With only a week to go before Spring break, all classes are working hard to complete learning tasks and summarise their learning over the term. Most pupils have participated in standardised maths assessments this week and the results of the tests support teacher judgements about each child’s progress. All teachers are in the process of writing report cards for pupils and it is great to read so many comments about the positive attitude and commitment to learning that our pupils show every day. Reports will come home to parents on or before the 10th May 2019.
WAS Events: The Greatest Showman Interactive Party
A wee reminder that tickets for the PTC family fun night will be available for sale during the Parent Contact afternoon/evening. The event takes place on Thursday 18th April. During the event, WAS events will entertain the audience using a ‘Greatest Showman’ theme and lead family party games and dancing. Tickets cost £3 each or a family ticket is available for £10
Mothers’ Day Shop
Once again, the PTC have organised a secret shopping experience for pupils. Pupils are invited to make a purchase from the Mothers’ Day shop next week. All gifts are £2 or £3 and are gift wrapped prior to purchase. Funds raised from this will be used to support pupil experiences in the summer term.
Big Blether
Our Big Blether last week focused on supporting positive behaviour in school. It was a busy session and I would like to thank all of the parents who attended and shared their views
Part of the discussion focused on using the existing house system to recognise positive behaviour and providing a system for pupils to encourage each other and work as a team. Following the meeting, Mrs French sourced a token collection unit and tokens so that pupils can be given a token for their house when staff notice exemplary behaviour and pupils upholding the values of the school. This was funded through the profits from the pupil Christmas card orders. The PTC have paid for each pupil to receive a coloured pin badge to wear as part of their uniform next session so that a child’s house can be easily identified and to build a sense of community across the school.
This is a good example of how families and the school can work together to share ideas to make improvements. Thank you to all parents who have contributed to the fundraising by organising events or buying cards, attending fayres etc. Without this team work, it would not have been possible to take forward this initiative as quickly.
HMI Publication
I anticipate the school’s inspection report will be published early next week. All pupils will bring home a copy of the letter which outlines the key strengths and areas for development. I will post a link to the Summarised Inspection Findings on the website and twitter. This is a longer and more detailed document about our strengths and next steps. On 16th April, there will be a parent session at 6pm for any parents who are interested in hearing in more depth about the inspection report and next steps for our school.
Diary Dates
We have a few extra dates to add to the summer calendar:
17th April- Primary 3 (Room 5) are visiting Vikingar
3rd -7th June – Pupil song writing competition. All pupils will be invited to work in teams or individually to create a new school song by writing Heathery Knowe song lyrics to a backing track of their choice. Pupils will perform their song on Friday 7th June and pupils will vote for a winner.
4th June – PTC and School partnership event: Sport fun day (Cost £2). This is not the annual sports day. It is an opportunity for pupils to participate in fun sports taster sessions over the course of the day.
5th June – Sponsored Walk for Kilbryde Hospice and St Andrew’s Hospice for P3-7
5th June – Teddy Bear Travels picnic to raise funds for St Andrew’s Hospice for Nursery and P1/2.
What’s on next week?
Mother’s Day Shop open Mon – Thurs
Tuesday – Parent Consultation Evening
Wednesday – Parent Consultaton Afternoon
Friday – The Hive Parent event (only for parents of pupils attending The Hive with Miss Wharton and Mrs Summers)
Friday – 2.30pm closure
Thank you for your continued support
Kind regards
Kirsty Duff
