Coalsnaughton Primary School
Newsletter October 2016 Update 2
Staffing Last week we had three new recruits! Miss Lorna Fulton joined our nursery team. Lorna is our new Senior Early Years Worker and will be with us five afternoons a week. Miss Vicky Stephen, our new Health & Wellbeing Development worker, will be with us two and a half days a week. Vicky also works in partnership with Active Schools and Sports Development. Vicky’s post is funded by Scottish Attainment Challenge and she will be supporting the school in raising attainment for all and in developing health and wellbeing initiatives across the nursery and school. Mr Gary Coulter who many of you may already know. Gary as part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge will be looking at early intervention strategies and targeting our younger children nursery to Primary 3. Gary will also be working with some of our families. Gary sent a letter out on Friday and is holding an information evening to further explain his role on Wednesday 26th October at 3.00 p.m. Please come along and meet Gary.
Harvest Service Donations Many thanks to those who donated food for our local foodbank. Brandyn (P7) and Kane (P7) delivered the food with the help of Miss Robinson our new Support for Learning teacher.
Halloween Arrangements
The Halloween Party will take place on Friday 28 th October at 1.30 p.m. If you would like to help out at the party please contact the school office and leave your name and we will get back to you. All help will be appreciated!
Pupils will register in class and then walk them down to the Village Hall for the parade at 1.30 p.m. You will have the opportunity to take some photographs. As space is limited we ask that parents and carers who are not helping leave the hall shortly after the parade. This will allow us to start the party games! The costumes will be judged by independent judges throughout the party and the winners announced at the end. As is tradition, we will be having the annual pumpkin competition. All entries have to be brought into school by 9.00 a.m. on the day of the party as they will be independently judged in the morning. Please note - the Nursery parties will be on Friday 28 th October. See the nursery staff for more details. New Schools Sports Committee Well done to our new Sports Committee members Kane Reap (P7), Alex Gardner (P7), Billy McLaren (P7), Laura Tully (P7), Adele Stoddart (P6), Kayleigh Haddow (P5) and Leah Robertson (P5). They have successfully secured a position on the Sports Committee after filling in their application and attending an interview! We had a large number of candidates for the positions so the decision was not an easy one! Well done to everyone who applied. The new sports committee will be writing an article for the local authority Attainment Challenge newsletter this week so watch this space for more information!
Snap Shot Jotters and Learning Conversation Folders Last session you may remember that we trialled Pupil Learning Journals from P1- P7. These were extremely time consuming for everyone involved and after consultation with our Quality Improvement Officer we decided to look for an alternative method of sharing your child’s progress with you. We researched what was happening in other schools and decided to implement a Snap Shot jotter and a Learning Conversation Folder for every child. The Snap Shot Jotter will give you an indication of the work that your child has undertaken in the week prior to you receiving the jotter. Throughout the year your child’s achievements will be recorded on a personal passport in their learning conversation folder and at the back of the Snap Shot jotter. Every child has the opportunity to discuss their learning with their teacher/peers. The Learning Conversation Folder captures some of these conversations. The Snap Shot Jotter and the Learning Conversation folder provide you with a great opportunity for your child to share what they have been learning in school with you. These will be sent home twice a year. Two weeks before our Parents Evenings. Please take time to read and discuss your child’s work with them and make any relevant comments.
Parents’ Evenings – Tuesday 1st and Thursday 3rd November 2016 The letters for Parents’ Evening went out on Friday last week. If the appointment that you have been given is unsuitable for you please contact the school office and we will try to accommodate you at a mutually convenient time. The partnership that we have with you is extremely important to us and we value the support that you give your child and the school in terms of their learning. We will have Alison Mackie, our Active Schools Co-ordinator, and Vicky Stephen our new Health & Wellbeing Development worker available during the parent evenings and they will be available to gather your views and suggestions on aspects of the Physical Education, Physical Activities and School Sport initiative that we are implementing. They were busy carrying out pupil consultations last week and took part in the School Sports Committee interviews.
The Annual Parent Calendar Please find attached an amended Parent Calendar. This gives an overview of the main events held during the year. Welcome Wednesdays We have scheduled three across the year – Wednesday 30 th November, Wednesday 25th January and Wednesday 22nd March. After some feedback from parents we are going to reorganise the afternoon – 1.30-2.00 p.m. – P3/4 2.00 – 2.30 p.m. – P5/6/7 2.30 – 3.00 p.m. – P1/2 We will also set up teas and coffees in the Blue Room. This will give parents a chance to meet up, see new resources or give feedback to staff. Parent Council The Annual General Meeting took place last Thursday. The new office bearers are Colin Davie (Chairperson), Louise Davie (Treasurer) and Julie McCheynne (Secretary). It was good to see a few new faces and it is not too late for anyone who wants to join the group. Many parents do not attend the actual meeting but are still members and help out in other ways. The parent consultation that was issued previously to determine the dates and times of the meetings was discussed at great length. The dates for this year have been inserted into the annual calendar. As a result of the consultation the meetings will be held later in the evening at 6.30 p.m. and we will organise a crèche for any children who come along. The preferred evening was a Thursday.
Stationery Shop The pupil council are now ready to open their stationery shop. The shop will be open on Tuesday and Thursdays at break times. Stationery items along with bottles of water will be on sale. All items are priced below a pound. Bottles of water will also be able to be purchased on other days by asking the Junior Administrators on duty at the reception desk.
Help Required We are looking for some parent volunteers to help tidy up the front entrance and garden for the winter. If you would like to help us please contact the office.
Read,Write,Count Information Evening (Free Gift!) Read, Write, Count will be gifting bags to every P1, P2 and P3 pupil in Scotland. These bags will allow you to support your child’s learning outside school. The bags will be packed full of books, writing materials and counting games to make reading, writing and counting fun and easy at home. We will be sharing information and gifting the bags on Wednesday 15 th November at 3.00 -3.45 p.m.
Minister’s Reading Challenge All Primary four to seven pupils are taking part in the First Minister’s Reading Challenge. This involves reading books for pleasure and recording their views in a personal passport. The Primary one to three pupils are doing a similar school based challenge.
HMIE Update Many of you will be aware that Clackmannanshire Council Education service is moving from a shared service with Stirling Council. We have a new head of service Anne Pearson. Jane Rough, Lorraine Sanda and Cathy Quinn have been appointed as members of Anne’s Improving Outcomes team. Anne and Lorraine have recently visited the school. The new team will be carrying out a school review on Tuesday 1st November. We are looking forward to working in partnership with the new management team and together improving the outcomes for our children and their families. Mrs Sally Kennedy, Development Officer, has visited the school twice over the past month and is working with our team to progress our action plan. Just a reminder - our Education Scotland Action Plan is displayed in the school on the noticeboard at the bottom of the Headteacher’s staircase. I report on the Action Plan
progress at the Parent Council Meetings. Please feel free to pop in and have a look. I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.
Dates for your Diary Wednesday 26th October – Gary Coulter Information Session Friday 28h October – Halloween Party – Parade 1.30 p.m. (Village Hall) Tuesday 1st and Thursday 3rd November – Parent Evenings 3.30 p.m. – onwards. Thursday 10th November – Parent Council SPTC Event – 6.00 p.m. Wednesday 15th November – Read, Write, Count Parent Session 3.00 -3.45 p.m. (P1P3 Parents) Friday 18th November – Children in Need. Wednesday 30th November – Welcome Wednesday – 1.30 P3/4, 2.00 P5/6/7 and 2.30 p.m. P1/2 Parents.
Kind regards
Colleen ClarkBurns (Headteacher)