Mrs Docherty HWB: Positive Song for the Week 19.5.20

Good morning everyone. I hope you have all had a lovely long weekend. Over the weekend I stopped for a while and just sat and listened to what was all around me. As I listened I could hear so many wonderful sounds of nature. The birds could be heard singing their songs, more loudly than I have ever heard them, and all around life seemed still and quiet.

As I sat, it brought back a song that I feel sums up exactly what we can see and hear in these uncertain times. As we all wait for lockdown to be lifted and we take time in what is normally our very busy lives we can all appreciate what is important and what is special about life. The words of the song What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong sum it all up.

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom, for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

It is a beautiful and uplifting song that really made me sit back and appreciate what life is and what it means. It means friendship, love and all of the beauty around us. Please listen to the song and know that while the world might look different just now it will emerge even brighter and we will return again to St Ninian’s grateful for what we have come through as a team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-T6aaRV9HY

Have a great week,

Mrs Docherty

St Ninian’s Whole School GUESS WHO? Challenge – ANSWERS

Hello everyone!

It’s now time for the BIG reveal….

I just wanted to say a HUGE thanks to all the families and staff who sent in their entries!
Hopefully you have all received emails from me in response.

I have to say it did turn out to be much trickier than I had thought it would be even though I knew the answers!

If you managed to take part then I hope you had some fun at home.

I’ve attached the answers in two ways – ST NINIAN’S GUESS WHO ANSWERS Guess Who Answers
1) The powerpoint slides have the current photos alongside the child photos
(one for Nursery and one for School)

2) A list of the corresponding Letters and Numbers.

Have a lovely weekend and stay safe.
Mrs Scott

MRS DOCHERTY’S POSITIVE THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK 15.5.20

Another Friday and the end of another fabulous week of work and support. I started this week with our positive song of the week: Somewhere Over the Rainbow which shared a message of hope and determination. This is exactly what we all have in abundance at the moment and continue to have going forward.

My positive thought for this week is one that sums up all of your positivity and our hopes as a school community.

Your comments, the daily work being shared and your positive messages of support through this time embody our school values and also the quote above. You are our rainbow and what has really struck us as a school is the care, love, support and friendship you have shown to us as your children’s teachers and as your friends.

It is the simplest of things and the Thursday Clap for our Carers that shows our rainbow shining through in these times and really make me smile knowing we are supporting each other and showing kindness and courage towards each other. Keep smiling and keep being that rainbow in someone else’s storm.

Thank you for being you and being brilliant. We couldn’t ask for a better set of children and parents for our school.

Have a great weekend and as always stay safe,

Mrs Docherty

Mrs Docherty HWB: Self-esteem 14.5.20

Good morning everyone. These are very different times we are living in and especially for your children as they adjust to the new normal routine. They may find it difficult at times and so for this week I would like to focus on some Health and Wellbeing activities about self-esteem and managing change and emotions during this period.

Self-esteem is something that allows children to feel good about themselves. It allows them to recognise what they are good at, helps them to persevere even when they don’t get things first time and supports them to recognise that it is ok to make mistakes. I have included a link below for a lovely story called The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes. Please have a listen and share it with your child.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQG4vFGd6eU

Self-esteem gives your children the courage to try new things, make new friends and also gives them the ability to recognise that good things happen when they try.

A few ways to help develop their self-esteem include:

Sharing with them their successes and telling them you can see how well they are doing with something.
Get them to make a list of what they are good at. If they are finding this difficult you and other family members can share what you feel they are good at.
Get them to practise the things they do well.
Encourage your child to do their best at all times and to persevere even when things are hard. When they have success doing this their self-esteem grows.
Right now in these times spending time with their family doing things they love will help to build your child’s self-esteem.

I have attached a little activity you could try at home with your child. Share the strength cards attached below with your child. Get them to recognise what they think their strengths are from the cards. Then cut out five strips of paper and get your child to write their 5 strengths on these strips attaching them to the cloud template below. Everyone in the family could make one and you could all share what makes you special.

Strength-cards-new

self-esteem-cloud (1)

Next week we will focus on exploring feelings as part of our HWB. Have fun with the activity above and enjoy building up each other’s self-esteem.

As always, take care and stay safe,

Mrs Docherty

Primary 7 Learning Grid

Happy Monday!!! | Monday wishes, Happy monday quotes, Happy monday

Another week of learning at home is upon is. It has been lovely to see more traffic on our TEAMs page!

Today there will be a P4-7 assembly at 2pm on the P4-7 Assemblies team! Make sure you tune in!

Here is the learning grid for this week

P7 Learning Grid Week 6 11.05.20

Our learning materials are available on the OneDrive link – we are now working from folder ‘Week 6’.

I’ve also collated responses to a few FAQ from the last few weeks;

Where do we find learning materials?

All of our learning materials are available on OneDrive or through TEAMs > P7 2020 > General > Files > Class Materials (there have been problems with accessing files on TEAMs through android devices, please use the OneDrive link instead)

Please use the OneDrive link by clicking here.

The OneDrive link stays the same week on week, with a new folder being added on a Friday with the learning grid for the following week (this might help with planning of learning for the week ahead before a Monday morning). Materials will be uploaded by a Monday morning.

Do we need to do the whole grid?

The learning grid provides a week of learning experiences which will progress the learning of the P7 class. Different families have different remote learning styles and priorities. My advice is to do what you can – if you don’t think you can manage everything decide what you will prioritise and start there. There are ‘Keeping Busy Ideas’ for anyone who is finished the grid and is looking for more!

What should we be doing every day, can I do all the learning on a Monday and nothing the rest of the week?

Each family will approach learning at home in different ways. I’d advise to choose 1 task from each of the areas for each day.

e.g. Monday: Reading (LITERACY), Mental Maths (NUMERACY), PE with Joe Wicks (HWB), RE (Across the Curriculum)

Being in a routine can help with mental and emotional well being. Maybe as a family you could create a timetable for the week? Remember to include your physical activity for each day too, and regular breaks!

We can’t type onto the document?

Unfortunately lots of the resources and files posted are PDF format which would mean you have to hand write and upload a photo of work or type directly onto word online.

What do I do when I’m finished my work?

Please upload to OneNote under home learning with a new page for each week of learning. Or email directly to me – I will have a look and give feedback where appropriate. Then – relax!

Remember to come on TEAMs at least once per day to check in – like the post or leave a comment so I know you are there!

If there are any other questions please leave them as a comment and I’ll check back in over the week!

It’s a wonderful day to have a wonderful day!

Mrs Docherty’s Positive Song for the Week: Somewhere Over the Rainbow 11.5.20

Good morning and welcome back to the start of another week. I hope you have all had a lovely weekend and have continued to make memories along the way. I love to start our week with a positive song and today is no different. One of my all-time favourite films is The Wizard of Oz and with it, its iconic song Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

In the film the characters have to show courage and determination as they embark on a journey like no other. This is very reflective of what we are all doing with life at the moment. We are all on a journey like no other and what is important to get through it is bravery, determination, friendship, support and love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_XNczdUEoc

The lyrics of the song are reflective of what we are thinking and feeling every day as we wish for the brighter days ahead when we can all be together again. As we go into this week let’s think of the lyrics from the song and stay positive looking forward to another week of exciting learning and support of each other.

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There’s a land that I’ve heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream,
Really do come true.

The lyrics provide us with hope and knowledge that as each day goes by we will be getting closer to being together again and starting our new journey after the storm.

Have a great week everyone, take care and stay safe,

Mrs Docherty

MRS DOCHERTY POSITIVE QUOTE FOR THE WEEK: 8.5.20

As we look back at another week of learning, friendships, support and hope we realise what a journey we have been on and indeed are still on. Hopefully for all of you things are starting to fall into a new normal and a new routine that works for you all.

While things have changed and we are all adjusting, what is important is to remember that when we come to the end of this part of the journey we are all here for you and as we get closer to that time we are getting more and more excited to see you all.

They always say absence makes the heart grow fonder and I know that is the case for us at St Ninian’s. When we remember the words of our song of the week from Monday “Rise Up ” by Andra Day please keep in your minds the lines:

All we need, all we need is hope
And for that we have each other
We will rise

This song means a lot to me and I have used it as a writing stimulus in school which resulted in amazing pieces of writing based on hope, strength and courage. Please know these are the qualities you are showing at the minute and we are so appreciative of your support and engagement. Our special quote for this week is:

We know that as a school and as a community we will grow even stronger through this and look forward to a new chapter of learning, laughter and fun.

Have a lovely weekend with each other, continue to make special memories and please stay safe.

Mrs Docherty

Welcome back after the long weekend!

Welcome back after a few days off!

I hope you have all had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend at home with your families. I enjoyed going for walks and doing some planting in my garden. I even met some St Ninian’s families whilst I was out walking, it was so good to chat and hear how you were getting on.

Last week our teachers were contacting families via phonecall and they were all so pleased to get this opportunity for a quick chat and update on how you were all getting on. If they couldn’t get you they left a message or we sent a groupcall just to check in and to offer our support. Please contact myself or Mrs Smith if there is anything we can support you with via email or at St Ninian’s on a Monday when we are working in the HUB school.

This is a short week of learning for you and your teachers will post your learning grids online. Last week I sent out lots of virtual Golden Tickets and I am looking forward to seeing who the teachers will nominate this week.

As May is the month of Mary, Fr Kenneth has kindly recorded a video message for the schools of the Livingston & East Calder Parishes. It would be lovely if you could dedicate some time to this during your week for prayer and reflection, https://youtu.be/bK4Vnz46ldI

West Lothian are releasing challenges every Monday named ‘INspired’, these are challenges designed to challenge your skills, knowledge and understanding. It would be great if some of our children and families could give these a go. You can access the challenges via the blog https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/stayinspired/ or via Twitter @StayINspiredWL.

As a staff team we are always keen to gather your views so with this mind we have prepared a short survey about the continuation of learning during this school closure which we would appreciate you taking the time to complete. It can be accessed with this link and we have also sent it out via groupcall https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeuBppqbcNrLJgsDJUrQoNQVhmpOqtObtFXaczyMQaxXrPDCg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Have a great week and stay safe!

Mrs Roy

Primary 7 Learning Grid

Hi P7 Families!

A short week this week – I hope you all had a lovely break Monday and Tuesday!

Click this link for all of the learning materials for the week

School Closure

We are in Week 5 – all of the materials you should need should be in there, additional activities are in the ‘Keep Busy’ folder, if you would like some inspiration to keep busy!

As we are getting further into our Learning at Home journey it can be difficult to be motivated, but I know that having a busy plan for the day has helped our household to keep our minds and bodies active. Below is a suggested To Do list for this week;

Suggested to do list;

Talk together and come up with a timetable – one bit of literacy, one bit of numeracy and one bit of something else each day is a good way to do it – if you are using your device, screen shot the learning grid and cross things off as you complete them. In our house we plan for the week, but you might like to plan day by day – This is a good habit to get into and a life skill that will help with your studies as you get older. You are not expected to do everything on the learning grid – everyone is in a different situation, but aim to do as much as you can.
Please log in to TEAMs every day, if you can. We are monitoring learning engagement so please come on at least once per day to give me a wee hello or a ‘like’
Join in with our ‘Meet Now’ live on Wednesday at 2.30pm – when you come on to the team you will be able to click ‘Join’ on the meeting post on the TEAM – it would be great to speak to as many of you as possible, it is a ‘just for fun’ thing so please join us – all you need is a device and pencil/paper. It is nice that we can stay connected whenever we can through this!
All of the above is on the understanding that your wellbeing is in good form – your happiness and mood are very important – use our Hive of Wellbeing for ideas of how to manage your wellbeing – if you are upset, worried, angry etc. it will be hard for you to learn properly – but please keep in touch so that I can support you. Email via glow at any point!

I won’t be on TEAMs all day everyday as I have lots to do in the background – but I will answer your questions as quickly as I can, remember to help each other!

I’ll be on TEAMs from 8.40 – 9.15am approx for a good morning check in, then again around lunchtime for a check in and finally around 2.30pm to see how you are getting on with your planned tasks! Mrs Kerr will be on TEAMs every Thursday, and every second Friday 🙂

As with every week, please find time to complete our Wellbeing Check in – you can do it daily, once over the week or a few times (depending on how you feel!)

Mrs C 🙂

National Superhero Day

Good afternoon St Ninian’s Primary School! I hope everyone is doing well and keeping active by exercising!

Today is National Superhero Day! Here are some things I’d like you to think about;

Who is your favourite super hero and what makes them so great? Mine has to be spider man! I love the way he moves from building to building!

Can you think of what super power you would love to have and why? Mine would definitely be super speed, I think that would help me a lot when I am playing rugby!

Finally, the most important one, what super power do you already have? It is important just now for everyone to stay positive and I would like every single one of you to celebrate yourselves! Are you super smart? Are you super kind or caring? Are you super funny? Have a think and if you’re stuck, ask someone around you!

All the best,

Mr Cumming.