Another busy week has gone by with lots to report on!

Parent Council Meeting

On Thursday evening, we had our first Parent Council Meeting of the year and covered some very important topics. The minutes will be circulated to all families once they have been approved but here is a brief summary of our key discussions:

1. Improvement Plan Priorities were discussed. Staff have reviewed our progress against our improvement priorities last year (in our draft Standards and Quality Report) and agreed actions for session 2023/24 (in our draft School Improvement Plan). These actions will address the need for:

• improved attainment in literacy and numeracy
• increased pupil and family engagement in learning
• increased time for staff to agree shared understanding of standards, with colleagues in and outside of Tayvallich Primary School.

These priorities and actions were agreed by members of the Parent Council. The final drafts of our Standards and Quality Report for session 2022/23 and Improvement Plan for session 2023/34 will now be discussed and signed off with members of the central education team and uploaded to the school website by the October break.

2. There was a very useful conversation around Outdoor Learning and use of our outdoor spaces to support the play-based elements of the curriculum/feedback from Carol Murdoch at LoveOutdoorLearning. We discussed the need for safe and productive play where teachers ensure that children learn how to play and interact positively with others, take calculated risks under adult supervision and gradually develop responsibility and capacity as appropriate to their individual needs. The Parent Council is very keen to support our play-based activities and has committed to using some funds raised to purchase equipment for playground use, which will be chosen after further discussion with school staff. The report from Carol also contains some useful recommendations and will be shared with the Chair of the Parent Council.

3. We also had a discussion around proposals to reduce the length of our lunch break by 15 minutes and finish at 3.15pm. A summary of the responses to the parental questionnaire completed in March were discussed and it was noted that 60 % of respondents were supportive of the change. The rationale for the change was discussed:

• To ensure most effective use of the 25 hours of weekly teaching time to support the delivery of our curriculum and improvement priorities
• To allow a reduction in the length of lunch break to ensure that pupils are in the best possible physical and emotional state to learn after lunch and can be supervised appropriately and within our staffing ratios. Teaching staff require an adequate lunch break to eat, have time away from pupils and be able to undertake adaptive and responsive planning in response to pupil needs.
• To ensure that we are in line with other schools in the authority and that staff can access training, joint learning and moderation opportunities with other colleagues within their allocated working time at the end of the school day.
• To ensure that we support all of our families around childcare issues and ensure that working parents can access childcare beyond the school day as required.

Those in attendance at the Parent Council Meeting were supportive of the proposed change, with the agreement that the school will work with individual families whose childcare arrangements may be impacted, to ensure that a solution is found.  There will also be a discussion with ELC families and staff to ensure that our ELC hours support the needs of our children and families.

It is hoped that the proposal will be now agreed by Education Heads of Service and that change will come into force after the October holidays.

Finally, the Parent Council is also looking for volunteers to offer some time on a weekend to tidy the school grounds/willow den before autumn leaves begin to fall and also to move most of the school’s PE equipment from the container by the Village Hall up to school for storage. Please contact a member of the Parent Council if you can spare some time.

P7 visit to Lochgilphead Joint Campus for Smoke Free Me.

The visit to the Joint Campus was a huge success with the P7s demonstrating exemplary manners, participation and attitude; we were extremely proud of them. The drama was very informative and entertaining. I am sure that the families of the P7s will have heard all about it and be in no doubt that kicking the nicotine habit (or never developing it) is the only safe choice.

Farewell to Miss Fraser

It was sad to say farewell to Miss Fraser on Friday but we were delighted to share with her some gifts, cards and happy memories of the year she has spent with us. We were also able to celebrate with her the exciting news that, following successful interview, she has been appointed to the role of Acting Principal Teacher at Glassary Primary School, to cover for Mrs McClymont while she is on Maternity Leave. Thank you and congratulations, Miss Fraser! You can check out the photos in the Gallery! Farewell to Miss Fraser – Tayvallich Primary School

Reminder

Family learning questionnaire and Ipay Impact – please remember to make meal choices for the week and to complete the questionnaire.

Infection Prevention

As we go into autumn, Public Health Scotland and the Scottish Government has provided a reminder for school communities. You can find it in the Documents section of our website or by clicking here:

September-2023-Public-Health-Reminder-Infection-Control-in-School-Communities.pdf (tayvallich.argyll-bute.sch.uk)

Have a great week and you know where I am, if you need anything.

Lena