April 2023 Newsletter
Blackfriars April Newsletter
Dear Parent/Carer,
Can I please ask that you watch the weather forecast and if the days are sunny can you please apply some sunscreen to your child and give them a sunhat to wear. We can’t apply sunscreen ourselves in case of allergic reactions so we really need your help with this!
What’s Going On?
Mr McCormick and Miss Houston have secured a variety of opportunities for our pupils this term. Here is what we have on offer:
Monday - Lunch Club – Steam Play for P2 & P3
Tuesday - Lunch Club - Fitness Fun for P1’s & P2A
Wednesday - Lunch Club - Cricket for P3&P4
-After School - Gymnastics for P5-P7
Upcoming trips
P6/5 will be visiting the Glasgow Science Centre on 2nd May
P5 will be visiting city halls on 10th May
P2s & P4 will be visiting Almond Valley on 12th May
P5 will be visiting Blair Drummond Safari Park on 16th May
P3’s will be visiting Finlaystone Country Estate on 19th May
Red Nose Day
Many thanks to all parents and carers who supported Red Nose Day last term, we raised £130 which has been donated to this great cause. Thank you also to Mrs Gilchrist for organising this.
Homework Clubs
To help support pupils (and parents!) with homework we have a number of clubs running.
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Monday
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P1 – after school
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Tuesdays
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P2 – lunchtime
P4-7 – after school
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Wednesday
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P1 - after school
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Thursdays
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P3 – lunchtime
P4-7 – after school
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If your child doesn’t attend and you would like them to be considered, please contact Mrs McHutchison.
BLACKFRIARS PRIMARY-Every Day Counts!
Late coming & Attendance
Regular school attendance will mean that your child has a better chance in life. Your child will achieve better when they go to school all day, every school day.
Lateness has a negative impact on school life because being late can:
Disrupt lessons Affect achievement Embarrass/upset your child
Being late adds up to loss of learning:
5 minutes late every day adds up to 3 days lost each year
10 minutes adds up to 6 days lost each year
15 minutes adds up to 10 days lost each year
20 minutes adds up to 13 days lost each year
30 minutes adds up to 19 days lost each year
Is 80% good for school attendance?
An 80% mark in an exam may be good but 80% attendance through four years of school equal 1 full school year lost.
Being on time and at school means not missing out!
If your child is late or absent from school on a regular basis – maybe we can help. Please contact the school office to discuss any issues.
Please remember that if you intend to take your child out of school for a holiday or an extended break it is important that you complete our “Extended Leave” form. Please be advised that a holiday or an extended break during school time will have a negative impact on your child’s attainment. Holiday absences are recorded as unauthorised and will be included in your child’s attendance statistics.
Please ensure the school office has your current mobile telephone number as we may need to contact you in an emergency. We can’t contact you if we don’t have your number so please do not expect text updates and emergency calls if office staff don’t have your most up to date mobile number! We really need to have an emergency contact for your children also…just in case we can’t reach YOU! We are still getting “unobtainable” for quite a few mobile numbers with no alternative numbers provided by yourselves.
Targeted Intervention
Our targeted Intervention Team continue to work with our pupils in a bid to help them “catch up” after COVID 19. Our EAL learners are getting support from Mrs Laing and Mrs Wilson. Mrs Boyd and Mrs Marsh are helping class teachers to “catch up” with Numeracy whilst Miss Taylor and Mrs Veitch do likewise for Literacy.
If your child is lucky enough to be offered extra help from the targeted Intervention Team please try to get your child to school every day as we don’t want them to miss out on the extra help!
Literacy
In this final term, we will be continuing with our weekly Word Aware challenges on Seesaw. Each month, we celebrate expanding our vocabulary through class and homework Word Aware tasks, at assemblies. In Term 2, all classes benefitted from visiting our local library and we intend to book more sessions in Term 4. Sessions available for the children to enjoy include fiction and non-fiction at all levels as well as a library code cracker, using the classification system and topic based research. The children really enjoyed their visits in Term 2 and we hope they will build on what they learned previously. This is also an opportunity to gather books to support with exploring areas of learning in class.
Numeracy
Our Monthly Family Maths Challenges will continue in term 4 so remember to look out for them on the 1st of each month on Seesaw. We will also be offering Play Along Maths sessions for invited P1 families during this term. There will be a further block of Sumdog Club running in term 4, families invited will be informed soon. ALL pupils can access Sumdog at home and our monthly Sumdog Stars will continue to be announced on Seesaw. If you need help getting logged in please ask your child’s teacher. National Numeracy Day is on the 17th of May 2023 and we will be encouraging pupils to take part in activities to celebrate. As always, if you require support with maths please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Boyd or Mrs Marsh via the school office.
Expressive Arts
Weekly Baby Strings sessions will continue for every class in the school this term. P6/5-P7 Baby Strings sessions are on Wednesday afternoons and P1-P5 sessions are on Fridays. The Baby Strings play-along day will be held again at City Halls this term, which a selection of our children will be invited to attend, alongside children from other schools who also receive Baby Strings tuition. Some children have been offered the opportunity this term to participate in dance workshops led by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, held at Toryglen Primary School on May 11th. Streetlevel Photoworks will be finishing up their project with our P6 class this term, which has looked at the importance of language, diversity and heritage. As part of our coronation celebrations, we will have a musical performance for the children. The P7 classes will receive whistle lessons this term, from instrumental tutors from Shawlands, as part of their transition programme.
Outdoor Learning, Family Gardening and Eco
It’s all go in the garden at the moment! Every class has a raised bed and is taking part in the Great Blackfriars Tattie Growing Competition and will also be growing, harvesting and eating other vegetables.
Our Family Gardening Club will be running most Fridays from 1.45-3pm. Please check seesaw or the website for updates. All parents and carers are welcome to come along and garden with your child.
The Eco committee ran a successful Plastic Free Day last term. Thank you to all those who took part. Please keep trying to reduce your single use plastic by using reusable water bottles and containers. We are thrilled to have a representative of the council coming to speak to our Eco Reps in response to letters written requesting reduced plastic in the dinner hall. This term we will be busy organising gardening for the whole school.
Transition, Nursery to P1
Our transition to primary 1 is beginning on Wednesday 26th April with a teddy bears picnic. We are looking forward to welcoming the next generation of Blackfriars Pupils and getting to know them and their families.
Coronation Day
We are very excited to be celebrating King Charles III coronation at Blackfriars. On Wednesday 3rd May Newsround will be filming some of our Pupil Leadership Team explaining our plans for the celebrations and Cordia will be serving a special lunch menu. On Friday 5th May we invite children to come to school dressed as a Princess or Prince, a member of the Royal Family, party clothes or dressed in blue, red and white (strictly no football clothes/ strips. If your child comes in a football strip or football clothes they will be asked to change into school uniform). In the afternoon, we hope for the whole school to have a street picnic in the school ground, listen to music from baby strings, face painting and have ice cream. We invite you to send in some party food with your child if you wish and there will be a family project going live on Seesaw soon!
Food Pantry
As always, we are so grateful for our families donating food to our pantry. We have now established strong links with Morrisons, the Co-Op and Aldi.
Our trolley goes out on a Friday morning at 9:00am and we invite any families who need a wee bit of help to take what they need. If you require extra help please contact Mrs McHutchison who will be happy to help.
Child Protection
We have very robust procedures already in place to ensure the health, safety and well-being of our pupils in Blackfriars. These procedures will not change. However, as we continue to “Get It Right For Every Child,” please remember your first point of contact if you have any concerns is Mr McCormick P2-7 and Mrs McHutchison P1.
Care Experienced Co-ordinators
Our Care Experienced Co-ordinator is Mr McCormick P2-7 and Mrs McHutchison P1.
Blackfriars’ Road Safety
A reminder to all parents and carers that drop off or pick up their children by car.
Blackfriars is subject to School Street Permit restrictions which make it ILLEGAL to drive on the Camden Terrace between the following hours:
08:30 - 09:15
14:30 - 15:15
Please do not enter, park or drive through in this area during these times.
The police attend whenever they can and have already issued tickets.
Internet Safety
We are having a lot of problems at the moment with children using APPS and the Internet inappropriately. We will do our best to teach the children what is acceptable and unacceptable use of the internet but we need your help. Many of the problems are happening on apps that primary school age children simply shouldn’t be using! There are age limits on APPs for a reason.
If you child is experiencing negative interactions on line please remove the APPs and monitor their contacts.
Please read this information page from the NSPCC. It is important:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/social-media/
This article has fantastic advice for parents and how to keep children safe online.
Please note the AGE Ratings for a selection of APPS. They have an age rating for a reason. Basically, we should not have Primary Age children using these APPS.
Facebook-Age 13
Instagram Age 13
Snapchat-Age 13
TikTok – Age 13
Twitter-Age 13
Wink- Age 13
Please help to keep your child safe online!
In the meantime we do communicate via:
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Please add us - @BlackfriarsP
Have a look at our school website - www.blackfriars-pri.glasgow.sch.uk
Or download the following apps used by Blackfriars PS:-
School app – “Scot ed” .png)
and search for Blackfriars PS
for homework, class and school information
And please ensure we have your phone number and email addresses so we can text and email you, please regularly check your child’s school bag for paper information leaflets and letters.
Kind Regards,
Mrs Henderson
Provisional Dates for your Diary 2023
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P6 Assembly and Blackfriars Blether
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9am 27th April - Blether
9.45am P6 Assembly
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P2A Assembly and Blackfriars Blether
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9am 11th May - Blether
9.45am P2a Assembly
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P2B Assembly and Blackfriars Blether
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9am 1st June - Blether
9.45am P2b Assembly
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Parents’ Nights
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Wednesday 15th March 5.30-7.30pm
Wednesday 22nd March 3-5.30pm
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Sports’ Afternoon (weather permitting)
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PM-Wednesday 7th of June
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Reserve Sports’ Afternoon (weather permitting)
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PM- Thursday 8th of June
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Primary 7 End of Term Assembly
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Week Beginning 19th of June-TBC
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School Holidays 2022/23
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2023
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May Day
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Monday 1st May
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Coronation Public Holiday
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Monday 8th May
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In-Service Day 5
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No children at school-Thursday 25th May
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May Holiday
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Friday 26th May
Monday 29th May
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Summer Holidays
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School Closes @ 1pm on Friday 23rd June
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In-Service Day
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Monday 14th August
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Tuesday 15th August
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Children Return
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Wednesday 16th August 2023
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