281 February 2018 - Gryffe Advertizer

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50 Houston Toddlers the advertizer Lovely to see old and new faces at toddlers since we started back in January. We are all busy making new friends and enjoying having fun while its pretty miserable outside. We have some valentines crafts on offer on the 8th February so come along to make something special for someone special! We welcome all children age between 0 - 4 years old, together with their parents, grandparents or carers to join in with the games, crafts and play on offer every Thursday. The children can enjoy playing, making friends and of course snack time while the adults can catch up with a cuppa. We meet between 9.30am - 11.30am so come along when you are ready to the West Hall, Main street Houston PA67EL (next to the Carrick centre) ~ We look forward to meeting you all! Houston Primary School Scotland Street School The pupils of Primary 6 have been learning about the Victorians and to enhance their learning, Mrs. Conaghan, Miss Brown and Miss Adam arranged a trip to Scotland Street School. The pupils made comparisons with the classrooms and the teachers, and are very glad to be attending Houston Primary in the present day. Maths Whizz Lewis Edge of Primary 5 took part in the Sumdog online challenge to complete 1000 math questions in a week. He did this and scored an amazing 968 achieving an overall 4th place within Renfrewshire. Well done! Solar Lamps Last year Houston Primary School donated £400 to purchase solar lamps for pupils in Zambia. They are now on their way to a school in Mwandi and should arrive by February. This means that there is now sufficient lighting for each pupil in years 9 and 12 to study. We aim to support this worth while cause again this year. Happy Reading! Pupils at Houston Primary School and Nursery are being encouraged to nurture a lifelong love of books and reading through a new challenge set by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The challenge will encourage children to read as many books as possible each year from a selection chosen by a special panel of academics, experts and teachers, with the First Minister’s chosen book taking the fi rst place on the list. The pupils in P4-7 will record their reading progress in a reading passport and be encouraged to write a short review of the books they read. In the Nursery the pupils take a book home to read each week. For every story read they place a ping pong ball in their group jar and then they count them to see which group has read the most books. Bridge of Weir Primary The festive season is always busy in school and this year was no exception. Hopscotch Theatre Company put on an impressive pantomime for the whole school and all stages had great fun at their class parties (Santa even managed to fit in visits to the nursery, P1 and 2 despite his busy schedule!). Our Christmas jumper day raised lots of money for the St Vincent’s Hospice and Primary 7 pupils showed real Christmas spirit by writing personal seasonal stories for their P1 buddies. Our Christmas Celebrations may seem like a distant memory but we wanted to say a huge “well done” to all of the Primary 1 to 3 pupils who sang their hearts out in our nativity and “thank you” to everyone who came along, provided costumes and helped in so many different ways. Primary 4 to 7 also deserve credit for the very high standard which they achieved singing a real mix of challenging, unusual and entertaining Christmas songs. There’s nothing quite like Christmas in a primary school! We are very proud of two of our Primary 3 pupils whose artwork was selected for the Inspired exhibition at Paisley Museum & Art Galleries. This annual event showcases the best artwork from school pupils across Renfrewshire and will run until 15th April. Anya and Elena created their work during art classes with Mrs Devine who accompanied them to a special preview reception for all the exhibitors. This was a really special event and the girls were very excited to attend. As part of their learning in Health and Wellbeing Primary 2 pupils visited our local Tesco store in Linwood where they took part in a Food Trail to help them understand about the importance of a balanced diet They went shopping for healthy foods (although they had to put the items back!) and Cara and Connor in Primary 2b both agreed that the best part was getting to eat the fruit kebabs they made themselves. Many thanks to all of the staff at Tesco for facilitating this very worthwhile visit. Strawberry Field Out of School Care We have had a very busy December with lots of Christmas activities, with our theme being I saw 3 ships go sailing by. We made our own ships and displayed them outside along with all our Christmas decorations. We also had a visit from Santa at our party and all got a nice present. Over the next few weeks we will be concentrating in fi nding out about Historic Houston with a variety of activities and visits planned. Staff will be getting training on Physical activity and well-being which will further provide us with skills for getting children of all abilities to take part in, and overcome any barriers to getting active. The training will also look at further benefi ts for physical activity in terms of developing children’s skills and attributes and will look in more detail at resources and activities promoting inclusion, self-awareness and goal-directed behaviour. If you wish to enquire about our Out of School Care please call us on 01505 615315 or alternatively email sam@sfnursery.com deadline date for our march issue - Friday 16th February - You don’t want to miss it!! 46-51 NEW SCHOOLS_281 FEBRUARY18.indd 50 25/01/2018 14:29:51
february 2018 t: 01505 613340 e: info@advertizer.co.uk 51 Pupils have their say in Hearty Lives initiative Young people are having their say on the food on their plates by helping develop healthier high school menus. The health peer education project Hearty Lives is being delivered across all 11 Renfrewshire secondary schools by Paisleybased charity Active Communities. Each school has appointed a teacher as a co-ordinator who works with a group of senior pupils to promote healthy eating and to make improvements for their fellow students. The project is funded by Renfrewshire Council’s Tackling Poverty Fund and school catering staff have met regularly with the groups to develop high school menus. A healthier breakfast service has been introduced to phase out traditional fi lled rolls in favour of choices such as toast, poached eggs and fruit, as well as reducing the size and availability of home baking options. Healthy food choices are now more prominently displayed at serving areas with catering staff encouraged to ‘nudge’ pupils to make healthier choices. At Johnstone High School, catering staff have also being working with the School Nutrition Action Group to offer taster sessions to pupils and parents, as well as reviewing the food choices on offer at break times. Catering Manager Kerry O’Donnell said: “We had excellent feedback on the quality of food served in the canteen from the parents who attended the food taster session and we’re regularly reviewing the food choices on offer to help pupils to make healthier choices.” Plans are also underway for outdoor seating in the school’s quadrangle area to encourage pupils to buy a healthy meal and stay on site. First year pupil Alexis Malone, 12, said: “I came to the taster session with my family and we had the opportunity to taste different healthy foods which are now available from the canteen. Tasting the different foods has encouraged me to eat healthier foods at break and at lunchtime.” The school’s Hearty Lives coordinator Ainsley Brown said: “The healthier school meals initiative is one of the main projects that our Young Health Ambassadors have been involved in and it has been very successful in encouraging all of our students to make healthier food choices.” Student Rachel McGhee said: “Young Health Ambassadors were responsible for fi nding out the nutritional facts of different foods and then for creating nutritional themed displays within the canteen which make our fellow pupils aware of the health benefi ts of certain foods.” Similar work is being carried out in all high schools with work experience also being offered in some school kitchens. Renfrewshire Council is also working in partnership with West College Scotland to deliver a bespoke Cooking Skills training course open to all catering staff and designed around the school menu. Young people ready to showcase year of youth-led events Renfrewshire’s young people are gearing up for an amazing celebration of youth this year. The Year of Young People 2018 is a year-long programme of events and activities that will put a spotlight on the talents and contributions of young people. The national-themed year is being delivered by the Scottish Government, working in collaboration with VisitScotland, EventScotland, Young Scot, Children in Scotland, Scottish Youth Parliament, Creative Scotland and YouthLink Scotland. Young people have already been involved in the planning for the celebatory year, which focuses on culture, education, health and wellbeing, enterprise and regeneration, equality and diversity, and participation. Councillor Jim Paterson, Renfrewshire Council’s Convener of Education and Children’s Services, said: “Renfrewshire already has a positive platform for young people to get involved in their community and this year will be a fantastic celebration of all they have already achieved as well as what young people can do. Having an effective youth voice that is listened to by decision-makers in Renfrewshire is important. Their voices matter and young people have already made signifi cant changes that make their lives better.” Renfrewshire Council’s youth services team are working alongside key partners and young people to create and develop a series of exciting opportunities to get involved in and show young people in a positive light. Councillor Paterson added: “Young people are very creative and we know that they have great ideas that bring communities together. During the Year of Young People, we will be supporting young people to take creative control of community events in the area.” For more information on the Year of Young People, visit http://yoyp2018.scot and https://young.scot/ renfrewshire. Walking challenge will take Bishopton Primary pupils around Scotland P7 pupils have started the year with an ambitious challenge – to walk their way around a virtual Scotland. This fantastic undertaking, part of the national School Daily Mile campaign, is designed to improve children’s physical, social, emotional and mental health. Pupils have previously taken part in three School Daily Mile challenges – brisk walking, running and walking a lap alternatively and non-stop running. The venture not only keeps them fi t but also takes pupils on a journey of Scotland’s cultural history. As pupils total up the miles they have walked or ran they compare them with various locations around the country. They could fi nd themselves at the Kelpies, the Wallace Monument, or for exceptionally energetic or wanderlust among them, even John O’Groats! Inverclyde School Catchment Consultation underway A consultation has started on school catchment areas. Inverclyde Council education service is highlighting that the changes address ‘minor anomalies’ in catchment areas expected to affect as few as 12 pupils across Inverclyde The proposed changes have come about because of a move to a new online mapping system being developed by the council. In the consultation proposal document, the council highlights: “At present the school catchment areas for every Inverclyde schools are defined by listing all of the streets and addresses within a given catchment area. This is known as the street list. These street lists were originally compiled from historical maps of catchment areas.” Inverclyde Council’s education convener, Councillor Jim Clocherty, urged residents and parents to have their say in the consultation. He said: “Although this consultation doesn’t propose major changes to catchment areas and addresses minor anomalies highlighted by new technology, it is important that residents, parents and others with an interest who may be affected by this fi nd out more and have their say. “The council’s education service has already written to every address affected by this proposal to alert them to this. The full consultation proposal, maps of the affected areas and a copy of the questionnaire are available online at the council website for anyone to view and download.” It is estimated that the minor alterations being proposed would affect around 12 pupils across Inverclyde. The closing date for consultation responses on this consultation will be Tuesday 20th February 2018. There will be two public meetings where residents and parents can find out more. They will be held on Wednesday 7th February 2018 in Notre Dame High School at 6.30pm and on Thursday 8th February 2018 in the Port Glasgow Community Campus at 6.30pm. The full consultation document, maps and questionnaire are available at the consultation section of the council website at www.inverclyde.gov.uk/yoursay @GryffeAds www.advertizer.co.uk 46-51 NEW SCHOOLS_281 FEBRUARY18.indd 51 25/01/2018 14:29:53
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281 February 2018 - Gryffe Advertizer

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