This week I had an opportunity to meet with Elected Members at the East Kilbride Area Committee to discuss the Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery HMI report. The Councillors were positive about the strengths of the report and were assured by the progress we are making to improve the areas identified by Education Scotland.
Big Blether
Each month the school leadership team meet with parents and carers for a ‘big blether’. At the last meeting we discussed many aspects of school life which are summarised below:
| You said….. | We did…. |
| You were unsure of the new procedures regarding children being dropped off at the gate. | We explained our reasons behind this; safer for children with less possibility of strangers entering our playground, support staff contracts changed to ensure supervision by 8.45am and children more settled as they view the whole school area as a learning environment. |
| Pupils often tell you that they reported incidents to an adult/had conversations with adults but they didn’t know who the adult was. | We created a staff photo sheet and sent this home to all our families.
We also placed photographs of staff on the doors leading to the playground. |
| Pupils were sometimes worried about approaching adults in the playground. | We reminded pupils at assembly that they should report all incidents to adults and that adults are there to help and support them at all times. |
| Parents/carers are sometimes feeling excluded and would like to have more opportunities to visit their children in school. | Classes will organise a class exhibition to showcase their learning. Dates will be shared soon. |
| Parents/carers would like to know the class topics in advance. | Teachers shared this at our “Meet the Teacher” Event and sent this home to parents/carers. |
| You felt that the end of the year awards were unfair and based on individual pupils’ popularity | Pupils voting for a good citizen/ role model has run for many years as the Lister Tower Award. We believe peer recognition is important and rewarding for children. This will be reviewed in Term 4 |
| Parents/carers felt that the new House Captains names should have been announced at the leavers’ assembly | Children’s names had been announced at a school assembly in June 2019. This will also be added to the Leavers’ Assembly. |
The next Big Blether is on Tuesday 17th September at 9.15am and 5.15pm. I hope you will be able to join us and discuss important aspects of school life.
Promoting Positive Relationships and Understanding Distressed Behaviour
Next month South Lanarkshire Council will launch revised guidelines for supporting settled pupil behaviour in school. The title of the guidelines will be, ‘Promoting Positive Relationships and Understanding Distressed Behaviour’.
At assembly this morning we discussed the procedures in Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class. The school rules have been simplified and are promoted as:
Be Safe – Be Kind – Be Ready
Be safe – we are encouraging children to be safe as they move around the school using the term, ‘wonderful walking’. Children are encouraged to be safe in class and when using equipment. Within the playground we encourage children to be safe as they play, move around and look after younger pupils.
Be kind – this is the heart of everything we do and encompasses all work that takes place in class through Positive Alternative Thinking Strategies and by upholding school values. We encourage pupils to be kind in their words and actions to one another, respectful in the language used and inclusive in their friendships. Teachers meet and greet each pupil individually, ensuring the children start their day with a kindness check in.
Be ready – pupils are encouraged throughout the day to be ready to learn. This includes arriving on time and settling quickly. Being ready to learn includes bringing the resources required, being attentive and listening to others and always trying their best from the beginning of a learning activity to the end. Teachers across the school are using, ‘hands up for silence’ to ensure pupils pay attention without needing to raise their voice to gain attention.
Within class, pupils will follow stages of intervention to help everyone uphold the school rules, making Heathery Knowe a school where pupils feel safe, are kind and show readiness to learn.
Reminder – A pupil who is not showing safe, kind or ready to learn behaviour will be offered a supportive reminder from the adult and a check in if there is any support required.
Warning – If a child ignores the warning or is still unable to settle, they will be given a direct statement from an adult. This will normally start with, “I need you to….”. This is a warning that their current behaviour is not safe, kind or showing a readiness to learn and offering a positive, clear alternative of what the child’s actions should be.
Time Out – If a child is unable to follow school rules after a reminder and warning then they will be asked to take 5 minutes in a lower stimulus area near or within the classroom to settle. This allows the child to take some time to reset and breaks the cycle of disengagement before rejoining learning in a positive and supported way. If a child requires time out then this is recorded by the teacher and I am informed. The reason for this is two-fold:
- It allows class teachers to monitor time out interventions and observe patterns of behaviour(e.g. if a child always needs time out during maths then this could indicate a learning need)
- It ensures the Head Teacher is aware of escalating behaviour from the outset and allows joined up working between the leadership team, class teacher and parents at the earliest opportunity.
Pupils with individual social, emotional and behavioural needs (SEBN): We recognise that for some children the standard system of promoting positive behaviour will be insufficient to meet their needs and an additional plan is in place. In the same way that pupils who find literacy / numeracy difficult have an additional support plan, children who require additional support in relation to their social, emotional and behavioural needs also have a support plan. This is explained to pupils as ‘everyone gets the support they need but not everyone gets the same’. Children are encouraged to understand that children who find literacy / numeracy difficult get additional support and different resources to help them learn and that this is the same for a behavioural need.
We will continue to develop the systems in place to support settled pupil behaviour and look forward to receiving feedback from Primary 5 pupils regarding positive pupil passports. All pupils will participate in a pupil survey over the next term to share their views on behaviour at Heathery Knowe Primary School.
What’s on next week?
Mon-Thurs – Leadership Team are working with focus groups to take a snapshot assessment of progress in Numeracy and Mathematics
Mon – The Quality Link Officer (Fiona Leggate) is visiting the school and Nursery
Tues – Big Blether 9.15am and 5.15pm
Tues – Information sharing session – PATHS resource
Tues – PTC AGM – All welcome
Wed – Moderation in Mathematics teacher focus group
Fri – Child Smile for P1/2
Thank you for your continued support
Kind regards
Kirsty Duff
