It has been a very busy week with everyone well and truly settled back into the school routine. Over the past two weeks the children have been doing revision work such as their multiplication tables, spelling patterns etc. and Primary 1 are well in to their Phonics and Numeracy programme. We are implementing a new approach to the teaching of spelling this year as part of our school improvement plan. You may hear your child speak about Elkonin boxes and diacritical marking but don’t panic, an information leaflet will be issued very soon and you will have the opportunity to see resources and chat to the class teachers at our Meet the Teacher coffee morning on the 21st of September.
Our Primary 6 and 7 pupils have been very busy preparing their materials for the forthcoming election of our House and Vice Captains. This is practical way of developing our young people’s understanding of living in a democracy and the role of government, as well as enhancing their communication and team working skills. Hustings and voting will take place this week and we wish the candidates the very best of luck!
Primary 7 transition to secondary school has already begun as the pupils had a visit from Mrs Watters from Holy Cross High School on Friday to introduce herself and have a chat to them. The next part of transition will take place on Monday the 11th of September as the children and their families are invited to attend the P7 Welcome Mass at 6.30 pm in Holy Cross.
Awareness of road safety is a crucial life skill and this is promoted in the school by our Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSO). The boys and girls in P5/6/7 submitted application forms for the role of JRSO officers and I’m delighted to congratulate Tiva Chakona (P5) and Erin Guthrie (P6) who have been selected to take up this important role by Mrs Carty.
On Thursday the children also went along to the official opening of Blackwood Park on the day and had a fantastic time at what is a fabulous resource for the local community. Caitlyn Tops in P7 was a runner up in the design competition for a new logo for the park. Well done Caitlyn!
Our afterschool clubs will begin over the next two weeks and letters have been issued for these. I am delighted with the response from the staff in providing these extra-curricular opportunities for the children. It means that there is an afterschool club on every day of the week. We are also looking at opportunities for P1-P3 and more information on this and the Friday afterschool club will follow in due course.
Mrs Birtles has organised a Garden Tidy day this Tuesday before the Gardening Club begins. Thank you to all of our volunteers who are coming along on to help; hopefully we get a nice sunny day!
Homework will be issued this week and as previously, this will be given out on a Monday and handed back in on a Friday. I will also be issuing a special homework task to pupils this week inviting them to take part in a competition to celebrate Maths Week. Maths Week is an initiative which aims to encourage greater enthusiasm for and increase participation in maths. A poster will be uploaded on the school website with more information.
Finally we held our first Partnership Group meeting of the new school session on Wednesday 30th of August. We just managed a quorum of 4 parents which allowed the meeting to go ahead. I would urge all parents and carers to become involved with the Partnership Group as parental engagement and involvement in their child’s education has a positive impact on attainment and achievement. I also greatly value the support received from the Partnership Group and the contribution they make to St. John’s. Our next meeting is on Wednesday the 4th of October at 6.30 pm and I look forward to seeing some of you there.
Many thanks for reading my blog.
Mrs Yvonne McCart
