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
