Our Lady and St. Francis Primary School

This week we started our new context, “The toy shop”. We have talked about our favourite toys and made posters advertising these. During this activity the children were writing for a purpose and developing their pencil control. Some of their work is displayed in the cloakroom area. In the art area the children used paint, crayons and even play- dough to make their favourite toys. We are also beginning to create a toy shop in our home corner.
Our maths outcome for this context is about directional language which we have been using while practicing for the day of dance.
Song practice is also already underway for the Christmas Show and auditions have taken place, details to follow!

It was a very busy week last week! We had a very successful PC Halloween Disco, and a huge thank you must go to all of the parents and staff who assisted on the evening to make this possible.

On Tuesday, we had our annual Halloween Parade and as always, staff joined in with the fun!

On Wednesday, we celebrated Mass and had a successful coffee morning afterwards.  Again, a huge thank you to our parent helpers for making these events possible.  Primary 6 were also superstars, leading both the liturgy and the coffee morning.  We made £262.60 at our coffee morning, and all proceeds go to our school funds.

Looking to next week, P4/5 are going to Newarthill Library on Tuesday for an author visit.

On Thursday, John Wilson will be in to take photographs of our nursery children, including family pictures.  They will also take class photographs on Thursday too – full school uniforms for this please.

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We have had a very successful first week back at school.  All staff have had the opportunity to spend a day with their stage partners, planning for the term ahead, moderating literacy work, and looking at the new benchmarks as a form of assessment for their pupils.

Our P7 pupils had their first visit to Taylor High School on Tuesday and they are looking forward to their future visits.  Science and music seem to have been particular hits!

On Thursday afternoon we had the privilege of a visit by the local author, Jane Burns.  The children were very entertained by her and her book and we are looking forward to future visits from her.

Looking to our very busy week ahead, please note there are a number of menu changes from Tuesday to Friday as part of Scottish School Meals week (all details are on twitter).

On Monday evening, the Parent Council have organised Halloween Discos for our pupils. Tickets are available from the school office, or you can pay on entry (£2 per child).

On Tuesday afternoon we are having our Halloween parade – children should come to school dressed as normal and change at lunch time.  Staff will be on hand to assist children who are not going home for lunch and have brought their costumes in with them.

On Wednesday, we will be celebrating Mass at 10am followed by our coffee morning and P6 will lead this month.  Please contact the school office if you can assist at our coffee morning (and thank you to those who have already offered).  As always we are looking for donations of shop bought baking and raffle prizes.

On Thursday, fluoride varnishing will be taking place for our nursery, P1 and P2 children whose parents have returned consent forms.

It’s lovely to see the children back at nursery after the October break, refreshed and ready to learn new things. This week we have been focusing on Stranger Danger and what to do to keep ourselves safe. We have had many discussions on this topic and you can find their comments and ideas displayed in the cloakroom for parents to read. We have acted out the yell, run, tell within games in the hall.
We continue to enjoy our time outdoors. We now have our own rope swing which the children are all enjoying, the forest is our friend no matter what the weather! Please make sure your child is appropriately dressed for outdoors every day.
A coven of witches could be found within the nursery this week as we practised our spell making magic and potions, complete with rhymes and songs. We have also carved pumpkins and made soup for snack with the flesh and other ingredients. Hope we are all ready for the party on Tuesday 31st!!!

Welcome back to term 2 of 2017-2018 session!  We have a very busy term coming up with a Halloween parade and disco, and Christmas celebrations including parties, nativities and carol concerts.

Our Primary 7 pupils begin their Continuity Programme with Taylor High this week on Tuesday morning; I am certain they will represent our school well as they always do.

Please remember our Halloween Parade has had to be rearranged – it is no longer Friday 27th October.  It will now take place on the afternoon of Halloween itself – Tuesday 31st October.

Last week finished with a hugely successful Mass and coffee morning, led by our P6/7 pupils.  We made a massive £238.11 – many thanks to all who either attended, donated or helped out at this event.  These events are crucial for fundraising for our school and all money raised goes directly to our pupils.  We need volunteers to help with these events in order that they can continue – if you can spare a few hours at coffee mornings, please contact the school office and they will pass your details to our Parent Council.

This week, jotters go home on Monday.  This will give you the opportunity to see how much progress your child has made since August in their new class.

Parents’ evening is on Thursday, and you have all had the opportunity to book an appointment with your child’s teacher.  We look forward to meeting with you then.

Friday is our last day before our October break – school and nursery will be closed from Monday 16th until Friday 20th October inclusive.

We wish you all a restful break.

Last week we had two informative assemblies by the NSPCC on Tuesday.  They will be back in OLSF on Tuesday of this week to do further work with P6 and P7 pupils.

The travelling Book Fair is coming to school on Thursday of this week, in advance of parents’ evening the following week.  Your child will have the opportunity to visit during the school day to see what’s on offer.  Please remember, Wednesday of this week is the last chance you will have to book an appointment for parents’ evening; if you are experiencing any difficulties with this then please contact the school office and they will assist you.

On Friday, we will be going over to St. Francis Xavier Church for First Friday Mass, led by our P6/7 class.  As always, we will host a coffee morning in our school hall following this  and we are looking for donations of shop bought baking and raffle prizes.  If you can help out with either the preparation or serving of teas and coffees, then please contact the school office.

• This is the last week of our Learning context, “Our Nursery”. We have been focusing on routines within the nursery as part of our maths outcome. The children have described the snack routine with the help of visuals which they have then placed in sequence. We have also looked at times of day and some of our clocks are displayed in the cloakroom.
• The leaves and conkers which have been collected by the children have been used as a source of furthering our knowledge of the season. We have also used the leaves and conkers  to express ourselves within the art area.
• Today some of us have enjoyed an introduction to forest kindergarten which the children enjoyed immensely.