Craigour Park Primary School Handbook

1. P1 Transition Handbook Craigour Park Primary School Moredun Park Road, Edinburgh. EH17 7HL Craigour Park Primary School Moredun Park Road, Edinburgh. EH17 7HL Telephone: 0131 664 7594 admin@craigourpark.edin.sch.uk Telephone: 0131 664 7594 Email: admin@craigourpark.edin.sch.uk Visit us at http://craigourparkprimary.wordpress.com/

2. Our School Times Nursery : AM 8.30am – 11.40 am / PM 12.20 pm – 3.30 pm Nursery has its own entrance and exit. Please ensure you close the gate behind you when you both arrive and leave. It is important that you supervise your child while in the play area. P1 08.45 am – 2.30pm Friday 08.45 am – 12. 25pm Primary 1 will enter and leave school using the side door at the dinner hall. The children will line here in the mornings in their classes and Class Teachers will bring them in. P2 08.45 am – 2.30pm Friday 08.45 am – 12. 25pm P 3 - P7 08.45 am -3.05pm Friday 08.45 am – 12. 25pm The drop off and waiting space for adults accompanying or collecting their children is at the front of the school. We ask that you don’t enter the school playground due to the high numbers of pupils and limited walk way access. Your help in this is greatly appreciated. From 8.30 onwards staff are in the playground to supervise your children. Bicycles and scooters should not be ridden in the playground. Pupils should dismount and walk to the bicycle shelters at the front of the school.

3. Remember • Children settle better if they arrive on time and can go into school with their friends. • Give us your up to date phone number in case of an accident or illness. • Want to speak to the teacher? • Use the home school diary for daily communication. • Catch the teacher in the afternoon. • In the morning the children are the teachers’ priority to settle and to • begin their learning for the day. • If it is urgent please go to the Front Office and a member of staff • will be very happy to speak to you. • Remember - No fizzy juice or sweets as we are a health promoting • school.

4. The children will progress through Early (nursery to P1) First (P2 to P4) and Second levels (P5 onwards) covering the areas below. We support learners’ needs through focus groups and tailored programmes of work.

5. Craigour Park runs a text messaging service. If you have a mobile number we can send you information instantly, reply to absence messages and keep you in the loop about what is happening in and around the school. Edinburgh Council’s website has information on all city schools that includes holiday dates and severe weather closures. Find out more details at Keep in touch Keep up to date www.edinburgh.gov.uk/ Our school website is the ideal way to keep abreast of what your child has been learning. Full of pictures and video, its aim is to give you a window into your child’s education. Alongside this, you’ll find all related information about Craigour – staff, Parent Council, Eco Committee, Pupil Council and much, much more. Please feel free to comment on our website http://craigourparkprimary.wordpress.com

6. Our Learning Journals Please make a comment – the children and staff love to read these We will keep you up to date with the progress your child is making through our Learning Journals. We need your email address, so that you can receive your notification when an observation has been uploaded. That way you will receive regular comments, photos and even the odd video about what your child has been learning. These regular updates form your child’s school report over the year.

7. Water Bottle £1.20 Children are encouraged to drink water throughout the day. Milk 15p – Pay per session Stop Head Lice. Once a week take a peek. Please inform us of any outbreaks. Healthy snacks for break time Please fill in our Health questionnaire and return to the office. This provides essential information for us about your child. We have regular visits from NHS and tooth brushing in the nursery up to Primary 2. Keeping Healthy Medication Please fill in a form at the office if your child requires the school to administer any medication e.g. asthma inhaler Healthy School Dinners – Free for pupils from P1 to P3. We have multiple sittings in our dining hall. If your child is having a packed lunch please note we do not permit fizzy juice or glass bottles. We strongly advise no sweets as we are a health promoting school.

8. Craigour Park School Agreement - Partnership We will ask you to read and sign this with your child as part of our contract with your family to work together and help your child reach their full potential. Within this contract we are also setting our expectations on acceptable behaviour which includes the Council’s Anti-Bullying and Prejudice Policy. We strongly advise that expensive toys, clothing, mobile phones etc are the pupil’s responsibility and should where possible be left at home. Craigour Park Parent Forum agreed all pupils should wear school uniform. The school office has order forms for our sweatshirts etc. All pupils are encouraged to bring a school bag, pencil case with the appropriate materials to do their class work and an outdoor waterproof coat. We display pupils work throughout the school and on the school website. This includes pupil photographs. We will not use photographs of your child if this is your wish. Parents/Guardians visiting the school at any time are reminded that no photographs or filming of staff or pupils is allowed. Pupils misusing a mobile phone or computer, filming or recording staff within the school, school grounds or on a school outing will be treated seriously and Police could be involved. House Point System Pupils are entered into our school house system, named after the 7 hills surrounding Edinburgh - Braid, Calton, Blackford, Corstorphine, Pentland, Craiglockhart, and Castle Rock. All rewards are positive and add to EARN-I time timetabled by the class teacher. Please ask your child about his/her house and their points! We also host Star Pupil of the Term Tea Parties – Yum! Better behaviour Better learning Our Play Squad They are in the playground at Morning break to issue and play games with our younger children along with the Pupil Support Assistants (PSAs)

9. Label all clothing, school bags, PE kit and packed lunches with name and class. Buy outdoor shoes/boots which your child can put on and take off themselves. Velcro straps are recommended until your child can tie their own laces. Getting ready for school • Dress Code • Red school sweatshirt/red jersey • Plain shirt or polo shirt • Plain skirts/trousers in grey, black or red. • Sensible shoes • Light jacket for Summer • Waterproof jacket plus hat and gloves for Winter • School bag School Uniform Order Forms available from the school office. You may be entitled to clothing allowance. These forms are available from the office. Name – Anne Pupil Class – P1a Soft, indoor shoes (black gym shoes) clearly labelled should be left in school - designer expensive trainers are not necessary!

10. Reading in the Early Classes Common words introduced weekly New sounds introduced daily Shared reading books to begin with Please talk to your child about their books and practise the common words Introduce reading scheme when your child is ready Storyworlds is our main school reading scheme English as an Additional Language staff work in the school every week (EAL) Fun ideas and games from the Teachers to help your child learn to read

11. Literacy We follow the City of Edinburgh Early Literacy programme. This involves whole class lessons with support for groups where required. We introduce letters by their sounds e.g. a for apple From the beginning of Primary 1 the children will be learning to build words as well as learning to read them e.g. c a t makes cat We introduce children to common words which are tricky words that cannot be sounded out e.g. said, the We use cursive handwriting (joined) We use Active Learning to teach the main concepts in a fun and meaningful way Children participate in talking and listening activities to develop these vital skills

12. Each child in Primary 1 starting with us in August is issued with a red bag which should contain only the following: Sounds homework folder Common word bookmark Shared reading book Talking homework Back and Forth Folder In Primary 1 children will be expected to practise reading and writing, their sounds and common words weekly. Parent/Guardians please sign or write in a comment in reading record. This is our primary communication between home and school. Please pass on any information to us - we love to read your comments. Homework Please ensure NO juice or food is put into the red bag – only reading and homework should be put in this bag

13. Sound folder Comes home every night Each new sound will have a matching action to go along with it, and a sheet to practise the letter formation. Use sound or letter cards in red bag to build words Children will learn a song to go with their daily sound (see Jolly Phonics on youtube) Practise of the sounds at home every night will have a huge impact on your child’s learning and development. Make it fun and have a laugh, that way you will help us reinforce the pleasure of learning new things. We have plenty of fun ideas to share with you to try with your child.

14. We are using the City of Edinburgh SEAL (Stages of Early Arithmetical Learning) Maths Programme In all stages we focus on oral and active learning Our focus is developing mental maths strategies with numbers up to 30 Whole class lessons with support in groups Time, Money, Measurement, Shape, Pattern, Problem Solving and Data Analysis are all covered in addition to this Numeracy

15. Parents’ Day/Evening TEAMWORK Parent evenings - You will be invited in to discuss your child’s progress and have a look at their work (Sept/Oct and again in May) Open Days Open Days – you will be invited to join your child in class during school hours to share their work and personal learning journey. Parental Involvement We have a thriving Parent Council and are always looking for new members. If interested please see the Parent Council page on our school website. After School Club – Childcare Connections Craigour hosts an after school club run independently by Childcare Connections. All details about costs and opening times are contained in their website. https://sites.google.com/site/childcareconnectionsedinburgh/ There will be other opportunities offered across the session to invite you to come into school and share your child’s progress. We welcome your support with all school outings and feedback on all events so please check our web site regularly to keep in touch.

16. Events We host many events throughout the school year: Sports day/Health Promoting Week Fundraising days Charitable days - Comic Relief Science /Art Fairs and lots more! Please check our school website and your child’s Back and Forth folder/Homework Diary for dates and more information Please view our School Improvement Plan on our website WELCOME TO CRAIGOUR PARK PRIMARY