We were delighted to welcome Miss Chen, our Mandarin teacher, to school on Thursday this week. Miss Chen will be with us every Thursday this year delivering Mandarin to Primaries 5-7 as part of the 1+2 Languages initiative. This is a wonderful learning opportunity for all our children and staff!
On Friday the whole school walked to St. Cuthbert’s Church to celebrate mass for the month of October. Congratulations to Primary 5 for leading the liturgy so well. I was very proud of all pupils as their behaviour was impeccable and their participation during mass was excellent.
On Thursday evening we had our sacrament meetings in St. Cuthbert’s church and had a very good turnout of parents. If you were unable to attend please make direct contact with Father Dornan and not the school to register.
In the classes …
Primary1 have been working very hard learning numbers before, after and in between, They have also been learning about primary colours in Art and completed a study of Piet Mondrian. They are now creating their own Mondrian inspired pieces.
Primary 1/2 have really enjoyed their learning about the sense of hearing in Science. They could identify and discuss their favourite sounds. In Art P1/2 have been learning about pointillism and have created their own apple picture in this style. Primary 1 continue to progress very well with their sounds – this week it was ‘m’ and ‘d’.
Primary 2/3 have also been studying pointillism. They are using cotton buds to create this effect in their Autumn Tree. The focus in English has been on the use of capital letters in our writing.
Primary 3 have decided on a theme for their class charter – the cinema. They have also been learning about pronouns to make writing more interesting.
Primary 4 have been sending emails this week for the very first time! They were delighted to receive replies from various staff members. They have also been working hard with Mrs Macmillan learning their dance for their learning showcase. In Literacy they have been learning about irregular past tense verbs.
Mrs McGraw was very proud of how Primary 5 led the liturgy at mass on Friday – the first mass celebrated in the church. In science they have been investigating icebergs and learning about the factors that make them melt quicker. In Art they have been learning about tone and creating tonal drawings of The Titanic. They were also very excited to work with Miss Chen.
Primary 6 have continued with their learning about addition – both written and mental strategies. They have started their new reading books and have been spending time word processing their super poems written last week. They too were excited to meet Miss Chen and start to learn numbers to 9 and simple greetings.
Finally Primary 7 were out and about at the Scottish Parliament this week. They had a very informative tour and were impressed by the grandeur of the building. In numeracy they have been applying their subtraction and rounding skills with great success. Well done!
We also had two important parent events this week. On Tuesday we had a number of parents come and meet Suzanne McAnnany our Early Years Home Link Worker. Suzanne is keen to get to know our families and support in any way that is required.
Mrs Macmillan held her first Brew and Blether in the school on Wednesday. An encouraging number of parents attended and a plan had been made for the first set of parent workshops. Mrs Macmillan is available this year to support parents in a variety of ways. If anyone has any requests or ideas for parent workshops or support with any aspect of children’s learning please contact myself or Mrs Macmillan. Working together will ensure all children have a better experience at school.
In the nursery …..
We had a very busy nursery this week with three Post Graduate students from Strathclyde University – Miss White, Mrs Heather and Mr Wylie. The focus this week has been the senses. The children have engaged in a number of exciting activities developing their understanding of the five senses. A favourite this week was Mrs Stark’s smelly table! The children had great fun matching smells and were encouraged to give opinions on what they liked and disliked. Out and about they used their ears and eyes to hear and see. Our nursery polo shirts arrived this week too so we look forward to seeing our children in nursery uniform from now on!
This week we have our Parent Consultation on Thursday evening. In addition. Mrs Macmillan will be engaging with school parents about the review of our school vision, values and aims and Mrs Egan will be sharing our Learning Journals online with our nursery parents. We look forward to seeing everyone on Thursday evening.
Newsletters were issued this week so if they are not proudly displayed on fridges yet please have a look in your child’s school bag! Newsletter is also available on our website.
This Friday is the beginning of the October holiday week so no blog next week. I hope everyone has a very good week off.
Please remember Parents’ Evening this Thursday 12th October! Times will be given to pupils this week – check homework diaries.
Many thanks for reading my blog,
Mrs Hendry
Head Teacher
