Aberlemno Primary School Handbook 2018/19

ABERLEMNO PRIMARY SCHOOL HANDBOOK

This document is available in alternative formats, on request (Please contact the Head Teacher)

CONTENTS

 Angus Council Information: o Contact Details o Pre-School and Early Learning Provision (primary schools only) o School Clothing Grants o Education Maintenance Allowance (secondary schools only) o Pupil Absence Procedures o The Complaints Procedure o Parent Councils o The Curriculum for Excellence o Curriculum Levels o The Senior Phase o Skills for Learning, Life and Work o Careers Guidance and Financial Advice o Sex Education o Drugs Education o Religious and Moral Education o Assessment o Reporting o Transitions o Transfer to Secondary School o Support for Pupils o Special Dietary Requirements o Snack Provision in Pre-Schools o School Meals o Applying for Free School Meals o Administration of Medicines o Transport o Insurance o Music Services o Parental Access to Records o Child Protection o Transferring Educational Data about Pupils o Emergency Closures o School Holiday Dates o Useful Links & Contact Details

 School Information:

CONTACT DETAILS School Name: Aberlemno Primary School

Address: Aberlemno, Forfar, Angus, DD8 3PE

Telephone Number: (School Office) 01307 494 250

Email Address: [email protected]

Head Teacher’s name: Mrs Nicola Yarr (currently on Maternity Leave) Mrs Ashley Arbuckle (Acting Head Teacher)

Class Stages: Nursery (Pre and Ante-Pre School); P1-3, P4-7 Present Roll: Nursery – 4; P1-3 – 8 P4-7 - 10 Nursery Hours: 9.00am – 3.10pm (Monday and Tuesday) 9.00am – 12.10pm (Wednesday) School Hours: Morning Session 9.00am – 12.30pm (Primary 1 and Primary 2, 9.00am – 12.20pm) Morning Interval 10.30am – 10.50am Afternoon Session 1.30pm – 3.20pm

School Staff Head Teacher Mrs Ashley Arbuckle (Acting)

Class Teacher P1 to 3 Mrs Jill Brown P4-7 Mrs Natasha Reilly

EYP (Early Years Practitioner) Mrs Louise Bruce EYA (Early Years Assistant) Miss Chloe Ferrar Senior EYP Miss Melanie Swankie

Secretary/Primary School Assistant/EYP Mrs Caroline O’Neill

ASN Teacher Mrs Hazel Craddock

School Chaplain Mr Brian Ramsay

Visiting Specialists Mrs Jan Ford (P.E.) Miss Gyl Rae (Art & Design) Mrs Ruth Clipston (Kodaly)

School Janitor Mr Gareth Mclure School Cleaner Ms Caroline Stuart Catering Staff Mrs Fran Lyon

VISITS OF PROSPECTIVE PARENTS – see link below: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/11/06125905/0 Any parent who wishes to enrol their child at Aberlemno School/Nursery is very welcome to visit us. Please make an appointment to see the Head Teacher. At this meeting arrangements will be made to let your child see round the setting and meet his/her new teacher, and parents will be given relevant information regarding the child’s class, arrangements for the first day, details of the curriculum etc.

Once your child has been allocated a place you will be invited along to meet the staff and children, to find out more about the curriculum and to share information about your child. Further information about our Nursery setting can also be found in our nursery handbook. This document is available on request from the school office.

SCHOOL UNIFORM In order to develop a feeling of belonging and pride in the school we encourage pupils to wear the Aberlemno School uniform. School sweatshirts are available to order at any point throughout the year from Tesco Embroidery online. This service is competitively priced with free delivery and returns, plus the school receives 5% cash back on all purchases. Uniform can also be ordered at Fingerprints in Kirriemuir. School Trends are an alternative supplier for our school – www.schooltrends.co.uk

White shirt/ blouse/ polo shirt, black/grey/navy skirt or trousers. Royal blue sweatshirt with school emblem OR royal blue cardigan Black/Grey/navy tights or grey/white socks School Bags - a sturdy bag or rucksack is essential for school books.

PE Kit Your child’s PE kit can also be purchased via Tesco Embroidery. Footwear - Indoor - Black/white gym shoes or trainers; Outdoor – Trainers  Spare pair of socks (essential for when girls are wearing tights)  White t-Shirt with dark coloured (preferably black) shorts

Pupils should leave PE kit in school, in a named bag. PE kits will be sent home at the end of each term for washing. All clothing brought to school should be named as it is difficult for children to distinguish their own clothing from others.

PE – Health & Safety  Long hair should be tied back for ALL PE activities  Shoe laces must be tied  Any jewellery must be removed for P.E. and swimming  All personal effects (such as ear studs, watches etc.) should be removed  If personal effects cannot be removed, the adult in charge will take action to make the situation safe (e.g. adjust the activity for the individual pupil or group)  Taping over ear studs is sometimes used to make the situation safe. However, the adult in charge must be confident that this strategy will be safe and effective  If the situation cannot be made safe, the individual pupil will not be allowed to actively participate.

PARENTAL CONCERNS Parents should contact the school immediately to make an appointment with the Head Teacher should they have a cause for concern. It is our wish to deal with all matters as early as possible preventing them from growing into significant concerns.

The staff will listen to your concern and agree a way forward with you. They will follow-up the initial conversation with a telephone call as soon as possible to ensure all matters have been resolved satisfactorily.

THE COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE At Aberlemno we seek parents’ and pupils’ views on a regular basis throughout the session about a wide range of issues, from specific learning and teaching strategies to how well we manage behaviour and how welcoming the school is when you visit. Your views play an important part in all our planning for improvement.

If you have any concerns, complaints or issues you’d like to discuss, please feel free to contact either Mrs Ashley Arbuckle (Acting HT), Mrs Jill Brown or Mrs Natasha Reilly (class teachers), Mrs Caroline O’Neill (the school secretary) or the Chair of the Parent Council, Ms Marley Hunter.

Fairness and Confidentiality All issues that are raised with us will be dealt with without bias or prejudice. No-one should be afraid to raise any issue and all will be treated with respect.

Recording A summary of complaints, concerns, requests and enquiries is held in the appropriate pupil file. If you are still unhappy with our response you can contact Angus Council through Angus Council’s Access Line on 08452 777 778.

Feedback Parents are regularly asked for feedback about their children’s progress through questionnaires, school newsletters, Wow! Folders, homework grids/diaries and working groups.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

Becoming Involved in School Aberlemno is very much a community school. Parents and community members are closely involved in the day-to-day life and work of the school. We operate an open door policy, and parents and carers are openly encouraged to get involved with the school.

Parent Helpers If you wish to be a regular parent helper, PVG (Protecting Vulnerable Groups) checks have to be completed. Please discuss this with Mrs O’Neill, School Secretary.

Parent/Teacher contact meetings All parents are invited to attend two Parents Meetings throughout the year. At these meetings parents will have the opportunity to meet their child’s class teacher for a 10 minute appointment and hear about their child’s progress. This is also an opportunity for parents to hear how they can best support their child’s learning. Parents are also encouraged to look at the weekly home learning grid with their child and support as appropriate the completion of homework tasks as advised by the school.

SCHOOL ETHOS Aberlemno Primary School provides a positive and nurturing atmosphere for pupils. Our work is very much child centred. All staff are committed to pupil care and to providing the best opportunities in all areas of the curriculum for our pupils. We aim for mutual respect and good discipline. Pupils are encouraged to become involved in activities and to influence their own learning. In both classrooms we foster independence, creativity and a sense of responsibility. We work together to be the best we can be and provide a safe, friendly and inclusive environment for motivating and challenging learning experiences to develop our children as successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens.

Our Pupil Values: Nurture and care for Be responsible and work Be healthy stay each other together healthy

Stay active with Stay safe and look body and mind out for each other

Be cool and respect our school Include don’t be rude

You have to believe to

achieve

At Aberlemno Primary School we have an agreed shared vision, to: “Build Resilience in Lifelong Learning” – BRILL Our shared aims are centred on the four capacities for learning as we aim to develop the whole child:

Our GOAL (aim) is for all of our children to be supported and challenged in learning. At Aberlemno we are: “Getting On at Learning” - GOAL Getting on at learning involves supporting and challenging our children to identify next steps in their learning and setting goals/targets for improvement. Supported by these four capacities we believe our children will have the opportunity to achieve in all aspects of learning.

SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY LINKS Partnership with parents and the local community are highly valued and we try to encourage the involvement of the whole community in a variety of ways:

 Our school, village hall and local church are utilised for celebrations, festivals, events, concerts and productions  Our School Chaplain, Mr Ramsay, visits all classes weekly supporting teachers in the delivery of the RME curriculum, and leads regular services both in school and in the church  Our Parent Council support fundraisers to which the local community are invited  Parents help with activities in the classrooms and with transport to extra-curricular events  We have close links with all schools in the Forfar and Brechin clusters and take part in many cluster events  Classes visit local shops, farms and the library to enhance the curriculum  We support our local Craft Fayre annually.  We visit the mobile library van every fortnight to borrow books.

POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR MANAGEMENT

To ensure that we have a school in which both children and staff are happy we have to have an accepted standard and code of behaviour. Encouraging appropriate behaviour is the joint responsibility of parents and school staff.

The children have developed a simple and concise set of school expectations which are regularly revisited and reinforced. These school expectations are shared with parents and displayed around the school. We operate a Positive Behaviour Management scheme, which is consistently applied across the school. Pupils have a high level of ownership of the scheme, being involved in designing the framework and in agreeing appropriate rewards and sanctions. Behaviour records are shared regularly with parents, and effective partnership with parents is vital for supporting our pupils to be the best they can be.

Children have to see that the teachers and those at home are working together and they agree a common approach to dealing with any behavioural issues.

We have developed a restorative approach to behaviour management within the school. Pupils, staff and parents have engaged in this approach which involves encouraging positive dialogue and agreed actions by all parties to solve any issues or concern. We share these ideals through the GIRFEC model during teaching activities and assembly times. This will develop a deeper understanding for pupils and staff concerning the whole child and encourage trust, responsibility and resilience.

Playground Playground rules which have been drawn up in consultation with staff and pupils are displayed in the school and summerhouse. We strongly encourage the children to follow worthwhile pursuits at break times and have purchased playground equipment to help with this. Fixed community play equipment is sited within the school grounds, football goals, basketball hoops and a garden area are also available for pupils to use.

CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENT We believe in celebrating the success achieved by our pupils in school, at home and in the community. We strongly encourage pupils and parents to share wider achievements with us in school, during weekly assemblies. Pupils are encouraged to bring awards, certificates and photos in to. Achievements can range from helping out at home or looking after a pet, to recognised sports awards. These achievements sit side by side with children’s achievements in school, both academic and non-academic. Celebrating the whole child is central to our school learning environment. As you enter the building you will see our beautiful ‘Achievement Tree’ which was painted by pupils and used to share achievements.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Opportunities During recent years the school has been well represented at basketball, football, athletics, cross country and Scottish country dancing. Our pupils have done extremely well, taken part enthusiastically and have been a credit to Aberlemno. Children in the upper stages have also taken part in cycle training. All pupils have performed in school productions and concerts for the community, and we celebrate Burns’ every year with a Scots Poetry competition and a Burns lunch. Aberlemno pupils work hard to raise money for various charities, such as Children in Need, Poppy Scotland and Comic Relief. The children are involved in deciding which charities are supported and how best to do this, through Citizenship activities and the Pupil Council.

Pupil Groups Children have the opportunity to be involved in a range of extra-curricular activities as a Digital Literacy Leaders, Pupil Council or Eco-committee. Pupils also have the opportunity to participate in sporting clubs, for example football club, table tennis club and the lego club. Throughout the year pupils will also have the opportunity to participate in sporting festivals.

The Eco Committee

Aberlemno Primary School aims to be a ‘green’ school, and ‘Eco Schools’ work is a regular and popular aspect of learning and teaching across all stages. All children are encouraged to care for their environment, both immediate and that of the wider world. Our means of taking positive action include developing the wildlife garden to the rear of the school, in partnership with parents and community members. We were awarded winner of ‘Beautiful Angus Garden Competition – Schools Section – 2016’. We also recycle a range of materials, including paper, plastic bottles, food cans, glass, batteries and printer ink cartridges. The Rag Bag collection bin for the community is placed at the bottom of the playground. In 2009 we achieved the ‘Eco-Schools’ Green Flag Award, and this is reviewed every 2 years. We are proud to continue to hold Green Flag status which was most recently renewed in September 2018. All children learn about sustainability through aspects of the curriculum.

Pupil Council There is an active Pupil Council at Aberlemno Primary including representatives from both classes. Throughout the year they will meet regularly with the Head Teacher. They are involved in taking forward school improvement priorities, developing the playground,

identifying fundraising opportunities and organising social events such as school discos. They address any emerging issues as they occur.

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES Your child will learn in a variety of different contexts and groups including ability, co- operative and social. We promote the use of outdoor learning and opportunities for pupils to develop skills for learning, life and work.

THE PUPILS AND PARENTS VOICE

Personalisation and choice is one of the seven principles of curriculum design and children and young people throughout their education will have the opportunity to discuss with their teacher the context in which they learn and how they will approach the learning. Staff will discuss new learning with the children at the beginning of a new topic and plan together the areas of specific focus. This will be shared with parents through the online Learning Journal system. Parents will be invited to share comment regarding the planned work for their child at various points throughout the year and are encouraged to feedback comment at any time through their child’s homework diary or on Learning Journals.

THE CURRICULUM AT SCHOOL, LOCAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL At Aberlemno we plan curriculum evenings for parents to highlight new learning and showcase new resources and ideas. These are led predominately by the children. A development that we recently shared was the ‘1+2 languages approach’ by organising our second French café.

What the pupils say about learning at Aberlemno… "I think learning at Aberlemno Primary School is

....."

“Amazing because we “I like Maths - Maths is learn so much at the challenging but not too school, such as Literacy, challenging”. “Fun and helpful Maths, Science and Technology.” because when you grow up you will know more things.”

“I like painting nice pictures for friends and family”.

Health and Wellbeing Health and Wellbeing is taken very seriously at Aberlemno Primary School. We were accredited as a Health Promoting School in May 2011. Aspects of Health and Wellbeing are addressed throughout the life of the school; teacher’s planning, extra-curricular activities, sporting events and Active School activities, partnerships with NHS professionals, Police and other community links. As a health promoting school we encourage our pupils to drink plenty of water. Children should bring in their own water bottles which they may fill at a water drinking fountain. Children are not permitted to bring fizzy juice to school with them for consumption at playtime or as part of their packed lunch. Children are also encouraged to bring a healthy snack with them for playtime.

LIAISON WITH SECONDARY SCHOOL The school maintains close links with both Forfar Academy and Brechin High School and with other Primary Schools within the Angus area. Our teachers, and in some cases our pupils, visit other schools and establishments, and other teachers and pupils visit us. This process is necessary for the professional development of staff, reciprocal understanding and the establishment of curricular consistency. There are also planned transition activities for prospective S1 pupils throughout their last year in Primary School.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS  We are continuing to develop a shared language of learning between school and home by creating Visible Learning characters and referring to them in our learning.  We have successfully renewed our Eco Schools Green Flag.  We are successfully implementing the 1+2 Languages Initiative throughout the school.  The Learning Journals system is now up and running, meaning parents/carers have online access to information about what their child has been learning at any time of day. This system also allows parents to share information with staff about achievements from out with school.  We are developing ‘Reading for Enjoyment’ by participating in weekly shared reading between P1-3 and members of the community. P4-7 have implemented the First Ministers Reading Challenge.  We are continuing to develop the outdoor area to increase outdoor learning opportunities.  We have developed the awareness and use of Digital Literacy for all stakeholders.

IMPROVING STANDARDS  Our teaching staff have taken part in CLPL opportunities to develop their teaching pedagogy.  We have developed termly attainment meetings, to evaluate pupil progress, set next steps and incorporate appropriate differentiation.  Data gathered is used effectively to target support and learning.  Data is shared with learners to identify progress and focus areas for next steps.  Staff are trained to analyze online assessment tools, and use this data to benefit future learning  We have continued to implement French as a second language across the school, supported by the 1+2 platform  We are including the French language in our daily routines.  We are raising pupil awareness of skills for learning, life and work through learning for sustainability.

HEALTH CARE You can contact Carol Paterson our school health staff member at: - [email protected]

Whitehills Health and Community Care Centre Station Road, Forfar, DD8 3DY Phone number: 01307 475274

Sickness If your child is not well, please do not send them to school even if he/she wants to come. We do our best to protect your child from infection by firmly encouraging hygienic practice. It is particularly important in cases of sickness and diarrhoea that a child should not return to school for 48hrs following any sickness or diarrhoea. Your support in these matters is appreciated.

USEFUL LINKS & CONTACT DETAILS

Education Scotland’s Communication Toolkit for engaging with parents – https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/Parental%20involvement/PAR2_Enga gingParentsandFamiliesToolkit/par2-engaging-parents-toolkit-section3-060416.pdf

The Scottish Government guide Principles of Inclusive Communications provides information on communications and a self-assessment tool for public authorities – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/09/14082209/0

Choosing a School: A Guide for Parents - information on choosing a school and the placing request system – http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2010/11/10093528/0

A guide for parents about school attendance explains parental responsibilities with regard to children’s attendance at school – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/12/04134640/0

Parental Involvement

Guidance on the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Act 2006 provides guidance on the act for education authorities, Parent Councils and others – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/09/08094112/0

Parentzone provide information and resource for parents and Parent Councils – https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/

School Ethos

Supporting Learners - guidance on the identification, planning and provision of support – https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/Support%20for%20all

Health and wellbeing guidance on healthy living for local authorities and schools - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/HLivi

Building Curriculum for Excellence Through Positive Behaviour and Relationships outlines the Scottish Government’s priority actions around positive behaviour in schools and is also a source of support – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/06/25112828/0

Scottish Catholic Education Service’s resource ‘This is Our Faith’ which supports the teaching and learning of Catholic religious education – http://www.sces.uk.com/this-is-our-faith.html

Curriculum

Information about how the curriculum is structured and curriculum planning – https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/learning-in-scotland

Information about the outcomes a learner can expect to experience and achieve across literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing, as well as the 8 curricular areas – https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/learning-in-scotland/About%20the%203- 18%20curriculum

Advice, practice and resources to support the experiences and outcomes on literary, numeracy and health and wellbeing – https://www.education.gov.scot/Documents/btc3.pdf

Broad General Education in the Secondary School – A Guide for Parents and Carers – https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/Broad%20general%20education

Information on the Senior Phase – https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/senior-phase-and- beyond/Senior%20phase

Information around the Scottish Government’s ‘Opportunities for All’ programme – https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/what-we-do/partnerships/16plus-data-hub/

Information for organisations responsible for the planning, management and delivery of career information, advice and guidance services – https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/what-we-do/our-products/career- management-skills/

The Skills Development Scotland website ‘My World of Work’ offers a number of tools to support career planning – http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/

Education Scotland Curriculum for Excellence through outdoor learning - https://education.gov.scot/Documents/cfe-through-outdoor-learning.pdf

Assessment and Reporting

Building the Curriculum 5: a framework for assessment provides guidance around the assessment framework – https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy- drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1- 5)/Building%20the%20Curriculum

Information about Curriculum for Excellence levels and how progress is assessed – https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/learning-in-scotland/assessment-and- achievement/What%20is%20assessment,%20and%20when%20and%20how%20does%20it%2 0take%20place?

Curriculum for Excellence – https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy- drivers/cfe-(building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1-5)

Transitions

Curriculum for Excellence factfile - 3-18 Transitions - provides information on the transitions children and young people will face throughout their education and beyond – https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/additional- support/how%20schools%20plan%20support/Planning%20for%20transitions

Developing creativity, employability and skills - https://education.gov.scot/what-we-do/Developing%20employability%20and%20skills

Choices and changes provides information about choices made at various stages of learning – https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/policy-for-scottish-education/policy- drivers/cfe-%28building-from-the-statement-appendix-incl-btc1- 5%29/Experiences%20and%20outcomes

The Additional support for learning page provides links to relevant legislation and guidance, including the arrangements that should be in place to support pupils with additional support needs – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/welfare/ASL

Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice includes specific requirements on education authorities and others under the new legislation in relation to transition – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/04/04090720/21

Enquire is the Scottish advice service for additional support for learning – http://enquire.org.uk/

Parenting across Scotland offers support to children and families in Scotland – http://www.parentingacrossscotland.org/

Support for Pupils

Information about the universal entitlement to support that underpins Curriculum for Excellence – https://education.gov.scot/scottish-education-system/Support%20for%20all

Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice (Revised edition) - provides Statutory guidance relating to the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 as amended – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/04/04090720/21

Getting It Right For Every Child and Young Person, is essential reading for anyone involved or working with children and young people, including practitioners working in adult services with parents and carers – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People/gettingitright

School Improvement

Scottish Schools Online - provides a range of school information, including contact details, school roll, facilities, website, and inspection reports – https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/find-a-school

The Scottish Survey of Literacy and Numeracy (SSLN) is an annual sample survey which will monitor national performance in literacy and numeracy – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/SSLN

Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) – http://www.scqf.org.uk/

Scottish Qualifications Authority provides information for teachers, parents, employers and young people on qualifications – http://www.sqa.org.uk/

Amazing Things - information about youth awards in Scotland – http://www.awardsnetwork.org/index.php

Information on how to access statistics relating to School Education – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education

School Policies and Practical Information

Schools and local authorities should consider the most relevant school, local and national policies and include details or links for parents to sources of further information.

National policies, information and guidance can be accessed through the following sites - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Young-People

Children (Scotland) Act 1995 – http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/36/contents

Standards in Scotland's Schools (Scotland) Act 2000 – http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/6/contents