In spite of some very chilly weather this week, the children and staff managed to think warm thoughts and get some fabulous learning done over the last week:
PATCH workshops
Emily Love was extremely impressed with the P5,6 and 7 pupils in the workshops for the PATCH project on Wednesday and found them to be polite, enthusiastic and keen to discuss the issues raised. If you wish to know the topics covered, you can check out the resources on the website page here.
Learning in our classrooms
This week we started whole-school paired reading on Friday afternoon where we brought pupils from P1 to 7 to read together and share their love of reading and books. We were very impressed at how the children engaged with this and supported one another and we look forward to this being a regular part of our Friday afternoon curriculum moving forward. You can check out some photos of how well the children worked together in the Gallery section of our website here: https://www.glassary.argyll-bute.sch.uk/paired-reading/
Coming up:
Burns celebration
The catering team will be offering haggis, neeps and tatties as an additional menu choice on Thursday 25th January. As a school we will be having a Burns celebration lunch, with all staff and children eating together. All children are welcome to wear a tartan item or accessory on Thursday, if they would like to do so.
We know haggis is not for everyone therefore the original menu choices for that day will still be available to order. For your information these are: Beef Burger, Vegetable and Lentil Cottage Pie or a Chicken Baguette.
If your child would like to order the haggis please use the Specific Diet option from the dropdown menu for that day. The kitchen need to know the numbers for the haggis for Monday so please make your choices as soon as possible. If you have already made your choices for next week but wish to edit them, you are able to do so.
Parent Council Meeting
The next Parent Council Meeting will take place in school on Thursday 25th January, time tbc and full agenda to follow. As part of the meeting and if time permits, I would like to share information on how you can best support your child’s learning at home and update you on the events that we have in the school calendar for the rest of this session. Remember that you can see these in our school calendar on the website here: https://www.glassary.argyll-bute.sch.uk/events/
Staffing
We are delighted to welcome Mrs Leigh Philips on placement in our school this term, as part of her training as a student teacher. She will be working closely with Miss Fraser in the P5,6,7 class, between now and the end of March.
We are also delighted that Mrs Kate Moody has been able to join us on long term supply as a support assistant on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, to take on some of the work that Mrs Lynas was doing before she left us.
Mr Grundy has informed me this week that he will be leaving us to go travelling and take on new ventures when we finish for the spring break on February 9th. We will give him a Glassary farewell then but will let pupils know that he is leaving in assembly this week.
Nessy literacy
We are very excited that, in addition to using Sumdog to support our children’s numeracy, we are now introducing of Nessy, an online platform that supports literacy. Nessy was originally created to support the learning of children with dyslexia but is now used as a fun, science-based approach to help improve the reading and writing skills of all learners. You can find out more here: https://www.nessy.com/en-gb
We have a paid subscription for Nessy in school and will be issuing each child in P1 to P7 with a login to use.
You can find our privacy notices for Sumdog and Nessy on the Documents page of our website, or by clicking here: https://www.glassary.argyll-bute.sch.uk/documents/
Support for attendance
As a Head Teacher and a parent, I am very aware of the factors that can impact on the attendance of our children in school and the reasons that, sometimes, they can’t be in class learning. When they aren’t there we miss them very much and do all we can to help them join in with learning after they have been absent. As you know, I also work very closely with you to manage the impact of absence on our children, particularly in weeks like those since the Christmas break, where winter bugs have been rife. Our local authority also have a number of supports in place to help any families who are struggling with getting their child into school; please see the letter from our Head Of Service Jen Crocket attached to the weekly email about this and the information leaflet on our website here: 240112-AB-Maximising-Attendance-Leaflet-for-Parents.pdf (glassary.argyll-bute.sch.uk)
Reminder – Education Vision Consultation
The Argyll and Bute Parent Council Group is offering parents the chance to share their views on this during a Google Meet session. They will capture feedback during the discussion to feed into the consultation. This is open to all parents, not just Parent Council representatives. You are very much encouraged to participate either through the consultation form (in the link above) or by joining one of the support sessions noted below:
Wednesday 24th January 18:30-19:30https://meet.google.com/rzn-jpzy-iyq?hs=122&authuser=0
Thursday 25th January 13:00-14:00https://meet.google.com/hcg-mnyo-zwd?hs=122&authuser=0
Have a great week and you know where I am, if you need anything.
Lena
