Nurturing Growth in Our School Community

THORNLIEBANK PRIMARY SCHOOL

NOVEMBER 2014 NEWSLETTER

Nurturing Growth in our School Community

Excellent Education Happy and Healthy Respectful and Responsible Caring and Considerate Community Everyone is Equal Inclusive and Integrated Motivated Supportive and Safe Dear Parent/Carer

November has brought us a change in weather conditions and it feels like winter is well and truly here. Please make sure your child comes to school with a jacket or coat and suitable footwear.

It is hard to believe that we have started our preparations for Christmas already. The children are beginning to learn their lines and songs for the Nativity performance. I have included a calendar of events in the newsletter for your reference. We hope to see as many of you as possible at the various events.

A large number of donations are coming in for our Christmas Fayre. We have a system where we collect different donations each week, however we are delighted to take donations at any time! I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your generosity once again. This was also the case during our Harvest Collection, where we gathered so much food that we were able to not only donate to Trust Sheltered Housing but also Thornliebank Food Bank.

We have 2 children will significant allergies this session. Could I please ask you to ensure that you do not send in any food containing nuts or sesame seeds. This may take the form of chocolate spread, peanut butter spread and bread types amongst other things. I would ask you to be extra vigilant about this.

As usual we have had an extremely busy month and I hope this newsletter gives you a flavour of the varied and exciting events going on within the school.

Yours sincerely

Siobhan McColgan

Siobhan McColgan Head Teacher

Dates for your Diary

Saturday 6th December, 10am – 12pm, Christmas Fayre Thursday 11th December, 9.15amd and 2pm, School Nativity Play and Concert Friday 12th December, 9.30am and 2pm, Nursery Nativity Play Friday 12th December, P7, Cluster Ceilidh, Woodfarm High School Monday 15th December, P7 Christmas Party * Tuesday 16th December, P5/6 Christmas Party * Wednesday 17th December, P3/4 Christmas Party * Thursday 18th December, P1 Christmas Party, Parents invited to attend at 11am & 2.30pm* Thursday 18th December, Nursery Christmas Party, Parents invited to attend at 1.30pm* Friday 19th December, Dress as you Please for Sierra Leone Ebola Crisis Friday 19th December, Early Closure at 2.30pm

*Children may come to school dressed in party clothes on day of their class party. Halloween Disco A big thank you to our Parent Council and all the volunteers who assisted during the Halloween disco. The children all had great fun during the event and we raised £203.05 for the school.

Our next Parent Council meeting is at 7pm on Wednesday 26 November in Woodfarm High School.

Peter Pan Once again M and M Theatre Productions came to the school to perform for our pupils. This year it was Peter Pan. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the performance and as the feedback has been so positive, we have booked them again for next year.

Parental Appointments Our Parents Evening took place on Thursday 9th October. We trialed having pupil activities available on the night for the children to take part in. This was a huge success and the pupils all seemed to enjoy making healthy sandwiches. As this was such a success, we will look to include a range of activities in future evenings. Teachers have been meeting with parents who were unable to attend on the evening. If you were unable to make your appointment and have not yet spoken with your child’s class teacher, please contact the office.

I would like to say a massive thank you to those of you who took the time to complete the Rights Respecting School Questionnaire and Transition Survey. The results of the Rights Respecting School Questionnaire can be found at the end of this newsletter. It is wonderful to hear how happy and settled you feel your children are in Thornliebank Primary School.

Free School Meals From January 2015, children in primary 1 to 3 across Scotland will have the option of taking a free school meal every day. More information about this will follow.

Head lice There have been a few cases of head lice reported to the school recently. Head lice are very common. In primary schools in the UK, probably one child in ten is infected every year. Young children tend to put their heads together, with friends or other family members, and lice are easily spread from person to person. Lice can live on long hair, short hair, dirty hair and on very clean hair. Please continue to check your child’s hair regularly. If you have any concerns, please contact your local pharmacy.

Closure due to Winter Emergency During the winter months there may be occasions when emergencies make it necessary for pupils to be sent home prematurely. It is very rare for a school to close, however, if a decision was made for this to happen, the school would use the following communication to inform parents:  SMS (Text Messaging)  School website update  Twitter

The local authority’s website page, along with twitter/Facebook accounts will be updated on a regular basis, ensuring that you are well informed of any closure decisions. The local press and radio will also have information. The decision to close a school rests with the Director of Education and parents will be notified through the communication means listed above.

Punctuality and Attendance When your child is absent from school a learning opportunity is lost. Research highlights attainment is directly linked to attendance so we need our pupils to be at school to ensure they achieve their full potential. Likewise, if you child is late for school, they are missing valuable learning and teaching opportunities. If we have any concerns about your child’s attendance we will send you a letter to offer our support if appropriate.

Please do all you can to encourage good attendance/time keeping.

The results from our recent attendance monitoring are as follows:

Reach for the Stars Attendance P1 –95.4% P2 –96.1% P3 –95.7% P4 –93.8% P5 –95.5% P6 –96.2% P7 - 98.8% Whole School –96%

Pupil Council Our Pupil Council Representatives for this year are Caoimhe and Summer (P1), Mark and Millie (P2), David and Chloe (P3), Katie and Alesha (P4), Nathan and Sean (P5), Niamh and Kinga (P6) and Paige, Kerri, Arran and Lewis (P7). They are being supported by Mrs Macrae. This year they will continue to represent the views of the school through regular meetings, consultation and review. Kerri and Kinga have visited the Director of Education to share work of the Pupil Council.

Eco Committee Our new committee consists of the following pupils: Corey and Savanah (P1), Amara and Kai (P2), Jack and Josh (P3), Aimee and Carter (P4), Ross and Ailza (P5), Natalie and Steven (P6) and Mahnoor, Ali, Alastair and Matthew (P7). They are being supported by Mr Flanagan. They are full of great ideas for continuing to develop Thornliebank Primary as an environmentally friendly school and work towards the achievement of our 3rd Green Flag.

Fair Trade Committee The members of our Fair Trade Committee are Gregor and Karis (P1), Arran and Kaitlyn (P2), Grace and Olivia (P3), Rebecca and Sarah (P4), Jack and Rasmus (P5), Lawizah and Reiss (P6) and Reuban, Sophie, Andrew and Rosheen (P7). They are being supported by Mrs Menzies and are already working hard to plan events for Fair Trade Fortnight.

Rights Respecting School Article 3: The best interests of children must be the primary concern in making decisions that may affect them. All adults should do what is best for children. When adults make decisions, they should think about how their decisions will affect children. This particularly applies to budget, policy and law makers.

Thank you to the parents who volunteered to be part of the Rights Respecting Steering Group. I will be in touch shortly to arrange our first meeting. This term the pupils have been busy completing self-evaluations, helping to write an action plan, creating class charters and learning about the difference between a want and a need.

Our Rights Respecting Steering Group members are Jaden, Beth and Crystal (P1), Caleb and Chelsea (P2), Carra and Subhan (P3), Abdur and Levi (P4), Alana and Josh (P5), Callum and Dani (P6) and Lewis McFadyen and Liam Gibson (P7).

BBC 10 Pieces 10 Pieces is collaboration between the BBC, music and arts organisations. It will take place over 10 months between October 2014 and July 2015. Its aim is to introduce a generation of children to 10 pieces of classical music and act as a catalyst for creative activity.

East Renfrewshire Council is supporting this exciting initiative and every Primary 6 pupil across the Authority got the chance to see a screening of the 10 pieces at Eastwood Theatre. Mrs McGarvey has received training on how best to use these pieces to inspire creativity amongst our pupils.

Well Done

Congratulations to Mahnoor Saqib, her artwork was ‘Highly Commended’ in the ERC Road Safety Calendar Competition.

The focus of our October whole school assembly was to be Effective Contributors through the Harvest Collection and the focus of our November Assembly is to be Confident Individuals through saying No to bullying behaviour. Well done to the following pupils who received the ACE award for October and November:

October November Primary 1 – Isaac Sanders Primary 1 – Ibraheem Amer Primary 2 – Whole Class Primary 2 – Osayi Ogieriakhl Primary 3 – Callum Allen Primary 3 – Jack Riley, Carmella Lang and Grace Robinson Primary 4 – Levi Wright Primary 4 – Sarah Cairns Primary 5 – Aiza Mohammed Primary 5 – Elliot Gallagher Primary 6 – Whole Class Primary 6 – Zaineb Nawaz Primary 7 – Sophie Mackie Primary 7 – Kerry MacIsaac

Educational Visits

Primary 3 recently visited Vikingar as part of their Social Studies topic. The pupils had a great time and enjoyed learning all about the Vikings.

Primary 5 attended a cluster Commonwealth Games Legacy mixed sports event. The pupils participated well and the Sports Development Team commented on how well they behaved. Well done Primary 5.

Primary 7 attended Eastwood Chambers to take part in a debate with Councillor Waters. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the event and debated whether Physical Education should be taught daily in primary schools.

Thank You We have been given a very generous donation by a former pupil called Mr Michael Pickard who attended Thornliebank Primary School when he was evacuated to the area during World War 2. Mr Pickard is currently living in Wolverhampton and even though he lives so far away, has very fond memories of the school and of a teacher called Miss Sprote who he found inspirational.

He has donated money to the school in order to purchase a memorial shield and prizes to be given to pupils during our Leavers Service each year.

I would like to extend our gratitude to his generosity on behalf of everyone at Thornliebank Primary School.

Cluster News Remembrance On November 11 some of our pupils took part in a Cluster Remembrance Service. This service was attended by Councillor Fletcher and Councillor Waters. The pupils read poems that had been written about Remembrance and laid a Cluster Poppy Wreath.

Explore You will be aware that we have been working on a cluster approach to Information Literacy through the use of Explore. All schools within the Woodfarm Cluster have been using the Explore approach when doing a piece of research. On Wednesday 19th November, our teachers got together to assess and moderate the work that has been completed. This was a great opportunity for our teachers across the cluster schools to work together and also to moderate pupil experiences to ensure consistency throughout the cluster.

Thematic Review During the two week period beginning the 16th February 2015, the education authority will carry out a thematic review of the effectiveness of Woodfarm Cluster’s arrangements to promote curricular continuity and progression, deliver a broad general education and provide a senior phase which provides rich opportunities for students to progress into employment, training, further or higher education as appropriate.

This review will focus on learning and teaching, approaches to assessment and moderation, standards and expectations, and on recognising achievement and raising attainment.

The review team will gather information in several different ways including:

o looking at documentation and resources related to transitions and partnership working

o seeking the views of pupils / parents on their experience of transferring from stage to stage or from one sector to another. o direct observation in Woodfarm High School, Thornliebank, Braidbar and Giffnock Primary Schools and the Glen Family Centre

o asking people what they think of arrangements for transition and partnership working through meetings

o analysing outcomes . o looking at partnership working

Further details will be issued nearer the time. Results of the Rights Respecting School Questionnaire

1. Have you ever heard of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child?

Yes ………64%…………… No ………………36%……………….

2. Are you aware of children learning about other parts of the world?

Yes ……89%……………… No …………11%……………………….

3. Do you think it is important for children to be aware of local, national and international issues?

Yes …97%…………………… No …………3%…………………….

4. Do your feel your child is safe, happy and well at school?

Yes ……98%…………………… No …………2%………………………….

5. Do you think the children respect the adults who work here, teachers, pupil support assistants, janitors and office staff?

Yes ………96%………………… No …………4%………………………….

6. Do you feel the children are treated fairly by all of the adults in the school, so they have the opportunity to do their best?

Yes ………94%…………………… No ………………6%…………………….

7. Do you feel the children have enough opportunity for pupil voice and decision making?

Yes ………94%…………………… No ……………6%………………………. 8. Would you like to find out more about Rights Respecting Schools?

Yes …………72%………… No ……………28%………………….

The Transition Survey is currently being analysed and will be shared in the December Newsletter.