As anti-bullying week comes to a close, we have very important messages to reflect on as we move forward. Thank you to pupils, parents and staff for engaging in conversations and sharing your views. Over the course of the week, 67 parents returned the parent surveys and 246 pupils completed the wellbeing questionnaire. The surveys will be completed again in May to measure the progress we are making.
Anti-bullying week marked the launch of our focus on kindness and respect and this is the start of the next part of the journey at Heathery Knowe PS to ensure that kindness and respect is the golden thread running through every aspect of school life. This is a focus of school improvement that pupils and staff are undertaking with commitment and enthusiasm as we make short, medium and long term targets to promote positive relationships and behaviour and address any incidences of bullying or intolerance of others.
Wee Blether about Big Questions
I have been working with senior classes to gather pupil views on aspects of school life. This week I had a ‘wee blether’ with Room 9 to gather their views on the question:
“Are pupils at Heathery Knowe PS all treated fairly?”
Initially most pupils defined fairness as everyone getting the same amount of the same thing but after discussing a range of scenarios we agreed that fairness at Heathery Knowe PS should be everyone getting the support they need rather than everyone getting the same. Room 9 will plan activities in small groups to share their views with other classes in school. This is a fantastic opportunity for pupils to lead learning with others and to create a culture where we are improving together.
Next week I will visit Room 8 for another wee blether about a big question.
Big Blether
Starting on Wednesday 28th November, there will be an opportunity for parents / carers to pop into school from 9.15-10.15am to have a ‘big blether’ in the staff room. This will provide a chance for parents to meet and chat with one another and also to share views on aspects of school improvement. This is a very informal weekly coffee session to meet and chat with other parents. If you need to discuss an aspect of your child’s experience at Heathery Knowe PS, please continue to make a separate appointment for this.
Cost of the School Day
This week, South Lanarkshire Council Headteachers were challenged to reflect and reduce the costs associated with pupils attending school. For example, the cost of excursions, parties, shows, uniforms and residential trips. This year, we issued information about Christmas events in advance to help families budget in advance.
Over the next few months we will be writing guidelines for our school. We will seek the views of parents to help with this.
Christmas Show
Our Christmas show tickets are available to purchase from Tuesday 20th November from the school office. Tickets are limited to two per family. If we have additional tickets for sale then we will put them into a draw to ensure they are distributed fairly.
Inservice Day
Rick Walsh (Educational Psychologist) will be leading staff in professional learning activities to extend the strategies used to support pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in school. In the afternoon, teachers are reviewing the resources we use to teach numeracy and maths and developing the way we use shared learning areas.
Primary 7 Changes
Parents of Primary 7 have already been informed that this large class will split into two smaller classes for the remainder of the school year. The ICT area is being used as a teaching area, now referred to as Room 11. Over the summer holidays, permanent adaptations are planned to reflect our increasing school roll and need for another class.
Computers have now been shared across the classes and a trolley of laptops will be used for whole class ICT lessons.
Room 11 will line up beside Room 6 and 7 each morning.
What’s on next week?
- Monday – Inservice day for staff
- Tuesday – I am meeting with St Louise Headteacher and ‘Champions for Change’ to discuss how the schools work to challenge sectarianism. This is a part of our golden thread of building a culture of respect and kindness.
- Wednesday – Managing Aggression and Potential Aggression (MAPA) training for the final group of staff
Thank you for your continued support.
Kind regards
Kirsty Duff
