It was short but very busy week for Heathery Knowe PS pupils. Primary 7 pupils visited Calderglen High School to participate in PE activities led by Sports Leaders. Mrs McGee, Miss Meek and Mrs French accompanied the pupils and were pleased that our pupils showed respect and an ability to work well with pupils from other schools.
Inset Day
Rick Walsh (Educational Psychologist) led a session for staff on strategies to support learners, with a particular focus on Autistic Spectrum Disorder. As I carried out learning walks through the school this week, I could see that teachers were trying out some of the ideas and it was having a positive impact on learners. By focusing on using a wide range of strategies to ensure learners are calm and engaged, we will reduce anxiety and have increasingly settled behaviour in the classrooms.
Improving attainment in Numeracy
The teaching staff have been focusing closely on improving attainment in Numeracy. Miss A. Harris is the Numeracy Co-ordinator and Miss Inglis is the lead practitioner for ‘Big Maths’. Big Maths is an approach used across the school to improve mental agility and quick recall of number facts.
We have made a significant investment in maths resources this year with the purchase of TeeJay maths. This will help support teachers develop a progressive framework for teaching maths and increased consistency across the school. Miss Harris will work alongside the Specialist Support Teacher to identify a suitable standardised assessment resource to enable teachers to target support to those who need it for numeracy.
Three members of staff have registered to participate in three day training on ‘Catch Up Numeracy’. This is a targeted programme to support learners make accelerated progress in numeracy. Miss Harris, Mrs Robertson and Mrs Summers are looking forward to this.
Residential Experiences
We are reviewing the residential experiences offered to our pupils and there will be a parent survey available next to help us gather parent views. Currently, Primary 6 pupils have an opportunity to go to Ardentinny Outdoor Centre for 5 days and Primary 7 have an opportunity to go to Robinwood for 3 days. Our focus is ensuring that as many pupils as possible have the opportunity to enjoy a residential experience whilst making sure it is affordable for families.
Some of the options being considered by the school are:
- Only having a residential experience at Robinwood in Primary 7
- Using a closer outdoor centre in Primary 6 (e.g. Lockerbie Manor)
- Reducing the length of the Primary 6 residential experience to 3 days
Parental views will help us to plan ahead for the current Primary 4 and 5 children.
Pupil Wellbeing Survey
The results of the pupil wellbeing survey have been analysed and 6 key areas have been identified as improvement priorities. The Junior Leadership Team will work alongside Mrs McGee to plan ways to improve. For each priority, there is a targeted improvement grade and all pupils will be asked to complete the survey again just before Spring break to measure the progress we are making.
Adverse Weather Planning
On Wednesday 28th November at 9.15am, the Big Blether will focus on consulting parents on the adverse weather procedures. The guidelines will ensure that parents are fully aware the routes into school that will be cleared and gritted, procedures if the school needs to open late or close early and procedures to share information if the school is not able to open at all on a specific day. Whilst these decisions are often made at short notice and in response to rapidly changing weather conditions, a clear procedure and agreed communication should help with this.
Educational Excursions
Primary 5 are visiting Calderglen High School on Wednesday to participate in a light and sound workshop with the Science Department. I am sure the pupils are really looking forward to their experience.
Room 4 are visiting Edinburgh Zoo as part of their Environmental Studies topic on Endangered Animals. We hope they have a lovely day with mild weather.
NSPCC Speak Out
“Speak out, Stay safe” is a programme delivererd by the NSPCC to all South Lanarkshire schools. It aims to equip children with the knowledge and understanding they need to stay safe from abuse and neglect. Children are taught to speak out if they are worried, either to a trusted adult or Childline. Trained NSPCC volunteers and staff deliver an assembly and workshop with the help of our Speak out Stay safe mascot, Buddy the speech bubble.
This will take place in our school on Tuesday 27th November.
The link below will provide more information about the programme and an information video for parents.
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/services/speak-out-stay-safe/
What’s on next week?
- Tuesday – Room 4 are visiting the zoo
- Wednesday – Big Blether parent meeting
- Wednesday – Primary 5 are visiting Calderglen High for a sicence workship
- Friday – Pupils are invited to wear something Scottish or tartan and bring a donation for the PTC Christmas Fayre tombola.
Thank you for your continued support.
Kind regards
Kirsty Duff
