In the event of a class having to self-isolate due to Covid-19, that class will move to remote learning on TEAMS or SEE-SAW for the period of self-isolation.
Category: Management News and Views
The category for whole school news and events
Sustrans Outside In – Fun activities for students learning at home
Sustrans Outside In provides fun ideas and inspiration for parents to bring education, health and wellbeing activities into their home.
Parents can access resources by registering for our free parent newsletter. Over four weeks, they’ll receive weekly videos, themed activities, games and challenges designed by our experienced school officers.
Information on Home Learning from 11 January, 2021
Dear Parent/Carer,
As directed by the Scottish Government remote learning will begin from Monday 11th January. The following arrangements are in place to ensure continuity of learning for your child during this time:
P1-P3 will receive learning experiences shared through Seesaw, which all children have access to using the Seesaw App or from web.seesaw.me/parents.
P4-P7 will use Microsoft 0365 Teams, which can be accessed through the children’s Glow account. Information for parents/carers on how their child uses Teams is available on the following link: bit.ly/wlglowguide
It is expected that your child accesses Seesaw/Teams daily to engage with the planned teaching and learning experiences. Your child will have a number of tasks assigned to them each day, some of which may be live or recorded lessons. As part of learning and teaching, the children will share their learning, receive feedback and support where required.
To support parents/carers to manage home learning, and ensure a consistent approach across the school, here are specific details of what to expect:
Learning in P1-7 will consist of lessons and activities related to Health and Wellbeing; Numeracy and Mathematics; Literacy and other areas of the curriculum.
Remote learning can be very difficult for families, so please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have any questions or require further information. The school email is wlcarmondean-ps@westlothian.org.uk and the telephone number is 01506 432492.
Our school team will continue to provide all available support to your child and family where we can during this challenging period.
Yours sincerely,
Gillian E Millar
Head Teacher
Artists in the Making
It is always a pleasure to see examples of good work in school, but these two pieces blew me away completely. The children in P7 have been studying the book ‘Wonder’, and one of the tasks was to re-design the book cover. I think you’ll see what I mean with these two examples:
Aaron
Raigan
What ‘Wonder’ – ful examples from both children. I look forward to seeing more of their quality work in future. Well done, boys!
Standards and Quality Report 2019-2020
Each year, we are required to compile and publish our Standards and Quality Report, summarising the progress we have made with our School Improvement Plan the preceding year and quantifying our performance against the Quality Indicators of the self-evaluation Document HGIOS 4 (How Good is Our School 4). To acces the Standards and Quality Report, please click on the link below.
If you would like to comment on the report, please leave a comment on this post.
Help Protect Vulnerable People from Fire
If you know of someone who is vulnerable and may be at risk from fire in their own home, you can request a fire safety check on their behalf. See link below for details:
Fireworks and Bonfire Safety Advice from Police Scotland, West Lothian Council & Scottish Fire & Rescue Service
In the run up to bonfire night, Police Scotland, West Lothian Council and Scottish Fire & Rescue are keen to keep everyone safe. In previous years we have seen firework-related anti-social behaviour (ASB) and disorder in this area, and we are asking for your help to prevent this occurring again. This year, we are also facing the added challenge of preventing the spread of COVID 19 within our communities. As a result organised fireworks displays and bonfires are unlikely to be permitted.
The Scottish Government is continually reviewing its COVID guidance and up to date information on what is and isn’t permissible can be found here https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
We are offering the following advice to stay safe this fireworks night:
- Unless supervised by an adult, please do not allow your children or young people to handle, purchase or set off fireworks.
- Do not allow your children or young people to be involved in or accompany anyone who is involved in ASB or disorder.
- Please report any ASB or disorder you are aware of or hear of.
- Dispose of your rubbish appropriately leading up to bonfire weekend.
- Please report any known unauthorised bonfires or firework displays by calling:
- West Lothian Council, 01506 280000
- Police Scotland, 101
- Crimestoppers, 0800 555 111
- You can report unauthorised fireworks sellers to Trading Standards anonymously by clicking the following link:
https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/article/49071/Report-a-Trading-Standards-Issue-Anonymously
Unauthorised bonfires and firework displays have resulted in serious harm and injury in the past. Further bonfire safety advice can be found here https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/your-safety/bonfire-safety.aspx
Legislation
- No person under the age of 18 can possess an adult* firework in a public place
- It is an offence to supply adult* fireworks to persons under 18
- It is an offence to supply any fireworks to persons under 16
- It is an offence to throw fireworks on a road or other public place
*Adult firework is any firework except for caps, cracker snaps, indoor fireworks, novelty matches, party poppers, serpents and throw downs.
Those who choose to get involved in antisocial behaviour or disorder on or around the 5 November 2020 will be dealt with robustly and may also be subject to prosecution.
Please help us make sure that everyone has a safe and enjoyable bonfire night.
Thank you in advance for your understanding and assistance.
Kind regards,
Police Scotland, West Lothian Council & Scottish Fire & Rescue Service
In-Service Day Reminder
Just a reminder that Tuesday, 20 October is an in-service day and children will not be in school. Primary School pupils resume on Wednesday, 21 October.
Parent/Teacher Interviews
Each parent/carer who signed up for a parent/teacher interview via Skype for Business should now have received a Groupcall containing the link to that meeting. As this is the first time we have tried anything like this on such a scale, there is the chance everything will not go according to plan. In that scenario, we would ask for your patience and understanding.
If you wil be using this system for an interview, please bear the following in mind:
Please log in to the meeting via the link you have been sent no earlier than 5 minutes before your appointment start time.
When asked to input your name, please input the name of your child for easy identification by the teacher.
If you are accessing the meeting using a phone or a tablet, please downlowd the ‘Skype’ app from your app store beforehand.
We are on a tight schedule, so please do not be offended if your meeting is terminated 10 minutes after your appointment start time.
Hopefully, we will have enough bandwidth in school for 15 simultaneous meetings and the interviews will proceed without a hitch. In that case, thank you for your cooperation. If not … we may have to think again.
Asthma Information
A guide to parents/carers about children who suffer from asthma returning to school and the traditional rise in asthma attacks during August. Download by clicking the link below:
Grant Application for Cycle and Scooter Parking at School
Our Parent Staff Association has kindly agreed to fund match a Parent Council initiative involving a grant application for Cycle and Scooter Parking facilities at Carmondean Primary School. The Sustrans movement offers grants for this purpose and an application for parking facilities worth £2000 has been made. This means that our PSA will have to fund match half of that sum (£1000) which they have readily agreed to do. We are hopeful that our application will be successful and we will be able to encourage more children to ride bikes and scooters to school safe in the knowledge that they will be able to park them securely.
Parents and Carers Newsletter from Eucation Scotland
Latest (04 June) edition of the Education Scotland Parents and Carers Newsletter with lots of ideas for activities you can do at home is at the link below:
Back to Work Monday
It’s Back to Work Monday afer the Easter Break and back to online and home learning for the next three weeks at least. Hopefully, everyone will now be familiar with where to find the activities set by teachers appropriate to their age and stage (the BLOG for P1-3 and Teams for P4-7) and are raring to get going once more.
If you are looking for further learning activities and challenges to augment what is being provided by your teacher/s, BBC Bitesize Daily lessons start on Monday, 20 April. The timetable for the first week for Primary Schools is here: BBC Bitesize Daily Timetable.
Please remember if you need GLOW passwords reset (P4-7), send an email to the school office (wlcarmondean-ps@westlothian.org.uk) with the words Glow Password in the subject line. These requests will be dealt with once each day.
We hope everyone is keeping well and safe at home during the current crisis and doing their bit to keep everyone else safe by following Government guidance on social distancing.
See you online!
Government Announcement
We note today’s announcement by the First Minister regarding schools closing to pupils from Monday 23 March.
We are awaiting further details from the Scottish Government, and will confirm details with pupils and parents/carers as soon as we can.
Extensive preparations have already been made for this situation and we will work to maintain learning and to support students at this difficult time.
Children’s Physiotherapy Drop-In Clinic
For details, click this link: Drop-in Clinic flyer
Individual Health Care Plans and Medication Forms
West Lothan Council’s policy on Health Care Needs in Schools and its associated forms and advice can be accessed by clicking the link below:
https://www.westlothian.gov.uk/article/8865/Individual-Health-Care-Plans-and-Forms
Advice on Individual Health Care Plans and forms for administering medicines can be obtained from the school office.
Welcome (or Welcome Back) to Carmondean
We look forward to welcoming our new and returning learners and their families to the new school year beginning on Wednesday, 21 August @ 8.50 a.m. See you then.
Scots Afternoon
Yesterday, every Carmondean PS pupil performed to an invited audience in our annual Scots Afternoon. The event was opened by our Primary 7 drummers and our piper, Leo Brown, who piped in a haggis, which was addressed by Jamie Scott and Bendi Toth. Our guests were treated to song and poetry from all stages in the school and served up a Scottish lunch by our Primary 7 pupils. The whole prestigious event was organised and run by the Senior Challenge Group, who also put together a unique 2019 Calendar which our guests received as a gift. The comments received from guests as they were leaving told us that Carmondean is well respected in our local community and that our children are all stars. Well done Senior Challenge Group and everyone else involved in making the event a great success.
Recording Stars
After performing at the Nursery/Primary 1 Nativity this morning, our choir went into a recording session to record their performance more professionally. Although the children found recording the different elements separately challenging to begin with, they soon got the hang of it and learned a lot about how the music industry produces finished products . Here are the results:
Carmondean Earns Gold School Sports Award
Today, Carmondean pupils and staff and a few very special guests were present at an extraordinary assembly where Mr Ferguson from Sport Scotland presented the school community with the Sport Scotland Gold School Sports Award in recognition of the work done in and outside of school to promote sport, physical activity and health. This prestigious award was the result of a lot of hard work by our P.E. teacher, Mrs Ferguson, and our Sports Committee, made up from pupils in Primaries 5-7. The award is valid for three years, after which time we will have to apply again. Who knows, maybe next time we will earn Platinum! Also in the picture is Mrs Sheila McEwan (West Lothian Council Sports), Mrs Angela Coulter (Active Schools Coordinator) and Mr Craig McLean, our very successful partner elite athlete (Commonwealth and European Championships Bronze Medal Winner in Swimming). Below is a short video showing the kinds of activities and the various partnerships we were involved in to gain the award. A huge ‘Well Done’ to Carmondean.
