We finished the school week with a Scottish assembly. The children and staff enjoyed spending time together as a school and celebrating the talents of pupils and staff. Thank you to all parents who supported pupils to practise poems and learn lines for this event. I would also like to extend our thanks to ‘Ross The Piper’. Ross volunteered to come into school and play the bagpipes for our assembly and we appreciate his support.
School Reports to Parents
South Lanarkshire Council is reviewing the school reporting format for parents and we anticipated that Heathery Knowe Primary School would be part of phase 1 and able to use the new format this year. However, as there has been a slight delay, we will continue with the reporting format used in previous years.
Within each curricular area, reporting will focus on:
- Progress in learning / strengths
- Next steps
- How you can help your child
There will be no descriptions of learning experiences or topics covered. We hope that the focus of comments in this way ensures that it is informative and useful to parents to support their child’s learning.
Reports will be issued to parents on 3rd April 2020.
South Lanarkshire Council: Pupil Attendance
South Lanarkshire Council has issued an updated draft operating procedure to monitor pupil attendance and this is required to be implemented in schools once it has been finalised.
This is a staged intervention approach to promoting attendance at school:
Stage 1 – attendance below 95% (missed 5 days or more since August)
Stage 2 – attendance below 90% (missed 10 days or more since August)
Stage 3 – attendance below 85% (missed 15 days or more since August)
Stage 4 – attendance below 80% (missed 20 days or more since August)
We have a number of pupils with an attendance rate between 90-95%. Within the new guidance, letters will be issued to parents of pupils at stage 1. This is a change from the previous procedure at Heathery Knowe Primary School where the leadership team would monitor attendance in this group but would not make formal contact with parents.
The letters follow a standard South Lanarkshire Council template rather than school template so you may notice differences in the format and wording used in attendance letters.
Pupil Equity Funding
Last session (2018-2019), we focused on purchasing whole school resources to support teaching and learning of numeracy and mathematics. We have introduced smaller group teaching for mathematics and the pupils and staff report this has had a significant and positive impact on engagement and progress within this curricular area. The children will participate in Mathematics Assessment for Learning and Teaching (MALT) to individually measure progress in numeracy and mathematics over the year.
This session (2019-2020) we have purchased whole school resources to support the teaching and learning of literacy, specifically grammar and handwriting. This is a whole school progressive approach to develop core skills in writing alongside spelling and extended writing skills.
School Photographer
Mrs Gallacher has consulted with a number of local school photographers. Next session, Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class will use Instant Images to take individual and family photographs.
The school photographer is booked for Friday 21st August 2020.
P7 Residential (Current P5 group)
The Primary 7 residential for the current Primary 5 group has been organised for Lockerbie Manor from 25th-29th October 2021.
The cost will be £230 per child for the week.
The payment plan options will be issued next week with a weekly, monthly and termly payment option.
Our current Primary 5 group has already started fundraising for the bus costs and will continue to do so. If they are able to fundraise more than the bus cost then the cost per child will be reduced.
PTC
The first PTC meeting of the new year takes place on Tuesday 28th January at 7pm. The PTC provides invaluable support to the school by providing a consultative group, support for events and as a fundraising group. All parents are welcome to attend.
What’s on next week?
Monday – All staff participating in University of Strathclyde Play Pedagogy /Enquiry Based Learning 3.30-5pm
Tuesday – Big Blether 9.15am/5pm with Mrs Gallacher
Tuesday – Head Teacher at Learning Community Management Team
Tuesday – Mrs French attending ‘An Empowered Primary Curriculum’ conference
Tuesday – PTC 7pm – all welcome
Thank you for your continued support
Kind regards
Kirsty Duff
