At the October Parent’s Evening we asked you to provide us with some information regarding your child’s reading habits. We are trying very hard to promote reading for pleasure within west Primary and would be interested to see if this is having an impact on your child and their attitude towards reading.

When we asked parents of P1 to P3 pupils the results showed that all of our pupils were being read to at home. 37% were listening to a book each day and 31% several times a week. This is great news! We could see that all children had access to books and that they talked about the books they were reading.

These results leave us with very little scope for improvement. We will look at the results as a staff and discuss how we can build on this strong foundation of reading for pleasure.

In P3-P7 there seemed to be more children reading less, or never independently. Some children had no access to books and some children rarely or never discussed a book they were reading with an adult at home. However, these numbers were still very low.

We are hoping to encourage our older children to enjoy reading independently and have already explored different ways of doing this in school.

All children are read to on a daily basis in class, usually at the beginning or end of a day. Children seem really keen to listen to a novel that their teacher is reading to them and this has prompted many children to read other books by the same author.

We are using the Zumba sponsor money to make our class libraries attractive and comfortable and to stock them with books that the children are asking for. There is independent reading time allocated throughout the school day.

Children are recording book reviews for assembly. Our reading scheme provides opportunities to read books and novels as well as a traditional reading book. We have purchased a new reading scheme for all ages.

We will repeat this questionnaire at the Parents’ Evening in March and compare results, hopefully we will see an increase in the amount of time that our older children chose to read.

P5 Titanic ‘Jigsaw’

January 17, 2017 Mr Carson

We have started our new topic learning about the Titanic and we took part in a ‘jigsaw’ to learn some facts about the ship. Groups were given different passages about the Titanic and we picked out the most important information. Finally, we met up with members of the other groups to share what we had learned making our ‘jigsaw’ complete!

Weekly Diary 16/01 – 20/01

January 13, 2017 Mr Carson

Week 2 on dinner menu

Monday, 16 January

P5/6 Football at Ferguslie (pm)
Minecraft Club (3pm-4pm)
FOTW Meeting (6.30pm-7.30pm)

Tuesday, 17 January

Girls Football Club (3pm – 4pm)

Wednesday, 18 January

P3 Weather Workshop – Right to Dance (pm)
Basketball Club (3pm – 4pm)

Thursday, 19 January

Football Event at Ferguslie (am)
Nursery Coffee Evening (7pm – 8pm)

Friday, 20 January

Nursery Coffee Morning (9am – 10.30am)

Parent Questionnaire and Actions

January 13, 2017 Mr Carson

Recently Mrs Ormond met with a group of parents to discuss the results of our parent questionnaire. Attached to this post are the results of the questionnaire and actions that have/will be taken to address some of the concerns of parents. We hope you find the information useful.

Questionnaire Results

Action Points

P7 Burns Supper Details

January 12, 2017 Mr Carson

This year, as in the past, Primary 7 pupils will have the opportunity to take part in a Burns Supper on Friday 27^th January at 12.45pm. This has become a tradition in our school and much hard work and effort is put in by both pupils and staff to make it a success and to give the children a worthwhile experience.

Every child is involved and each has a part to play. I ask that no hospital, doctor or dental appointment be made (unless in an emergency of course) for the last week in January or indeed the day of the Burns Supper. It would be very much appreciated if you could alert the school staff to any appointments or absences already planned so that this can be taken into account when organising the event. It is very disappointing for both children and staff when someone has to drop out at the last minute.

In keeping with tradition each child is encouraged to wear something tartan if possible. Please do not feel obliged to hire kilts for boys, as we appreciate that this can be very expensive. The cost of the supper is kept to a minimum and includes the meal of haggis, neeps and tatties, a drink of Irn-Bru (our other national drink) and home made shortbread.

Parents are most welcome to join us and it is appreciated when they contribute to the atmosphere by joining in with the singing and dancing. Please note that this event is not suitable for young children and babies, and they should not attend.

Each child will be allocated 2 adult tickets. Please purchase tickets through the class teacher. The cost will be £3.00 for adults and free for pupils. Please indicate if you would like any extra tickets but do not enclose any money at present. Extra tickets will be allocated by Wednesday 18^th January with payment due by Friday 20 January.

If you would like to attend, please complete the reply slip the children have been issued and return with payment by Monday 16 January. It would be helpful if you could indicate if you or your child wish a vegetarian option.

I am sure this will be an enjoyable event for all and look forward to seeing you.

Yours sincerely

Ruth O’Boyle
Depute Head Teacher

P7 Term 3 Newsletter

January 11, 2017 Mr Carson

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. It’s great to see the children back and hear all their Christmas stories. P7 Christmas raps at the end of term service were very entertaining. They all enjoyed the school panto and their Christmas party. Well done to the pupils who had a Christmas disco for their house reward.

We were extremely proud and moved by P7 when they led the Remembrance Day assembly in November.

This term we will be teaching skills and knowledge and understanding through the theme of Robert Burns. This topic covers many curricular areas and children will perform for parents at the annual Burns Supper in January.

The children continue to have regular reading, spelling and maths homework and your support in this is vital to your child’s success.

Throughout this term P7 children will work in their own register classes for language but maths team teaching will continue. Teachers and pupils will engage in a variety of Scottish literature and pupils with different abilities will work together to share skills, knowledge and strengths. Appropriate tasks will be provided to continue to support and challenge for all pupils.

We will also have World of Work Week where children will turn their classroom into a little enterprising business for a week. We will also hear from a variety of people about a variety of jobs. I would encourage you to inform Mrs.Wiszniewski or your child’s class teacher if you would be willing to speak to children about your job. We are very grateful when parents come forward to offer their services. P7 pupils also have the opportunity to participate in a ‘go to work day’ with their parents on Monday 20^th February. We understand that this might not be possible for some pupils and parents so pupils can visit other work environments with other family members if this suits better.

Teachers are keen to work in partnership with parents and strive to keep you informed. There will be a parents evening in March however please do not hesitate to contact us with any concerns before that. We would like to see parents in and around the school during World of Work Week and World Book Day.

Parental Questionnaire

The results of the parent questionnaire are available on the school website. I met with a small group of parents to discuss the results and find solutions to the things that parents were most concerned about. This information is also on the website. Please ask the school office if you would like a paper copy of this. The main causes for concern were the condition of the school building, communication between home and school and the way that the school deals with poor behaviour. We discussed ways to improve our service regarding these issues. Thank you to those parents who gave up their time to support the school on its way forward.

Can I encourage you to apply for free meal entitlement if you are due this.

Sponsored Zumba

The sponsored Zumba was a huge success and we raised over £4,000. A huge thank you to those of you who supported us and to Mr.Johnston for leading the activity… he certainly showed us a few moves that day! I have consulted with the pupils through the Pupil Council and they identified how they would like to spend the money.

The Christmas Fayre was also very successful in raising around £1,500. Thank you to the members of the Friends of the West and staff and other parents who came to help on the day.

Our school aims are now on display in the school entrance. They are for West Primary to be Educational, Inclusive, Supportive, Friendly and Caring. We hope the school encompasses these aims.

Playtime

Sometimes parents and carers worry about their child during playtime and lunchtime. At West we have tried to provide the children with opportunities for safe play. There is a playground rota which indicates which year groups can play ball games on certain days. There are also P6 play leaders who do a fantastic job of encouraging children to play together and teach them new playground games. We also have our trim trails, climbing wall and the gazebo. P7 children are also fortunate to go to the MUGA across the road, giving them their own space and facilities.

The classroom assistants and janitor are present throughout playtime and lunchtime for children to voice concerns to and to intervene when they see inappropriate play.

As you can appreciate the classroom assistants can deal with many issues throughout this time. If you feel that your child is having an ongoing problem in the playground please do not hesitate to contact myself or the class teacher and we can highlight your child to the assistants, who will keep a special eye on them until the problem is resolved.

A word from the Pupil Council

We have been asking our class mates what they would like to spend the Zumba sponsor money on. We made a list of suggestions and discussed these with Mrs. Ormond. She advised us that many of the suggestions would be paid for through school budget and that she wanted us to purchase the things that children would enjoy most.

We decided that each class would be given a budget to upgrade their library with new books and soft accessories which would make the class library more inviting. We also wanted to improve our musical instrument resources and purchase play equipment for the playground.

We will meet again in January with Mrs. Ormond to feedback on the things that we like about our school and areas that need improved. We looked at the pupil questionnaire which is on the website. We returned to class to share this information with everyone.

A plea from HT

Remember no dogs are allowed in the playground.

Smoking is not permitted within the playground or around the school gates.

Put your name on EVERYTHING….lost property is taking over the school!

Please park safely. Double parking is not permitted.

Join the Friends of the West Facebook page or look at our website for information.

www.west.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Make sure we have your current phone number.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Mrs.Ormond and P7 staff

Dates for your diary

11th January 12-3 pm Infant registration

12^th January 12-3 pm Infant registration

16^th January 6.30 pm Friends of the West Meeting

25^th January 7.00-8.00pm P2/3 Reading Information Evening

27^th January 12.45 pm P7 Burns Supper

1^st February 7.00pm Meeting for P7 Lockerbie parents

10^th February School Holiday ( In-Service for teachers)

13^th and 14^th February School Holiday

20^th-24th February World of Work Week

1^st March Rag Bag Day

6^th March 6.30 pm Friends of the West Meeting

7^th March Photographer for P7 Yearbook

13^th-17^th March P7 trip to Lockerbie

20^th March Book of Success home to parents

23^rd and 24^th March Tempest Photography P1-7

24^th March Comic Relief Talent Show

29^th March Termly House Reward

29^th March 6.30-8.30 Parent’s Evening

30^th March 3.30-5.30 Parent’s Evening

Friday 31^st March school closes at 2.30pm

3^rd April-17^th April Easter Holiday

Tuesday 18^th April School reopens

P6 Term 3 Newsletter

January 11, 2017 Mr Carson

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. It’s great to see the children back and hear all their Christmas stories. They all enjoyed the school panto and their Christmas party. Well done to the pupils in Broomlands who had a Christmas disco for their house reward.

After a very busy term 1 and term 2, we are looking forward to a productive and enjoyable third term. Over this period, we will be teaching skills and knowledge and understanding through our main topic of the Solar System and Chinese New Year. We have a special Scottish assembly where we will perform as a stage something with a Scottish feel to it.

This term we will be involved in dancing, drama and writing which will end with a performance at Paisley Town Hall on the afternoon of Friday 24^th March. Parents will be invited along. We will attend the annual Safe Kids event in February and enter the K’nex challenge where we usually have some success.

The children continue to have regular reading, spelling and maths homework and your support in this is vital to your child’s success.

We will also have World of Work Week where children will turn their classroom in to a little enterprising business for a week. This year we will try to link this to World Book Day. We also hear from a variety of people about a variety of jobs. I would encourage you to inform Mrs.Wiszniewski or your child’s class teacher if you would be willing to speak to children about your job. We are very grateful when parents come forward to offer their services.

Parent Questionnaire

The results of the parent questionnaire are available on the school website. I met with a small group of parents to discuss the results and find solutions to the things that parents were most concerned about. This information is also on the website. Please ask the office if you would like a paper copy of this. The main causes for concern were the school building, communication and behaviour. We discussed ways to improve our service regarding these issues. Thank you to those parents who gave up their time to support the school on its way forward.

Can I encourage you to apply for free meal entitlement if you are due this.

Our school aims are now on display in the school entrance. They are Educational, Inclusive, Supportive, Friendly and Caring. We hope the school encompasses these aims.

Playtime

Sometimes parents and carers worry about their child during playtime and lunchtime. At West we have tried to provide the children with opportunities for safe play. There is a playground rota which indicates which year groups can play ball games on certain days. There are also P6 play leaders who do a fantastic job of encouraging children to play together and teach them new playground games. We also have our trim trails, climbing wall and the gazebo. P7 children are also fortunate to go to the Mugga across the road, giving them their own space and facilities.

The classroom assistants and janitor are present throughout playtime and lunchtime for children to voice concerns to and to intervene when they see inappropriate play.

As you can appreciate the classroom assistants can deal with many issues throughout this time. If you feel that your child is having an ongoing problem in the playground please do not hesitate to contact myself or the class teacher and we can highlight your child to the assistants who will keep a special eye on them until the problem is resolved.

A word from the pupil council

We have been asking our class mates what they would like to spend the Zumba sponsor money on. We made a list of suggestions and discussed these with Mrs. Ormond. She advised us that many of the suggestions would be paid for through the school budget and that she wanted us to purchase the things that children would enjoy most.

We will meet again in January with Mrs. Ormond to feedback on the things that we like about our school and areas that need improved. We looked at the results of the pupil questionnaire which is on the website. We returned to class to share this information with everyone.

A plea from HT

Remember no dogs are allowed in the playground.

Smoking is not permitted within the playground or around the school gates.

Put your name on EVERYTHING….lost property is taking over the school!

Please park safely. Double parking is not permitted.

Join the Friends of the West Facebook page or look at our website for information.

www.west.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Make sure we have your current phone number.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Mrs.Ormond and P6 staff

Dates for your diary

11th January 12-3 pm Infant registration

12^th January 12-3 pm Infant registration

16^th January 6.30 pm Friends of the West Meeting

25^th January 7.00-8.00pm P2/3 Reading Information Evening

27^th January 12.45 pm P7 Burns Supper

1^st February 7.00pm Meeting for P7 Lockerbie parents

10^th February School Holiday ( In-Service for teachers)

13^th and 14^th February School Holiday

20^th-24th February World of Work Week

1^st March Rag Bag Day

6^th March 6.30 pm Friends of the West Meeting

7^th March Photographer for P7 Yearbook

13^th-17^th March P7 trip to Lockerbie

20^th March Book of Success home to parents

23^rd and 24^th March Tempest Photography P1-7

24^th March Comic Relief Talent Show

29^th March Termly House Reward

29^th March 6.30-8.30 Parent’s Evening

30^th March 3.30-5.30 Parent’s Evening

Friday 31^st March school closes at 2.30pm

3^rd April-17^th April Easter Holiday

Tuesday 18^th April School reopens

P5 Term 3 Newsletter

January 11, 2017 Mr Carson

After a very busy term 1 and term 2, we are looking forward to a productive and enjoyable third term. Over this period, we will be teaching skills and knowledge and understanding through our main topic of the Titanic, with a focus on its historical impact. We will be investigating materials in relation to floating and sinking plus organising a P5 trip to the Tall Ship in Glasgow. We have a special Scottish assembly and for this we will learn more about Robert Burns and perform something with a Scottish feel to it.

The children continue to have regular reading, spelling and maths homework and your support in this is vital to your child’s success.

Teachers are keen to work in partnership with parents and strive to keep you informed. There will be a Parent’s Evening in March however please do not hesitate to contact us with any concerns before that. We would like to see parents in and around the school during World of Work Week and World Book Day.

Parent Questionnaire

The results of the parent questionnaire are available on the school website. I met with a small group of parents to discuss the results and find solutions to the things that parents were most concerned about. This information is also on the website. Please ask the office if you would like a paper copy of this. The main causes for concern were the school building, communication and behaviour. We discussed ways to improve our service regarding these issues. Thank you to those parents who gave up their time to support the school on its way forward.

Can I encourage you to apply for free meal entitlement if you are due this.

Sponsored Zumba

The sponsored Zumba was a huge success and we raised over £4,000. A huge thank you to those of you who supported us and to Mr.Johnston for leading the activity…. he certainly showed us a few moves that day! I have consulted with the pupils through the Pupil Council and they identified how they would like to spend the money. The Christmas Fayre was also very successful in raising around £1,500.

Our school aims are now on display in the school entrance. They are Educational, Inclusive,Supportive, Friendly and Caring. We hope the school encompasses these aims.

Playtime

Sometimes parents and carers worry about their child during playtime and lunchtime. At West we have tried to provide the children with opportunities for safe play. There is a playground rota which indicates which year groups can play ball games on certain days. There are also P6 play leaders who do a fantastic job of encouraging children to play together and teach them new playground games. We also have our trim trails, climbing wall and the gazebo. P7 children are also fortunate to go to the Mugga across the road, giving them their own space and facilities.

The classroom assistants and janitor are present throughout playtime and lunchtime for children to voice concerns to and to intervene when they see inappropriate play.

As you can appreciate the classroom assistants can deal with many issues throughout this time. If you feel that your child is having an ongoing problem in the playground please do not hesitate to contact myself or the class teacher and we can highlight your child to the assistants who will keep a special eye on them until the problem is resolved.

A word from the pupil council

We have been asking our classmates what they would like to spend the Zumba sponsor money on. We made a list of suggestions and discussed these with Mrs. Ormond. She advised us that many of the suggestions would be paid for through the school budget and that she wanted us to purchase the things that children would enjoy most.

We decided that each class would be given a budget to upgrade their library with new books and soft accessories which make the class library more inviting. We also wanted to improve our musical instrument supply and play equipment for the playground.

A plea from HT

Remember no dogs are allowed in the playground.

Smoking is not permitted within the playground or around the school gates.

Put your name on EVERYTHING….lost property is taking over the school!

Please park safely. Double parking is not permitted.

Join the Friends of the West Facebook page or look at our website for information.

www.west.renfrewshire.sch.uk

Make sure we have your current phone number.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Mrs.Ormond and P5 staff

Dates for your diary

11th January 12-3 pm Infant registration

12^th January 12-3 pm Infant registration

16^th January 6.30 pm Friends of the West Meeting

25^th January 7.00-8.00pm P2/3 Reading Information Evening

27^th January 12.45 pm P7 Burns Supper

1^st February 7.00pm Meeting for P7 Lockerbie parents

10^th February School Holiday ( In-Service for teachers)

13^th and 14^th February School Holiday

20^th-24th February World of Work Week

1^st March Rag Bag Day

6^th March 6.30 pm Friends of the West Meeting

7^th March Photographer for P7 Yearbook

13^th-17^th March P7 trip to Lockerbie

20^th March Book of Success home to parents

23^rd and 24^th March Tempest Photography P1-7

24^th March Comic Relief Talent Show

29^th March Termly House Reward

29^th March 6.30-8.30 Parent’s Evening

30^th March 3.30-5.30 Parent’s Evening

Friday 31^st March school closes at 2.30pm

3^rd April-17^th April Easter Holiday

Tuesday 18^th April School reopens

West Primary School