NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2014 Welcome Welcome back to Chapel of Garioch School after such a lovely summer – I hope that it was a relaxing time for you all. It has been great to come back and see the children and how much they have grown over the holidays as well as hearing their holiday news. They have all returned with smiles on their faces and full of energy which is great to see. Staffing Update We are lucky enough to have an increase in the amount of Pupil Support Assistant Time this session. Miss Lana Laing was appointed to work between Chapel of Garioch School and Hatton of Fintray School and will be with us on Thursdays and Fridays. She will be supporting pupils in class as well as supervising the children at break and lunch times. Mrs Smith has changed her hours so that she is in school on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We welcome Miss Laing to our school. We will continue to have Miss Duffus for Music who will be with us on a Thursday afternoon. We now have Mrs Pam Gauld as our P.E. teacher who is here on a Wednesday and Mrs Ruth Charlton who will deliver drama on Monday afternoons. Miss McDonald will deliver French to the P5-7 class on a Friday. May I remind you that Mrs Gauld is not in school on a Thursday and Friday afternoon therefore it may be more difficult for phone calls and queries to be dealt with at this time. Class News The children have happily settled back into their classes having the opportunity to work and play with friends. Our Primary 1 class have already been working very hard! We welcome Amy, Isla and Thomas to our school. We also welcome Isla to P3 who has moved to the area from Glasgow. The classes are: Primary 1-4 – 16 children (3 x P1, 4 x P2, 5 x P3, 4 x P4) Taught by Miss McDonald Primary 5-7 – 17 children (3 x P5, 8 x P6, 6 x P7) Taught by Mr Calder and Miss Chamberlain. School Uniform The children are looking very smart at the start of term in their school uniform. Our uniform consists of a school sweatshirt or cardigan (displaying the school logo), a white or red polo shirt, and dark, plain trousers or skirt. Order forms for uniform have been distributed and should be returned by Friday, 29 August at the latest so that these can be sent away. They are good value, and seem to be hard wearing. Can we ask that all clothing is named. Inevitably clothes get mixed up or go missing and this makes it a lot easier and causes less confusion. The weather is beginning to get colder and is as varied as ever. Children should take a jacket to school every day. Primary 1-4 News We’ve enjoyed welcoming the new primary ones into our class and they are off to a flying start! Our bellies have been rumbling as we embark upon our topic this term which is “Scotland’s Larder.” Already we have had fun designing a scarecrow for the Tattie Bogle competition at Logie Durno’s Harvest Festival next month. We have also taken a closer look at harvest. Primary 5-7 News The children are studying “The Demon Headmaster” as a class and having read chapter 1 are convinced that this is Mr Calder! Our topic this term is ‘Our Parliament’ and so far we have been learning the features of a democracy through an active task of designing a children’s parliament to see which political system worked best. Thomas Fraser played the part of an effective dictator! However, we found that a representative democracy was the fairest and most efficient method. We have also been honing our map reading skills by looking more closely at symbols on an OS map and by using 4 figure and 6 figure grid references. School Meals The cost of a two course standard meal in Primary and Special Schools is £2.00. Books of 10 lunch tickets are £20.00 Cheques should be made payable to Aberdeenshire Council. P.E. Kit In line with the Scottish Executive’s recommendation of two hours of physical activity a week it’s important that children come to school ready to exercise. For safety and hygiene children must change and wear the appropriate footwear and clothing. P.E. kit should consist of a t-shirt, a pair of shorts or joggers and a pair of suitable training shoes, all of which should be kept in school until the end of term . We ask that children do not wear football strips or t-shirts with slogans. All watches and jewellery should be removed. If your child wears earrings can they please be removed on a PE day or tape supplied so that they can be covered. Due to the size of our gym hall our pupils will have lessons outdoor as much as possible. Illness Please do not send your child to school if they are feeling unwell. We encourage regular attendance at school but if your child has been sick 48 hours prior to school, do not send him/her, as they may be infectious to others. If you child is not attending school for any reason, please telephone the school between 8.30 and 9.00 am. We will know that he/she is safe at home and not await their arrival at school. Should your child become unwell during the school day we will contact you or your emergency contact number (please make sure that you update this should your contact numbers, etc change). If any medicines are required during school hours , a medical slip must be completed to allow us to administer it. Permission to administer medicine forms are available from the school office In-Service Training – Extra Date The Scottish Government has granted an extra in-service day training for teachers. This will be added to the November in-service day meaning that Chapel of Garioch School will be closed to pupils on Monday 17 – Wednesday 19 November inclusive. Extra Curricular Activities The following extra curricular activities are taking place within school this term: Wednesdays 3.15 – 4.00 p.m. Running Club (P2-7) Thursdays 10.45 – 12.15pm Recorder Tuition (P3-7) Sundays 4.00 – 5.00 p.m. Football Training (P2-7) We are grateful to all parents and staff who volunteer their time to help with the organising, running and supervision of these activities. If anyone would like to start any extra curricular activity please get in touch. Whole School Evaluation Thank you very much for the response from the whole school evaluation which was sent out before the summer holidays. It was on the whole very positive and we appreciate your thoughtful responses. Please find the results attached to our newsletter. We had a 71% return (15 families out of a possible 21) for our school audit. Of this percentage there was one area of concern where over 10% of parents/carers disagreed. This area was: Q9: The School provides appropriate homework (33% strongly agree, 54% agree and 13% disagree) How this issue is currently addressed : Children receive homework fortnightly in Primary 5-7 and weekly in Primary 1-4. The emphasis in the older class is to improve spelling, consolidate maths concept taught in class and to develop research skills to aid them as they move onto secondary school. In the P1-4 class the main focus is to build up a knowledge of phonics and spelling, develop reading fluency and consolidate maths skills. Setting homework can be a difficult task to ensure all parents are happy as everyone has different expectations of the amount pupils should receive. Later this term I will send out a homework questionnaire to gather the views of parents to see if we can improve the way in which homework is set and the volume of homework. Improvement Plan 2014-15 The staff at Chapel of Garioch School meet throughout the year to try and develop our curriculum, policies and procedures throughout the year. Our improvement priorities this session are as follows: Curriculum: Writing Last year we introduced the North Lanarkshire Literacy Scheme into the school to improve standards in spelling, phonics and reading. We will continue to do this through the “Accelerated Reading” programme which encourages children to read more. More information will be sent out about this in the near future. We will also look to improve writing across the whole school over the coming session. Assessment To aid with the continuing professional development of staff, we hope that teachers from the small schools within the cluster (Chapel of Garioch, Hatton of Fintray, Keithhall, Oyne and Port Elphinstone) will get the opportunity to meet together to look at assessment approaches within school as well as developing our learning experiences. We will also look at how we can share information more regularly with you so that you can see what your child is working on in class and how you can support them with their learning. Rights Respecting Schools Award We have begun to look at the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in our classes. These describe the commitment that the government has made to recognise children’s rights. Last year we started to focus on some of the rights and recognised the importance of including these in all the work we do. We will continue to highlight the rights to our pupils and everyone in our community.