Swimming/Active Sports Block – P5
Our Primary 5s started their swimming/active sports block at the Time Capsule in Coatbridge today. They were all very excited and have thoroughly enjoyed their morning! We found out today that the children will participate in their dry sports first so can I ask that children come to school on a Tuesday wearing their PE kit. If they could bring their swim gear and uniform in their bag to change in to it would be much appreciated!
PE Kits
Just a quick reminder that all pupils need appropriate PE kits on their designated PE days. Can I please request that all girls t-shirts are full length and capped sleeve. We do try and take the children out when possible and this is more appropriate for our ever changing Scottish weather. In line with NLC policy I respectfully ask that no football colours are worn.
Flu Prevention
We have been allocated Tuesday the 12th of December for the flu prevention programme this year. Permission forms will be issued to pupils as soon as they are delivered to the school. Could I ask that you complete the forms and return them as soon as possible and we will pass them on to our NHS colleagues who are organising the session.
Online Payments
The children were all issued with log in details to set up online payments for any expenses associated with school such as school dinners, breakfast club, trips etc. If you are interested in setting up an online account and you need login information again, then please contact the school office staff who will be more than happy to help you out.
Headlice information for Parents and Carers
Could I ask that all parents and carers are vigilant in the matter of headlice. “Take a peek, every week!” and check your child’s hair please. This is a link to the most recent information about headlice from our colleagues at NHS.
And Finally…
If you have any worries or queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. If I cannot take your call straight away, I will get back to you. Thank you for your continued support.
Karen McLelland
Acting Headteacher
Our Lady & St. Joseph’s Primary & Nursery
September2017 Bulletin
Tel: 01236 757680
Fax: 01236 870097
Email:
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Comments and suggestions
Please email or send in any comments or suggestions you may have.
New Beginnings
Welcome to the first full newsletter of the school year.
Now that we have been at school for just two full weeks, the children are well and truly into their new routines with their new teachers. The children are looking very smart in their school uniforms especially our new Primary Ones who look so grown up in their blazers. The P1’s have settled so well this yearand are already established in their routines around the school and with their teachersin their classes.
A special welcome to our new teaching staff member, Miss Coyle, who has taken up a vacant post we had. Miss Coyle completed two teaching placements in our school a few years ago as a young student teacher sois delighted to be back and working hard in P5.
P1 Photograph
The Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser visit us every year to take a photograph of the new OLSJ P1’s. They visited on the morning of Friday 1st September. Keep a lookout over the next few weeks for our picture. As of yet, we have not finalised our school photos but as soon as we do, we will let you know.
Our Learning
This term we are getting the children actively involved in their learning straight away with a range of interesting tasks related to Health & Wellbeing and GIRFEC (Getting it Right for Every Child). The staff and children are exploring the Wellbeing Indicators; Safe, Healthy, Active, Nurtured, Achieving, Responsible, Respected and Included. The staff have been working very hard to plan a range of stimulating activities and challenges for the children relating to their needs and wants in these areas and exploring opportunities for them to develop across all of the indicators.
Important Dates for your Diary.
School life is very busy over the coming weeks and months and there will be lots of important dates for you diaries. Here are Term 1 dates to get you started!
September weekend – Friday 22nd and Monday 25th September
Parents Evening – Thursday 12th of October from 3.15pm
October Break – Children finish at 3pm on Friday 13th Oct and start school again at 9am on Monday 23rdof October.
Sacramental Dates
The first question I am asked by parents in P4 is always……What date is the First Communion???I had a meeting with Father Alex and he has confirmed that the sacrament dates will be as follows.
Monday 12th March 2018: The children in P3 will be making their First Confession at 6.30pm in Our Lady and St Joseph’s.
Saturday 28th April 2018: The children in P4 will be making their First Holy Communion at 10 am.
Confirmation 17th May 2018: The children in P6 and P7 will be making their Confirmation at 7pm.
We would like to continue to have an enrolment mass for the Sacrament pupils. Fr. Alex will link with the school to finalise arrangements and we will keep you posted about the details.
We would also like to involve the Sacrament children in retreat with help from staff at Holy Family Parish Centre, Mossend. More details to follow nearer the time.
School Improvement Plan.
Each year, the Headteacher from every school submits a report about the progress of their school over the past year. Using this information, they create a plan for the following year with priorities that are a focus to help the school continue to improve the service it provides for the pupils.This year, we have four main priorities to focus on as we continue to develop the teaching and learning in Our Lady and St. Joseph’s.
- There have been a lot of key documents published recently which help to inform and guide all aspects of school life therefore all teaching staff will engage with key education documents such as HGIOS4, NIF, and New Care Standards for Nursery when published.
- Staff will also engage with benchmarks in Literacy and Numeracy linked to the planning, teaching / learning, assessment, holistic assessment, moderation and achievement of a level cycle.
- A focus on Developing the Young Workforce including the use of Curriculo Solutions P5 – 7. Practitioner enquiry into the use of Lego Therapy to develop increased confidence in speech and language for targeted pupils to develop their roles and responsibilities within a group setting to create an end product.
- Finally - RE – a renewed focus on the Catholic Education programme “This is Our Faith” in light of the 100th anniversary of the Catholic Schools Education Act.
The Improvement report and Improvement plan are both relatively lengthy documents to copy for every family. However, if youwish to have full copies of these documents, please let me know and I will arrange for them to be forwarded to you.
Friday Focus Groups
It is my intention to start the Friday Focus Groups with the children again this session after the October Break. There is great benefit for all the children to work in mixed groups across the school with children from all classes. This has been a very successful approach to Enterprise, Fairtrade, Eco and ICT over the past four years.We are going to have four main focus groupsagain this year.
- Enterprise & Malawi - relating to our partner school Chindola
- Eco Schools
- Fairtrade
- Enterprise
This will ensure that every child in Our Lady and St. Joseph’s Primary Schoolwill be involved in learning beyond the core curriculum on a weekly basis. This will help our pupils to develop the four key characteristics of learners within A Curriculum for Excellence as they become Confident Individuals, Effective Contributors, Successful Learners and Responsible Citizens.
Childsmile
The Childsmile team will be in the school and nursery as part of our ongoing tooth varnishing programme with the children in the nursery and infant department on Tuesday12th of September.
Breakfast Club
Can I remind parents and carers that the school breakfast club is open from 8.15am, supervised by Mrs Sandeman. The breakfast service of toast, cereal, juice and milk costs only 20p and starts at 8.30am and finishes at 8.50am. Only children attending the breakfast club should be in the dining hall at this time of the morning. Unfortunately we do not have staffing for early morning childcare and as your child’s wellbeing is a priority for us, we want them to come to school safely.
Parent Council
The first Parent Council Meeting of this session was Monday the 4th of September at 6pm in the staffroom. Our next one, which will include the AGM, will be Monday 2nd October. The meetings are roughly once a month. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all parents to come along but especially our new P1 parents. The parent council is involved in the life and work of the school and also helps us to fundraise for special events for your children throughout the year. Come along and bring a friend. We would love to see you there!
Website
Please remember to check out our blogging website. It is currently undergoing a wee refresh with new information however the staff are blogging from both the school and the nursery and you can see what is going on in OLSJ. There is information shared there and general updates too, so keep an eye on the page and see if you can spot your child doing something terrific in their learning!
The newsletters will be uploaded so you never need to worry about a date again, especially if your wee darling isn’t great at handing over letters – check online!
Here is our link again.
If you haven’t been on – please take a look!