Coalsnaughton Primary School
Newsletter September 2017
It has been a very busy and hectic start to our new term. The last two weeks have flown by. Settling In A big welcome to our new Primary One children. They have settled in extremely well with Miss Livingston. Standards and Quality Report 2016/2017 We have had a very productive year, lots to be proud of and I am confident that we will build on this throughout this new session. I have enclosed last session’s Standards and Quality Report for you to read. This document is a legal requirement and it summarises the progress made by the school. Please feel free to return the tear off slip to the school with any comments. I will also put a copy at the front entrance and in the proud of our pupils’ folder in the Nursery parent’s area. Questionnaires During the summer term we issued questionnaires to all our families, partner agencies and staff. The response was very low this year but we appreciate that you have had a lot of questionnaires in the past two years! In my experience of working with you all, if anyone had any issues or concerns then they would share these directly with me, so in many ways no news is good news! It is evident from the responses that we did receive that as a school community we are continuing to move forward and we are all working hard to improve the outcomes for all our pupils. Thank you to all of the families that took the time to respond. Action Points to consider from the responses:
More games in the playground and perhaps painted games on the tarmac.
More consistent use of DOJO.
Staffing Our Senior Early Years Workers Mrs Wilma Wilson and Miss Fulton have changed their work pattern to ensure consistency in the nursery. Miss Fulton will now work a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Mrs Wilson will now work a Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday. Mrs Duncan, our office administrator, is absent due to ill heath so please be patient with us, we will endeavour to answer the door and phone as quickly as we can. Nursery VOTE FOR US AT TESCOS!!!! Our nursery outdoor development plans include installing a giant sandpit with pulley system, grass landscaping, sensory planting, a small woodland area and a willow den. This development will provide exciting and challenging play opportunities for children in community, as they will be able to access it out with the school day. Voting opened in Tesco Alloa on Friday 1st September until Tuesday 31 st October. You can cast your vote using a token given to you at the check-out in store each time you shop. If the cashier does not automatically give you a token please ask for one. We could be granted up to £3000 to help our development. Class Dojo All the classes are setting up Class Dojo. Class Dojo is a simple, free mobile app for iOS and Android mobiles – it can also be accessed from a computer at www.classdojo.com. You will have received your letter to invite you to join Class Dojo. Class Dojo is the most popular classroom management app in the U.S.! It is safe and simple for everyone to use. It encourages important skills like working hard and participating. Class teachers can instantly share messages, updates and photos from the classroom.
You can learn more at www.classdojo.com/LearnMore. If you would like to learn more please pop in and ask your child’s teacher.
Scottish Attainment Challenge We are entering our third year of the Scottish Attainment Challenge. As part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge all schools in Clackmannanshire are working hard to raise attainment and close the equity gap to give our children the highest quality learning experiences. In Coalsnaughton Primary we are working hard to improve attainment in reading, writing and numeracy. Our volunteer, Doreen Gauld works in our school two mornings a week and is helping us run the library and in taking forward children’s enjoyment in reading.
Children across the other primary stages are currently being identified and we are hoping to appoint an attainment teacher one day a week from our pupil equity money. They will be providing targeted support to close the gaps in numeracy and literacy. We will be revisiting our Classroom Literacy Rich audits. All our classes are continuing to work on making improvements to all our learning environments. Our school is benefitting from taking part in the Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport initiative funded by the Attainment Challenge. Our children are benefitting from an increased involvement in Sporting activities and initiatives. Our pupils and staff work closely with the Active Schools co-ordinator, Alison Mackie, and our P.E. specialist, Mr Andy Ward, and we received our authority GOLD Clackmannanshire Primary Schools Schools Sports Association Award! Further information about the Attainment Challenge in Clackmannanshire can be found at:
Twitter : @act_clacks Clacksweb: https://t.co/0QHpnv1lWA
Email The Attainment Challenge Team: actclacks@glowschools.org.u
Twitter Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and keep up to date with our latest news.
School Website
Miss McGill will be overseeing our website and you can access our website using the following web address. We are currently in the process of updating the website. https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/cl/coalsnaughton/ HMIE Update Mrs Lorraine Sanda continues to provide invaluable support to both myself and our school. We are working hard with the authority to prepare a report for our school to submit to Education Scotland in November. Our school will have a school review, an MOT inspection from the authority in November prior to the submission of the report. I will keep you all informed. Parent Council All our parents provide invaluable support to our school. That support comes in many ways. We value all our parent body and I have signed us up for a Parental Engagement initiative working with Strathclyde University. Watch this space!
The current Parent Council will be surveying you shortly to see if you would be willing to take a more formal role within the school as a member of the Parent Council. They will also be asking for suggestions as to when and how we can arrange meetings to maximum attendance. The existing Parent Council will be meeting on Thursday 7th September to prepare a questionnaire and organise the first meeting. Meet the Teacher All our staff will be in school on Thursday 7th September to meet and greet you. It will provide you with the opportunity to ask any questions or to see your child’s classroom and meet their teacher. Developing the Young Workforce We have recently appointed a number of Senior Pupils as Pupil Administrators. They cover the school office at break times and lunch. They are currently being trained to answer the telephone, taking messages, answering the main door and in supporting visitors to the school. Sporting News Fun Fours Our Primary Four and Five pupils will attend this event this Friday. Cross Country A group of senior pupils are taking part in the county Cross Country league over the next three weeks after school. Many thanks to Alison Mackie, Andy Ward and our Active School Team. Without their support we would not be able to offer such a range of opportunities.
Flu Immunisation Programme Our NHS colleagues will be in school on Tuesday 31 st October to administer the flu vaccination to all our pupils. You should have received and returned your permission letters. If you have not already returned the letters please do so by the end of this week. Facts about flu. • Flu is very infectious and can be serious. • Even healthy children can become seriously ill from flu and can spread it to family, friends and others. • Flu can lead to complications that may result in hospitalisation or even death. • Every year in Scotland, children are hospitalised for the treatment of flu or its complications. • The flu vaccine helps protect your child against flu and reduces the chance of them spreading the virus to others. • The vaccine doesn’t cause flu. What is flu? Flu is a virus; it spreads quickly and can infect children and adults very easily. It causes an unpleasant illness which can be serious. It may lead to days spent ill in bed rather than being
at school or doing day-to-day activities. Symptoms of flu Children get the same flu symptoms as adults. These symptoms are worse than a normal cold and include: • stuffy nose, dry cough and sore throat • fever and chills • aching muscles and joints • headaches • extreme tiredness. These symptoms can last between two and seven days. Some children have a very high temperature, sometimes without other obvious symptoms, and need to go to hospital for treatment. Where and when will my child get the vaccine? The flu vaccine is offered to all primary school children in Scotland at school between October and December. How is the vaccine given? A tiny amount of the flu vaccine is given as a nasal (nose) spray into each nostril. It is not an injection. It’s quick and painless and there’s no need to sniff or inhale the vaccine. Watch a film of the flu vaccine being given to children in school: immunisationscotland.org.uk/childflu Children who cannot have the nasal spray vaccine may be offered a flu vaccine as an injection in the upper arm. National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) As part of our whole school health and wellbeing curriculum we are taking part in the NSPCC Speak Out, Stay Safe, Programme. We have scheduled assemblies and a senior workshop for school on Friday 29th September. I have enclosed a more detailed parent information letter for you. Also as part of this initiative O2 and the NSPCC have joined forces on a mission to help all children and their families in the UK stay safe online. Together, they’re offering useful tools, support and guidance to help parents and carers have conversations with their children about their online lives.
Online safety workshops for parents – Thursday 9 th November 3.15 p.m. As part of this, they’re running free online safety workshops for parents and carers and will be hosting one at Coalsnaughton Primary School at 3.15 p.m. on Thursday 9 th November. We would like to invite all parents and carers to join. I have enclosed a letter to invite you to the event. The hour-long workshop will help parents and carers understand their child’s online world and build confidence to have those important conversations that can help keep children safe online.
Parking The council have received a number of complaints from local residents regarding people parking in front of or blocking their drive ways. Can I ask respectfully that staff and parents are mindful of this and park with due consideration to our local residents.
Annual Parent Overview I have enclosed the A4 over view for you. I will put a copy in the parent noticeboard in the playground. Dates for your Diary Thursday 7th September – Parent Council Meeting (All welcome!) Friday 29th September – Non-Uniform Day Friday 29th September – 10 a.m. – 11.30 a.m. MacMillan Coffee Morning Thursday 5th October – 11.00 a.m. Harvest Assembly (Village Hall) Monday 9th – Friday 13th October – October Holiday Tuesday 31st October – Flu Immunisations
Kind regards
Colleen ClarkBurns (Headteacher)