February Break 

We hope all our families had a wonderful February break with the children!

It was great to hear about all the lovely things our families had been doing during the break.

We have returned and are ready to learn with the rest of the term stretching before us.

7 weeks until the Spring break holidays and lots of learning and growing to take place in between.  We look forward to the weeks ahead!

 

Maxwellton Blogs! 

 

Please remember to check your child’s classroom blog regularly. This is a wonderful opportunity to discuss the learning taking place in your child’s classroom with the photographs and visual prompts to aid discussions. 

These blogs take a lot of work but we are committed as a staff to doing them so our parents can see and have a ‘feel’ for the learning taking place in classrooms. We will be looking to evaluate this shortly and how well they are being used. If you like them, please encourage us with positive feedback. Thank you!

Please see below all the links to our weekly blogs!

Every week there will be an updated HT blog just like this one with school news.

Each class will also have their own class blog and will post photographs and contents of what they are learning in their classrooms each week.

The link to each of our classroom blogs is below for you to click on.  Please do view your child’s classroom blog and ask them about the photographs and all that they are learning each week. The children love showing the photographs and talking about their learning!

We hope you enjoy!

 

Ms Begg – CCC Blog 

Ms Begg takes most of our classes for their CCC time. This is when class teachers are out of class for 2 1/2 hours a week for planning, preparation and development work. Ms Begg covers this time in most classes and teaches our children digital technologies and physical education.

Ms Begg has also been developing her blog and parents can view her blog using the link below. This will allow parents and children to discuss what they are learning in PE and digital technologies when they are with Ms Begg.

Enjoy!

We hope you find all of this helpful.

 

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/sl/maxwelltonmsbegg/

 

Parents Evening 

We look forward to welcoming our parents to the school for parents evening on Tuesday 24th March and Wednesday 25th March. Parents evening runs from 3.30pm-6.30pm. Letters regarding this will be issued next week.

 

 

Scottish Assembly – Amazing Newspaper Coverage!

I would just like to say a huge thank you again to all children, staff and families for making our Scottish assembly such a huge success!

We received a lovely write up in the local press and this is always a wonderful celebration and promotion of our children.

Go team Maxi! It was great to read!

Please see the link below to the article

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/tartan-galore-east-kilbride-primary-21450817?utm_source=whatsapp&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar

 

 

World Book Day 

Just a little prior warning, that we will as a school be celebrating World Book Day on Thursday 5th March. We will NOT however be asking pupils to dress up for this so there is no need to buy costumes for this event. This decision has been made to keep the focus on literacy and to minimise the cost to our families in line with the ‘Cost of The School Day’. We want our children to have as much fun as possible but at as little cost on this day.

We are asking however that where possible our children bring a potato to school on this day! We are going to have great fun as a whole school turning on potatoes into potato characters from our favourite books and novels. This activity will be completed in school but we ask that children bring a potato into school on this today to do this activity.

We will be celebrating in a variety of ways and posting lots of photographs on our blog.

 

Community Police Visits – P6/P7 Social Media 

PC Edwards one of our Community Police Officers will be coming to Maxwellton next week to speak to Primary 6 and Primary 7 classes regarding social media use. This is obviously a huge area in children’s lives now and we want to make sure that our senior pupils know the benefits, dangers and age limits surrounding use of social media. We look forward to hearing from the children on what they have learned after this event.

 

 

American Football 

Our P6 children had an amazing opportunity this week to take part and experience American Football!

Our Active Schools team organised this in partnership with EK Pirates American Football club  and UK Dukes Flag Football

The event took place at John Wright Sport Centre on Friday 14^th Feb.  Our children had a great time and we would like to thank our partners for providing these experiences for our children.

Please see the link below and our Twitter page for photographs from today

 

https://www.theukdukes.com/

 

Handball 

All our classes have also received Handball lessons from Michael the handball coach. This is organised through Active Schools and our fabulous partners. This is a wonderful experience for our children to receive specialist training and coaching in a sport. We would like to thank Michael and Active Schools for providing this experience and their work and commitment to our school through the years. We couldn’t provide these experiences without you so we are very grateful!

 

P7 Street Dance 

We look forward to welcoming Scott our street dancing coach to Maxwellton who will begin his work with P7 this week. Scott works with the P7’s from now until May to prepare a dance that they will perform for their end of year assembly. Look out for the dance moves coming home!

 

 

P1 Numeracy Workshop 

A huge thank you to all our parents that attended our P1 numeracy workshop last week. We received great feedback and thank you for your encouragement in our parent workshops. Below are a sample of some of the comments made..

Can I take this opportunity to thank Mrs McKenna for preparing this workshop and welcoming our families into her classroom. Partners together!

‘I think the way the kids are taught numeracy is excellent’

‘Great to hear the language and visual signs used to teach numeracy’

‘Loved the practical activities- great fun for homework!’ 

‘I loved the actions whilst doing sums’

‘I just loved seeing how they learn’

‘I found it helpful to know that its good to keep things simple at this stage and to keep it all fun whilst learning’

‘I found it useful to get ideas to use at home’

‘It was all good!’

‘Everything was great! Helps me to help him’ 

‘I found learning about the sticks on the monkey useful ‘ 

 

 

Beat The Street  – Official Launch! 

Beat The Street East Kilbride will see its official launch this week! We are very excited about this!

Our school will be launching the event in the following ways…

• School assembly on Monday all about Beat the Street
• Parent letters, maps, leaflets and children’s fobs will all be issued to pupils on Monday and fully discussed in class. Please discuss these at home too.
• Maxwellton will attend official launch on Wednesday 19th February at 10am in Universal Connections. We will be sending 2 x P6 pupils to represent us at this official and important event.
• Beat The Street walks – We will be taking our children out to teach them how to use their fobs and to get the game started over the next two weeks.
• Community launch event is taking place on Saturday 22nd February 1pm-4pm at John wright Sports Centre. Families are invited to take their children along to this event and we will be promoting this within the school.
• Beat The Street communicated with parents and families through blog, letters and leaflets

Do you know about Beat The Street?

A brand new initiative is coming to East Kilbride called ‘Beat The Street’ . Our visitor Val and Craig from Active Schools told us all about how we can take part.

Please see some information below regarding it. We are all very excited and know that Maxwellton is going to do really well when it is launched in a few weeks time!

We can’t wait to get all the information delivered to our schools.

https://www.beatthestreet.me/eastkilbride/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJbOghMQ5ZM

 

 

 

Engine Idling

I am afraid to say that the Council have still received a complaint regarding engine idling that is taking place around our  school area. I communicated with parents regarding this issue in my last blog and through school emails. Can I continue to ask all parents to ensure that they are not engine idling. Engine idling is an offence and carries a fixed penalty fine. The children are also very passionate that this does not happen around their school for pollution and climate reasons and upper stage classes will be creating posters regarding this to raise awareness of this matter.

 

 

Nursery Admissions 2020

Just a reminder to all our family, friends and community that the closing date for nursery applications is Friday 28th February. 3 & 4 year olds will be entitled to 1140 hours of early learning and childcare from August 2020. Please contact our school office on 01355 222 521 to make an appointment to complete a nursery application with our nursery Team Leader. We look forward to welcoming you. Please spread the word to any one in our local community regarding the closing date so that no one is caught out.

 

Nursery Students 

We look forward to welcoming two students from the West of Scotland University for a 2 week placement in our nursery from week beginning 24th February. Pauline and Chloe have been with us before on placement and we look forward to welcoming them back

 

Loose Parts Play Parental Workshop 

Calling all who are interested to come along and attend our nursery ‘Loose Parts Play’ workshop on Wednesday 19th February at 2.30pm -3.30pm. Mrs Carlton , our nursery teacher will lead this workshop and will inform us all about ‘Loose Parts Play’ – what this is, what it looks like in the nursery and how it helps grow and develop your child in their learning. As always little ones will be involved and a cuppa will always be made availble. Look forward to seeing you if you can make it.

 

New Lunch Time Sports Club – P3 & P4  

Miss Hogg will be running a new sports club during lunch time for Primary 3 & Primary 4 Children. The club will run on a Friday and will start on Friday 21st February. Letters have been issued to P3 & P4 and if your child would like to take part we ask that they return their response slip as soon as possible as places will be allocated for this club.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank Miss Hogg for providing this experience to our children.

 

After School Clubs

Please speak to your child so they are certain if they are going to the club on the day. Please also speak to your child about the highest standards of behaviour at all after school clubs to ensure everyone gets the best possible experience from our after school clubs.

• Monday Lego Club P2 & P3
• Monday Drama Club – P4 & P5
• Monday Netball Club – P5, P6 & P7
• Tuesday Athletics Club – P6 & P7
• Wednesday Team Sports – P5 & P6
• Thursday Boys Football – P5, P6, P7

Week Ahead

The Week Ahead…

• Monday 17th February – Mr Harris Guitar Teacher in
• Monday 17th February – Lego, Drama and Netball  After School Club
• Tuesday  18th February– Athletics After School Clubs
• Tuesday 18th February – Mr MacDonald Drum and Percussion Teacher in
• Tuesday 18th February – P4 Handball session
• Wednesday 19th February  – Beat The Street official Launch
• Wednesday 19th February   – Team Sports After School
• Wednesday 19th February – Boys Football Tournament
• Wednesday 19th February  – Loose Parts Play Parental workshop 2.30pm
• Thursday 20th February –  Boys Football After School Club
• Thursday 20th February – Netball festival
• Thursday 20th February – P7 Street Dance begins!
• Friday 21st February – PC Edwards – P6 & P7 Social Media Talks by Community Police

Menu for the Week beginning 17th February…

The Nursery menu for this week is Week Three from the Winter Menu . Please see link below.

CEN_PDF Go Fresh Nursery LUNCH winter 2019 parent flyer (A2924017)

 

The School menu for this week is Week Three from the Winter Menu  also. Please see the link below.

CEN_GFC winter 19 parent leaflet_secured (A2930223)

 

 

 

 

Maxwellton Blogs! 

 

Please see below all the links to our weekly blogs!

Every week there will be an updated HT blog just like this one with school news.

Each class will also have their own class blog and will post photographs and contents of what they are learning in their classrooms each week.

The link to each of our classroom blogs is below for you to click on.  Please do view your child’s classroom blog and ask them about the photographs and all that they are learning each week. The children love showing the photographs and talking about their learning!

We hope you enjoy!

Scottish Assembly 

What a delight it was to witness all our children perform at our Scottish Assembly on Wednesday. I was extremely proud as the Head Teacher to see our children reciting Scottish songs, poems and drama! What incredible talent we have in our school. A huge thank you to all our children for entertaining us! A very special thank you to P7 for using their leadership skills to make the whole assembly happen. They organised everything from start to finish and did a splendid job! Can I take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all our parents and families for your attendance and support at this event. We were delighted with the numbers and the children loved performing for all their families. Thank you so much! A super Maxwellton event that really celebrated our wee school!

P1 Poetry Winner – David

P2 Poetry Winner – Jennifer

P3 Poetry Winner – Matthew

P4 Poetry Winner – Brooke

P5 Poetry Winner – Caitlin

P6 Poetry Winner – Morgan

P7 Poetry Winner – Grace & Dobrochna

 

P1 Numeracy Workshop

We look forward to welcoming our parents and families to our P1 Numeracy workshop on Tuesday 4th February at 1.30pm. This will be an opportunity for our parents and families to learn a bit about the numeracy and mathematics curriculum in P1. Mrs McKenna will explain what she is teaching the children and demonstrate practical activities that are used on a daily basis to reinforce these teaching concepts with your children. There will also be an opportunity to join in some of these activities with your child. We look forward to welcoming you to our school on Tuesday!

 

HT Coffee & Chat 

A huge thank you to the parents that attended the recent HT Coffee and Chat. This informal time together is a great opportunity to hear about the life of the school, meet other parents and ask any questions you may have! Our next HT Coffee & Chat is on Friday 28th February @9.15am 

 

 

Attainment & Progress Meetings/Class Observations

Every term as a school we meet as a staff and discuss the attainment and progress of all our children. These meetings are currently happening just now as we track our learners progress. Please feel free to contact the school if you have any concerns or queries regarding your child’s learning.

Also as part of our quality improvement calendar,  classroom observations of learning are also currently taking place. This terms focus is on ‘reading’ and the quality of reading lessons within our school. The HT and PT will be observing lessons and speaking to learners and staff about the teaching of reading and how we can improve it within Maxwellton.

 

School Funds 

We have recently had our school funds examined by Mrs Tripp, one of our parents. We would like to say a huge thank you to Mrs Tripp for taking the time to do this. If you would like to be part of the school fund consultative committee, please contact the school office for further details 01355 222 521.

 

Pyjama Day! 

Thursday 6th February will be a Maxwellton Pyjama Day! The children have asked for a special dress down day before the February holidays and a Pyjama Day was the suggestion taken forward! Children can wear their PJ’s to school on this day if they wish.  There is a suggested donation of £1 towards school fund on this day.

Children are also invited to bring in any old books they have at home that they no longer read. The books will be set up for a book sale. Each class will be given the opportunity to go and buy a book from the old books sent in. Any books sent in from home should be sent in by Wednesday 5th February so that they can be set up for the day. Children are welcome to bring in some pennies to buy some books on this day.

We look forward to having fun and celebrating together, whilst fostering a love of reading and raising some pennies for our school fund.

We thank you in advance for all your support with this.

 

Inset Days – February 

Friday 7th February and Wednesday 12th February will see our school closed to pupils on these dates as staff undertake staff training.

During these days staff will receive training on our new writing policy and also refresh training on report writing, as well as begin the report writing process for this session. 

Staff will also look at ways to reduce their workload including reviewing currently forward planning procedures.

We look forward to welcoming children back to school on Thursday 13th February .

 

Engine Idling 

The council have received a complaint regarding engine idling that is taking place around the school area. Can I ask all parents to ensure that they are not engine idling. Engine idling is an offence and carries a fixed penalty fine. The children are also very passionate that this does not happen around their school for pollution and climate reasons and upper stage classes will be creating posters regarding this to raise awareness of this matter.

 

School Gates! 

Please not that the only gates that will now be open in the morning will be the gate at the MUGA and the main gate of the school. The back

gate will now be closed off in the morning at 9am. This is for health and safety reasons. The safety of our children is paramount and it is vital that we ensure that our playground is safe in the morning. Our playground is supervised from 8.45am with two members of support staff. It is not possible to supervise all 3 gates at the same time and the decision was made to close this gate to reduce the possibility of any child leaving the school without an adult knowing. We will continue to review and monitor this and adapt this policy where necessary. Whilst we understand that this may be an inconvenience, we do hope that you understand that the safety of all our children was behind the decision.  We will continue to update you regarding this. Please note that the gate will be open for the children leaving at 3pm.

 

 

Australia Day  

As a school we celebrated Australia day last week. We spent time making Australian flags and writing prayers or positive messages to send to the people of Australia. We have been speaking a lot about the current events taking place in Australia and the children felt they wanted to do something to show Australians that Maxwellton was thinking of them on this day!

‘ I hope that the animals and people will help each other and work together’ Charlie

‘We want to thank all the brave firefighters for trying to save all the animals and the environment. They risked their lives for everyone else. We know how lucky we are not to be near the fires and we are thinking of all the people and animals who live there. We hope that the fires stop soon so that no more people or animals die and we hope that God and everyone else can try to help’ Camilla-belle and Munro

‘I pray for all my friends in Australia. I pray for all the animals in Australia. I pray for the rain to put out all the fires. I pray to keep them safe. Amen’ Grace

 

P7 Robinwood 

Just a reminder to parents that the final payment for the P7 residential experience to Robinwood is due this week. Please contact the school if we can provide you with any further details or support regarding this.

 

Beat The Street  – Reminder

Do you know about Beat The Street?

A brand new initiative is coming to East Kilbride called ‘Beat The Street’ . Our visitor Val and Craig from Active Schools told us all about how we can take part.

Please see some information below regarding it. We are all very excited and know that Maxwellton is going to do really well when it is launched in a few weeks time!

We can’t wait to get all the information delivered to our schools.

https://www.beatthestreet.me/eastkilbride/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJbOghMQ5ZM

 

February Holidays and Inset Days 

Please take note of the following holidays and inset days coming up in February …

• Friday 7th February – Inset Day – School closed to pupils
• Monday 10th February – February Holiday
• Tuesday 11th February – February Holiday
• Wednesday 12th February – Inset day – School closed to pupils

School opens up again to pupils on Thursday 13th February 

 

After School Clubs

Please speak to your child so they are certain if they are going to the club on the day. Please also speak to your child about the highest standards of behaviour at all after school clubs to ensure everyone gets the best possible experience from our after school clubs.

• Monday Lego Club P2 & P3
• Monday Drama Club – P4 & P5
• Monday Netball Club – P5, P6 & P7
• Tuesday Athletics Club – P6 & P7
• Wednesday Team Sports – P5 & P6
• Thursday Boys Football – P5, P6, P7

Week Ahead

The Week Ahead…

• Monday 3rd February – Mr Harris Guitar Teacher in
• Monday 3rd February – Lego, Drama and Netball  After School Club
• Monday 3rd February – P5 Review Meetings
• Tuesday  4th February– Athletics After School Clubs
• Tuesday 4th February – Mr MacDonald Drum and Percussion Teacher in
• Tuesday 4th February – P1 Numeracy Workshop 1.30pm
• Tuesday 4th February – P7 Review Meetings
• Wednesday 5th February  – P6 Review Meetings
• Wednesday 5th February   – Team Sports After School
• Wednesday 5th February – P3 Trip to Amazonia
• Wednesday 5th February  – P7 Final payments to Robinwood due
• Thursday 6th February –  Boys Football After School Club
• Thursday 6th February – Maxwellton Pyjama Day!
• Friday 7th February – In-service Day – School Closed to pupils

Menu for the Week beginning 3rd February…

The Nursery menu for this week is Week ONE from the Winter Menu . Please see link below.

CEN_PDF Go Fresh Nursery LUNCH winter 2019 parent flyer (A2924017)

 

The School menu for this week is Week ONE from the Winter Menu  also. Please see the link below.

CEN_GFC winter 19 parent leaflet_secured (A2930223)

January 13th -24th

We have had a lovely and very productive fortnight in school with lots of learning and activity going on.

It has been lovely to see so many of our families in and about the school for various activities this week. This has been a highlight!

We have thoroughly enjoyed seeing our families at the nursery ‘Wee Blether’, P5 Showcase of learning and of course P1 enrolment week.

We greatly appreciate whenever you are able to come into the school and would like to thank you for this.

We want families to feel welcome when they come into Maxwellton and for our school to be a place for our families and community.

#Teammaxi

 

 

 

We do hope that you have had an opportunity to visit our school blogs and see all that is happening within our school

Every week there will be an updated HT blog just like this one with school news.

Each class will also have their own class blog and will post photographs and contents of what they are learning in their classrooms each week.

The link to each of our classroom blogs is below for you to click on.  Please do view your child’s classroom blog and ask them about the photographs and all that they are learning each week. The children love showing the photographs and talking about their learning!

We hope you enjoy!

We always start of our week together with an assembly on Monday afternoons. This is an important opportunity to come together as a school family and spend time together at the beginning of a new week.

During our ‘Climate Change’ focus at assembly we continued to discuss the Australian bush fires.  Harry in P7 did an excellent PowerPoint presentation on this. Harry had created this at home and it included many images which really helped us all to understand the severity of this situation.

We continued to discuss ‘Rights of the Child’ with our continued focus on articles 28. ‘All children and young people have a right to free primary education’ . This linked well with Harry’s PowerPoint as we learned that many schools have been destroyed as part of the bush fires.

 

 

Beat The Street 

At assembly on Monday we also heard about a brand new initiative coming to East Kilbride called ‘Beat The Street’ . Our visitor Val and Craig from Active Schools told us all about how we can take part.

Please see some information below regarding it. We are all very excited and know that Maxwellton is going to do really well when it is launched in a few weeks time!

We can’t wait to get all the information delivered to our schools.

https://www.beatthestreet.me/eastkilbride/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJbOghMQ5ZM

P5 – Youth Music Initiative

 

We were all super proud of P5 as they delivered their P5 YMI showcase to us. The amount they have learned through this project was incredible and we loved the way the pupils had learned such technical musical  terms and concepts but had learned it in such a fun way through games and activities! We all learned a lot and they kept us all entertained as the delivered their showcase to parents and P4.  The pupils were an absolute credit to themselves, their families and the school. We would like to say a huge thank you to Ms Hollinger who taught P5 music every Wednesday from August -January. We will certainly miss you! We look forward to embedding all with have learned within our classroom.

Scottish Assembly

We look forward to welcoming families to our Scottish Assembly on Wednesday 29th January at 1.15pm.

Each class will perform a Scottish song and poem and entertain you with all they have been learning regarding this.

Tickets will go on sale from Monday 13th January and P7 will be leading us in this whole event and developing  and showcasing their leadership skills along the way. Tickets cost £2  and are limited to 2 per family at present.

We will also be holding a Scottish raffle and are greatly appreciate of any Scottish produce donations.

We look forward to celebrating this day with you.

Please note there will be no tickets sold on the door. Tickets must be bought in advance. 

Breakfast Club- All Welcome! 

Just a reminder that Maxwellton has its own breakfast club with runs from 7.45am-9.00am Monday to Friday. If your child would be interested in attending the breakfast club then application forms can be picked up at the office. This is a free breakfast club and no charge is applied. Children are welcome to use the breakfast club whenever needed once the application has been completed.

Please note that it is the parental responsibility to ensure your child is at breakfast club. Breakfast club staff do a register on arrival. It is the parental responsibility to ensure your child enters breakfast club and staff recommend all children are accompanied in the morning to the door. Staff do not contact families if children do not attend breakfast club and are working on the understanding that all children have been put into breakfast club by an adult. 

P1 Enrolment Week 

What a delight it was to register our new P1’s and welcome their families to Maxwellton.

The journey towards starting school in August has now fully began.

Maxwellton will host some P1 transition days for our new children .

The dates of these transition days are …

• Thursday 30th April @ 1.15pm – 2.30pm
• Wednesday 6^th May @ 1.15pm- 2.30pm
• Wednesday 20th May @ 1.15pm -2.30pm
• Tuesday 2^nd June @ 9.15pm -10.30am

We look forward to welcoming everyone on these dates.

 

Additional Support Needs Meetings 

It has been a delight to see so many families in the school over the past few weeks attending additional support needs meetings for their child. Mrs Brown our Principal Teacher is the Additional Support Needs Coordinator in Maxwellton and has been leading in all of these meetings.

If you have have concerns about your child’s learning or would like to discuss it further then please do not hesitate to contact the school.

P7 Transition Meetings

It was also been wonderful to meet with Ms Owens the new Depute Head Teacher from Calderglen High School this week.  Some of our P7 transition meetings took place this week and it was good to work with her and our families in preparing our pupils for transition. If you have any concerns regarding your child’s transition to high school, please do not hesitate to contact the school also.

Attendance Monitoring

At Maxwellton we believe that excellent attendance is key in raising attainment and developing healthy and happy relationships in school. We monitor the attendance of all pupils closely and work in partnership with families to support better attendance and time keeping at school.

If pupil attendance falls below 90% then the school will issue an attendance letter to parents. Thank you to all our families that have received a letter this month and have telephoned the school to work in partnership to improve attendance.

May I take this opportunity to remind all parents that if your child is going to be absent from school then you must phone the school office before 9am to report the absence. There is the option to leave a message to report an absence so this can be done as soon as you know your child is going to be off.

The school office staff are still having to phone round a large number of parents that have not reported their child’s absence. This task takes staff a long time to do and could be avoided if absence procedures are followed by all. I thank you in advance for your support in this matter and in helping to maximise the office staffs time. 

 

Head Teacher Coffee & Chat

This Friday sees our first HT Coffee and Chat of 2020! Come along for a coffee and tea and to hear about all the workings of our school!

Friday 31st January 9.15am

 

Playground – Health & Safety 

Please note we will be closing over one of our gates in the playground for health and safety reasons as of week beginning Monday 27th January. Pupils can enter the school through the main gate at the front of the school and the back gate at the Mugga pitch area.

May I also take this opportunity to remind parents that there are no adults in the playground until 8.45am. The support staff enter the playground at this time. There should be no children in the playground unaccompanied before this time 8.45am. 

 

February Holidays and Inset Days 

Please take note of the following holidays and inset days coming up in February …

• Friday 7th February – Inset Day – School closed to pupils
• Monday 10th February – February Holiday
• Tuesday 11th February – February Holiday
• Wednesday 12th February – Inset day – School closed to pupils

School opens up again to pupils on Thursday 13th February 

 

After School Clubs

Please speak to your child so they are certain if they are going to the club on the day. Please also speak to your child about the highest standards of behaviour at all after school clubs to ensure everyone gets the best possible experience from our after school clubs.

• Monday Lego Club P2 & P3
• Monday Drama Club – P4 & P5
• Monday Netball Club – P5, P6 & P7
• Tuesday Athletics Club – P6 & P7
• Wednesday Team Sports – P5 & P6
• Thursday Boys Football – P5, P6, P7

Week Ahead

The Week Ahead…

• Monday 27th January – Mr Harris Guitar Teacher in
• Monday 27th January – Lego, Drama and Netball  After School Club
• Monday 27th January – P4 Review Meetings
• Monday 27th January – Assembly
• Monday 27th January – Australia Day
• Tuesday 28th January – Athletics After School Clubs
• Tuesday 28th January – Mr MacDonald Drum and Percussion Teacher in
• Tuesday 28th January – Head Teacher @ Learning Community Meeting
• Tuesday 28th January – P2  Review Meetings
• Wednesday 29th January  – Scottish Asseembly 1.15pm
• Wednesday 29th January  – Team Sports After School
• Wednesday 29th January – Parent Council Meeting 6.30pm
• Wednesday 29th January – Teaching CAT Night 7
• Thursday 30th January –  Boys Football After School Club
• Friday 31st January – HT Coffee and Chat 9am

Menu for the Week beginning 13th January…

The Nursery menu for this week is Week Three from the Winter Menu . Please see link below.

CEN_PDF Go Fresh Nursery LUNCH winter 2019 parent flyer (A2924017)

 

The School menu for this week is Week Three from the Winter Menu  also. Please see the link below.

CEN_GFC winter 19 parent leaflet_secured (A2930223)

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!

We are delighted to have returned to school this week and would like to wish all our families a very happy new year for 2020!

We trust everyone enjoyed the holidays and had a lovely time with family and friends. It has been wonderful to hear all the children’s stories of their time over the Christmas break.

We look forward to working hard and settling down to a brand new term and year.

Blogs!

New for this year are our school blogs! We want to keep our families up to date in all that is happening in Maxwellton. We piloted this last year and now we are ready to go in all classes!

Every week there will be an updated HT blog just like this one with school news.

Each class will also have their own class blog and will post photographs and contents of what they are learning in their classrooms each week.

The link to each of our classroom blogs is below for you to click on.  Please do view your child’s classroom blog and ask them about the photographs and all that they are learning each week. The children love showing the photographs and talking about their learning!

We hope you enjoy!

 

We started off our new term with an assembly on Monday and a time together.

At this assembly we recapped our 3 School Rules…

• Respect Others
• Respect Yourself
• Respect Learning

We also discussed standards of behaviour and taking in a pride in who we are at Maxwellton. We recapped our 3 Relentless Routines …

• Meet and Greet
• Wonderful walking
• Hands up for silence

The children gave full answers and explanations in discussing our school rules and routines.  Please ask them to tell you all about it at home too!

Every week at assembly we also have a ‘Climate Change’ focus. This is at the pupils request. This week we spoke about the bush fires in Australia and the devastating events that are taking place there just now for families and wildlife.We discussed all the ways we can help and respond and will be thinking about this more for ‘Australia Day‘ at the end of January. The idea of global citizenship was discussed and that we are all citizens of the one planet.

At our assemblies we also discuss ‘Rights of the Child’.

Our focus this week was articles 28 and 31. ‘All children and young people have a right to free primary education’ and ‘All children and young people have a right to relax and play and to join in a wide range of activities. We discussed our new year resolutions and targets and goals that we would like to set to challenge ourselves. We agreed to keep each other accountable, especially about making beds and keeping bedrooms tidy!!!

Huge well done to P7 who won class of the week at assembly for P4-P7!

P1-P3 all won class of the week as their behaviour during assembly was outstanding. Well done!

The class of the week receives 5 minutes extra play on a Friday!

Dates for your Diary – January -April 2020

Please find below a link to the dates for your diary sheet for January to April 2020.

Diary Dates January -April

 

P1 Enrolment Week

If your child is due to start school in August of 2020, please telephone our school office on 01355 222 521 to arrange an enrolment appointment.

Dates of enrolment at Maxwellton Primary School are…

• Monday 13th January 1pm-3pm
• Tuesday 14th January 9am – 11.30am
• Wednesday 15th January 1pm-3pm
• Thursday 16th January 3pm-5pm

Please remember to bring

• Full birth certificate for your child
• 2 x proof of residence with dates within the last 3 months. This may include council tax bill, mortgage/bank statement, utility bill.

We look forward to welcoming you!

 

P5 – Youth Music Initiative

Primary 5 have been receiving music tuition from the YMI teacher since school started back in August.

P5 are now coming to the end of their block of input and look forward to showing parents all they have learned at their P5 YMI Showcase on Friday 17th January at 10am.  We extend a warm welcome to parents/carers  to attend this event. We look forward to seeing you there!

Scottish Assembly

We look forward to welcoming families to our Scottish Assembly on Wednesday 29th January at 1.15pm.

Each class will perform a Scottish song and poem and entertain you with all they have been learning regarding this.

Tickets will go on sale from Monday 13th January and P7 will be leading us in this whole event and developing  and showcasing their leadership skills along the way. Tickets cost £2  and are limited to 2 per family at present.

We will also be holding a Scottish raffle and are greatly appreciate of any Scottish produce donations.

We look forward to celebrating this day with you.

Parent Council – Burns Boogie Night!

Our Parent Council have organised a family ‘Burns Boogie Night’ on Friday 24th January 6.30pm-8.30pm in the school. A family ticket cost £5 and tickets are available from the school office. This is a wonderful opportunity to come together as a family and have a dance and a ceilidh together as well as lots of fun with school friends! Please see the parent council twitter page for more information . Twitter @MaxwelltonPC 

Achievements!

We love celebrating pupil achievements within and out with school. This week we celebrated Amy and Mitchell!

Mitchell has gained a football contract and we are absolutely delighted for him that he is following his dreams.

Amy received a dance award for best hip hop dancer. Great examples of pupils following their goals and great achievement out with school. Well done to Amy and Mitchell! We love hearing about the children’s hobbies, interests and clubs out with school.

If your child has an achievement that you would like us to celebrate at assembly, please just send your child in with an achievement slip. These can be obtained from the school office, classrooms or on the link below.

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/sl/public/maxihtblog/uploads/sites/12054/2019/05/Wider-Achievement-Slip.pdf

Classroom News – Social Studies

Our classes have started studying their new Social studies topics this week.

All classes will be studying a mini Scotland topic as they prepare for our whole school Scottish assembly. This will involve them developing their understanding of the history, heritage and culture of Scotland as they learn and prepare for our assembly.

Below allows you to see what each class will be studying this term in Social studies…

P1 – Transport and Mapping – People, place and environment

P2 – Toys through the generations – People, past events and societies

P3 – The Rainforest – People, place and environment

P4 – The Vikings – People, past events and societies

P5 – Titanic – People, past events and societies

P6 – Scottish Parliament – people, society, economy and business

P7 – World War II

After School Clubs

Just a note to say that out after school clubs will be starting back up again week beginning Monday 13th January .

Please speak to your child so they are certain if they are going to the club on the day. Please also speak to your child about the highest standards of behaviour at all after school clubs to ensure everyone gets the best possible experience from our after school clubs.

• Monday Lego Club P2 & P3
• Monday Drama Club – P4 & P5
• Monday Netball Club – P5, P6 & P7
• Tuesday Athletics Club – P6 & P7
• Wednesday Team Sports – P5 & P6
• Thursday Boys Football – P5, P6, P7

Week Ahead

The Week Ahead…

• Monday 13th January – Mr Harris Guitar Teacher in
• Monday 13th January – Lego, Drama and Netball  After School Club
• Monday 13th January – P1 Enrolment Appointments 1pm-3pm
• Monday 13th January – Assembly & Learning Conversations & Pupil Voice Groups
• Tuesday 14th January – Athletics After School Clubs
• Tuesday 14th January – Mr MacDonald Drum and Percussion Teacher in
• Tuesday 14th January – P1 Enrolment Appointments 9am – 11.30am
• Tuesday 14th January – Ms Harper in EAL Teacher visiting nursery
• Wednesday 15th January  – P1 Enrolment Appointments 1pm-3pm
• Wednesday 15th January  – Multi sports After School
• Thursday 16th January – HT attending Cost of the School Day & Inclusion Conference
• Thursday 16th January – Netball Festival
• Thursday 16th January – P1 Enrolment 3pm-5pm
• Thursday 16th January – Boys Football After School Club
• Friday 17th January – P5 YMI performance 10am – Parents welcome to attend
• Friday 17th January – Sporthall Athletics
• Friday 17th January – Last day for P1 Enrolment

Menu for the Week beginning 13th January…

The Nursery menu for next week is Week one from the Winter Menu . Please see link below.

CEN_PDF Go Fresh Nursery LUNCH winter 2019 parent flyer (A2924017)

 

The School menu for next week is Week One from the Winter Menu  also. Please see the link below.

CEN_GFC winter 19 parent leaflet_secured (A2930223)

Sporting Achievements at Maxi!

Athletics

A huge congratulations to all our pupils who attended the Athletics championships on the 10th May.

The effort from all involved was brilliant with teachers and helpers commenting on the sportsmanship and behaviour during this event from our children.

Well done to all that took part and represented our school with pride. We looked the part this time also as we modelled our new tracksuits bought for our pupils by our Parent Council .

A special congratulations to our medal winners below who will now go on and represent our school in the athletics final. Great job girls! All of Maxi is behind you!

Handball

Equally representing our school with pride last week was our amazing Handball teams! The Handball tournament took place on Friday 17th May. I am delighted to report that both our boys and girls team returned to school with medals. Our boys team came 2nd in the whole tournament and our girls team came 3rd. A huge thank you has to go to Heather Robertson, one of our parents who has tirelessly coached our handball team every Friday after school for the past year and even before that. Heather takes the club every Friday and is helped by students from Calderglen High School. Thank you Heather for all that you do. We really appreciate it.  I know you were bursting with pride also at both teams results. Our school also has a strong representation at the local East Kilbride Handball club and we would like to thank them also for their partnership in sporting achievements in our school.

 

 P3 Rainforest Showcase

I was so proud of P3 last week who put on an amazing showcase of learning all about their Rainforest topic. Not only did the showcase display how much they had all learned but it was witty, entertaining and allowed every pupil to shine! I particularly liked our tour guides and the strong leadership skills they possessed and also the family quiz at the end was a great hit too. I was bursting with pride as P3  performed for parents because not only did our children display their learning but they clearly loved every moment of it also. A huge thank you to all our parents and grandparents who turned up to see it. We love that you support our learning in this way. Thank you! We even managed to navigate an unplanned fire alarm too in the middle of it all. Well done P3 and Ms Short for all your hard work. It was a delight to attend.

 

 

 

P2 Outing to The Rural Life Museum

P2 loved every minute of their trip to the farm last week and the Rural Life Museum also. A huge congratulations has to go to P2 as on return to school their teacher was beaming about their behaviour during the outing and the way they had conducted themselves. Well done P2! I know you worked very hard to keep high standards of behaviour and were very excited and enthusiastic about this trip beforehand. You represented us well P2! I posted some photos of this on Twitter for parents , although they did return to school with over 100 photos from their trip so I did my best! A great time had by all and a trip to enhance their ‘Farm’ topic.

Playground Fun in the Sun

We are working hard at Maxwellton to make sure that our behaviour outside in the playground matches the same high standards of behaviour that we expect inside in our learning classrooms. Learning how to play safely and in a fun way in a more social and relaxed setting such as the playground is an important social skill for all our children to learn.  This can be hard for children to navigate at times and like any learning there can sometimes be mistakes which pupils can learn from. Please could you take some time to partner with us to discuss with your child the standards and expectations of behaviour in our playgrounds.

We have two main rules in our playground…

1. Kind hands and kind feet at all times
2. Kind words to all

We teach our children to treat others as they would like to be treated. Physical hitting of any kind cannot be tolerated and this is reflected in our first rule. Ensuring that we treat others as we would like to be treated is reflected in our second rule.

This term at Maxwellton classes have worked hard learning about stamping out meanness and ‘No Put Downs’ . Please speak to your child also about ensuring that their words are kinds words that build others up and discuss the damage that unkind words can do to all.

We will continue to work hard on this as a school and will be updating our behaviour position statement in the new term in line with training and the national ‘Respect Me’ campaign. Behaviour will be a major focus of our school improvement plan next year as we work together to make Maxwellton the best place and school it can be.

I would like to take time to thank my support staff who offer activities at play times and lunch times to our children to ensure that there is something for all to do and to ensure that play is purposeful so that opportunities for good behaviour are increased.

Mrs Thomson and Mrs Thomson last week made sure that there were plenty of opportunities for all those who wished to get arty during breaks to develop their skills. The picnic benches were my favourite place to be last week as the sun was shining and the chat was good!

We will continue to work hard on this and would appreciate your support and partnership in discussing this with your child.

 

 

School Uniform Survey

A huge thank you to all parent and carers who have already taken part in our school uniform survey. The closing date for voting is Friday 24th May.

I have detailed the link and information below again regarding this for all those who have still to vote!

At Maxwellton Primary we take great pride in our school uniform, not only for Health and Safety reasons, but also as it identifies our learners as Maxwellton pupils and makes a statement about who we are as a school!

Our school colours are a red jumper and white shirt. Over the years, a mixture of black and grey skirts, shorts and trousers have been used. Having two different colours can be confusing for new parents and provide a mismatched image.  In remedying this, we are inviting all stakeholders to vote on whether the skirts, shorts or trousers should be black or grey.  We will share the results of these findings once everyone has had an opportunity to vote. Voting will close on Friday 24th May.

We will then let everyone know what the final decision has been and this will come into effect from August 2020.Please be aware that it will not start in August 2019 as we are aware some parents may have already started to buy their school uniform. Therefore once the decision is made it will commence from August 2020 giving everyone a full years notice of the colour that is decided. Thank you for your support in this and for helping us maintain high standards at Maxwellton.

Please find a link to the survey to vote below!https://forms.gle/MxGCYGGw6nGJ3rUt9

 

 

Maxi Movies

It is Maxi Movie time again and we are delighted that our Parent Council are hosting this event again. Thank you to all our parents and carers that responded to help as a volunteer. We need you to help run these events and were very pleased with the response we got. Thank You!  The next Maxi Movie night is Thursday 30th May 2019 at 3pm and tickets will go on sale very shortly. Pupils will be voting for the movie of their choice and again this will be revealed as soon as the children have made their selection. We will keep you posted regarding this. Looking forward to it!

 

In-house Transition – Step Up Days

As we approach the end of term we will begin our in-house transition days to prepare our children for their class next session. We do this by having ‘Step Up Afternoons’. These are a series of four step up afternoons where children go and visit the classroom and teacher that they will be getting next year. By doing this, this allows the learners time to become familiar with their new teacher and classroom and takes the unknown out of their transition. We have found that by doing a robust in-house transition like this, that it helps ease any anxieties that children may have about moving stages, classrooms or even having a different teacher. This allows the children to feel safe and secure about their transition so that they can go off and enjoy their summer holiday free of worry.  As well as this,  all parents of children with additional support needs will be invited into school in the next few weeks for a transition meeting to discuss your child’s needs as they move on into their next school year.

The dates for our in – house transition and ‘Step Up Afternoons’ are…

• Friday 31st May 1pm-3pm
• Friday 7th June 1pm-3pm
• Friday 14th June 1pm-3pm
• Friday 21st June 1pm -3pm

More information regarding classes and teachers will be issued in the next week before the beginning of ‘Step Up Afternoon 1’

We do hope your child enjoys these afternoons and finds them a beneficial part of their transition.

School Improvement – Parents and Pupils 

I would like to invite my parents or grandparents to the next Head Teacher Coffee and Chat which is taking place on Friday 31st May at 9.15am. The focus of this chat will be around the improvement priorities for next year and the self evaluation exercise taken place by staff. I would love the opportunity to share and discuss these with my parents and to gather your input and views on this also. There is always a cup of tea and coffee and usually a cake to welcome you on arrival! I look forward to seeing you there if you are able to make it.

Our pupils will be completing a pupil questionnaire in the next few weeks about our school and the learning and teaching to help provide us with feedback to aid our self evaluation and school improvement priorities for next year.

European Election & May Holidays

Just a reminder to all that the school is closed to all pupils on Thursday 23rd May due to our school being used as a Polling Station in the European Election.

The school will also be closed on Friday 24th May and Monday 27th May due to the May holidays also.

We look forward to welcoming pupils again on Tuesday 28th May at 9am.

After School Clubs

Throughout the year , our school offers a wide variety of after school clubs. These are run by teachers and volunteers throughout the session.

The majority of our after school clubs will not run in June and will end in May. This is due to how busy the last month is in school and also the amount of events that take place which often require use of the hall etc.

The following clubs will stop week beginning Monday 27th May. This week will be the last week for all of the following clubs..

• Fimo
• Torchlight
• Art & Craft
• Board Games
• K’nex and Coding

The last netball club will take place on Monday 3rd June. This is to allow a final practise before the netball final.

We will confirm the last dates of handball, multi-sports and football clubs once we have spoken to the outside coaches.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my teaching staff, support staff and volunteers who tirelessly turn up every week to provide the children in Maxwellton with after school clubs. Thank you for your commitment to our children and in providing opportunities for wider achievements. We couldn’t do it without you. On behalf of our whole school community I would like to thank you for the crucial role you have played. Many thanks also go to our office staff who phone parents and make sure registers are completed and that we are all where we should be.

Thank you to all who have been involved!

 

 

Achievements

At Maxwellton we love celebrating our pupils achievements within and out with school.

Please see some of our superstars below who have had celebrations this week.

If your child has an achievement please complete an achievement slip and send it in. Achievements slips can be obtained in each class and your child can bring one home or please see the link below to print one out.

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/sl/public/maxihtblog/uploads/sites/12054/2019/05/Wider-Achievement-Slip.pdf

Achievements this week…

P1 – Matilda completed a 5K run in Glasgow and brought her medal in to show everyone!

P1 – Heather completed the next level in her gymnastics and is doing amazing at it!

P1 – Jack brought his medals in from his rugby tournament to show everyone. He had 3 medals!

P2 – Craig has won a trophy in football and scored 5 goals and was player of the week! What a star!

P4 – Jamie completed ‘Tough Mudder’ and brought in the most amazing photos to show everyone. He was covered in mud!

P5 – Ava has sat her ballet exam and received a merit in her examination. She even showed us some moves!

P6 – Emily completed a 5K at Strathclyde Park and brought her medal in for everyone to see. Well done Emily!

P7 – Keira also completed ‘Tough Mudder’ in a remarkable time! What an achievement Keira! We loved her photo of sliding down the mud slide!

Well done everyone! I loved hearing about your achievements at assembly and celebrating you!

What interesting lives you all lead! Keep all the achievements coming. Every Monday at assembly – it’s achievement celebration!

 

 

The Week Ahead…

• Monday 20th May – Mr Harris Guitar Teacher in
• Monday 20th May – Fimo & Torchlight After School Club
• Monday 20th May – Maxwellton Danceathon Event!
• Tuesday 21st May – Art and Craft & Boards Games After School Clubs
• Tuesday 21st May – Mr MacDonald Drum and Percussion Teacher in
• Tuesday 21st May – Nursery Visitor – Emma Meikle from Early Years Team to visit Nursery
• Wednesday 22nd May – P5-P7 Girls Football & Multi Sports P1 after school clubs
• Wednesday 22nd May – P5 Swimming Lessons 1pm
• Wednesday 22nd May – P4 Musical Showcase 2pm
• Wednesday 22nd May – 2 x P7 pupils to Calderglen Arts Festival
• Thursday 23rd May – School closed to pupils – European Election
• Friday 25th May – May Holiday – School closed to pupils and staff
• Monday 27th May – May Holiday – School closed to pupils and staff

 

 Lunch Menu

This week’s lunch menu is Week Two from our Summer menu.

Please see the menu below and link to the full menu flyer.

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/sl/public/maxihtblog/uploads/sites/12054/2019/05/CEN_Go_Fresh_Primary_summer_2019_parent_flyer.pdf

That’s the update for this week everyone.

Thank you for all your continued support as we journey together.

Mrs Laing Head Teacher