Author: H. hknoweps

The children and staff have enjoyed another very busy week at school and nursery. The Senior Leadership Team has focused on children’s progress in learning so far this year and identifying those children who require additional support in any aspect of the curriculum. Mrs Gallacher co-ordinates the support for all children with additional support needs and is working alongside parents, class teachers and support staff to ensure all children have the support they need to succeed. If you have any concerns about your child’s progress or would like to discuss their settling in report, please contact the school office to make an appointment.

Scottish Government: Guidance on reducing the risk in schools

The Scottish Government issued revised guidance for schools on Friday 30th October. This provides further information for schools and local authorities about the steps that should be taken to promote safe school communities with low risk of transmission. South Lanarkshire Council will work through this next week with schools to review procedures taking account of new recommendations.

The focus for schools includes:

• implementing the guidance to enable children to participate in PE indoors, where possible. This will be implemented over the coming weeks.
• ensuring adults wear face coverings at drop off and pick up times unless exempt. Face coverings can be collected from the school office if you do not have any. Please contact the school office by telephone to arrange this.
• reviewing ventilation plans to ensure the school is adequately ventilated without being overly cold and draughty in the winter months. Please ensure your child has a jumper or cardigan each day.

Please click the link below if you would like to read the document published by the Scottish Government:

https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance/

Flu Immunisation 

Children who have returned their consent form will be immunised against flu in school on Wednesday 4th November.

If you would like further information about he immunisation programme, please click the following link:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/immunisation/vaccines/child-flu-vaccine

Halloween feedback  

We are aware from Twitter that there is concern regarding the programme of activities undertaken by Heathery Knowe Primary School in relation to Hallowe’en. The complaints specifically related to the decision that children would not be allowed to wear fancy dress or dress down during the school day. This is no different to previous years with the exception of October 2018 when the Pupil Leadership Team organised elective events in the afternoon.

Each school is different and leadership teams  in schools make decisions for their own school community. I would like to take this opportunity to clarify the school’s position and provide a further explanation of the decision made.

• Public Health guidance requires all adults to remain 2m from children to reduce transmission risk. This applies at all times. Moving within 2m to support children to take costumes on or off to use the toilets and change for outdoor play would increase the risk of transmission of Coronavirus. All children are able to change independently while wearing school uniform and this protects everyone in the school community.
• The Scottish Government require all schools to fully consider the ‘cost of the school day’. We are committed to ensuring that there is no unnecessary financial burden related to attending school. Over the past two years, Heathery Knowe Primary School has worked towards there being no additional cost to families for events within the school day.  Dressing up / down within school places financial pressure on families, risks pupils feeling financially excluded and encourages a higher level of absence on these days.  With many more families facing financial hardship because of the Covid-19 crisis, poverty awareness and action is more important than ever.
• Children’s comfort and safety at school is our priority. Whilst children enjoy wearing fancy dress, this becomes uncomfortable over the course of a full day.  In addition, the school is cooler than normal as it is fully ventilated at all times and children play outdoors in all weathers. Fancy dress costumes would not provide appropriate levels of comfort and protection throughout the school day. Requiring costumes to be worn in school and outdoors before Saturday 31st October would have risked them becoming dirty or damaged before family celebrations.
• Heathery Knowe PS has a diverse community of learners. There are a number of learners who find change difficult to manage leading to feelings of anxiety and distress.  Predictability and routine contribute to feeling safe for all children. With significant changes required  in relation to Covid, staff are working very hard to ensure the school day remains predictable and settled for all children.

The plan for Hallowe’en was shared in the week 8 blog (3rd October 2020) including the decision that children would not wear fancy dress to school. I understand that some parents are disappointed with the decision however it remains in line with previous years and is underpinned by ensuring pupil and staff safety and comfort is the priority at all times. We are always happy to explain our decisions to parents and invite you to contact me at school via telephone or email to discuss any future events.

Clothing Donations 

If you have any winter jackets that your child no longer requires then we would really appreciate if you could hand them into school. We will redistribute these to children who need a warmer jacket to wear over the winter months.

We have a number of items in lost property. If you are missing anything, please contact the office and we will check if it is in the lost property and reunite it with your child. We will upload photos of items to Twitter to help parents identify missing items.  Any items that are unclaimed by Friday 13th November will be donated to pupils or local charities.

In preparation for Christmas celebrations, we would be grateful for any donations of Christmas jumpers or tee-shirts that your child no longer requires. These will then be given to children who would benefit from them.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

It was lovely to welcome all the children back for the start of the second term at Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class. Many of the pupils in Primary 1-3 participated in the 21st Century Family Play Awards over the break. I hope the children enjoyed the activities and would like to thank families for encouraging their children to complete the activities with such enthusiasm.

Student Teachers

All schools in Scotland share the responsibility and privilege of supporting student teachers as they participate in the Initial Teacher Education Programme. School placements provide essential experience for student teachers as they develop practical skills in the classroom to support academic learning.

Schools benefit from increased teaching support for learners, new and innovative teaching approaches and building connections with the universities.  Mrs Gallacher oversees all student placements and has been liaising with the universities to agree risk assessments in relation to COVID – 19 whist students are in school. All teaching students have signed an agreement with their university regarding adherence to national and local restrictions whilst on placement.

Some of the additional measures in place at Heathery Knowe  include:

• student teachers have a designated work space at least 2 metres from the class teacher and pupils.
• student teachers will have access to a personal resource pack so that they are not sharing with class teachers
• student teachers will have lunch break at a separate time and will lead outdoor learning / playground health and wellbeing activities over lunch break.
• classes with student teachers will have an agreed system for adults moving around the room.

I would like to welcome Ms Shepherd (P6/5), Ms MacKenzie (P4) and Miss Harvey (P2) to Heathery Knowe Primary school for placements starting on Monday 26th October 2020.

Instrumental Music Service – Halloween

South Lanarkshire Council’s Instrumental Music Service are excited to wave their magic wand and invite you to attend their first ever online concert ‘Halloween Spooktakular’. Talented instrumentalists from across South Lanarkshire’s schools have continued to make spine-tingling music using the sorcery of Google Classroom. With a little bit of hocus pocus and a spell or two you can be entertained by pirates and wizards and ghouls! Join us at  7pm on Friday 30^th October using the link

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/south-lanarkshire-instrumental-music-service-halloween-spooktakular-tickets-124252319031

Playground Zones

All of the playground zones include both a grass and tarmac area. In the summer this has provided additional space for children to spread out and play. In particularly wet weather the grass areas are becoming very muddy and slippery. This is causing slips and falls and some children are wearing uncomfortably muddy clothes or shoes through the day.

To ensure children are both safe and comfortable the grass areas will be closed during periods of inclement weather. When this situation arises children will be expected to play in the tarmac area of their allocated zone.

In the current climate we encourage children to play outside every day. There are plans in place for indoor breaks if the weather is dangerous however this would be very exceptional circumstances. Ensuring classrooms are sanitised and ventilated whilst children are playing outdoors is a key routine in reducing the transmission risk of Covid 19.

Covid Response Group 

Mrs French will chair the next Covid Response Group for the school and nursery on 28th October. Parents have requested that the school considers purchasing a digital forehead thermometer that effectively measures temperature without skin contact to reduce the number of children going home because they feel hot but do not have a high body temperature. This will be considered at this meeting.

If parents have any other concerns, compliments or suggestions about the routines and procedures in place to reduce the risk of transmission of Coronavirus please email Mrs French prior to the meeting. She will ensure the views are shared with the group and action points agreed.

The Covid Response Group is made up of the following members:

• Mrs French (Chair Person)
• Mrs Duff (Leadership Team representative)
• Mr Loveday (Teacher representative)
• Mrs Robertson (Support staff representative)
• Ms McPherson (Nursery representative)
• Mr Gilmour (Facilities staff representative)

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

This week marks the end of the first term of the new school session. The children and staff are looking forward a well earned rest.  We are grateful for the support of families in implementing new procedures and routines. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a fun filled and well rested break.

Mobile Phones

A number of children bring mobile phones to school. Many parents prefer that their child has access to a mobile phone before and after school however it is not required during the school day. If an emergency arises during the school day, you will be contacted by the school office.

Social Media

We are increasingly aware of our senior pupils being involved in social media groups (e.g. what’s app, snapchat). Within school there is a focus on educating children about the safe and responsible use of social media. I would appreciate if you could monitor your child’s use of social media at home and let the school know if you require further support.   Further information to support children can be found at www.thinkuknow.co.uk. 

Digital Learning

Next term pupils and staff will focus on developing skills for digital learning. Children will continue to use Google Classroom for home learning activities. Over the school year children will learn to use Google Meet, email and Screen Casify for learning. If you need any help accessing Google Suite, please let the school know.

Dogs in School Grounds 

In line with South Lanarkshire Council policy, Heathery Knowe PS has reviewed and updated the school policy. From the start of the new term, dogs are not allowed into the school grounds or playground. This includes carrying small dogs. Signs have been ordered for all gates and this will be enforced from the start of the new term.

Have a lovely October break and I look forward to welcoming the children back for the new term.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

It has been a short week for staff and pupils but we have still been very busy with learning activities across the school.  Mrs French and I met with teachers individually to discuss the learning plan for their class until the end of December, plan for children’s individual needs and discuss the health and wellbeing of all learners.

Learning Journals 

Following a trial period with some classes, we have decided to extend the use of electronic learning journals from Nursery to Primary 7. At the end of the school year we will ask for parent and pupil views about whether this is continued next session.

An electronic learning journal is an individual digital record of learning achievements. Parents will be provided with a log in to use to access their child’s journal. Learning journals replace jotters coming home and snapshot journals. Staff and pupils can upload photographs of learning activities and scanned pieces of work to share with parents at home. Parents are able to comment on their child’s work and upload evidence of activities and achievements at home to share with school.

Before an electronic learning journal is set up for your child, parental consent is required. Mrs McGee will issue a link to an electronic form for parents to complete.

Staff will be trained in the use of learning journals on Monday 16th November. All pupils with consent will have access to a live learning journal on or before Monday 23rd November.

You can find out more about learning journals at www.learningjournals.co.uk

Harvest Table 

The annual Harvest assembly cannot go ahead. However, we are continuing to collect food and other non-perishable items for the Harvest table. This year it will be set up between the MUGA pitch gate and the middle gate from 8.30-9am on Thursday 8th October. All donated items will be collected by an East Kilbride food bank after 9am.

Hallowe’en

There are no activities in school where children would wear fancy dress costumes for Hallowe’en. As a literacy loving school, any seasonal activities would focus on imaginative books, poems and stories.  Children should wear full school uniform each day.

COVID Update

Mrs French chaired a Coronavirus steering group meeting on Tuesday afternoon to address any concerns raised by staff, pupils and parents.

The ventilation plan has been updated and will be shared via Twitter. The heating is now on each day but windows are also opened throughout the day. We request that all children wear or bring a jumper to school every day in case classrooms get cooler as we head towards the winter months.

Children are able to start bringing a pencil case to school after we return from October break. There is no requirement to do this and it is personal choice. Stationery packs are still available for those pupils who choose not to bring resources from home.

The review of the dining hall arrangements has been very successful. We have extended the lunch break and reduced the number of pupils in the dining hall at any one time. Children have an allocated seat number in case this is required for trace and protect.

Children in Rooms 9, 8, 6 and 4 have lunch from 12.10-1pm.
Children in Rooms 10, 7, 5, 3, 2 and 1 have lunch from 12.30-1.20pm.

Flu Immunisation

School aged pupils will receive the flu immunisation on 4th November. If you have still to return the permission slip, please do so as soon as possible.

Refunds

Unfortunately we are waiting for the bank to resolve an issue before we are able to issue cheques / cash refunds for residential experiences or the orchestra. Mrs MacKay is working on this and I hope to have a further update on Tuesday.

What’s on next week?

Tuesday – Mrs Duff attending SLC Head Teacher meeting (virtual) all day
Thursday – Harvest Table 8.30-9am
Friday – Mrs Neary retires from Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

I would like  to wish all families and staff a restful and enjoyable long weekend. Since returning in August the children have coped admirably with changes to routines across the school. On behalf of the staff team I would like to thank all parents and carers who have supported us and offered both positive feedback and suggested improvements as we adapt to new ways of working.

Retirement

After a long career at Heathery Knowe Primary School, Mrs Neary has made the decision to retire at the October break. Mrs Neary has worked as a School Support Assistant in classes and latterly in the office and has offered support to staff, pupils and families for a number of years.

Mrs Neary recently became a gran and we wish her well as she prepares to enjoy her retirement with her family and especially Baby Bow.

Parent Consultations 

The September parent consultation events could not go ahead as planned.

Parents of pupils in Primary 1 will receive a short settling in phone call next week. If further discussion is required then a longer telephone appointment can be arranged.

Parents of pupils in Primary 2-7 will receive a settling in report sheet and a copy of the attendance and late-coming summary for their child. It is possible to arrange a follow up telephone discussion if required by contacting the school office to request this is arranged.

Parents who have concerns about their child’s learning or would like further information on how to support their progress can contact the school at any  point in the school year to request a telephone discussion with the class teacher.

Parents who do not live together can request separate copies of all reports via the school office.

Refunds

The refund for the trip to Lockerbie Manor that did not go ahead in May 2020 (Current S1 pupils) has now been paid into South Lanarkshire Council’s bank account. As soon as the money has cleared in the school account we will start to refund the final part payment back to parents. This should only be outstanding deposits as all other money has already been refunded.

The refund for the trip to Wiston Lodge that did not go ahead in May 2020 (current P7 pupils) has also cleared in the South Lanarkshire Council accounts and Mrs MacKay will start to arrange refunds for the outstanding money paid.

The refund for the trip to the Scottish Orchestra (current P4 pupils) has cleared and Mrs Mackay will be working on the final refunds for this on Tuesday 29th September.

Residential Experience 

Current Primary 7 pupils were booked to attend Lockerbie Manor in the Autumn term. This has been postponed as no school excursions are permitted at this time.

We have provisionally booked a weekend in June 2021. This is the latest weekend available and I hope this gives the best chance of restrictions being relaxed and the excursion being safe to go ahead.

Primary 7 pupils have received a letter with the option to transfer the deposit to the June weekend. If the trip cannot go ahead parents will receive a refund at this point. Alternatively families can make the decision not to transfer the deposit and request a refund at this stage.  Children who were not booked to attend are able to book a place on the June excursion.

INSET Day

On Tuesday30th September it is a staff inservice training day. Teachers are developing skills to lead learning and teaching online including the use of a wide range of software to support learning, tools for Google Classroom and the use of G Suite to support education.

Nursery staff will be developing skills in using Learning Journals to record and share each child’s learning journey electronically with parents and carers.

What’s on next week?

Monday – holiday
Tuesday – Inservice Day (no pupils)
Wednesday – Pupils return to school

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

We have taken full advantage of the lovely weather this week with many learning activities taking place outdoors. Children have enjoyed speed spelling using chalk on the ground, experiments and mental maths activities. At this time, classes are particularly encouraged to use outdoor spaces for learning to ensure as much access to fresh air as possible.

Update from Coronavirus meeting

One representative from each group of staff met together to evaluate the school’s processes and routines to reduce the risk of Coronavirus transmission in school. Mrs French chaired the meeting and  next steps were identified. These include:

• ensuring disposable face coverings are available at the entrance to the school and nursery for any visitors to use when speaking with staff or entering the building.
• setting up classroom delivery trays for messages to be left in to reduce the number of adults entering rooms.
• setting up classroom visitor books to track adults entering and leaving classrooms.
• requesting automatic hand sanitising dispensers so that children and staff do not need to manually operate the dispenser.
• adults working across the school will wear face coverings in corridors and classrooms

(Classroom visitor book and delivery tray)

Social Distancing 

Please remember that adults from different households must remain 2m apart. If possible please wear a face covering in the school grounds. If adults are less than 2m apart in the school grounds then staff may approach you to remind you of the requirements. Please be assured this step is being taken to keep the school community safe.

Public Health

To date no-one from the Heathery Knowe PS and Nursery community has tested positive for Coronavirus and the ‘Trace and Protect’ process has not been implemented in relation to the school.

I would like to use this opportunity to let you know that if there ever is a positive case within school this would be reported to NHS. Public Health Scotland would take the lead in both tracing close contacts and asking them to self isolate and providing any communication for the wider school community as required.  We would share information with families as soon as possible however this will be as advised by Public Health Scotland.

As always, information would be made available via Twitter and the school website.

Accessibility

The Head Teacher’s blog and website now have the option to translate to other languages. When the blog is opened as a web page there is an option to translate to other languages at the right hand side. The website has a similar option to translate the page to languages other than English. We hope this makes the school news easily accessible to all families in our community.

Pupil progress reports can be provided in large print and additional languages as required.

Journalism Award 

We were delighted to receive an award this week on behalf of the Primary 7 pupils from 2019/2020.

The children participated in a the School Mock Court Case Project. This is a cross-curricular project which uses a court case to encompass a range of class room subjects – from art to journalism, debating and writing skills, to name just a few.

We were thrilled to accept the journalism award for P7 Pursuer in the project for Hamilton Region. We hope we can share this with pupils (currently S1) in the future when we can hold a leavers’ celebration.

Play Award

Primary 4 pupils each received a medal for participation in the Play Award. Mrs Gallacher presented the awards outside in a short ceremony. Photographs will be uploaded to twitter next week.

Well done Primary 4!

Google Classroom 

Reminder: All pupils should now be able to log into Google Classroom. Each child should have access to their own register class and the whole school classroom.

Mrs McGee will upload a fault reporting form next week. If you have any difficulties logging in, please complete the form and Mrs McGee will be in touch.

This is particularly important as Google Classroom is the contingency plan in the event of class self-isolation, short term or long term closure.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

This was a very exciting week for Primary 7 pupils as they prepared presentations and speeches for the election of house captains and vice captains at Heathery Knowe Primary School. The children were a credit to themselves and the school, speaking confidently about their leadership qualities and plans for improvement. We were very proud of all the pupils who put themselves forward. The pupil leadership team for 2020-2021 is:

Red- Keira and Jack
Yellow – Sara, Ava and Kacie
Green – Gemma and Katie
Blue – Sam and Ferne

Their first task is an ‘in school’ business enterprise organising individual and sibling group photographs. The group will meet for the first time this Wednesday.

Maths Scotland 

I am delighted to share that Heathery Knowe Primary School has successfully bid for a grant of £750 through Making Maths Count. The money will be used to purchase active maths games and resources to support learning across all stages of the school.

Fire evacuation 

We have reviewed the fire evacuation plan at Heathery Knowe Primary School to support social distancing and reduce the risk of transmission bridges. There are new muster points for some classes and areas of the school. Children will be shown these areas next week before an unannounced fire drill towards the end of the week.

It is essential that all indoor shoes have hard soles in case the ground is wet and good grips to prevent slipping. Slippers are not appropriate as indoor shoes. Teachers will check children’s footwear next week and advise if an alternative pair of indoor shoes are required.

Christmas 

It seems early in the term to be thinking about Christmas however we are already planning in advance. Unfortunately many of our Christmas events and celebrations will not be able to go ahead this year.

Christmas Parties will take place during the last two weeks before the holiday. This year it will be class parties rather than year groups. This is to prevent transmission bridges between class bubbles.

We normally have a joint carol service with St Louise PS. This cannot go ahead this year however we are working in partnership with St Louise PS to explore the option of making a shared video of children performing to be watched in each class. We are also exploring the options of an outdoor carol concert if restrictions allow and a shared outdoor tree in the area between the two schools.

Contingency Planning 

The next step in contingency planning is to ensure that all children have access to Google Classroom.

Please click the following link for detailed instructions to access Google Classroom using the app, X Box or Playstation.

Please click the following link to access Google Classroom using a web browser:

https://sts.platform.rmunify.com/account/signin/glow

If you do not have a device at home that enables your child to access Google Classroom, please contact me via email or telephone to discuss how we can support your child’s learning in the event of school closure.

Primary One pupils will receive a Glow log in on Monday 14th September. 

COVID 19

There have been a number of parental enquiries about whether a child requires to self isolate, book a test or take time off school. The following information is now available from the NHS and answers the most frequently asked questions aout COVID 19:

https://www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/covid-19-update/

What’s on next week?

Teachers are meeting with Mrs French and Mrs Duff to discuss forward plans for their class.

Tuesday – Mrs Duff attending SLC Head Teacher meeting
Tuesday – COVID steering group meeting

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

Primary 1 pupils are now confident in school routines and are making good progress in learning.  If you have any concerns about your child’s progress in learning or how well they have settled into the new school year, please get in touch with the school and we can arrange a telephone meeting to  discuss this further.

Parent Consultations

The school normally schedules parent consultation meetings to take place at the end of September. This year teachers will not be able to meet parents in person to discuss their child’s progress because of Covid restrictions. We are working in partnership with the Calderglen learning community schools to agree the best method of sharing information with parents whilst ensuring the risk of Coronavirus transmission remains as low as possible.

If you have any concerns about your child’s progress and feel you need to speak with a member of teaching staff sooner, please contact headteacher@heatheryknowe-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk and it will be shared with the class teacher for a response.

ParentPay

Thank you to parents for your patience while we finalised the use of ParentPay. It is now fully operational within the school and the office is cash free. If you have any difficulties or need to merge sibling accounts, please contact Mrs Rankin in the office who will be happy to help.

21st Century Families: Play Award 

Last year we participated in the 21st Century Families Play Award scheme with Primary 3 pupils. Each child participated in a wide range of play opportunities at home and in school. The evidence was collected in a booklet with a planned award ceremony at the end of the year. Unfortunately the award ceremony could not take place but we were delighted to receive the  medals in school and will arrange a celebration in school for children collecting the award.

This year this will be extended to Primary 1-3. The scheme intends to encourage children to play more traditionally with one another and to reduce the time children engage with digital devices.

Primary 1 pupils will have an opportunity to complete a play grid
Primary 2 pupils will have an opportunity to complete a play booklet
Primary 3 pupils will have an opportunity to complete the play award

The project is funded by National Lottery funding this year so there is no charge to the school or parents.

COVID 19 

Mrs French chairs a meeting every two weeks to discuss the procedures and routines in place to reduce the risk of Coronavirus transmission in school and in our school community. It is attended by a representative of nursery, support staff, teaching staff, facilities staff and the school leadership team. We are keen that both parent and pupil views are included in this meeting. If you have any concerns, questions or suggestions about the school’s procedures and routines, please contact Mrs French to include them in the next meeting.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

We have completed another full week of learning at Heathery Knowe Primary School. The children have adapted well to new routines and procedures in response to Covid – 19 guidelines. We continue to review and update the procedures based on guidance and ways to make the routines as efficient as possible to maximise learning time  in class.

Flu Immunisation

All children should have received a sealed white envelope from NHS Scotland with information about the flu immunisation scheme. The permission slip must be returned as soon as possible to ensure your child receives the vaccination. If your child has recently transferred from another school we may not have received their letter. Please telephone the office if you did not receive a form or require a replacement.

More information about the flu immunisation programme can be found using the following link:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/immunisation/vaccines/child-flu-vaccine#:~:text=The%20flu%20vaccine%20is%20offered%20to%20all%20primary%20school%20children,get%20it%20from%20your%20GP.

Digital Inclusion 

Heathery Knowe Primary School has received a small number of chromebooks to distribute to eligible families who have no digital devices at home and meet the qualifying criteria of receiving free schools meals or living in SIMD deciles 1-2. This is part of the Scottish Government Digital Inclusion for pupils agenda. The devices are not funded by the school and the criteria is set by SLC and Scottish Government.  We will be in touch with identified families to offer them a loan  of a digital device if it is still required. 

If you are a new family to the school and were not part of the original audit in May or if your personal circumstances have changed, please email me to let me know.

Physical Education

All Physical Education is outdoors until further notice. If a class is scheduled for PE and there is inclement weather (high winds, icy or heavy rain) the teacher will either postpone the lesson until later in the day / week or change to an indoor lesson (yoga, Go Noodle etc). All children will have the equivalent of 2 hours PE per week over the term.

Please provide your child with suitable outdoor PE kit. This would normally consist of waterproof trainers, joggers / leggings and tee shirt / sweater.  Children will be able to take a jacket to PE lessons if required. Children should have a uniform to change into as it may get wet or muddy during PE.

Clothing

At the moment we are unable to keep a store of spare clothes to lend to children. We need to use all of the playground areas (including grass) to ensure all classes can play in a designated zone which is spaced out enough to reduce the risk of transmission and give children enough space to play.

If you are able to, please could you give your child a spare pair of socks to keep in their bag in case they are needed after break or lunch.

ParentPay Milk

It should now be possible to pay for and book milk through ParentPay and I hope all technical issues are now resolved. If your child has a free meal entitlement then milk should be booked but does not require payment. If you are not eligible for means tested free meals (Primary 1-7) then milk costs 20p per carton and should be booked and paid for using ParentPay. All children have access to unlimited water with their school meal.

If you have any queries about ParentPay, please contact Mrs Rankin in the school office between 9am-3pm.

What’s on next week?

Monday – Mrs Fernandez (Specialist Support Teacher) in school
Tuesday – Mrs Byrne (Specialist Support Teacher) in school
Friday – Mrs Fernandez (Specialist Support Teacher) in school

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

The children have completed their first full week of school  after the summer break. The pupils have shown a commitment to their learning and to following the new routines within school. I am sure there will be some very tired children this weekend after all the hard work.

Recovery Curriculum and Raising Attainment 

The focus of learning in all classes is literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. The curriculum will be taught within the context of a class novel.

Miss Wharton is the Principal Teacher with responsibility for equity for all learners and raising attainment. Miss Wharton is working in partnership with teachers to assess pupil progress over the period of home learning, organise support for pupils and plan interventions to make sure there are no gaps in learning.

Primary 7 pupils will be engaged in setting (small group teaching for literacy and numeracy) to ensure that in their final year at school they have made as much progress as possible before making the transition to secondary school.  Normally, Heathery Knowe PS would implement setting (small group teaching) for numeracy from P3-7 but this would involve a number of adults working with each group of children and this is not allowed at the moment. Maths setting will be reintroduced as soon as it is safe to do so as it is valued by both pupils and teachers as an approach to raising attainment in mathematics.

ParentPay

Mrs Rankin is working alongside the ParentPay Co-ordinator to address any ongoing issues with the new system. If you have any issues with ParentPay, please call the school office to speak with Mrs Rankin or email office@heatheryknowe-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk and she will get back to you.  Mrs Rankin works Mon-Fri and is available between 9am -3pm. Thank you for your patience while the new system is set up.

Google Classroom and Glow

Every year the children need to change their Glow password for security reasons. This will be done in school. Please do not use Google Classroom week beginning 24th August whilst the ICT Co-ordinator in school changes the passwords. Your child’s new password will be issued to you once it has been changed.

Credit Union 

For many years Heathery Knowe PS has worked in partnership with Lanarkshire Credit Union to help children save money on a weekly basis. Unfortunately Lanarkshire Credit Union has decided to stop the Savvy Savers school collections with immediate effect.

The full letter can be read by clicking the following link:

Residential and Single Day Excursions 

All residential and day trips are on hold until further notice. We are waiting for advice regarding the Primary 7 residential excursion scheduled for the autumn.  Mrs Gallacher has been liaising with SLC regarding refunds for the P6 and P7 excursions that were cancelled in May 2020 and we hope to have an update on this soon.

The refund cheque from the National Orchestra came into school at the end of last week. We are waiting for it to clear in the school account and then will begin to issue refunds to the pupils who had paid for this trip.

School Photographer

Instant Images were booked to come into school this week to take photographs of the children. Unfortunately we are unable to allow any visitors into school unless the circumstances are essential and exceptional. For this reason we had to cancel the booking. However we are considering other options and hope to be able to share more information soon.

Pupil Leadership 

Miss Inglis (Principal Teacher with responsibility for promoting pupil voice) is planning for the election of a new Pupil Leadership Team. It is made up of a team of 4 house captains and 4 vice captains from Primary 7. Pupils interested in standing for election complete an application form and will prepare a video presentation. Pupils will watch the presentations in their own classes and then vote for the new leaders. We hope to have the process completed by mid-September.

Specialist Support Teacher 

Mrs Byrne (Specialist Support Teacher) will continue to work with pupils at Heathery Knowe PS. The way she works with pupils needs to change in line with guidelines as she cannot work with a number of pupils from different classes as she normally would. Mrs Gallacher (Additional Support Needs Co-ordinator) has met with Mrs Byrne and she will work at Heathery Knowe PS on a Tuesday.  Her initial focus groups will be in P4-7. If your child receives support from Mrs Byrne, Mrs Gallacher will be in touch to discuss the new processes.

Learning Journals 

Electronic learning journals launch next week for Nursery, Room 1, Room 2, Room 6 and Room 10. If you are in a pilot class, please ensure you have completed the parent consent form for your child’s journal to be published. Learning Journals are not public. The journal can only be viewed by the parent / carer and provides an opportunity to see photographs and comments from your child’s teacher about learning in class.

You can find out more information about learning journals by visiting www.learningjournals.co.uk.

What’s on next week?

• PE timetable running for all classes
• Mon – Mrs Fernandez working in school
• Tues – Mrs Byrne working in school
• Fri – Mrs Fernandez working in school

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff