This week our school choir visited a local community group to sing for them. The pupils represented the school well and enjoyed the experience. Thank you to Mrs Spence for leading the school choir. We had opportunities this week for pupils to visit local churches to learn about the Christmas story. Primary 6 participated in Christmas Unwrapped and Primary 3 participated in Christmas Cracker.
Forest Schools with East Kilbride Community Trust
Heathery Knowe Primary School is developing a partnership with K Woodlands led by East Kilbride Community Trust. Forest Schools promotes the development of children’s resilience and empathy. It also develops a sense of community with opportunities for collaboration and problem solving.
Miss Houldsworth and Miss Harris have volunteered to take forward this aspect of school development and be trained as Forest School Leaders. Children will participate for one half day per week in a group of 10-14 children . We are planning for the current Primary 5 pupils to be the first group to undertake the 10 week forest schools programme.
Massage In Schools Update
Learners in Room 3, 7 and 8 will be the first groups of pupils to participate in regular Massage in Schools sessions. Miss Deans, Mrs Gallacher and Mrs Spence will train the children in Massage in Schools. A letter will be issued to parents providing more information about the programme.
Christmas Lunch
Christmas lunch will be served in school on Wednesday 11th December. Please note this meal must be ordered in advance. The Cook cannot accept orders on the day. If your child has not returned a slip for Christmas lunch then the kitchen staff are assuming they will be packed or home lunch. Please contact the office on Monday if there is a change to the arrangement.
Christmas Shop
The Christmas Shop will be run by the PTC each day next week. Pupils are invited to bring £2 or £3 to purchase a gift for a family member. They will bring it home pre-wrapped to place under the tree. The shop opens on Monday and will run throughout the week until the stock has sold.
Pupil Equity Fund
Next week I will update South Lanarkshire Council on the progress made towards improving attainment at Heathery Knowe Primary School. The school received a Pupil Equity Fund of £68, 000 to help close the poverty related gap in attainment.
The majority of the fund was used to employ an additional teacher at Heathery Knowe Primary School. This full time post is shared between Miss Deans and Mrs McGee. It has enabled us to:
- reduce the size of teaching groups in maths (P4-7) through a maths setting approach.
- teach Positive Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) in smaller groups and in year groups. By providing more opportunities for year groups to work together, we are aiming to ensure friendships are strengthened across the year making transitions into/out of composite classes easier.
- teach small intervention groups across all stages of the school. The focus is the development of literacy skills. Pupil Equity Fund interventions are planned in partnership with Mrs Byrne (Specialist Support Teacher).
PATHS Pupil Feedback
This year we introduced a whole school Health and Wellbeing programme called Positive Alternative Thinking Strategies. Pupils from Primary 4-7 provided feedback on PATHS this week.
- 70% of pupils feel it has positively developed their confidence and independence
- 63% of pupils feel it has positively developed their skills in listening and collaborating with others
- 43% of pupils feel is has helped them develop skills for dealing with situations
Individual and Family Photograph Feedback
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the individual and family photographs taken this year. Of the 43 people who responded:
- 47% were satisfied or very satisfied with the photographs this year
- 40% were satisfied or very satisfied with the background and props
- 42% were satisfied or very satisfied with the pose
- 65% were satisfied or very satisfied with the presentation of children
- 47% were satisfied or very satisfied with the value for money
- 37% were satisfied or very satisfied with the time of year
The data above will be used alongside the additional comments to book a photographer for next year. The photographers currently used by the school and nursery will be considered alongside other local photographers to book someone for August / September 2020.
What’s on next week?
Christmas shop all week
Monday – Primary 6 Party
Tuesday – Primary 5 Party
Wednesday – Primary 3 Party
Wednesday – Christmas lunch for all pupils
Wednesday – Flu immunisation day for all pupils
Thursday – SCHOOL CLOSED TO PUPILS
Friday – Snapshot Journals Home
Thank you for your continued support
Kind regards
Kirsty Duff
