The last week was a busy one for all in St. John’s.

The highlight of this week was our Validated Self-Evaluation by South Lanarkshire Council. We welcomed Mrs Ann O’Neill and Mrs Jan McLaren, Quality Improvement Officers, to the school on Wednesday as part of a visit to quality check the school’s self-evaluation processes and the teaching and learning. They spoke with me about progress of our School Improvement Plan and then visited classes throughout the day. They met with groups of pupils to talk about their learning. I am delighted to say that they were thoroughly impressed by our school and the quality of teaching and learning that takes place. They commented that children were confident, have high aspirations and were fully motivated and engaged in a range of learning activities. They highlighted that the skilled use of questioning by teachers led to a deeper understanding of concepts being taught and that all learners were supported well.

Fantastic feedback and a huge well done and thank you to all the pupils and staff whose dedication and commitment, make St. John’s Primary a tremendous place to work and learn!

On Monday the teaching staff met with our colleagues from across the Holy Cross High School at St. John the Baptist Primary School. We listened to an inspirational presentation by Ian Hart from Education Scotland, about raising attainment in our schools. This was followed by collegiate working on aspects of the Learning Community Improvement Plan.

Christmas preparations are well under way now and Primary 1 and 2 have been working very hard on their Nativity. Primary 3 to 7 have chosen the songs/carols that they will perform and are practising hard too.

In the classrooms:

Primary 1/2

The boys and girls have been working hard learning about Money. They have been working in the class Post Office/Toy Shop using money in a real life setting. The children have deigned their own Christmas stamps to sell as part of their Enterprise topic for this term.

Primary 2/3/4

The boys and girls have been learning about money and how to count and give change. They have been using their money skills to budget for a ‘camping’ or ‘glamping’ trip. They have also started to learn about and use Scots language to celebrate the forthcoming St. Andrew’s Day celebrations. The teachers tell me they are doing braw!

Primary 5/6/7

The pupils are continuing their work on money, working on budgeting for various projects including, parties, holidays and making their own movies! The pupils are working collaboratively to produce a PowerPoint presentation to ‘pitch’ their Enterprise product to the rest of the school at Assembly.

Just a reminder of a few upcoming events this week. We have the Partnership Group meeting on Wednesday at 6.00 pm. On Thursday morning we hope to attend Mass but are awaiting confirmation from Fr Stephen and finally on Friday we have our Christmas Fayre in the school from 3.00 until 5.00 pm. Please come along and support the school.

Many thanks for reading my blog.

Mrs McCart

Head Teacher

On Monday we welcomed Mrs Montgomery a PGDE student from Strathclyde University who will be working in the Primary 1/2 class until the 15th  of December. We hope she has an enjoyable time in our school.

On Thursday of this week I attended the Head Teacher’s conference where one of the keynote speakers was Dr Janet Goodall who spoke about the importance of parental engagement in closing the attainment gap. It was good to hear that some of the strategies she was speaking about are already in place in our school but there is always room for improvement and so I hope to discuss this at the forthcoming Partnership Group meeting on the 30th of November.

On Thursday the whole school took part in Judo taster sessions with Andy Malone. The children thoroughly enjoyed the sessions and participated enthusiastically. Andy is a very experienced coach and has classes running throughout South Lanarkshire and we thank him for giving up his time to come along to our school.

On Friday afternoon we had our first COGS session.  The focus of discussion was the learning and teaching of Numeracy and Mathematics in our school. The teachers who facilitated each group were delighted with the way the pupils could articulate their opinions and thoughts about what and how they learn in this important curricular area.  Everyone found it an enjoyable and interesting activity. Mrs Kelly and I will collate all the information gathered and feedback the results in the near future.

This week also saw the start of our festive preparations with rehearsals underway for the Primary 1 and 2 Nativity. It’s hard to believe it is that time of year already!

In the classes this week it has been business as usual.

Primary 1/2

The children have been working on lots of active learning in their new initial sounds (P1) and spelling (P2). In Numeracy they have been working on money, recognising coins and counting amounts. The pupils have also been introduced to their new topic “The Jolly Christmas Postman”.

Primary 2/3/4

In Numeracy, the pupils have been working on money this week. They have been using their addition skills to help them find totals up to £1, £5 and £20. In Literacy the class have been looking at persuasive writing techniques and  have watched a Newsround report on the US election to help them.

Primary 5/6/7

The class have been working very hard in their groups to create their business plans for their Enterprise topic. Mr Hall and Miss Wadsworth report that things are looking very interesting. In Literacy the children have been writing letters from the trenches to commemorate 100 years since the Battle of the Somme. In Numeracy the pupils have continued to investigate money, including how to work out a budget.

This week we welcome Mrs Fagan from Holy Cross High School for the Primary 7 Information evening on Tuesday at 5.30 pm.  The Primary 2, 3, 4 pupils visit the Vue Cinema in Hamilton for a screening of Pete’s Dragon on Thursday of this week. Next Monday the 21st of November is an in-service day and the teaching staff will be spending the day at St. John the Baptist Primary School with our colleagues from the Holy Cross learning community where we will be working together on aspects of the Learning Community improvement plan.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Mrs McCart

Head Teacher

I begin my blog this week with a special event which took place this afternoon. Some of the Primary 6 pupils, along with Mr Hall and myself,  took part in the enrolment service for the Pope Francis Faith Award  at 12 o’clock Mass in Our Lady & St. John’s church. The young people requested support from their families, the parish community and the school as they embark on a journey to develop their personal faith by putting it into action through using their talents and gifts to help those around them. Thank you Caitlin Cairney and Adam Brennan for doing the Offertory Procession and Caitlyn Tops and Ethan McGee for reading so well. Thank you also to Father Stephen for his help and support.

On Tuesday of this week we attended Mass in the church for the Feast of All Saints and the children behaved impeccably, particularly our new Primary 1 pupils.

In the classes this week the boys and girls have been very busy…

Primary 1/2

The children have completed their class charter as part of the Making Rights Real programme. The children worked with Mrs Kelly to talk about what makes a happy classroom and agreed how they could achieve this by their actions. In topic the children have been using their information handling skills by counting mini beasts and displaying the results in a bar graph. The children were also creating ‘spooky’ 3D objects as part of their Halloween Maths on Monday of this week. In RE the children have finished learning about the Rosary.

Primary 2/3/4

In Literacy, the children have been writing imaginative stories using the outdoor learning area as a stimulus. In Numeracy & Mathematics the class have begun work on money concepts. They will be looking at coins, totals, calculating change and learning about handling budgets. These skills will then be applied in the class Christmas Enterprise topic. In Science the children have planted their Spring bulbs in the community garden. The class have also completed their class charter for the Making Rights Real and have it proudly displayed in their class.

Primary 5/6/7

The boys and girls have started work on money problems in Numeracy & Maths, including calculating change and looking at the concept of interest payments in the context of credit and debit cards. The children have now been organised into their collaborative  working groups, ready to start work on their Christmas Enterprise topic.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Mrs McCart

Head Teacher