Author: H. hknoweps

At this very busy time of year, I would like to thank parents and carers for supporting the school. We have had a number of events including the Christmas Fayre, Christmas parties, Christmas lunch and Christmas clothing day. Parents have been incredibly generous and supportive of all of these events. We are able to send a large donation to the East Kilbride Food Bank for those who need it. Next week we will perform the Christmas show, hold more parties and enjoy the joint carol service with St Louise PS

PTC Christmas Shop

The PTC Christmas shop was open last week. Thank you to parents who helped purchase, wrap and sell the gifts. Pupils looked very pleased with their purchases. It raised £221 profit which will be used to support pupil experiences.

Volunteer Reading Initiative

Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class are continuing to promote reading and story telling as a key aspect of a child’s overall development. In the new year, we are planning a volunteer reading initiative. This will involve adult volunteers reading to individual / small groups of children for 15-20 minutes to promote reading for enjoyment.

This is an opportunity for inter-generational learning and promoting a shared culture of reading. If you, or someone you  know, would be able to be a volunteer reader then please let the office know. All volunteers need to apply to have a PVG (Protection of Vulnerable Groups) check and a disclosure provided to school before they can start to volunteer.

Promoting Positive Relationships

The teaching staff team met on Thursday to discuss progress made in promoting the rules of ‘be safe, ready and kind’. The children have made excellent progress in the routines of ‘hands up for silence’ and ‘wonderful walking’ throughout the school.

The next targets within the school building and playground are ‘first attention to best conduct’ and ‘choose respectful language’. Children will be informed of the new targets when everyone is together on  Monday morning.

• First attention to best conduct ensures that the children who are recognised and spoken to first are those showing the behaviours of being ‘safe, kind and ready to learn’. When adults enter classrooms, their first comment will always be to recognise the children who are upholding school rules and values. This may be individually or in a group. Staff will speak with children to ensure that they understand that unacceptable behaviour is not being ignored and will be addressed but that the first attention is always to those who are settled and ready to learn.
• Choose respectful language is part of the rule of being kind. The  immediate focus will be incidents of swearing within the school or playground. Swearing is a choice and we are promoting a culture where children choose to be respectful to one another and to staff.  If a child swears in the school or playground, a letter will be issued to parents to inform them and request a signature to acknowledge their child has engaged in an unacceptable use of language in school. This letter needs to be returned with the parent signature and will be recorded. This will apply across all areas of school including football in the MUGA pitch.

Practical Arrangements – Evening Performance

Children should be signed in at the dining hall for the evening performance and will go to class from there.

Adults who are staying for the performance should then make their way around to the front door to wait for the hall to open. As there will be children in school and moving around the corridors there will be no option to go through the dining hall and into the hall for the performance.

After the performance, children will return to classes and can be collected from there. Please collect your oldest child first and make your way down to the youngest. Rooms 6-10 are upstairs and 1-5 are downstairs.

If you are not attending the evening performance, please access the school through the front door at the end of the show and collect your child from class.

Children will not be allowed to walk home alone. If a friend / neighbour is collecting your child, please let the office know in advance.

Practical Arrangements – Pantomine

The pantomime at East Kilbride Village Theatre is 2 hours long and we expect it to finish at 3pm.

Children cannot be collected directly from the bus or theatre. Pupil safety is the first priority and classes will re-enter the school through the gym hall doors and to class in order to be dismissed through the normal exit doors. We expect this to be around 3.15pm and will ring a bell immediately before dismissal.  Unfortunately it is difficult to predict the traffic and how long it will take children to leave the theatre therefore would appreciate if you could plan for children leaving school between 3.15-3.30pm.  If you are unable to collect your child at this time, please ensure they know to come to the office to wait for an adult.

What’s on next week?

Monday – Show dress rehearsal – please ensure children have costumes
Monday – Whole school visit to pantomime at EK Village Theatre
Monday PM – Nursery Nativity

Tuesday AM – Nursery Nativity
Tuesday – 1.30pm and 6.30pm performances of ‘Bethlehem The Musical’

Wednesday – 1.30pm performance of ‘Bethlehem the Musical’

Thursday – Choir performing in local community
Thursday PM – P1 party and P7 treat

Friday – Joint carol concert with St Louise PS
Friday – Primary 4 party (P4 early lunch)
Friday – 2.30pm close for holidays

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

 

 

 

This week our school choir visited a local community group to sing for them.  The pupils represented the school well and enjoyed the experience. Thank you to Mrs Spence for leading the school choir. We had opportunities this week for pupils to visit local churches to learn about the Christmas story. Primary 6 participated in Christmas Unwrapped and Primary 3 participated in Christmas Cracker.

Forest Schools with East Kilbride Community Trust 

Heathery Knowe Primary School is developing a partnership with K Woodlands led by East Kilbride Community Trust.  Forest Schools promotes the development of children’s resilience and empathy. It also  develops a sense of community with  opportunities for collaboration and problem solving.

Miss Houldsworth and Miss Harris have volunteered to take forward this aspect of school development and be trained as Forest School Leaders.  Children will participate  for one half day per week in a group of 10-14 children . We are planning for the current Primary 5 pupils to be the first group to undertake the 10 week forest schools programme.

Massage In Schools Update

Learners in Room 3, 7 and 8 will be the first groups of pupils to participate in regular Massage in Schools sessions. Miss Deans, Mrs Gallacher and Mrs Spence will train the children in Massage in Schools. A letter will be issued to parents providing more information about the programme.

Christmas Lunch

Christmas lunch will be served in school on Wednesday 11th December. Please note this meal must be ordered in advance. The Cook cannot accept orders on the day. If your child has not returned a slip for Christmas lunch then the kitchen staff are assuming they will be packed or home lunch. Please contact the office on Monday if there is a change to the arrangement.

Christmas Shop

The Christmas Shop will be run by the PTC each day next week. Pupils are invited to bring £2 or £3 to purchase a gift for a family member. They will bring it home pre-wrapped to place under the tree. The shop opens on Monday and will run throughout the week until the stock has sold.

Pupil Equity Fund 

Next week I will update South Lanarkshire Council on the progress made towards improving attainment at Heathery Knowe Primary School. The school received a Pupil Equity Fund of £68, 000 to help close the poverty related gap in attainment.

The majority of the fund was used to employ an additional teacher at Heathery Knowe Primary School. This full time post is shared between Miss Deans and Mrs McGee. It has enabled us to:

• reduce the size of teaching groups in maths (P4-7) through a maths setting approach.
• teach Positive Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS)  in smaller groups and in year groups. By providing more opportunities for year groups to work together, we are aiming to ensure friendships are strengthened across the year making transitions into/out of composite classes easier.
• teach small intervention groups across all stages of the school. The focus is the development of literacy skills. Pupil Equity Fund interventions are planned in partnership with Mrs Byrne (Specialist Support Teacher).

PATHS Pupil Feedback 

This year we introduced a whole school Health and Wellbeing programme called Positive Alternative Thinking Strategies. Pupils from Primary 4-7 provided feedback on PATHS this week.

• 70% of pupils feel it has positively developed their confidence and independence
• 63% of pupils feel it has positively developed their  skills in listening and collaborating with others
• 43% of pupils feel is has helped them develop skills for dealing with situations

Individual and Family Photograph Feedback 

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the individual and family photographs taken this year. Of the 43 people who responded:

• 47% were satisfied or very satisfied with the photographs this year
• 40% were satisfied or very satisfied with the background and props
• 42% were satisfied or very satisfied with the pose
• 65% were satisfied or very satisfied with the presentation of children
• 47% were satisfied or very satisfied with the value for money
• 37% were satisfied or very satisfied with the time of year 

The data above will be used alongside the additional comments to book a photographer for next year. The photographers currently used by the school and nursery will be considered alongside other local photographers to book someone for August / September 2020.

What’s on next week?

Christmas shop all week

Monday – Primary 6 Party
Tuesday – Primary 5 Party
Wednesday – Primary 3 Party
Wednesday – Christmas lunch for all pupils
Wednesday – Flu immunisation day for all pupils
Thursday – SCHOOL CLOSED TO PUPILS
Friday –  Snapshot Journals Home

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

 

 

We finished off the week with a fabulous Christmas Fayre. I would like to extend thanks to the PTC, families  and everyone in the local community who came along to make the event a success. A huge amount of work goes into organising the fayre and we are very lucky to be part of such a supportive school community.

How Calderglen sees it – Mental Health and Wellbeing Showcase

Through the support of the Elizabeth B Mitchell Fund, Calderglen High School has created a pupil led Health and Wellbeing group.  The group has organised an event to showcase the variety of support available to young people and their families within our schools, but also in the community. This includes a large amount of charities, clubs and partners who will come together to offer information and advice about what they do in the school and/or community, and how this promotes positive mental health and wellbeing.

The group have organised a talk from Jill Trevena, who is a Consultant Occupational Therapist, informing adults how we can best support  children and young people develop healthy self-belief and coping strategies to help manage their mental health. There will be a variety of stalls and activities providing advice and information to promote positive mental health and wellbeing. This includes healthy eating and lifestyle tips, stress and anxiety management, groups and clubs for young people, career pathway support and Therapets.

This event will take place Thursday 5th December 2019 between 7pm and 9pm at Calderglen High School. We warmly invite all  Heathery Knowe PS families to attend the event.

Photograph Proofs

The photograph proofs have arrived in school and will be distributed to children on Monday. Photographs can be ordered with free delivery to school until 9th December.

Next week a questionnaire will be issued seeking parent views on photograph styles, preferred package options and cost. I would appreciate if as many families as possible could complete the questionnaire so that we can move forward with securing a photographer booking for August / September 2020.

Class photos can be ordered next week from the school office at a cost of £3.50. We would appreciate if all orders could be placed by Wednesday.

Student Teacher

Miss McWee joins the team as a student teacher on Monday for one week. She then returns in January for her final teaching placement before qualifying. Miss McWee will teach Primary 4 in Room 6, supervised by Mrs Kane. Mrs Gallacher will oversee the placement.

What’s on next week?

Tuesday – Choir singing in local community
Friday – Nursery Christmas treat
Friday – SLC librarian performance of ‘Cinderella is all a twitter’ for school pupils

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

 

It was a short but very busy week for all pupils at Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class. We celebrated ‘Book Week Scotland’  with many opportunities for writing, reading and creativity linked to literacy. Primary 6 and 7 pupils met the author of a children’s book and found out more about a career as a writer. Pupils in Rooms 5 and 6 visited Waterstones in East Kilbride to learn about how a book shop is organised and had an opportunity to browse the books in store.  Thank you to all parents who supported their children to participate in the voluntary homework activity of designing a cosy book corner. The models will be displayed in the glass cabinet at the front door over the next few weeks. Written entries and drawings will be displayed in a file in the foyer for visitors to look through.

Nursery INSET Training

Nursery staff focused on preparing for children to attend full time from August 2020. Staff worked together to create a vision for the day and discuss the wider opportunities available to learners attending full time. We will now consult with parents about:

• the effectiveness of target setting in Nursery
• the option of a uniform (tee shirt with caterpillar)
• the pace of the day (creating a rest area, organisation of day)

School INSET Training 

Teachers focused on ways to ensure all professional duties directly benefit learners. Staff worked together to review planning formats and the organisation of the school year.  We will continue discussions around homework formats and improved planning for Numeracy and Mathematics  when the school is closed to pupils on 12th December.

Accessories 

Over the past three weeks, there has been a significant increase of pupils from P2-7 wearing make up. I would appreciate if parents could support the school by discouraging pupils from wearing eye shadow, blusher or lipstick to school.

Children who are wearing acrylic nails and/or jewellery that cannot be removed will not be able to fully participate in the PE curriculum. Safety in the PE hall is a priority and these items present a risk to the child and others. Stud earrings that cannot be removed will be taped over with medical tape. All other items of jewellery must be removed. We discourage pupils from wearing false nails as they present a risk in the PE hall and prevent pupils from participating comfortably in other curricular areas.

Christmas Show Update 

Tickets for the show have been issued to pupils following the purchase of a Christmas Pass. Additional tickets will be on sale from 29th November at a cost of £1.50 each. If you have been issued with two free tickets for a performance but do not require both, we would appreciate if you could return it to the school so that it can be redistributed.

We are selling 200 tickets for each performance which is the maximum capacity in the hall. Toddlers and babies do not require a ticket however they must  sit on an adult’s knee. If you require a  separate seat for a pre-school age child then you need to buy a ticket for them. Unfortunately, there is no space for buggies or prams within the hall for the Christmas shows.

Primary One Enrolment 

Primary One enrolment for session 2020-2021 takes place during the week beginning 13th January 2020. Children born between 1 March 2015 and 28 February 2016 should be registered to start school in August 2020.

Parents living within the catchment area should register at Heathery Knowe PS or St Louise PS.

Heathery Knowe PS will be open for registration at the following times:

Monday 13th January – 8:00-12:00  and 13:30-17:00
Tuesday 14th January – 8:00-12:00 and 13:30-17:45
Wednesday 15th January – 8:00-12:00

Appointments can be arranged for Wednesday PM – Fri, if required.

What’s on next week?

Tuesday – Individual and family photographs by John Wilson Photography
Tuesday – Miss Wharton and Mrs French attending National Nurturing Schools Training
Wednesday – Room 9 pupils attending curling.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

 

 

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:

About us

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

 

 

Last Wednesday each year group took part in a photo and it was lovely to see pupils looking smart and wearing full school uniform. We are hoping to have all of the photographs ready to display at the Christmas Fayre to allow families who would like to purchase a photograph to place an order on the evening.

School and Nursery Closure – 12th December 

The General Election was announced this week and I have now been advised that Heathery Knowe Primary School will be used as a polling station. This means that the school and nursery will be closed to pupils on this day. All staff will attend work and the day will be used to focus on school improvement.

The Primary 4 Christmas Party has been rescheduled to Friday 20th December. A letter will be issued to all P4 pupils next week.

Adverse Weather Arrangements

All children will have an opportunity to play and learn outdoors during winter. However, if the weather is icy then it may be necessary to close the Nursery garden or areas of the playground. Children enjoy playing in snow and if it is safe underfoot, children may be allowed to choose to go out to play in snowy weather. Please ensure your child carries gloves, scarf, hat and a change of socks over the winter months.

The janitor’s priority is to ensure there are safe walking routes into school and these will always be gritted first. The first route is the access gate at the left hand side of the building and up to the front door. The janitor will then move on as quickly as possible to clear a route from the right hand access gate, along the side of the pitch and towards the cafeteria door.

South Lanarkshire Council has issued its updated guidance on preparing for adverse weather conditions. Every effort will be made to ensure that Heathery Knowe PS remains open to pupils. However, in cases of severe weather conditions, there may be a need to open later, close earlier or be closed all day.

A parent guide to adverse weather arrangements will be sent home next week with guidelines on how we make decisions and share information.

Uniform

Thank you to parents for their continued efforts to ensure pupils come to school in uniform. Children should wear shirt and tie or polo shirt along with skirt or trousers. We appreciate that some pupils are sensitive to the fabric of clothing and find wearing a shirt and tie unsettling. Please let us know if your child needs an individual arrangement for uniform. Shoes should be comfortable and with good grips to enable children to play freely without slipping.

Recently there has been an increase in senior pupils wearing jeans, leggings and branded hooded jumpers / zippers. These are not part of the school uniform and we would appreciate your support in ensuring these items are kept for wearing outwith school.

Families who attended Nursery Big Blether events have requested uniform for nursery children. Ms McPherson and Mrs Kerr will consult with pupils over the next few weeks to seek their views.

Anti Bullying Week

Pupils in Room 9 have organised activities for anti-bullying week. The focus this year is, “change starts with us”. Within each class, there will be opportunities to participate in discussions and activities about the school rules of ‘be safe’ and ‘be kind’.

Christmas Update 

We continue to prepare for Christmas in school and are finalising arrangements. If you do not wish your child to participate in the celebration of Christmas, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can plan an individual timetable for them.

On Monday 16th December, all pupils will have an early lunch before we leave to attend the pantomime at East Kilbride Village Theatre. All pupils should wear school uniform for this event. Pupils are welcome to bring a carton of juice (no fizzy juice) and one snack for the interval.

The office staff are organising show tickets. If you have already purchased a Christmas Pass,  you should receive tickets for your chosen performance within the next two weeks. Additional tickets can be purchased at a cost of £1.50 each. We will let you know when the additional tickets go on sale. If you do not require both of your Christmas Pass show tickets then we would appreciate if you could hand extras back into the office to allow them to be redistributed.

We have tried very hard to reduce the cost of Christmas in Heathery Knowe PS this year. Money raised from the hampers will cover the cost of buses to East Kilbride Village Theatre. There will also be a children’s raffle for a large teddy to contribute to the cost of the class parties.  Please contact the Mrs French, Mrs Gallacher or myself as soon as possible if you anticipate any difficulty in being able to purchase a Christmas Pass for your child(ren).

What’s on next week?

Monday – Ms McWee (student teacher) visiting Room 6. Ms McWee will return in December for a week and then after Christmas for 10 weeks.

Wednesday – Mrs McGee and Mrs Duff attending training in using the school software (SEEMIS) to record progress and achievement. This includes the new process for reporting to parents.

Friday – Children in Need
Friday – Primary 7 attending transition event at Calderglen High

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

Thank you to all families who were able to support the PTC Hallowe’en Disco events on Wednesday evening. The PTC raised over £330 which will be used to support learners in school. We appreciate the ongoing commitment of the PTC who raise funds for many classroom resources and contribute to the cost of experiences for pupils.

The next event for PTC is the opportunity for pupils to participate in ‘Dress Down Day’ on Friday 8th November. Pupils are invited to wear casual clothes and bring a donation for the Tombola at the Christmas Fayre.

Transitions 

The school year passes very quickly and we are already preparing for Primary 6/ 7 transitions to Secondary school and Nursery transitions into Primary 1. By Friday 8th November, the school office will have validated all Primary 7 addresses to ensure they are allocated a place at their catchment school. The allocation of secondary school depends on your home postcode and not the primary school attended. If you do not wish your child to attend the catchment school then a placing request can be submitted from mid January. If you are unsure which school your postcode is zoned to, you can check this using the following link:

https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/info/200140/education_and_learning/770/school_catchment_area_maps

There will be initial transition planning meetings during November and December 2019 for any Primary 6 pupils who may need additional support or an alternative secondary placement as a result of additional support needs .  Any parents of Primary 6 pupils who are concerned about the transition to secondary should contact Mrs French in the first instance to discuss the supports available. 

Infant enrolment for all pupils starting Primary 1 in August 2020 takes place during week beginning 13th January. Further information will be shared closer to the time.

Pupils Leading Learning 

Calderglen High School staff arranged to teach Primary 7 pupils Hallowe’en words and phrases in French. The Primary 7 pupils showed confidence as they shared the learning with younger pupils.

Well done, Primary 7!

School Photographs

Group photographs will be taken on Wednesday 6th November.  There will be a group photograph taken of each stage in school. For example, all Primary 2 pupils will be photographed together regardless of whether they are normally in Room 2 or Room 3. Similarly, all Primary 4 pupils from Room 5 and Room 6  will be photographed together. This will happen at all stages of the school. The photographer will then take a whole school and nursery photograph of all Heathery Knowe learners together. Please support us by ensuring that your child is in full school uniform.

If you would like to opt out of the group photograph, please contact Mrs French.

Homework Consultation 2019 

Over the past week, we have sought parent views on homework to inform the review of the Heathery Knowe homework policy.  The key messages we have received include:

• Most parents wish homework to continue to be set. Of this, 46% would like homework set as required but not every single week and 42% would like set weekly homework to continue
• 40% would like there to be an ‘opt out’ option for families who do not wish to participate in homework activities
• 87% feel that their child is confident in the activities set and agree it is reinforcement rather than new learning
• 56% feel there is a learning benefit from homework with the remaining 44% agreeing that it is a routine activity but not one which adds to learning.
• Of the parents who responded:
  • 21% feel that their child enjoys homework
  • 50% organise evening routines around homework
  • 17% felt homework was a cause of arguments between siblings
  • 45% felt homework was a cause of arguments between the parent and child
  • 46% felt under pressure to complete homework to a high standard and ensure it was correct
  • 21% felt unsure of the expectations of homework at times.

Thank you to all parents who contributed. There are many valuable comments provided which will be summarised and shared with teaching staff as part of the review.

What’s on next week?

Tuesday – PTC Meeting 2pm
Wednesday – Whole school and stage photographs
Thursday – Nursery Big Blether
Thursday – Open Evening at Calderglen for Primary 7 pupils
Friday – Dress Down Day (PTC Tombola Donation)

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

We welcomed back all learners after the mid-term break. It was lovely to hear about the children’s adventures during their week away from school. The second half of this term is always very busy as we continue with learning in class and start to prepare for Christmas.

Halloween 

The annual PTC Halloween disco takes place on Wednesday evening. Tickets are available to purchase in school at a cost of £2.50. Pupils are welcome to wear fancy dress costumes. We look forward to  seeing pupils for this social event.

Within school, any Halloween activities will have a literacy theme. For example, Primary 3 learners carved orange peppers as part of an instructional writing task. On Thursday, Primary One and Two are visiting the library to hear Rhona Young (Children’s Librarian) read some spooky stories. There are no activities within school time that require fancy dress. Please keep all costumes for the disco and any out of school celebrations.

Please remember we are a nut free school. We have pupils and staff affected by nut allergies. Please do not allow pupils to bring in peanuts for snacks after Halloween.

Collecting Opinions to Grow our School (COGS)

The Pupil Leadership Team led the first COGS group of the session this week. Each pupil in Primary 4-7 is part of a COGS group. Each group has a mix of Primary 4, 5, 6 and 7 learners led by the pupil leaders and supervised by staff.

This week, the discussion focused on the playground and lunch hall. Pupils evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of each area and made suggestions for ways to improve the school.

We use the Scottish Government publication, “How Good is OUR School: Part 2” to structure pupil led school improvement. This document can be accessed at:

https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/HGIOURS-Part2.pdf

Achievement and Attendance Booklets 

All pupils have been issued with an attendance and achievement booklet. This booklet came home separately this term but will normally be in a pocket inside the Snapshot Journal.

It provides a record of each pupil’s achievement in and out of school along with any awards / recognition moments within school. Pupils will take responsibility for updating this and can add achievements (for example, swimming awards, Guide badges, football awards). The table on the right hand side of the booklet is a space to record school recognition (for example, HK Cup, Golden Tokens, Certificates, HK Hugo class achievements).

Pupils will be supported to complete these for the December journal.

Ipads 

We recently purchased a set of 12 ipads and they were delivered this week. They will be used for learning and teaching activities across the school. The ipads will be set up as part of a managed service with RM. This means apps can be installed onto all ipads at the same time and we have support to use them as educational tools.

Increasingly, evidence of learning is not recorded in jotters. Children learn collaboratively, actively and through play and the record of learning is best captured with a photograph or short video clip. The new ipad resource will enable each class to record learning easily in this way.

Homework

Teachers are continuing to work together to review the homework policy at Heathery Knowe Primary School. Part of this review is to ensure consistency of approach across stages and to ensure the workload is always appropriate to the stage of the child.

We would like to gather parent views on homework using the following link:

https://forms.gle/stbk51iTAhQVJKVb8

Please complete this survey for each child rather than one per family so that we can gather information at each stage of school.

Photographs 

Class photographs will be taken on 6th November.  A letter will be issued to provide further information and an opportunity to opt out. A whole school and nursery photograph will also be taken.  To reduce costs, these photographs will be taken by students at South Lanarkshire College.  Thank you to Mrs French for developing this partnership.

Date for your diary 

Please remember there are two inservice days this November. School and Nursery will be closed to pupils on 18th and 19th November.

What’s on next week?

Mon-Wed – Christmas Card craft sessions from 3.05-4.00pm
Tuesday – 9.15am and 5pm – School Big Blether
Wednesday – Head Teacher attending Moderation event
Wednesday – Halloween Disco

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

We have reached the end of the first term of 2019/2020. The pupils and staff have enjoyed exciting learning opportunities over the term. Some of our highlights include:

• Primary 6 visiting City Halls to hear an orchestra
• Room 2 learners visiting the Bear Factory to make their class mascot
• Primary 6 and 7 learners are all reading the novel, “Letters from the Lighthouse”. The pupils are learning about World War 2 and have been using their evacuee names around the school.
• P1-3 pupils have taken part in Karate taster sessions.
• Primary 4 pupils showed perseverance and team work while designing junk model rockets.
• Mrs Gallacher planned a maths fun day enjoyed by Nursery – Primary 7.

We are committed to ensuring the curriculum offered at Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery shows breadth and depth with children having opportunities to engage in a wide range of activities both within and outwith the school building.

Student Teachers 

Each year all Scottish schools provide placements for student teachers. This is a valuable opportunity for students, school staff and pupils. Student teachers share innovative ideas and can apply the latest research within the classrooms whilst experienced teachers support and supervise their practice as they develop skill in planning, teaching and classroom organisation. During a student’s placement, there are more frequent opportunities for small group teaching which directly benefits learners.

Within each class, the teacher remains responsible for the overall learning experience and closely supervises the student working with them. Mrs Gallacher is the senior leader responsible for students and co-ordinates and oversees each placement.

When we return from October break, three student teachers will join our school:

Ms Dolan will join Primary 3/4 in Room 5
Ms Dickson will join Primary 3 in Room 4
Ms Donnelly will join the Nursery

We look forward to welcoming Ms Dolan, Ms Dickson and Ms Donnelly to Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class.

Twitter Update

Twitter is widely used at Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery to communicate with parents, celebrate learning and link  with other establishments. You do not need to have a twitter account to view tweets. Tweets can be accessed by searching for accounts below on the twitter website.

The accounts currently used at Heathery Knowe PS are:

@knoweschool – Mrs Duff and all general information (e.g. school closure info)
@HkpsF – Mrs French, DHT
@HkpsD – Mrs Gallacher, DHT
@HK_MrsMcGee – Mrs McGee, Principal Teacher
@HkPS_Nursery – Nursery Team
@Miss_A_Harris – Room 1
@HK_MissH – Room 2
@HMissmcgown – Room 3
@HK_MissDeans – Room 3
@HK_MrsHughes – Room 4
@HK_MissInglis – Room 5
@HK_MrsKane – Room 6
@AudreySpence20 – Room 8
@HK_MrLoveday – Room 9
@HK_MissWharton – Room 10

At the start of each year a slip is sent home to ask permission for children’s photos to be used on Twitter. After the October break, a further letter will be issued to ask parents to complete the tear off slip or email school if they do not wish their child to be included in any tweets. This will provide clarity for the school and ensure each parent’s privacy is being respected.

Bethlehem: The Musical 

Mrs Gallacher is working behind the scenes to get our Christmas show up and running. To minimise disruption to core learning and ensure classes continue to follow routines as far as possible, rehearsals for some parts will  take place as an after school / lunch time activity this year. All pupils will  participate in the show and we are very excited to see it all coming together.

What’s on week beginning 21st October?

Monday – HT attending Together We Can and We Will training
Tuesday – HT attending SLC Head Teacher Conference
Tuesday – Room 10 are visiting an Amazon Warehouse and Sky Studios to develop skills for learning, life and work.
Wednesday – Room 1 learners are participating in an exciting learning experience to Glasgow City Centre to visit the Bear Factory. They will travel on the bus and train into the city.
Wednesday – Room 8 Curling Taster session at the ice rink
Wednesday – All teachers participating in Dyslexia Identification Pathway training

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

 

 

 

 

Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery participated in the national celebration of numeracy and mathematics during Maths Week Scotland. We really appreciate the support offered to the school and pupils. Mrs Gallacher organised a Maths Fun Day to finish the week and the children had a great time. Pupils, parent volunteers and staff  will be involved in evaluating the event in preparation for next year.

Staffing Update

The school’s Cook in Charge, Kerry, has been off on maternity leave over the past year and returns to work on 21st October. I hope she has enjoyed the time off with her daughter and look forward to welcoming her back to school very soon. Thank you to Jackie who covered this post while Kerry was off. Jackie is moving to a new school and we wish her well.

Lost and Found 

Heathery Knowe is a large and busy school and sometimes pupils mislay items of clothing, packed lunch boxes etc which can be returned easily if a pupil’s name is on the item. Please help us by ensuring clothes, lunch boxes, gym shoes etc are labelled with the child’s name.

We are keen to return items quickly and this helps keep the school organised and tidy. Following the October break, Primary 7 pupils will ensure as many items as possible are returned at the end of each week by checking corridors and lunch trolleys before setting up a lost  property table during a Friday lunchtime.

At the end of each term a full list of remaining items will be sent home to parents to try and identify the owners.  Unfortunately, we do not have space to store a large amount of lost property. Unclaimed items of school uniform will be donated to the school uniform shop at the end of each term. Other items will be given to local charity shops.

Attendance at School 

The Senior Leadership Team monitor the attendance of all pupils.  We understand that children become unwell and need to stay off school. This helps to prevent the spread of viruses within the school community. There are a number of other reasons that children may miss school such as a family holiday or family circumstances.  We appreciate that this is kept to a minimum and children attend school as often as possible. The school office keeps a record of reasons for absence so that is can be matched to each child’s pattern of attendance.

The purpose of monitoring attendance is to ensure that children are supported to catch up on learning and observe patterns of missed attendance at school.

Where children miss school often because of ongoing ill health, we can link in with the School Nursing Team to address health needs whilst ensuring children attend school as often as possible. Understandably, there can be a period of ill health (for example, chickenpox) that impacts on school attendance for a week or more but does not require additional support from the nursing team.

Our school target is an overall attendance of 95% for all pupils this year. Term One attendance for each child will be calculated from Thursday 15th August until Wednesday 9th October (38 school days).

To achieve 95% or more, pupils must have attended 36 days out of 38
To achieve 90%, pupils must have attended 34 days out of 38
To achieve 80%, pupils must have attended 31 days out of 38

All parents will be issued with an attendance report advising them of their child’s attendance in Term 1. If a child’s attendance is less than 80%, parents will be contacted by letter or telephone to discuss this further and ensure all the necessary supports are in place to maximise pupil attendance at school.

What’s on next week?

Wednesday – Room 2 pupils are learning across the curriculum with a visit to Bear Factory using public transport and visiting Glasgow City Centre.
Thursday – Mrs French is attending Literacy Co-ordinator meeting
Friday – Harvest assembly for pupils

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff