you enjoyed our message to you all

https://youtu.be/hlONaoK0grg

Despite the physical distance, we can remain connected in many different ways and in this Newsletter, I hope to draw your attention to some of those ways.

Despite there being very few children in school recently, apart from those of Keyworkers, there has been a lot of activity within our local Learning Hub at St John Paul II,  where children from all over Bellshill, Mossend, Viewpark, Tannochside and Birkenshaw will attend to allow their parents and carers to work if they are considered to be Keyworkers.  It is a very different place to be, with Teachers and Support Staff as well as Nursery staff coming from all over our locality to work with those children in our Hub.

It can be an unsettling time for those children who are most likely attending a strange school building with no familiar surroundings as well as no familiar staff to welcome them.  Our own staff who are attending as part of a rota are helping to make everyone feel welcome!

I believe that the welcoming and nurturing ethos which is evident every day in our school is continuing within the Hub, even in the absence of our children and staff.  I would like to take this opportunity to say that I hope you are all keeping safe, healthy and well and that if you need us, we are here.  Contact us via email, leave a message on our voicemail, or send a message via the app, Twitter or Facebook.  These are checked as regularly as possible.

Mrs Paterson
Head Teacher

FREE SCHOOL MEALS DURING SCHOOL CLOSURES

A new payment system is being set up for pupils who receive free school meals – this includes all primary 1 to primary 3 pupils and all eligible P4-7 children.

It started on Friday 27 March and will run throughout the current health crisis.

Parents and carers of pupils who receive free school meals will be sent a message twice a week from the council. It will include a voucher code for £10.00 (you will receive a total of £20.00 per child per week).

The message will be sent either as a text message to your mobile phone, by email or as a printed copy if you don’t have internet access.

You can use the voucher code at any shop that accepts Pay Point, for a list of your local Pay Point retailers visit https://consumer.paypoint.com/ and enter your postcode.

For more information, please email the free school meals team on: FME@northlan.gov.uk.

Funding for the additional element of this provision has come from the £3m emergency fund, which has been set up by the council to deal with the health crisis.

PLEASE BE AWARE:

We are aware of fraudulent emails circulating asking for bank details of those with children entitled to free school meals.
Please be aware that we do not require your bank details.

IN ORDER TO RECEIVE A TEXT/EMAIL FROM NORTH LANARKSHIRE, THE DETAILS WE HAVE ON FILE FOR YOU AT SCHOOL NEED TO BE ACCURATE!

If you receive Text Messages from us about your child’s absence, etc. then we have the correct mobile number for you.

If you gave us an updated email address when we requested this a week or so ago, then we have the correct email address for you and we have updated your file.

If your contact details have not changed since the Annual Data Check-in August/September 2019, then we have the correct details for you.

PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO APPLY FOR FREE SCHOOL MEALS?

PERHAPS YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE CHANGED AND YOU NOW NEED TO MAKE USE OF

THIS SERVICE?

Simply go to www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals or email FME@northlan.gov.uk

Digital Learning

Digital Learning will undoubtedly be one of the most useful tools in the current situation. Here is an outline of all of the opportunities available.  These are not all internet-based and so, therefore, do not always require the services of broadband!  TV channels are all offering daily educational programmes as well as radio.  We will continually review our provision and look for innovative ways to engage with our children and their families.

We have created a comprehensive online learning Team and we already have around 100 children signed up to take part in daily teacher-led activities. The staff have been working really hard on providing a wide variety of fun activities. There is a weekly timetable to keep you on track with suggested activities.  Please pop on and have a look at what is available!  Register to join by completing the form below and find out more information here.

SUMDOG provides users with personalised Maths and Spelling practice through fun and engaging games.  Teachers can monitor progress and set tasks and challenges.  Children can play individual games, or they can link with other children across the school and even the country.  There are motivational tools included to encourage children to improve on their personal best.

Every child in North Lanarkshire schools has been provided with a SUMDOG login as part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge. SUMDOG will be a familiar thing for most of our children, but perhaps not our parents. We have regular Teacher V Pupil SUMDOG competitions so get signed up and beat your teacher!

Study Ladder is an online Literacy & Numeracy learning tool.   All staff had already set their children up with accounts prior to school closure and usernames and passwords have been sent out prior to the closure. Pop a ticket in on the below form

ABC Creative Home School is now up and running at www.abcmusichomeschool.org.uk.

This resource is free to all parents – you just need to register and set up a password to use.
We have adapted our award-winning resources for schools and nurseries so that parents and other adult caregivers can confidently teach their children music at home.  Even if you have no musical experience, we promise our resources are easy to use.

Activities during the Easter holidays

It is important to have downtime no matter what is going on in our lives!  All staff are working from home just now or are on a rota within the Hub and therefore it is difficult to issue ‘hard copies’ or printed versions of tasks for children to complete at home.  To this end, during the Easter Holiday period (Monday 6th April – Friday 17th April inclusive) there will be a reduction in our online digital presence as well as no additional tasks provided during this period.

Keep in touch

Whilst things may be very different and we are not in our building together, we are still all Mossend Primary School & Nursery Class!  Our staff are still here for you and we will do all we can to ensure that questions, pleas for help with learning/work, support with Free School Meals, etc. are all answered as soon as possible.  By now, I am sure that you will know the various ways to keep in touch, but just to remind you, our contact details are below.  You can also…

• SIGN UP TO OUR SCHOOL APP
• FOLLOW US ON TWITTER.
• CHECK OUR SCHOOL WEBSITE

What to expect in the coming weeks

Every now and again, we will post updates on the school App.  This can include general updates, information, signposting to resources or just a general hello!

Our Staff

Our staff are having regular discussions and we have had our first ever digital meetings this week, using Microsoft Teams (we all had to make sure our hair and make was done on those days!) We discussed progress with Digital Learning and how we are supporting our children.  Staff are also learning how to make the most effective use of digital technologies during these challenging times.

Making more and best use of all of the digital content

Many of our families are engaging with the resources we have offered.  However, we still do not know how long this current period of ‘Lockdown’ will last and when our schools will reopen to the general population.  Whilst we encourage everyone to get on board with our digital offerings, we also recognise the need for downtime and relaxation!  Please do not stress about things in terms of school work, but please do try to get your child to engage with some learning every school day!

Remember to keep in touch – even if it is just to share a photo of something fun!

We miss you all and we look forward to seeing you all when this is over.