It’s hard to believe we are already two weeks in to the new term! It has been a very busy time and things will only get busier as we gear up for, dare I say it, Christmas!

The P6/7 pupils are back in to the school routine after their adventures at Lockerbie Manor. The children had a wonderful time and participated wholeheartedly in all the activities. The children were also commended for their behaviour and manners by the staff at Lockerbie. Well done to all! The children were challenged and sometimes felt out of their comfort zone, but they discovered new depths of courage and learned new skills. It was a fantastic week and my thanks to Miss McEwan and Mr Hall for accompanying the children. Thank you also to Mr Cairney for his assistance during the trip. Here are a few photos from the week, although you can see lots more on Twitter.

We also had our Hallowe’en Disco organised by the Partnership Group on the 26th of October. The children had a ball and the costumes were absolutely fantastic as always. My thanks to the Partnership Group for organising this and to those who helped out. On Wednesday of this week we had a special visitor, Andy Malone, who was accompanied by his dad, Neil. Andy achieved European Gold in Judo this year and came into the school to talk to the children about his sport and the importance of hard work and resilience if you want to achieve success. The children were treated to Judo demonstrations and got the opportunity to see Andy’s gold medal.

Thank you to the parents who came along on Tuesday afternoon to our Literacy workshop for P1 to P3. Unfortunately it was a very small turnout, with only 3 parents attending. There was the opportunity for parents and carers to find out how they can support their children with their Literacy skills. Mrs Smith, Senior Educational Psychologist, explained how the paired reading strategy helps support and develop children’s reading skills and Mrs Kelly advised how to support children with phonics and spelling by explaining how these are taught in the class. Ms Meinicke, our English as an Additional language teacher also came along to offer support to parents of pupils who have English as an additional language.

On Thursday morning we joined the parishioners of Our Lady & St. John’s for Mass to celebrate All Saints Day.

Friday was a bittersweet day as we officially said goodbye to Mrs Horne, our Cook in Charge, at a special assembly on Friday afternoon. Mrs Horne worked in the school for over 22 years and was a big part of the St. John’s family. We will miss her very much but wish her a long and happy retirement. We welcome Ms Charlene Reid, who will take over from Mrs Horne.

The classes have also been very busy this week:

Primary 1

The children have been enjoying the taking part in Hallowe’en activities in the classroom and have linked this to their Literacy by writing spooky spells in their Writing and creating lanterns in Art & Design.

Primary 2/3

The children have been using the internet to research their topic on China and finding lots of interesting facts. Primary 2 are working hard in Numeracy & Mathematics exploring numbers to 100 and adding and subtracting within numbers to 20. Primary 3 are using their knowledge of Place Value and numbers to 1000, to problem solve in Numeracy.

Primary 4/5

The children have been working hard on multiplication and using these skills to solve word problems in Numeracy. They have also learned about the legend of Finn McCool and the Giant’s Causeway. The children have made the two giants, McCool and Benandonner, for their class display.

P5/6/7

The children are in the final week of their country study topic. They have been looking at festivals and customs. Primary 6 and 7 pupils are writing a Lockerbie Manor diary, while Primary 5 are writing about space tourism in their Literacy. In Numeracy and Mathematics, the whole class have been working on multiplication and division by 10, 100 and 1000.

 

Thank you for reading my blog. You can find out what is going on in the classes and the whole school as and when it’s happening, by following the school on Twitter @StJohnsBwd. This is a closed account and is only open to our families. You can find the link on the school website page.