I hope you all had a very enjoyable and restful October holiday. I can’t believe we are in the second term already! It has been a very busy week in the school. On Thursday we had our Curriculum Evening. This was an opportunity for parents and carers to see round the classrooms, view teaching resources and chat to the teachers about the curriculum for their children’s age and stage. Thank you to everyone who attended. We received very positive comments from parents who remarked on the high quality of display in the corridors and classrooms, as well as finding it useful to have a chance to see first hand, the positive learning environment for our pupils.

As you know, a focus for school improvement this year is a review of approaches to the learning and teaching of Numeracy & Mathematics. As part of our self-evaluation process we want to gather stakeholders’ views on how we teach this important curricular area and are seeking feedback from the pupils and parents and carers. Your should have received a survey last week and we would be very grateful if you could complete this and return to school as soon as possible.

Primary 7 pupils began their cycle safety training on Thursday and with bikes passing road worthiness checks, the children are ready to begin their training in earnest this week. My thanks to Miss Wadsworth and Mrs Birtles for supporting the pupils in this important life skill. Fingers crossed we keep this lovely Autumn weather!

In the classrooms this week, the children have been hard at work.

Primary1/2

The boys and girls have been learning about the different types of mini beasts and how to sort them into categories. They have also been learning about food chains. Primary 1 continue to build upon their knowledge of  single sounds in their Phonics and primary 2 are developing their reading vocabulary.

Primary 2/3/4

The adventures of the Secret Island continue as the children explore how they will travel to their secret island. In Numeracy & Mathematics the children are focussing on subtraction.

Primary 5/6/7

The children have completed their work on place value in Numeracy & Mathematics and are now further developing their mental agility by looking at various mental strategies. The class have been working collaboratively to produce a presentation for their topic on transport.

The week was rounded off with spooky celebrations as the staff and pupils took part in a Halloween Parade and disco. The children looked fantastic in their costumes and rounded off the day with a tasty ice cream treat, kindly donated by Tesco and after school,  had ‘spooktacular’ fun at the disco. Many thanks to the Partnership Group for organising this, with particular thanks to Mrs Cairney, Mrs Kydd, Miss Livingstone, Miss McTaggart, Mrs Tops and Mr Kydd our fantastic DJ!

Finally, looking to the week ahead, the whole school will attend Mass on Tuesday 1st of November at 9.10 am in the church for the feast of All Saints. Then on Wednesday we have our monthly Partnership Group meeting at 6.00 pm. On Friday, our school football and netball teams will take part in their first tournament of the year at Blackwood Primary School and we wish both teams the best of luck!

Thank you for reading my blog.

Mrs McCart

Head Teacher

We said goodbye to Primary 6 and 7 on Monday afternoon as the bus was packed and they headed off for a week of adventure at Lockerbie Manor. What a week they had! We were all kept up to date throughout the week hearing of abseiling, night walks, canoeing and zip slides to name only a few of the activities. However, for me the success of the week was no more evident than when you saw the smiling, excited boys and girls return to school, buzzing to tell all their stories of adventure. The staff at Lockerbie Manor were full of our praise for our youngsters, consistently commenting on their positive attitude, manners, teamwork and encouragement for others throughout the whole week. I am immensely proud of all our Primary  6 and 7 boys and girls– well done! A huge thanks has to go to Miss Wadsworth and Mr Hall who accompanied our pupils and provided first class care and support throughout the week as well. I’ve posted some photographs below. You can see more photographs on our Twitter account @StJohns.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Mrs McCart

I was delighted this week to visit the classes and speak to pupils about their learning and life in their classroom. The boys and girls of St. John’s continue to impress with their enthusiastic attitude to their learning and their understanding of the skills for life, learning and work that they are developing. There was also much excitement this week as our senior pupils prepared for their outward bound excursion to Lockerbie Manor. We say goodbye to Primary 6 and 7 pupils, Miss Wadsworth and Mr Hall on Monday afternoon as they head off for a week of adventure.We will keep you up to date  throughout the week by text, Twitter and the school digital poster as we hear tales of daring do in abseiling, hill walks, canoeing and zip slides to name only a few of the activities. We wish them all a fantastic trip.

The school was delighted this week to receive a gift of  six beautiful crucifixes from Father Stephen. These have been put in the classrooms and Head Teacher and school offices. Our grateful thanks goes to Father Stephen for his kindness and generosity.

In the classrooms this week…

Primary 1/2

Primary 1 have been developing their knowledge of 2D shapes and their properties while Primary 2 have been developing their knowledge of 3D objects. In Literacy, Primary 1 continue to build on their knowledge of initial sounds and Primary 2 are developing their knowledge of spelling rules through a variety of active tasks. The whole class have been on a minibeast hunt in the community garden and have enjoyed creating their own sensory minibeast habitat in the classroom.

Primary 2/3/4

In Numeracy Primary 2 have been learning about place value of  2 digit numbers. Primary 3 are using their addition skills and learning about place value of 3 digit numbers while Primary 4 work with 4 digit numbers in place value. In Literacy the children are doing very well in learning new spelling rules and are developing their reading skills through a variety of activities, including focussing on characterisation. A ‘secret island’ has been created in the classroom and the children have been designing and building dens as part of their IDL topic.

Primary 5/6/7

In Numeracy the pupils have been learning about place value up to 9 digit numbers and have demonstrated great understanding of reading and writing these numbers. In Literacy they have been looking at ‘Connecting’ in their higher order reading skills- this is where the children make links with events in their reading books and  their own lives and the world around them. The class continues to explore sustainability issues and conserving the world’s resources as part of their IDL topic.

Finally, just a reminder that our Partnership Group meeting takes place tomorrow at 6.00 pm in the school and not Wednesday 5th of October.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Mrs McCart

Head Teacher