We have enjoyed a busy week at Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class. The Primary 7 pupils visited Calderglen High School for a transition sports event. Pupils enjoyed trying new sporting activities alongside Primary 7 pupils from other schools. Mrs French accompanied the children and was very proud that the school rules of ‘be safe, be ready, be kind’ were upheld by all pupils. Pupils walked to Calderglen High School rather than being transported by coach. It encourages senior pupils to be independent and healthy whilst reducing the cost to parents.
Across the school, pupils participated in anti-bullying activities organised by Primary 6/7 pupils in Room 9. Thank you to Mrs McGee for supporting the pupils to organise the events.
Massage in Schools Programme
The Massage in Schools Programme (MISP) is a peer massage programme for children aged between 4-12 years old. The focus of the programme is to provide an approach to promote the wellbeing of children. It has been developed as an inclusive whole school strategy to promote calmness, settled behaviour and reduce anxiety.
During the inservice days, 3 members of staff will be trained as instructors in delivering the Massage in Schools Programme. Mrs Spence and Miss Deans will attend this training for Heathery Knowe Primary School and Ms Carey will attend from the Nursery. Mrs Gallacher is already trained in the approach. Once our staff are trained, they will be able to lead massage in the classroom and playroom.
THE PEER-MASSAGE PROGRAMME INVOLVES
There will be an information session for parents and an opportunity to look at the resources at the next school and nursery Big Blether sessions.
You can find out more information about MISP using the following link:
National Nurturing Schools Programme
Mrs French and Miss Wharton continue to lead the development of Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery being recognised as a National Nurturing School. This is a two year development programme to support staff in embedding a nurturing culture across the school by focusing on children’s emotional needs and academic learning as a whole child approach.
Teaching staff are in the process of completing Boxall Profiles for learners. This is a standardised approach to considering a child’s social and emotional development and wellbeing which can be used to plan health and wellbeing interventions for individuals, groups and whole classes.
You can find out more about the National Nurturing Schools Programme using the following link:
https://www.nurtureuk.org/news/national-nurturing-schools-programme
INSET Days
Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th November are inservice training days for schools in South Lanarkshire Council. Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery will focus on the following school improvement activities:
School
- Monday AM – Review of plan for school year / development of forward planning resources / HK approach to homework
- Monday PM – Progressive Pathways for Maths and linking to new teaching resources
- Tuesday – AM – Progress and Achievement and recording learners’ progress
- Tuesday AM /PM – Boxall Profiling and National Nurturing Schools
Nursery
- Monday AM – Planning for moving to full days for learners from August 2020
- Monday PM – HMI report action plan and quality assurance calendar
- Tuesday AM – Developing approaches to observing learners and target setting
- Tuesday PM – Playroom development
Christmas Fayre
The PTC are very busy planning the annual Christmas Fayre. There are still stalls available for local craft / small businesses to hire. Please contact the school or a member of the PTC if you are interested.
We would also appreciate any raffle prizes that could be donated from local businesses to support the event.
Photographs
The group and whole school photographs have now been returned to school. There will be one sample of each photograph on display at the Christmas Fayre. We will take orders and payment for photographs at the fayre. Photographs will then be professionally printed and issued as quickly as possible. We will be able to provide a cost prior to the fayre but will ensure that the cost is kept to a minimum.
What’s on next week?
Monday / Tuesday – Inservice training. School is closed to pupils
Thank you for your continued support.
Kind regards
Kirsty Duff
