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
