Ardross Primary School

August – September 2022

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It has been so good getting back to the school building this week! The pupils (and staff!) have done an amazing job of adapting to the required changes and hopefully are finding they can still learn in a caring and fun environment. As a staff we are certainly delighted to have everyone back!

Happy FRIDAY and it is the last FRIDAY of this term.

This week we have held a whole school Health Week. Health is one of our core curricular areas – it is so important that we are healthy and FIT for LIFE.

The children have had a number of challenges to complete and have kept a food diary so they can see if they have a balanced diet. We were also very lucky to have 2 special guests who were former pupils of Newmore – Tracy from the Shape up Shed and Luke Stoltman, ‘The Highland Oak’ who competes in the Strong Man Competitions.They sent in special videos recorded for us personally – a huge thank you to them for our videos!

Last week we had some Rollercoaster Engineers who did a super job of creating fantastic rollercoasters that had to meet a certain design brief…1m long, 75cm high and have a 360 loop.

Have a super weekend.

I cannot believe we are racing to the holidays – a reminder that the school will close for the holidays on Thursday 2^nd July. There will be an end of term Assembly in the morning.

It has been a busy week and we have had Pupil and Parent Council meetings to share and update where we are with our plans for August so far! Letters detailing which days that the children will be in school come August have been issued to all parents.

We have been off on our travels this week – the whole cluster went on a virtual trip to Disneyland. The children created themed activities and I hope that all the children enjoyed it.

Next week we have another cluster approach and have a  Health Week planned. We will all be following the same activities which focuses on Health and Wellbeing. Our P7s will be not be doing this as they have a Virtual Transition with Alness Academy where the tasks will be set by the Academy.

Highland Council have now confirmed that Monday 10th August is a holiday, Tuesday 11th August is an Inset Day and the school term will commence for some pupils on Wednesday 12th August with others following throughout the week. Further details about what this will look like will follow in due course. Thank you for your patience while we ensure our plans for the initial return to school are as good as they can be.

We have a Parent Council Meeting on Wednesday where we will be sharing our initial thoughts on how return to school might look.

On Friday for our Family Funky Friday the children were asked to create a self-portrait using natural  materials that they find outside. There are some very strong resemblances…

This week the children are in for a treat and are going on a virtual school trip – stay tuned to see where we are ‘jetting off’ to.

What another fast week it has been, I cannot believe we are fast approaching the Summer Holidays.

This week has been a step in the right direction for us all as I was allowed to return to school to start planning how the school will operate in August and writing the Risk Assessment. Plans are still to be confirmed and the situation is ever changing but please be assured that we are working hard to make it work as best we can. The children will still have to work from home for part of the week but it will be great to have them back in school for at least some of the time.
Next week we are holding Pupil and Parent Councils to be able to discuss the plans and answer any queries that you may have, I can’t promise I can answer them as there are still a lot of unknowns, but I will try my best!
Last week our Family Funky Friday activity was to create a bug or fairy house and what amazing houses were made…click on the pictures to have a close look… Our children and families never fail to amaze me each week with their creations. Super Effort.

School is just far too quiet without you all and I cannot wait to welcome you back in August, albeit not full time but some of the time is better than nothing!

Have a great weekend!

Plans are underway behind the scenes for returning to school in August.

We are looking forward to seeing the children back in school.  Although we’ve mostly kept in touch using digital learning and other means, we have missed each and every one.

School will be a safe place. We will prioritise looking after your children with kindness and care.  We will work with you to make sure they are healthy and physically safe but also that they feel safe with us.

Children have been away from school for a while, so we understand they will all have made different amounts of progress with learning.  We will adapt to this and make sure we understand and provide what each child needs to learn.

Families have been through what might have been a stressful time.  We understand it may take time for children to settle back at school and for families to get back into routines.  Please let us know if we can help.

Education is a partnership between school and home.  We will do our best to consult you on key decisions, and please always feel free to let us know any ideas or needs we can act on.

Teachers and school staff have also been through a difficult time.  We are all learning how to get things right for each other.  So please bear with us if things are not ideal, and let us know any concerns.

Education is about doing interesting and meaningful things now, but also a preparation for the future.  We will work with you and your child to make sure they have the opportunities they need despite the recent and any future disruptions.

Last week for our Family Funky Friday activity the children were set with the task to create something with a toilet/kitchen roll tube. The examples are fantastic and demonstrates creativity at its best, being open minded, curious, imaginative and solving problems.

I hope this finds you all safe and well!

As was announced by the Scottish Government last week, pupils across the country are expected to return to school from 11th August, although initially they will only be in school part time.  

I just wanted to get in touch to re-assure you,  that work is underway  within Highland’s Education Service, to plan for  a phased re-opening of schools.  This is in line with the national expectation that local authorities will develop a “Local Phasing Delivery Plan”.  The plan will inform our approach to the phased re-opening of Ardross and will be a step in the journey back to ‘normality’.

Just a wee reminder that our virtual school will be closed on Monday for staff in-service training.

Last week for Family Funky Friday the children were challenged with the task to create a Scarecrow, here is selection of super examples…

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all that you are doing in these very difficult times to support your child’s learning.  Whether this is through the activities we provide, your own activities or a blend of both, you are doing a great job out there.

I cannot believe how fast the week goes. Some new developments from our Government yesterday informing us that we will return in August. A lot of planning and preparation to be done on how this will look and as always we will keep you informed.

It has been another busy week for our Ardross Pupils and the P4-7 class have been enjoying using their new Virtual Class to access their tasks for the day…

The children have also been developing their digital skills and many have created their own Bit Emoji.

In P4-7 they have been learning about pointillism and look at this super example from one of our pupils and it isn’t even finished…

Primary 1-3 have been writing to the new P1s and learning about length…

Again, I cannot say it enough, you are all doing a super job! Well done everyone!