St Columba’s Primary
School Information - April 2015
Head Teacher: Miss Michaelina MacLellan
Tel: 01631 568090
01631 568092
E-mail: enquiries@St-Columbas.argyll-bute.sch.uk
Dear Parents and Carers,
HMIe INSPECTION
As you are all aware, we are looking forward to welcoming Her Majesty’s
Inspectorate of Education into our school on the week beginning Monday 11 th May.
You have all been given questionnaires to complete and return to Education
Scotland and I would urge you all to do this as soon as possible if you have not
already done so. I would also ask that as many parents as possible indicate on
their questionnaires that they would be willing to meet with the HMIe inspectors to
ensure that they have a fair and true reflection of our school.
Unfortunately, as I am currently preparing for this inspection I will not be teaching in
the P7/6 class as planned. However, we are very fortunate to have Mrs Anderson
who is going to teach the class on the days that I am unavailable to.
ASCENSION THURSDAY
Ascension Thursday is on Thursday 14th May and there will be Mass in the school
at 9.15am in our GP Room. All parents, carers and members of our parish are very
welcome, and indeed encouraged, to attend.
STAFF
Mrs De Mattos is no longer working with us in St Columba’s. However, we are
delighted to welcome Miss Jenny Love to our school who will be teaching the
children art and design on a Thursday until the end of this term.
PERSONAL LEARNING PLANS
As discussed last term, the children’s Personal Learning Plans went home with the
pupils yesterday, Monday 27th April. We ask that parents take some time to look
through these plans with their child and return them to school by Friday 1st May.
BANK HOLIDAY
The school will be closed on Monday 4th May for the May Bank Holiday. We will
open again on Tuesday 5th May at 9am.
GAELIC CHOIR
Mrs Barlow will now be working with a Gaelic choir in our school on a Tuesday
afternoon. We asked our pupils in P3-6 to come forward if they would like to join
our choir and we were delighted with the response! We hope to take part in the
local Mod in June and then in the National Mod which takes place in Oban this year
in October.
SACRAMENTS
Our pupils will be receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion on Sunday 7th
June at 10.30am Mass in the Cathedral. There will be a meeting in the school on
Wednesday 6th May at 6pm. We hope to see you all there.
Two of our pupils, Ala and Kacper, will be confirmed in the school at 2.30pm on
Thursday, 30th April. We look forward to welcoming their friends and families into
the school to celebrate this special occasion.
HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS MUSIC AND DANCE FESTIVAL
Our P2/1 pupils have been working very hard with Mrs Barlow and Miss Chisholm
to learn a song for the HIMDF. The song is in English, Gaelic and in Polish! They
pupils will be performing at 9.50am on Friday 1st May in the Corran Halls and
parents are welcome to go along and watch their child perform. There is a small
entrance fee.
HEAD LICE
I have had a number of conversations with parents recently who have been very
concerned about head lice. Please ensure that you check your child’s hair
regularly.
READING ROOM GRAND OPENING
We will have the grand opening of our reading room on Wednesday 20th May at
2.30pm. The Reading Room will be officially opened by Book Bug and as it is
Book Bug week we ask that all pupils come into school wearing their pyjamas to
celebrate their theme of ‘Bedtime Reading.’ Our younger pupils, including our Early
Years Group, will be having a Book Bug Session. We would be delighted if as
many parents/carers came along to the opening as possible!
EARLY YEARS GROUP
Our Early Years Group celebrated its first birthday last week! Thanks to Mrs
McGuigan and all of the other parent helpers who have helped to make the group
such a success! Just a reminder that the group meets on a Wednesday afternoon
in the school from 1.40pm-3.10pm.
SPORTS DAY
Sports Day will take place on Friday 15th May at Mossfield at 1.30pm. We have a
reserve day of Tuesday 19th May in the event of bad weather on the Friday. All
parents, carers and family members are more than welcome to come along!
ATHLETICS CLUB
The athletics after school club will begin again on Wednesday 20th May from
3.15pm – 4.15pm.
ITEACH
We have been very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work alongside
iTeach who are helping us to develop the use of iPads in our school. Staff from
iTeach, an Apple education company, visited our school last week and worked with
P5/4 and then with the whole staff after school to further develop their skills. They
will return again on Tuesday 26th May.
INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK
This term, the whole school is working on an interdisciplinary topic on ‘The Sea’.
To ensure depth in the children’s learning, we have organized for a number of our
key partners to come into the school to work alongside us. Some of the
experiences planned are as follows:
STRAMASH
Primary 1-3 will be spending the day with Stramash on Monday 18th May. This trip
will complement the learning the children will be doing on the sea. More
information will follow.
SAMS
To supplement the children’s learning about the sea, SAMS will be visiting our
school on Thursday 30th April to talk to all of our classes about marine litter.
TURTLE TALK
A member of the Marine Conservation Society will be visiting our school on
Wednesday 27th May to talk to all of our pupils about the leather back turtle and
the journeys it makes. He will also be discussing how marine litter affects the turtle.
PUPPET SHOW
All of our classes have been busy making sea monsters with the help of SAMS.
The pupils will be presenting their sea monsters in the Corran Halls on Friday 29th
May.
Yours sincerely
Miss M MacLellan
Head Teacher