ST ANTHONY’S PRIMARY SCHOOL FEBRUARY 2023 NEWSLETTER Dear Parents and Carers, Welcome to our February newsletter. We would love for everyone in our school to join us to celebrate and raise awareness of Down’s syndrome by wearing your craziest and colourful odd socks on World Down’s Syndrome Day Tuesday 21st March 2023! Our very busy start to 2023 has continued with our P4 pupils receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation, more Stay and Plays with P1-3 parents and carers, our Walking Bus returning and two sports teams taking part in Champions League fixtures. We are delighted that we have much more of these events to continue into the coming months As ever, let us all keep Working Together for Excellence. Kind regards Shirley May Carr Sacrament of Confirmation On Thursday 2nd February, many of our P4 pupils received the Sacrament of Confirmation at St Mary’s Church. They celebrated this alongside pupils from St John’s Primary School. This is another step on their Journey of Faith. Please keep all children in your prayers as they now prepare for the Sacrament of First Eucharist in April. Article 14- I have the right to have my own thoughts and beliefs and to choose my religion with my parents’ guidance Walking Bus On Tuesday 21st February, our Walking Bus returned. This is an opportunity to help reduce our carbon footprint and walk together to school. We were delighted that we had 20 pupils join us this week. We look forward to the numbers growing each week. Article 15- I have the right to meet with friends and to join groups
Mental Health Week From Monday 6th -Thursday 9th February we had an extra focus on mental health and wellbeing. All classes took part in many activities looking at the importance of mental health for all. Article 13- I have the right to find out and share information Article 28- I have the right to an education Football Our football team attended Kilwinning Sports Club on Wednesday to take participate in the second round of fixtures of their Champions League. Once again, these pupils showed great determination, resilience and sportsmanship as they came away with three wins, one draw and a loss. Well done! Article 15- I have the right to meet with friends and to join groups Netball Our netball team have started their Champions League campaign. On Thursday 16th February, two teams travelled to St Matthew’s Academy. They played against teams from St Peter’s and St John’s. All players showed great sportsmanship. Well done everyone! The next round of games will take place on Thursday 23rd March. Article 15- I have the right to meet with friends and to join groups
School Improvement Plan Prioritise and promote the positive mental health and wellbeing of children & young people, parents, carers and staff We have revisited our School’s Vision, Value and Aims and Rationale We have had a cluster in service day and follow up CLPL in raising awareness of a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing We have audited resources for learning and teaching that promote resilience and support mental health and well being We continue to empower children to participate and use their voice to make positive decision which affect them and others. We identify needs and monitor impact of interventions Working with parents, carers and the wider community We offer targeted support and appropriate pathways to the right support We participated in Children's Mental Health Week with the theme ‘Growing Together’ from February 7th to February 13th 2023. We will create high quality indoor and outdoor learning experiences and environments that are fit for the purpose of delivering an innovative learning experiences We worked as a cluster to establish priorities Staff have opportunities to share their outdoor learning practice We carried out a pre-intervention questionnaire- staff experience and knowledge, resources, evaluation of outdoor space We are in the process of further developing our outdoor grab and go boxes Applied for Food for Thought Grant to be used for sustainable development education although we were unsuccessful this time We are in the process of procuring a storytelling chair and seating area for our children Article 28- I have the right to an education
School Improvement Plan We will develop our approaches to the use of digital technologies to improve our learners’ experiences We have reviewed our Digital Technologies planners that were introduced last session and updated them We have gather learners’ views using digital tools and platforms where appropriate Digital tools are used for tracking, monitoring, summarising and analysing data We have identified training needs and undertaken CLPL on :- Kahoot Mentimeter Excel Staff have regular opportunities at staff collegiate session to share their digital practice with others Learners can access digital devices to learn, when and where appropriate across all areas of the curriculum and the four contexts of learning Parents/ carers have access to digital tools/ platforms that allow them to see how learners are progressing and what the learners next steps are in learning We have completed Education Scotland ‘Features of highly effective Digital Learning, Teaching and Assessment in Schools’ self-evaluation pro forma We have procured new digital devices delivery of Digital Technologies We have achieved accreditation in Digital Schools Awards . Article 28- I have the right to an education
School Improvement Plan We will improve the attainment and achievement in Numeracy of our children and young people through development of the NAC Numeracy Strategy We have undertaken the following PLA Interventions Classroom Assistants supporting Numeracy Problem Solving Early / First / Second Maths Mindset /Anxiety Back to Basics Addition and Subtraction Back to Basics Multiplication and Division Back to Basics Fractions and Decimals Become familiar with Numeracy and Maths Strategy and identified an area for development Number Sense Intervention Inclusive Pedagogies for Numeracy We will improve the attainment and achievement in Literacy of our children and young people through development of the NAC Literacy Strategy We are in the process of implementing our new Phonological Awareness Policy We have devised a marking consistency guide for Writing We are using a whole school a criterion for the assessment of Writing We have undertaken CLPL on Attention and Listening across the school and implemented a programme to enhance skills in this area Classroom Assistants have been trained in Talk Boost Article 28- I have the right to an education