What a speed last week went at! We had the most fantastic week of learning and activities.

Learning across the school.

On Monday, staff were busy working away on planning, moderation and preparing the progress reports that will be coming out to you later this month. They also had a chance to familiarise themselves with the new interactive panels (smartboards) that were installed in both classrooms and ELC building over the February break.

The pupils were delighted to see these when they returned on Tuesday.  We are also taking delivery of 15 new ipads which will be available to pupils so that they can access Seesaw and programmes such as Nessy and Sumdog, along with other educational software. Although there is a fine balance to be had between allowing and limiting access to screens amongst children, there is much evidence that shows the benefits of these programmes in developing numeracy, literacy and general learning skills. On March 8^th, members of our authority digital learning team with be visiting us and working with the pupils to show them some of the exciting digital learning that is available.

Safety

As you will be aware, the work being done on behalf of Scottish Water in the village has moved over the last fortnight to the area around the playpark, field and path below the school. We believed that the contractors would only be working between 9.30am and 2.30pm but recently they have been working much earlier and on Friday 17^th, there was a digger working next to the path at 8.45. I have asked for advice from the local authority about whether I can do anything to influence this but in the meantime, I would recommend that you do not allow your child to use the path unaccompanied at the current time, in the interests of health and safety. As a school, our responsibility for the children begins once they enter the school gate and finishes when they leave again.

Coming up

As well as the P7 residential which is being planned for June (more information to follow soon) and the digital skills workshop mentioned above, we have a few other exciting learning opportunities coming up for our pupils. On Wednesday March 15^th, our P7s will be attending a drama performance called “Smoke Free Me” at Lochgilphead Joint Campus as part of their health and wellbeing education. This will also be an excellent opportunity for them to visit the Campus and meet some of the pupils who will be joining them in S1 as part of their transition programme.

Parent Council Meeting

As you will know, we have a Parent Council Meeting this week on Tuesday at 6.30, online. We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.

Relationships Education

As you know, teaching our children about their developing bodies, relationships and emotions is a key part of the shared work that we do together as the adults in their lives, both in and out of school. It can be very hard as a parent/carer to know when to broach certain issues and to know how these fit with what is covered in school; some of you have been in touch to ask about this. We are very lucky in Scotland to have excellent national guidance that helps us all with this and you can access it here: https://rshp.scot/

As a school that is committed to promoting and respecting Children’s Rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is our job to make sure that pupils have access to balanced information about issues relating to their physical and emotional development (Article 13). However, we also need to respect that you as parents and carer provide guidance in terms of the development of your child’s beliefs. (Article 14).

Parenting Support

Being a parent or carer is both the most rewarding and potentially challenging role that we can play as an adult and the COVID-19 pandemic made many of us all the more aware of this. I sometimes look back and realise how little information about being a parent I knew before I became one and I am really glad that our schools today in Scotland talk about the importance of family and parenting to our pupils from an early age. However if, like me, you sometimes feel that you would benefit from some extra information around how to be a good (enough!) parent, I would really recommend that you look at this resource: https://education.gov.scot/parentzone/news-and-events/solihull-online-free-resources-for-parents-and-carers/

The Solihull parenting course is just brilliant and will give you ideas and resources that are tried, tested and based on years of research and expertise. The course normally costs to sign up to but you can access it for free by using the access code TARTAN. There are sections for parents and carers of children of all ages from pre-birth to 19.

Let me know if you try it and tell me what you think of it!

Strike Action

As you will know, the following information went to families from our Heads of Service on 16^th February:

You will be aware from our letter of 17^th January that strike action is planned for Tuesday 28^th February and Wednesday 1^st of March in relation to ongoing teacher pay negotiations. If no pay deal has been reached and the strike goes ahead, ALL schools within Argyll and Bute will be closed on that day although we expect nursery provision will be unaffected.  Should the position change and a settlement is found then we will update you. We apologise that you will have to make arrangements for childcare once again due to this situation and we thank you for your understanding of this difficult situation.

Have a lovely week and don’t forget to get in touch if you need to.

Lena