Welcome to the week 13 Head Teacher’s blog. Throughout this term teachers are delivering the recovery curriculum with a focus on literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing to address any gaps from the period of school closure. All teachers in school including the leadership team are supporting children’s learning. Your child may be involved in small group teaching with someone other than their class teacher. The focus for all learners is to ensure that they are learning with appropriate pace and challenge and catching up on any missed learning.
Christmas Arrangements
The schedule of events to celebrate Christmas at Heathery Knowe PS has now been finalised.
Sharing Christmas with St Louise PS – each child in the nursery and both primary schools will make a decoration in class that is suitable to display outdoors. The decorations will all be intertwined and displayed on the joint fence between the two schools on Monday 7th December. Each school will make a wreath and these will be gifted to one another and displayed.
Christmas Performance – each class will prepare a short video performance to share with parents. These are creative and varied but may involve recreating a Christmas story or poem, solo singing, musical renditions or a nativity. Each teacher from Primary 3-7 is working with their class to create their performance. Primary 1 and 2 are presenting ‘Bundle of Joy’ nativity performance. This will be filmed in each class bubble and merged together for the final video.
Christmas lunch – Christmas lunch will be served in the dining hall on Wednesday 16th December. If children pay for school meals, money must be credited to their ParentPay account prior to lunch. Lunches are pre-ordered with a choice of roast turkey, steak pie or vegetarian roast.
Pantomime – All children will watch a virtual online pantomime, ‘Cinderella Live’. This starts at 10am on Wednesday 16th December. Children can bring a small snack and drink (not fizzy) to enjoy during the performance.
Wear something ‘Christmassy’ – As Wednesday 16th December is the day we have both the pantomime and Christmas lunch, children are invited to wear something ‘Christmassy’ in addition to school uniform. There will some items available from school for any child who does not bring something from home.
Christmas card design – this is a voluntary home activity. Children are invited to design a Christmas card at home. The template will be supplied from school. If you decide to purchase a pack of cards designed by your child, the cost is £3 per packet. They will be printed by SLC print room and returned to school for distribution. Please note payment must be made using ParentPay.
Christmas cards – As part of the routines in place to reduce transmission of COVID, children are unable to send individual Christmas cards to friends in school. Children are invited to write one card to their class and teacher and bring it to school for 8th December. Any child who does not bring a card will be offered one from the school’s selection. All cards will be quarantined until 11th December. On this day, each child will be invited to open one card on behalf of the class.
Christmas classroom – Each class has chosen a different theme and children will work together to transform their classroom into a display of this theme. This is a fantastic opportunity for interdisciplinary learning, developing team work and friendship and celebrating creativity. All classrooms will be transformed between 14th and 18th December. Photos of this will be uploaded to learning journals and twitter
Christmas Parties – each class will enjoy a Christmas party afternoon between 1-3pm. The list of party dates is available in the week 12 blog. Nursery parties will be held in the morning and afternoon of 21st December.
Book Week Scotland
Heathery Knowe PS will be celebrating ‘Book Week Scotland 2020’ from 17th – 20th November. Children will participate in the following events:
Tuesday – P1-3 pupils will be given Read, Write, Count bags to bring home
Tuesday -Author, Robert Heron, has recorded a reading session for Heathery Knowe PS learners. Children have sent questions to Robert Heron and we look forward to learning more about the life of an author.
Tuesday – 5 clues activity. Children will challenge one another to guess the story by providing five clues.
Wednesday – Wooden Spoon Characters. Children will create a character from a story using a wooden spoon.
Wednesday – Story time with EK children’s librarian, Rhona.
Thursday – BBC Authors Live event with Nathan Bryon & Dapo Adeola (P1 to P3).
Thursday – Virtual Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour with Robin Stevens (P4–7).
Friday – 2.30pm HK Book & a Biscuit. Classes will read for enjoyment while enjoying some flavoured milk and a cookie
House Points System
The children cannot be given house point tokens at the moment because of the restrictions. The Pupil Leadership Team have been working hard to come up with an alternative system so that children’s positive behaviour choices and efforts in learning are recognised.
Children will start to earn house points again next week. Classes will keep a tally of points on their classroom door and each Friday House Captains and Vice Captains will total up the points for their house.
This year’s Pupil Leadership Team have extended house points to link in with Superstar and Champion awards with 2 points awarded to a rising star or aspiring champion, 5 points to superstar or champion and 10 points to the HK Cup winner.
Children who achieve superstar or champion status will also be awarded a star with their name on it on the newly designed ‘Wall of Fame’. Thank you to Mrs Gardiner for her effort in designing a fantastic display to recognise learners who are kind, safe and ready to learn at all times.
What’s happening next week?
Monday – INSET Day – School closed to pupils
Tues- Fri – Scottish Book Week
Thurs – Miss Deans teaching Room 4
Thank you for your continued support.
Kind regards
Kirsty Duff
