Respect Kindness Caring Self-Confidence

Carstairs Junction Primary School and Early Learning & Childcare Our Wee School’s a Good Wee School

th Friday 30 October 2020

Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.carstairsjunction-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk/ Follow us on Twitter: @CJPS18 Coronation Street, Junction, ML11 8QY Tel: 01555 870301

Dear Parent/Carers,

Staffing We are delighted to have Miss Cook with us supporting pupils as part of our Pupil Equity Funding, she has fitted right in with the team! Mrs Stokes continues to be off on leave and we look forward to welcoming her back to the team when she returns.

Covid-19 Update We continue to rigidly follow the guidelines set by the Scottish Government and South Council. We would like to remind everyone to continue to adhere to these guidelines and remain as rigorous and vigilant as possible around all safety measures. Please can you make sure you socially distance (2 metres apart for adult to adult) in the playground at the end of the day when collecting your child.

It is essential that you inform us in the event of any confirmed cases, suspected cases or isolating requirements. This includes anybody within the child’s family or range of contacts. If your child has undergone a Covid-19 test, even if negative, your child should not return to school until they receive the negative result and he/she will only be able to return assuming they are not required to self-isolate due to track and trace guidance from another positive case.

In order to minimise the number of visitors in school grounds, we politely request that parents do not park in the school car park during drop off and pick up. We understand that it can be challenging to park in the surrounding streets but trust you will understand the need for these measures in order to help keep everyone safe.

Birthday treats In normal circumstances we understand children like to bring treats/ cakes in when it is their birthday. Unfortunately, due the current situation, we ask that these are not brought into the school building. We are trying to minimise the spread of infection, so are unable to accept items from outside the school to then be handed out to other children

Health and Safety Audit The school was audited on 20th October and received a glowing report for the measures in place. The inspector was very positive and said the school was in really good condition with good practices in use.

Parent Consultation Many thanks to you all for attending our parent consultations via phone call. Almost all parents were able to ‘attend’. We would welcome any feedback via the school office with regards to how it was run. We know that some schools opted for a short interim report however we felt two-way dialogue was more effective for us.

Window Display When passing the school, please take a look at our lovely Autumnal window display at the hall. The nurture group have worked hard to put this together using art work that each class has provided. This display will be updated seasonally with the next topic being a Christmas theme.

Scary Hair Day! Our pupils and staff looked amazing with their weird and wacky hairstyles! Huge thanks to you all for supporting us with this. Sadly, we couldn’t have our annual Parent Council Hallowe’en disco but we still wanted to make the day a special one as far as we could. Many thanks to the Parent Council for preparing individual treat bags, and for being so on the ball as they needed to be in early in order to quarantine! The children enjoyed an array of Hallowe’en themed activities today. Here are a few snaps form the classes Hallowe’en Spooktakular Council’s Instrumental Music Service are excited to wave their magic wand and invite you to attend their first ever online concert ‘Halloween Spooktakular’. Talented instrumentalists from across South Lanarkshire’s schools have continued to make spine-tingling music using the sorcery of Google Classroom. With a little bit of hocus pocus and a spell or two you can be entertained by pirates and wizards and ghouls….if you dare! Join us at the witching hour - 7pm on Friday 30th October using the link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/south-lanarkshire-instrumental-music-service-halloween- spooktakular-tickets-124252319031

Literacy Update

Our First Ministers reading challenge is underway with the arrival of a very special visitor, Story Bear. Story bear will travel around the ELC and School to hear all the different types of stories that the children have been reading. He even has his own reading passport that the children will help to complete.

Upcoming events – Scottish Book Week 16th – 20th November 2020

Reader of the Month Here are the winners from October: Room 1 – Thomas Muir Room 2 – Ruben Whitlock Room 3 – Rebeka Evans Room 4 – Hunter Thomson Room 5 – Lily Bryce Room 6 – Kenzie Thomson

Best Work for September Huge congratulations to our winners of the September Best Work Award. These individuals have been chosen as they have demonstrated one of our 4 school values, respect, kindness, caring, self-confidence. Room 1 – Lily Room 2 – Alisha Room 3 – Mason Room 4 – Ollie Room 5 – Summer Room 6 – Kieran

Google Classroom Many thanks for your perseverance in getting Google Classroom up and running at home. It is very important that every child in the school is able to access Google Classroom. We recognise that this is new to most families and it has also been a learning curve for our staff and pupils too. In these ever- changing times, we need to change the way we operate and develop our digital learning. Google Classroom helps to minimise paper being sent between home and school. Secondly, should we ever need to go to a blended model or learning or a full home learning model then we are prepared. If you are experiencing difficulties accessing Google Classroom, could you please notify us via your child’s Learning Journal.

Parents as Partners We have a very busy ‘virtual’ Parent Council meeting on Wednesday 21st October. The Minutes can be viewed on our school website: http://www.carstairsjunction-pri.s-lanark.sch.uk/ As always, we welcome any new members. Please send an email to the school office or speak direct to our Chair, Lizanne if you wish to join. Mrs Armour & Miss King shared a power point about ‘Promoting Positive Behaviour and Understanding Distressed Behaviour’. These are guidelines followed by all schools in SLC. We have a strong emphasis on understanding ‘behaviour as communication’ in our school. If you would like to see a copy of the power point you will find it on the Parent Council page of our website.

Similar to last year, we are planning to get the P7 Leavers Hoodies to our P7s as early on in the session as we possibly can, that way the children can make the most of them all year. Many thanks to the Parent Council for agreeing to fund the full amount of the Leavers’ Hoodies this session. The decision was made to pay in full (usually parents are asked to contribute 50% of the cost) as the school are trying to be as cost neutral as they possibly can due to Covid-19 and the current economic climate. The Parent Council also usually fund transport costs for excursions and these are unlikely to take place this session so felt they could justify paying the full cost of the hoodies. The Parent Council have also very kindly agreed to fund a ‘virtual’ Panto this year. This will be ‘Robin Hood and his Socially Distanced Men’ performed by ‘The Takeaway Theatre Company’.

The next Parent Council meeting will be held via Google Meet on Wednesday 9th December at 9.30am. The agenda and joining instructions will be sent nearer the time for those who wish to attend.

ELC Natter Our next ELC Natter meeting will be held on Friday 6th November at 10.00am via Google meet.

Community News The Community Wellbeing helpline is there to help people to access food and other essential supplies from across South Lanarkshire. The helpline is available 8.45am to 4.45pm Monday to Thursday and 8.45am to 4.15pm on Friday for South Lanarkshire residents who have been advised to stay at home for medical reasons and have no one else to help them. Helpline Number: 0303 123 1009 Please also see their advert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR8ayBu-2jU

Money Matters Service Money Matters offer free, confidential and impartial advice - they can help check benefit entitlements, assist with the claims process, challenge decisions and represent clients at Social Security appeal tribunals. For debt issues they look at financial circumstances, contact creditors, discuss options and give budgeting advice. Contact number: 0303 123 1008 The Money Matters Telephone Advice Line offers a similar service specifically aimed at pregnant women and families with young children: Contact number: 01698 453154

As always, if you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the school office via email or telephone.

Jill Armour Acting Head Teacher