A revised version of the school handbook is now available by clicking on the picture or the link at the left hand side of the screen under School Information.
All posts by Mr Hardy
Halloween Discos
Our Parent Voice are busy orgainsing the Halloween Discos. Please remember these are on Friday 27th October – the first Friday back after the October Break. The times are as follows:
6.00pm – 7.15pm P1 – P4
7.30pm – 8.45pm P5 – P7
The cost is £2.00 per child and this can be paid on the door. We look forward ot seeing all the fantastic costumes.
Harvest Service and October Holiday
We were all very proud of our P2 class this morning. Their Harvest Service was enchanting. We wish all our families an enjoyable October Holiday and we look forward to seeing you all back on Wednesday 25th October.
October Newsletter
A copy of the October newsletter can be found in the ‘Newsletters’ section of the website or by clicking here.
Ayr Academy Primary Open Evening
There is an open evening for the new Ayr Academy for parents of pupils in Primary 5, 6 and 7 on Thursday 26th October. There will be a short presentation at 4.00pm followed by the opportunity to look around the school and meet with staff, parents and pupils.
Although Belmont is our cluster academy, if you live in any of the following steets you have the option of choosing either Belmont or Ayr Academy.
| ALBERT TERRACE | ALL | |
| BEECH GROVE | ALL | |
| BLACKHOUSE PLACE | ALL | |
| CAMPBELL COURT | ALL | |
| CRAIGIE AVENUE | ALL | |
| CRAIGIE LEA | ALL | |
| CRAIGIE ROAD | Nos 1-31 & 2-42 | |
| CRAIGIE WAY | ALL | |
| CONTENT AVENUE | ALL | |
| DAVIDSON PLACE | Nos 1-24 | |
| FOTHERINGHAM ROAD | ALL | |
| GORDON TERRACE | ALL | |
| JAMES CAMPBELL ROAD | ALL | |
| LYMBURN PLACE | ALL | |
| MORRISON GARDENS | ALL | |
| RIVERSIDE PLACE | ALL | |
For further information click on the link below:
Rights Respecting School Celebration
The whole school enjoyed a day of celebrating children’s rights this week. We invited ambassadors from Alloway Primary to come and share their work with us and then each class moved around the school experiencing a range of activities including developing playground and dining hall charters. We finished the day by inviting parents and family members in to share our learing. More information can be found on our Rights Respecting School Blog page or on Twitter.
European Day of Languages
Tuesday 26th of September was the European Day of Languages and Ms Slider had planned a surprise for the children at Holmston. When the children arrived in the playground in the morning, it was decorated with lots of words in many different languages. There was a quiz question asking how many different ways they could find the word “hello” written around the playground. Ms Slider knows what the answer is but wants to find out if anyone else can solve the puzzle! Do you recognise any of these languages? Ms Slider is going to carry out a survey in the school to find out how many different languages are spoken by the children at Holmston. Primary One have been practising their numbers up to 10 so these were also on the playground along with the matching French and German number names.
P7 Dolphin House Residential
The P7s, Miss Gunning and Mr Hardy are busy at Dolphin House this week – you can follow their adventures on the blog. The link is on the Class and School Blog page or click here.
P6 Trip to Culzean
P6 had a fantastic day today finding out about biodiversity at Culzean Country Park. Highlights of the day included pond dipping, Daniel enjoyed examining the skulls of the animals and Hattie caught one of the predators in the pond – a beetle with sharp pincers. I look forward to reading about the day in their school blog soon.
Snapchat Snap Maps
As you know Snapchat is an extremely popular app with young people and they have recently launched a new, optional feature called Snap Maps. This feature allows users to see where in the country their Snapchat contacts are, as well as seeing location based photos and videos. Users can then zoom into the map to see the exact location of their friends.
When first using the Snap Map feature, users need to choose who can see their location on the map. They can choose from: My friends, Only me (‘Ghost Mode’), or Selected friends. A user’s precise location will only be visible to their selected audience. Many young people will have ‘friends’ on Snapchat that they have never met in person, consequently, this could mean that those people are able to see the young person’s location on Snap Map.
Privacy settings for Snap Maps can be changed at any time within the Snapchat Settings screen. Users should regularly review their privacy settings.
Sharing location on any social media app can be a risky thing to do. All users should consider the following:
- Only share your location with people you know in person. Never share your location with strangers.
- Don’t add contacts to Snapchat if you don’t know them in person.
- Regularly review your privacy settings. Remember these can be changed at any time. Think about where you’re sharing your location and what times you’re on the app – do you want to share these locations?
The following websites provide useful information on Snap Maps for teachers, parents, carers and young people:
https://new.thinkuknow.co.uk/professionals/our-views/snap-maps/
http://www.childnet.com/blog/introducing-snap-maps-the-new-location- sharing-feature-in-snapchat
Early Learning and Childcare Consultation
As you may be aware the Scottish Government have now pledged that by 2020 early learning and childcare hours will increase to 1140 hours per year.
Soouth Ayrshire Council are seeking the views of parents/carers on how they could plan for the future and provide flexible early learning and childcare that meets the needs of children and families in our communities.
Parents and carers can have their say by visiting https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PMD77KL
Communities Fun Day – Sat. 9th Sept.
The Housing Service are organising a Communities Fun Day to take place on Saturday 9th September at the Citadel Leisure Centre. The event is a free event for those living or working in South Ayrshire. See the link below for further details.
Welcome Back
We hope you have all had a restful and enjoyable summer and look forward to seeing everyone back at the school next week. Pupils return on Thursday 17th August.
Summer Coding Club
Children in South Ayrshire are being given the chance to get involved in the area’s very first Code Club as the search begins for the next generation of computer experts. The Council’s introducing a new way of learning basic digital skills, with a six-week pilot kicking off in the CyberCentre, Carnegie Library, Ayr.
Public libraries up and down the country are now hosting regular Code Clubs where children learn how to create digital games, programming, build animations and even develop websites. Aimed at 9-11-year-olds, activities are group based, where participants will also have the chance to boost their self-esteem and develop people skills – improving their future employability.
The pioneering Code Clubs were made possible through the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) which trained more than 140 librarians across Scotland in basic coding skills. SLIC worked in partnership with the UK-wide charity Code Club to deliver the digital training during the first few months of 2017.
Code Club will take place every Friday from 7 July – 11 August, between 2- 3pm at the Cyber Centre, Carnegie Library, Ayr. Booking is essential as spaces are limited. Please phone 01292 618 492 for more information.
Summer Activities 2017
There are a range of activities going on throughout the Ayr and Prestwick areas during the summer holidays please click on the links below to find out more about the diffferent events that are going on.
Day O’ The Deid Project 2017
Please see the attached picture for FREE creative workshops during the summer holidays at Ayr Town Hall for the ‘Day o The Deid’. There are lots of opportunities for young people to come and make Day of the Dead themed crafts and props for the Day o the Deid procession down Ayr High Street on 29th October – the grand finale to Tamfest.
Shoeshare June 2017
Holmston are a Rights Respecting School! We recently held a SHOESHARE collection in partnership with Unicef and Clarks. To support children across the world and help them access their right to education (Article 28), we donated our unused shoes and collected them in school. Clarks use the shoes to raise money for UNICEF who provide basic resources such as pens and pencils so children have the right tools to learn, they also support in training teachers and work with governments to ensure the quality and standard of education remains high.
As a Rights Respecting School, Holmston are proud to play our part in transforming children’s lives across the world!
Sports Day
We had a great afternoon last Friday – we hope you managed to come along to our Sports Day. The weather was on our side and we managed to complete all the races. It was super to see such good sporting attitudes and all the pupils trying their best.
P7 Leavers’ Service and Prize Giving
Our final church service of the year will be on Wednesday 28th June, 9.30am at the Auld Kirk, Ayr. Please come along and wish our P7s well as they prepare to move on to their chosen academy. We look forward to seeing you there.
The Big Splash! 2017
Thank-you to all parents who came along on Monday to see the pupils work and learning from ‘The Big Splash!‘ fortnight. All the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the learning experiences and had insights into the different careers and jobs available in the local area connected with the sea. Pupils were given the opportunity to consider the skills they would need for the many different jobs. A selection of photos from the different experiences is in the gallery below and please look at the class blogs for further information about the event. Please leave any comments by clicking on the link above.
