Heathery Knowe Head Teacher's Blog

The pupils at Heathery Knowe PS and Nursery Class have been immersed in literacy this week as part of the celebration of World Book Day. Thank you to all parents and carers  for supporting the events, helping with home learning activities and encouraging the pupils to read and write for enjoyment. The Junior Leadership Team will gather feedback from pupils next week and this will be used to inform the planning of future events.

Red Nose Day 

Miss Harris and the pupils working in Room 8 will co-ordinate Red Nose Day events for the school on Friday 15th March 2019. We use this opportunity to help pupils become aware of their role as responsible citizens in a global context. It builds upon the pupils’ awareness of the need for support in the local community through the East Kilbride Food Bank collections at Harvest and Christmas, extending it to their awareness of the need to support citizens of Scotland and the wider world. Each class will participate in activities that are appropriate for their age.

Health and Wellbeing

We have invested in a whole school resource to support all pupils in the development of social and emotional learning skills. It supports pupils to improve skills in perseverance with learning and working as part of a team. The skills developed through this programme dovetail skills for learning, life and work with social and emotional health and wellbeing. Positive Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) will be used across all stages of the school from August 2019.

• Increased knowledge of, and skill in, the steps of social problem-solving: stopping and thinking; identifying problems and feelings; setting goals; generating alternative solutions; anticipating and evaluating consequences; planning, executing and evaluating a course of action; trying again if the first solution fails.
• Increased understanding and use of the vocabulary of logical reasoning and problem-solving, e.g., “if…then” and “why…because.”
• Increased ability to recognise and interpret similarities and differences in the feelings, reactions and points of view of self and others.
• Increased ability to apply social problem-solving skills to prevent and/or resolve problems and conflicts in social interactions.
• Increased understanding of how one’s behaviour affects others.
• Increased self-control, i.e., the ability to stop and think before acting when upset or confronted with a conflict situation. Lessons in this area also teach identification of problem situations through recognition of “upset” feelings.
• Increased understanding and use of the vocabulary of emotions and emotional states; e.g., excited, disappointed, confused, guilty, etc. Increased use of verbal mediation.

Danish Gymnastics Event 

The National Danish Performance Team are a group of 28 gymnasts who tour the world displaying their spectacular level of Gymnastics and Dance. Primary 6 pupils at Heathery Knowe Primary School are participating in a special gymnastics event at Calderglen High School on Tuesday 12th March. Pupils will participate in a fun gymnastics workshop being delivered by the visiting coaches from Denmark.

There is an evening display for the public to enjoy on Thursday 14th March. Information regarding this event can be accessed using the following link:

http://www.slleisureandculture.co.uk/news/article/3130/world_class_danish_gymnasts_visit_south_lanarkshire

Raising Attainment Showcase 

On Thursday 30th May, we will be showcasing the new resources purchased and developed over the course of this year. Parents are invited to come along to the school and view the wide range of resources developed to improve attainment at Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class.

During the session, you will have an opportunity to view a wide range of resources including:

• ‘The Hive’ nurture room
• Positive Alternative Thinking Strategies resources
• Samples of the new book banded reading resources (novels, skinny novels and reading schemes)
• Numicon (numeracy resource)
• Tee Jay Mathematics Resources – including assessment and home learning materials
• Literacy and Numeracy Assessment Material
• New Playground Equipment
• New Active Literacy Resources (e.g. phonics phones)
• Talk 4 Writing resources
• Hollow Blocks Play Resources
• Digital coding and programming ICT resources

We look forward to welcoming you to school for this event.

What’s on next week?

• Monday – Head Teacher from Maxwellton Primary is visiting the school for a shared learning visit
• Tuesday – Primary 6 are attending Danish Gymnastics workshop
• Tuesday – I am attending the Equity and Excellence Conference
• Wednesday – Big Blether – Focus of discussion is digital communication
• Thursday – Primary 4 are visiting Pizza Express as part of their learning in Health and Wellbeing
• Friday – Red Nose Day (assembly, class activities and bake sale)

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

 

Next week we will wave off most of our Primary 6 pupils on a residential experience week at Ardentinny. The pupils will have a fun filled and very busy week with Miss Harris, Miss Meek, Mrs Robertson and Mrs Naismith. The staff always enjoy working with children away from school. I am sure the week will pass quickly and the children will be home with bin bags full of muddy clothes and shoes ready for washing.

Diary Dates

Planning is already well underway for the summer term and there are a number of activities organised for pupils in March.  I have included dates for your diary below to help you plan ahead. Other dates will be added in once they are confirmed (eg Nursery Graduation). We are planning to move some events to the church/sports centre to allow more parents and friends of Heathery Knowe PS an opportunity to join us.

6th March – Playground Steering Group meeting at 2.30pm
7th March – World Book Day
12th March – P6 attending Danish Gymnastic Performance and Workshop
15th March – Red Nose Day
18th March – P5 excursion to Robert Burns Birthplace Museum
19th March – P7 pupils attending Sky Academy
19th March – Manor Adventures Parent Presentation 6pm
20th March- Class Learning Showcase
21st March – GIST Road Safety Workshop
22nd March – GIST Road Safety Workshop
22nd March – P7 Easter Code at church
25th March – PTC Mothers’ Day Shop all week
26th March – Parent Consultation Evening 6.30pm
27th March – Parent Consultation Afternoon 3.30pm

1-14th April – Spring Break
16th April – School Improvement Parent Presentation 6pm
17th April – P1 visiting Science Centre
17th April – P3 (Room 5) visiting Vikingar
18th April – Easter Assembly (possibly at church)
18th April – The Greatest Showman Interactive Party
19-22nd April – Easter Weekend
29th April  – 1st May – Robinwood Residential for P7

6th May – Holiday
7th May – Inservice Day
10th May – Reports issued to parents
24-27th May – Holiday weekend
28th May – PTC end of year ‘thank you’ event
29th May – Sports Day (possibly at sports centre)
31st May – Summer Fayre

3rd June – SLC Authority awards ceremony
4th June – Sports Taster Session
5th June – Sponsored walk for Kilbryde and St Andrew’s Hospice
5th June – Teddy Bear Picnic for St Andrew’s Hospice
6th June – Induction Day 1 for new Primary 1 pupils
13th June – Induction Day 2 for new Primary 1 pupils
13/14th June – Primary 7 two day transition event at Calderglen High
14th June – Moving on session (pupils attending new classes)
19th June – P7 Leaver Assembly
21st June – Heathery Knowe PS annual awards ceremony
24th June – HKPS Helper end of year ‘thank you’ event
27th June – Summer Sing – a -long (possibly at church)
28th June – School closes at 1pm

The Greatest Showman Interactive Party 

The PTC has organised a family fun night for the evening of Thursday 18th April. WAS Events will co-ordinate and lead an evening of singing and performing for all the family to enjoy. Tickets can be purchased during the Parent Consultation afternoon or evening at a cost of £3 each or £10 for a family ticket.

This is a family event and children cannot attend unaccompanied.

Uniform

Uniform is an important part of a school’s identity. It reinforces who we are as a community and helps pupils  to feel pride in their school.  It is noticeable that a number of pupils are wearing clothes which are not part of the agreed school uniform.  Some pupils have individual needs regarding uniform (for example, motor difficulties in doing up buttons, sensory issues regarding certain fabrics or related to temperature, anxiety about changing for PE). If your child has specific needs regarding uniform, please contact the school to discuss this further.

As we begin to prepare for next year, I would like to take this opportunity to clarify to uniform for pupils attending Heathery Knowe PS.  

• All pupils must have indoor gym shoes throughout the school year.
• Heathery Knowe PS pupils should wear blue school shirts and a tie or a blue polo shirt
• Heathery Knowe PS pupils should wear grey school trousers, shorts or skirts
• Heathery Knowe PS pupils require navy / black shorts and a pale blue or white tee shirt for PE. Some pupils may prefer knee length leggings for PE and this is acceptable.
• On PE days, younger pupils may wear grey jogging trousers with shorts underneath to assist with swift changing
• Jumpers and cardigans should be grey or maroon
• Shoes should be sensible to allow active play outdoors

We are raising awareness of this now so that we can clarify any concerns prior to uniforms being purchased for the new school year. If you are unsure if any item of clothing is acceptable as part of school uniform, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

Learning Showcase 

On 20th March, parents and carers are welcome to visit the school to look at their child’s work and discuss the classroom displays. This will provide an opportunity to share the learning experiences prior to formal parent consultation. As always, the school is expected to be very busy on the day and therefore the car park will also be busy. We would encourage parents / carers to car share  or walk if possible to reduce congestion around the school.

Big Blether

A big thank you to all parents who came along last Wednesday to share their views on residential experiences. It was a very productive meeting and provided an opportunity to consult on the centres that we could attend, budgets … and most importantly …. menu choice! The Big Blether on Wednesday morning is focusing on improving communication between home and school. If you are able to attend and share your views then please come along at 9.15am.

What’s on next week?

4-8th March – P6 attending Ardentinny Residential Experience
5th March – Head Teacher of Maxwellton Primary School visiting
6th March – Playground Steering Group meeting at 2.30pm
7th March – World Book Day
7th March – P7 transition planning meeting

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

 

We have been very busy this week, with almost all pupils participating in elective activities as well as core classes. We welcomed visitors from Half Merke Primary, Duncanrig Secondary School and the University of Strathclyde. All of our visitors commented on the polite and hard working pupils at Heathery Knowe PS.

Champions for Change

All Primary 6 pupils have participated in two workshops with a focus on anti-sectarianism. The Primary 6 pupils from St Louise and Heathery Knowe Primary Schools will now work together on a joint project. The pupils have some very good ideas for the project and we all look forward to seeing how it develops. Once the project has been completed, we will be assessed by Nil By Mouth for a Champions for Change Award, recognising the work both schools are doing to  build friendships and respect.

Electives 

The pupils had an opportunity to start a new elective club this week. All of the pupils seemed to enjoy participating in an activity of their choice. I joined the Primary 1-3 pupils who were participating in Club Golf, Computing and Story Club. It is lovely to see older pupils enjoying activities alongside our younger pupils and sharing their skills and knowledge.

Working Together 

On Tuesday evening, the Parent Engagement Group (PEG) and Parent Teacher Council (PTC) will meet.

The Parent Teacher Council is a committee of parents and teachers who meet every month to be formally consulted on all aspects of school life. All parents are welcome to attend the group.

The Parent Engagement Group has been formed to create a whole school calendar for session 2019/2020. The group will be consulted on opportunities for parents to engage in curriculum events such as assemblies, open afternoons, timing of report cards and parent consultation evenings. This group will feed back to the PTC regularly on the progress made.

The focus of ‘The Big Blether’ next week is residential experiences and the development of outdoor learning. We look forward to welcoming all parents who are able to attend at 9.15am on Wednesday.

Developments in Numeracy 

Improving attainment in Numeracy and Mathematics is a priority for our school particularly as children progress from first to second level.

• The new teaching resource ‘Tee Jay Mathematics’ has arrived in school. Teaching numeracy and mathematics using Tee Jay resources will provide a progressive and consistent approach across the school. It includes textbooks, assessments and homework activities. The pupils and staff are very excited with the new resources and look forward to using them .
• Following discussions within our staff team, HMI and with other schools, we have purchased Mathematics Assessment for Learning and Teaching (MALT) resources. This is a standardised assessment which will be completed by all pupils in the summer term. Assessments will provide a score related to ability but will also identify areas where there are specific difficulties for pupils (e.g. fractions, data handling, division etc).
• A multi sensory approach to teaching numeracy will be used in Primary 1-3 from August 2019. We are currently waiting on the delivery of Numicon resources. If you would like to find out more about Numicon, please click on the following link: https://www.numicon.co.nz/489269/
• Next week, three members of staff will attend Catch Up Numeracy training.  Catch Up^® Numeracy is a structured one-to-one intervention for learners who find numeracy difficult. Miss A Harris, Mrs Summers and Mrs Robertson will attend the training for Heathery Knowe PS.  Catch Up Numeracy interventions will be used at school following the Spring Break.

What’s on next week?

• Monday – Educational Psychologist visiting the school
• Tuesday – PEG 6pm ; PTC 7pm
• Wednesday – The Big Blether  9.15am
• Wednesday – Mrs Kane and Miss Wharton – Talk 4 Writing Course
• Wednesday -Friday AM – Miss A Harris, Mrs Robertson and Mrs Summers – Catch up Numeracy

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

 

I hope all of our families enjoyed the long weekend. The children certainly seemed refreshed and full of energy on their return to school on Thursday.

Junior Leadership Team

The Junior Leadership Team (JLT) have been exceptionally busy gathering pupil views on the purchase of new playground resources. All pupils have had an opportunity to contribute to the ‘wish list’. The JLT are now organising a ballot so that each pupil can vote for their favourite resources. The most popular ones will be ordered over the next few weeks.

World Book Day 

The Literacy Working Group and Junior Leadership Team are working together to organise World Book Day. Events planned include a pupil book swap,  some pupils will visit Waterstone’s Book Shop in the town centre and all pupils will enjoy a story reading session with Rhona from East Kilbride Library. More information will be sent home to families next week.

Assessment in Reading

All Primary 2 and 3 pupils will be assessed in reading over the next three weeks using PM Benchmarking. This assessment is completed individually with each child to assess their reading accuracy and fluency and comprehension of an unseen, meaningful text. This allows teachers to ensure that taught reading activities in class are closely matched to their ability. Pupils in Primary 1 will be assessed using PM Benchmarking just before the Spring Break.

Pupils in Primary 4-7 will be assessed using New Group Reading Test (NGRT) for reading fluency, accuracy and comprehension following Spring Break. Again, this information will be used to ensure all taught reading activities are closely match to pupil ability.

Active Reading Approaches 

On Wednesday, Kathleen Falloon (Lead Officer for Literacy at South Lanarkshire Council) led all staff in the development of active approaches to teaching reading. We will be continuing to plan for the full implementation of active reading approaches from August 2019 and look forward to holding a series of parent information sessions in May and August to share information about this approach so that we can work together to support the development of reading.

Residential Experience Update 

A letter will be issued to Primary 4 and 5 parents next week to provide more information about residential experiences in 2020 and 2021. There will be an information session for parents before Spring Break to outline the experiences on offer and answer any questions that parents may have. The date and time will be confirmed in the letter.

Big Blether 

If you are able to attend the Big Blether this week (9.15am on Wednesday), we are hoping to seek parent views on homework at Heathery Knowe PS.  We will have the kettle on and a supply of chocolate biscuits.

What’s on next week?

• Tuesday – Healthy Living Survey (School Meals)
• Wednesday – Big Blether 9.15am
• Thursday  – Head Teacher Meeting (Kirsty Duff out of school AM)

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

 

The planning is well underway to support our Primary 7 learners in the transition to secondary school. Over the next month, the pupils will write a letter to Calderglen High School introducing themselves, their interests both within and outwith school and identifying friends who they hope they will be grouped with next year. This is an important part of the transition process as we ensure each learner has the support required to ease the transition.

Residential Experience Feedback and Next Steps 

• 81% think the school should continue to offer two residential experiences
• 60% felt the P6 residential experiences should be 3 days and 40% felt it should be 5 days
• 93% would like to know the projected costs in Primary 4
• 79% selected going at a time when it is mid-season

Parental Comments on Experience

• Residential trips are great for the children’s independence and maturity to limit it would be a shame. It is a great opportunity to build their confidence in different circumstances and surroundings.
• A P7 residential trip to Ardentinny/Lockerbie for 5 days would be my preference. Robinwood could be replaced by increasing events such as after school clubs, workshops etc in Calderglen to allow the P7 feeder school pupils to build relationships.
• I feel a residential experience is a wonderful way for children to grow and to learn. It gives them the experience of being away from family and seeing more of the out doors. It gives them their own experience they can share with family. I will always remember my residential experience in Primary 7. It was an excellent experience and I have fond memories from it. I learned several new skills and being away from famiy taught me to appreciate the world around me and everything my family done for me.
• Apparently high school offers a learning away experience in first year so this will allow pupils to get to know each other. So that along with the many induction events throughout P7 is enough to allow children to mix with those they will attend high school with.
• My older child participated in both residential trips when at HK He absolutely loved his trip to Ardentinny and came home happy, full of tales about his experiences and desperate to go to Robinwood the following year. I think Ardentinny built up his confidence in being away with the school so he went to Robinwood much more confident. I think it would be a shame to do away with both trips as it gives parents and children options to do one or both.
• Having had two children take part in these residential visits and seen first hand the positive effect it has had on them I would strongly advocate for keeping both if possible. I think the five day visit is a good length as when my daughter went a couple of years ago it coincided with a bank holiday weekend so they only got 3 nights and she came home wishing it had been longer. I do understand the cost implications of this though so I think the idea of giving people notice in P4 is a great idea. I should also add that, having some experience of the location, going around March or April means the kids avoid the midges which makes a huge difference.

Parental Comments on Cost & Fundraising

• Every year up until the residential trip year, I would like to be advised how much the trips are costing to allow time to budget for them. This can never be done too early.
• More details before hand would be helpful for both the children and the parents and a longer time to pay would be beneficial.
• I think the idea of starting to fundraise in primary 4 and 5 to offset the cost of the residential trip would be beneficial (alongside pointing out to parents, who maybe don’t know how much it costs, how much on average these trips cost with plenty of warning so they can start putting money away, using the school credit union perhaps?)
• The cost of residential trips for parents 2 years in a row is unaffordable for some families therefore pupils unfortunately are unable to attend.
• Giving parents notice in advance and different ways to save for it would help this E.g.paying instalments from p4. P5
• A school savings fund for school trips would be good, we could put a small amount away every week or month to pay for future trips, I think the trips are a great experience for kids and gives them more independence

Parental Comments on Scheduling

• I also am against the p6 trip being shortened to 3 days as I don’t think this would benefit the children as they would only have 1 full day at the centre.
• One residential is more than enough. Families struggle at the best of times. There wasn’t a 5 day option for the none in p6 but 5 days p7. Think that should have been one.
• March to May for P7 so there is the opportunity to connect with pupils you may be in class with and remember come S1 in August
• I think a 5 day visit is more beneficial than a 3day as you lose a lot of time with traveling.
• I don’t believe Ardentinny would be much cheaper if going for only 3 days and not as beneficial time wise. There are a few children that don’t go for different reasons so don’t feel children would be singled out if their parents couldn’t afford.
• A 5 day residential trip in P7 and opt out of the Robinwood would be my preferred choice. Pupils are more confident in P7 as some don’t attend in P6 trips as they aren’t ready for them.
• I believe when the p6 trip was previously shortened due to public holidays the feedback from most was that less than 5 days was not sufficient time to participate in all activities.
• Having just one trip (in P7) makes the final year at Primary school special.
• It would make sense to go when the weather is likely to be a bit better.
• As long as the kids are happy. March-May would be better as it’s less cold

Residential Experience Next Steps

We are now planning for our current Primary 4 and 5 pupils and are in the process of developing a progressive framework for this using the parent feedback, curriculum guidelines and examples of best practice.

It is likely that this will take the format of:

Primary 5 – Outdoor experience / camp craft activities within our local authority (no overnights). The costs for Primary 5 experience would mostly be met using school funds.

Primary 6 – 3 day experience at an outdoor resource centre. The cost for Primary 6 would be significantly reduced by  selecting a low season date and a nearby centre.

Primary 7 – 5 day residential experience at an outdoor resource centre with the cost being available to parents in P4 and a savings scheme in place to provide the option for parents to make regular payments. This would mean we are not offering Robinwood alongside other local schools but we would set up other transition events regularly.

Christmas 2018 Feedback 

• 86% rated the ‘Magical Christmas Jigsaw’ as a good or very good performance. 6% did not attend and 8% (3 people) rated it neutral
• 91% rated the Christmas show tickets reasonable in price
• 57% did not manage to buy as many tickets as they required
• 24% would like a morning performance to be added to the schedule
• 60% like to have the option to buy personalised Christmas cards including 11% who would like to design the card at home with their child. 40% would prefer this service was not offered.
• 79% felt a £1.50 contribution towards the ‘Big Story’ performance and party was reasonable
• 63% felt the donation requests during December were reasonable

Parental Comments on Organisation

• A clear timetable with event and costs would be really useful.
• It was good to get the letter listing most of the events and prices for all classes in advance. This would be good throughout the school year maybe monthly/termly. Including after school clubs etc.
• Too much to ask all kids to be at school 6pm for a 7pm show where I was left hanging about having come straight from work.
• Consider tea and coffee in dinner hall rather than leaving us in the cold.
• Please insist on buggies being parked in dinner hall for health and safety.
• Can the photographs be moved to the start of term like all other primary schools do? It’s a huge expense right at Christmas.
• I felt that the Christmas events were all well organised and reasonable. I am happy to contribute to the cost of extra treats for the children and I appreciate the extra effort that the staff put into providing fun opportunities for the children.

Parental Comments on Ticket Availability and Show Times

• The school was jam-packed so Wed pm show sold out and large groups hogging seats plus buggies blocking entry. I had to attend solo, his Dad the day before (also solo). We would have liked to of brought a relative for company.
• As a working parent, I was pleased there was only one play and only had to take one half day off work.
• Ticketing for Christmas Show: suddenly there was a ballot for additional tickets when I didn’t even have the opportunity to purchase tickets the first time. Judging by responses on app I wasn’t the only one affected by this. As a result we only received the minimum 2 tickets. Perhaps a record of who is purchasing tickets would be a good idea ie a child with a speaking part (and who returns any other letters and monies to school promptly ordinarily) doesn’t order tickets, surely this would appear strange to class teacher and school office and could be checked before tickets ho to ballot. I appreciate there is a lot going on at that time of year but felt a bit let down by this process. Nevertheless the show was great and we’ll done to all staff involved.

Parental Comments on Costs 

• I felt we were giving the girls a lot of money over the festive period for various activities at the school and overall it turned into a quite expensive time
• It’s not so much the individual prices of tickets etc, it’s the cost of everything together. In the space of a month I spent over £100 purely on tickets, photos, Christmas tops, hamper gift, Tombola prize etc. It would have been closer to £150 had I also have bought nursery photos
• I thought with having a child in school and one in nursery it was very expensive this year including school and nursery pictures (I think should be taken much earlier) I counted not including donations that I’d given £174 to the school from November to the end of December this is way too much to expect from parents at this time of year!
• If u have more than one child at the school it can be expensive for that time of yr
• Donation items could be spread throughout the year and kept until Christmas. In September, October and November an item could be asked for each month and set aside until needed easing the financial cost of December. Also the cost of Christmas parties in relation to what the children receive is quite expensive.
• Additionally with children being more commercially aware, the school Christmas gift shop is very over priced for the gifts the children to buy. I would prefer a hand made craft rather than a wrapped up poundstore gift that has no sentimental meaning.
• December is a costly month. With the cost of the show plus the big story and the hampers and the tombola etc. Maybe the hampers should be arranged sooner so it’s not a costly in on month.
• The Christmas cards were great , a really nice touch , however it would be nice that a much smaller , cheaper pack was available , so a parent could buy one or two for themselves and not feel guilty of not been able to buy their childs card if funds are not available . I think a weekly scheme of paying x amount per week into the.school to pay for all these things , concerts , discos might be a good option for some parents , so for example paying a pound ? per week on school weeks , so I would have events pre paid for . However saying that , I think the events etc are reasonably priced
• I think the amount of things over Christmas was just right and felt the money asked for was very reasonable. I feel like if we did any less my children would be missing out.

Parental Comments on Involvement 

• The Christmas Concert was one of the best I’ve seen
• I would like to see the lower primary classes do more in the plays, etc as it always seems to focus on the p6 and p7s.
• I would rather be up close on performances to see my children as was too far away and never got to see them put right at back it not fair
• Full school in a performance is too much… You see your kid for one song in 90 mins. Much preferred junior school performance separate to senior school for ticketing and enjoying your child’s performance
• My daughter loved the Christmas show/panto that came in to the school at Christmas
• Having an evening performance of the Christmas show and making it mandatory that to take part you have to b able to appear in both shows, excluded children who have out of school activities. This is ironic as on one hand the school reward system encourages out of school activity participation… I would have liked to see the school choir sing carols, or even the class, this is usually a fun session for all parents and children. But didn’t happen this year?
• Additionally with children being more commercially aware, the school Christmas gift shop is very over priced for the gifts the children to buy. I would prefer a hand made craft rather than a wrapped up poundstore gift that has no sentimental meaning.

Planning for Christmas 2019 Next Steps 

• Photographs have been booked for September 2019 to ensure this cost is not around Christmas Time
• Donations for hampers will be collected around the October week with perishable food bought nearer the time
• We will consider a third (morning) performance ensuring an extra 200 tickets are available
• We will consider a single contribution pupil christmas ticket so that one ticket covers all events in school and make this available in November.

Parental Engagement Group 

We are planning to establish a Parental Engagement Group (PEG) to develop family learning activities, improve communication between home and school and contribute to developing our family engagement annual calendar for next session (open afternoons, showcase events, jotters home, assemblies etc). If you would like to be part of this development group, please let the office know. Mrs French will be leading this group and will be scheduling meetings over the next few months as we plan for Session 2019/2020.

Whats on next week?

Wednesday – All staff are participating in professional learning focused on Active Reading Strategies

Thursday – P6 Champions for Change

Thursday – Valentine’s Disco

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

This week, Her Majesty’s Inspectors from Education Scotland spent three days with us at Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class. During the visit the team observed in classes, worked with focus groups of children to assess literacy and numeracy and looked at examples of pupils work. They also met with pupils, staff, partners and parents to assess the strengths of the school and priorities for improvement.

It was a very busy few days and one that was welcomed by the staff team as we work together to improve the experience for pupils at Heathery Knowe. An inspection report and summary of inspection findings will be published within the next 10 weeks. This will be used to plan the next steps in school improvement during the remainder of this session and the long term improvement plan for the next 3 years.

Communication 

At the PTC meeting and over the course of this week I have met with a number of parents to discuss the ways that communication can be strengthened with families. Some parents have spoken with me about the use of Class Dojo however the discontinuation of its use is a South Lanarkshire Council decision in order to protect the data of our families. The next step is to explore the use of Parentmail as a method of emailing families with updates for those who prefer not use to Twitter. We will also explore the way that a closed website with access to a password protected class area could help share learning between home and school.  I appreciate your patience with this as we try to put in place a system that strengthens communication.

Learning Through Play 

Alongside many schools in Scotland we are focusing on developing our curriculum to promote learning through play. Play promotes curiosity, independence and social skills and these are key skills for learning. I will attend a full day training event on Tuesday with a focus on Play. On Wednesday I have been invited to visit a primary school where play is part of the early level curriculum. Over the Spring and Summer term, we will continue to focus on the development of this and it will feature as part of the early level curriculum offered to Primary 1 learners in August 2019.

Homework 

Since August, we have been monitoring the ways in which homework is used to support learning. There is a wide variation across the school in terms of the amount of homework set, the activities included for homework and the time commitment for families to complete this.

Over the remainder of this school session, we will be working to review the homework policy and ensure there is a consistent approach to homework across stages of the school.

Working in partnership with parents is key to ensuring the effective review of this. There will be a survey for all parents to complete over the next few weeks and an opportunity to be part of a parent focus group to share your views in the summer term.

Professional Learning 

This week teachers are attending a professional learning session with the Educational Psychologist, Rick Walsh. The focus of the session is strategies for working with learners who show unsettled behaviour in school. This contributes to the school development of strategies for Promoting Positive Relationships and Behaviour.

Electives

In October, we stopped electives while we prepared for Christmas and took time to evaluate the experience for children. Pupils are very keen for electives to return to the timetable and we plan for this to restart on Wednesday 20th February. Electives will take a masterclass approach with a focus on skills development through a wide range of activities.

What’s on next week?

• Monday – Educational Psychologist is in school for a planning meeting
• Tuesday – I am attending Glasgow City Council: Playful Pedagogy Conference
• Wednesday – Play based curriculum visit

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

Week 20 marks the half way point of the school year and this week we have been gathering and analysing data to measure school improvement and pupil progress.

How Good is OUR School?

During the school year, our pupils have been using the recently published document, “How Good is OUR School?” to identify strengths of the school and identify ways to improve. One of the display boards in the dining room has a ‘You said …we did’ board to make suggestions on ways to improve. This week one pupil asked that the Senior Leadership Team spend more time teaching in classes alongside their class teacher. This is something that will be planned in partnership with classes in response to the pupil’s suggestion.

All pupils identified strengths in the school and areas for improvement as part of a school wide consultation led by the Junior Leadership Team.  Many of suggestions for improvement were focused on improving the play equipment available in the playground during breaks and this is something that the steering group are already focusing on. Some pupils highlighted the need to continue with the work we are doing around anti-bullying education and further developing ways to ensure pupils play well together whilst choosing to be kind and respectful to one another. In many ways these suggestions go hand in hand as by improving the range of resources available to pupils,we will be able to ensure pupils are engaged in purposeful play activities.

Improving consistency in Numeracy and Mathematics

This week a new numeracy and mathematics resource arrived in school. This resource will be used to support the teaching of numeracy and maths in a consistent manner across the school. The new resource is called Tee-Jay and is used by many other schools in the learning community.

Collecting Opinions to Grow our School (COGS)

Now that the busy Christmas period is over and we have settled into January, it is time to review the Christmas experience  at Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class.  Towards the end of next week, we will open a survey via twitter to collect opinions on the activities we offered over the Christmas period and the cost involved. Once the responses have been collected we will be ready to start planning for next year.

PTC Valentine’s Disco

The Valentine’s Disco is coming up shortly. Following the success of selling tickets for the Halloween Disco, the PTC have decided that the Valentine’s Disco will be a ticket only event. Pupils will be able to buy disco tickets during the week leading up to the disco but will not be able to pay at the door. This will help us to speed up the entry into the hall and ensure pupils enjoy the full disco time. Pupils will still be able to bring money for snacks.

Breakfast Club 

To ensure that the breakfast club continues to operate each day, we need more volunteers for the rota. Breakfast Club runs each morning from 8.15am – 8.45am. If you are able to help on a rota basis, please let someone in the PTC know or call the school office.

Uniforms 

Thank you for your continued support with school uniform. If your child needs new indoor shoes then we will put a note in your child’s homework diary next week.  Tesco Direct no longer stocks our uniform but it can now be purchased from another online supplier. The link to the new supplier will be placed on twitter and the website next week.

What’s on next week?

Monday-Wednesday – HMIe will be inspecting our school

Thursday – All Primary 6 pupils will participate in Champions for Change programme to challenge sectarianism

Friday – Launch of the School Travel Plan with pupils

Thank you for your continued support

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

This week we have been focusing on the learning experience of our pupils. Teachers have been meeting with the School Leadership Team to discuss planning for the term ahead and the opportunities we can organise to support and extend learning. Pupils starting Primary 1 in August 2019 have registered and we have enjoyed meeting new families.

Most classes are focusing on a Scottish context for learning this term and learners are able to engage with pupils from other classes to share knowledge and skills. During learning walks this week, I have observed pupils reading Greyfriar’s Bobby, measuring accurately to design their own tartan, researching which Scottish island is nearest to our school and  learning about the Scottish Wars of Independence. This is a very important aspect of our curriculum as we learn about Scottish history and culture. It provides an opportunity to continue to reinforce the key messages of choosing kindness and respect as children learn about Scottish culture and the culture of other countries.

Cricket Club

We were delighted to welcome Mr Wright from East Kilbride Cricket Club to offer taster sessions to our Primary 5 children. The children really enjoyed the first session and are very enthusiastic about participating again next week. If the weather is dry then the sessions will be outdoors. If children enjoy the taster sessions then they will be able to join the local cricket club to continue to participate in this sport.

Play Club

Play Club starts next week (Wednesday after school). We are very grateful to the volunteers who organise Play Club and for the time they have given up  to organise resources and get prepared. Children are welcome to attend with a carer at a cost of 50p to cover the cost of snack. We look forward to welcoming families to the club.

Expanding our team

Two teaching students are working in Room 3 and Room 6. Miss Hughes and Miss Adam are working well with all of the pupils and children are really enjoying the learning experiences. Miss Inglis and Miss Deans continue to oversee the planning for all aspects of learning and teaching. Next week, we welcome two Modern Apprentices to the Nursery and look forward to supporting their development.

HMI Inspection

During the week of the inspection (week beginning 28th January 2019), HM Inspectors are keen to meet parents to find out about the strengths of the school and areas for improvement. If you are able to come along to the parent focus group on Tuesday 29th January 2019 (time to be confirmed)  then please let the school office know.

What’s on next week?

• Jacqueline Wallace (Quality Link Officer) will visit the school and visit classes.
• Wednesday – Cricket taster session 2 for Primary 5 children
• Thursday – Modern Apprentices start in the Nursery

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

This week we welcomed all learners and staff back for a new term at Heathery Knowe PS. Pupils have quickly settled back into school routines and are excited to be back at school and making progress with learning.

Learning Visits 

This week the Senior Leadership Team visited all classes to observe learning and teaching. I visited Rooms 1-3 to observe Numeracy and Mathematics. All of the pupils were actively engaged in learning and keen to make progress. Children are able to talk about how confident they are with learning using traffic light colours or thumbs up and many pupils engaged in challenge activities to stretch their learning. After a learning visit the class teacher and member of the leadership team sit down together and discuss the learning that has taken place, the needs of individual pupils and plan for improvement in each class.

Learning Conversations at Home and School

Staff are continuing to engage in learning conversations with pupils during the school day. It provides an opportunity to informally seek pupil views on their learning experience, link it to a real life context and help identify next steps in learning. Some of the key questions staff ask include:

• What have you been learning today? 
• What do you know how to do now that you couldn’t do this morning?
• I wonder what the next step in learning will be. What do you think?
• Tell me about a magic moment in class today
• I wonder why you have been learning to ……… . What do you think you can use that for outside school?

Please continue to support your child’s learning by engaging in conversations at home that focus on your child’s progress in learning.

HM Inspection of Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class 

During the week beginning 28th January 2019, HM Inspectors will visit Heathery Knowe Primary School and Nursery Class. School inspections carry out a dual purpose. Through inspection, Education Scotland aims to:

• support the school to evaluate their progress to date, identify highly effective practice that has a positive impact on learners’ attainment and achievement and to promote continuous improvement.
• Provide assurances to stakeholders

We are looking forward to engaging with Education Scotland during the inspection week to share our progress to date and to work together to plan the next steps in school improvement.

You can read more about a Primary School Inspection by clicking on the following link:

https://education.gov.scot/what-we-do/inspection-and-review/about-inspections-and-reviews/Primary%20school%20inspections#5

Playground 

Heathery Knowe PS benefits from a large playground area with plenty of different spaces for children to play. It is a relatively mild but wet winter so far which means the grassy areas are becoming muddy. We have asked children not to play on the grass during the winter as they are returning to class wet and muddy.

As part of our continuing efforts to ensure all children feel happy and supported in the playground, we have zoned the areas with at least one playground supervisor in each area. This ensures there is always an adult available near where your child is playing who can lead play activities and offer support as required.

Transitions 

All pupils starting Primary 1 in August 2019 are required to enrol for school next week. Letters have been issued and the times will be available on twitter for all parents.

Primary 7 pupils received a letter last week informing them of the Secondary School that they would transfer to. The identified school is the one that serves the catchment for your home address. Please note that pupils do not automatically transfer to Calderglen High if they live in the catchment for another school. If parents would like to make a placing request to a different school for secondary education, please use the following link:

https://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/info/200186/primary_school_information/569/school_placing_requests

What’s on next week?

• Infant Enrolment Monday – Thursday
• Jacqueline Wallace (Quality Link Officer) is visiting the school on Tuesday
• Education Scotland survey for HM Inspection of Heathery Knowe PS closes on Friday.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff

 

 

The pupils and staff have participated in many Christmas events during December and this has only been possible with the support of families. On behalf of all of the staff at Heathery Knowe PS, I would like to wish you a very happy Christmas time.

Christmas Cup

Primary 5-7 pupils participated in the football ‘Christmas Cup’ competition on Thursday. It was lovely to see the pupils playing football in Santa hats, cheering one another on and celebrating the success of their friends. Well done to everyone involved and a special thank you to Mrs Robertson for organising the event.

Working with St Louise PS

We held a joint carol concert with St Louise PS on the last day of term and it was lovely to see all of the pupils together in the hall. In the new term, our Primary 6 pupils will work alongside Primary6 from St Louise PS to become ‘Champions for Change’ and challenge sectarianism in our schools and local community. The first pupil session will take place on Thursday 31st January.

Playground Incidents

We have reviewed our processes for recording and feeding back to parents about playground incidents. In January, we will be using a new recording format to record any incidents of aggressive or unkind behaviour and the steps staff have taken to address any issues.

The Senior Leadership Team will then be able to monitor the number of incidents and look for patterns, enabling us to deal with issues more effectively as they arise.

Reading Resources: Book Banding

As part of our commitment to raising attainment in literacy,  we have re-organised the teaching of reading and reading scheme books through the school. All the books have been organised into book bands, each one with a different colour. Thank you to Miss Wharton and Mrs Kane who have led the clear out and re-organisation of resources to ensure our pupils have relevant, attractive and up to date resources to use.

Your child’s reading level will be assessed and then they read from a band of books which provides choice and an opportunity to personalise reading. Books from across all the publishers have been put together so they will now have a large choice of books, all of which will be suitable for their ability. When reading with your child please look at the coloured sticker on the book, not the original printed level number. It will look as if children drop down or go up levels as different schemes work to different numbers.

We will hold a parent information session in the new year to update you on the progress we are making in teaching literacy across the school.

What’s on week beginning 7th January?

• Members of the Senior Leadership Team will visit classes as part of the self evaluation process. We are specifically focusing on ensuring there is appropriate pace and challenge in maths.
• Miss Adam and Miss Bryce return to school for a 10 week placement as part of their final year of teacher training. Miss Adam will work in Room 6 alongside Miss Inglis. Miss Bryce will work in Room 3 alongside Miss Deans.

Thank you for your continued support.

Kind regards

Kirsty Duff