P1 Library Visit

mrsmackay18 News, Primary 1 Learning

Primary 1 enjoyed a lovely walk down to Portobello Library this week. P1b went along on Monday afternoon and P1a on Wednesday afternoon.

We very much enjoyed the walk – spotting buses, the church, the park and crossing the road at the green man!

When we arrived, we listened to a talk about the library and saw what we can borrow. We heard There Was A Wee Lassie Who Swallowed A Midgie and The Tiger Who Came To Tea. It was great fun, we laughed lots! After having a look at the books and reading some stories together, it was time to walk back to school.

A huge thanks to our parent helpers!

Mrs Mackay has some forms for library cards if anyone would like to have one for their child.

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Inspire!

MissSinclair Primary 6 Learning

In class and in assembly, we have been learning about the four values of our school and what they mean. ‘Inspire’ has been a focus for us. We each chose someone we know or someone famous who inspires us and prepared a presentation about them.

In our presentations, we needed to include information about their childhood, why they inspire us, examples of inspirational things they have done in their life and how we could be more like them. Some of us made posters, a book creator, a PowerPoint, a model, video clips or brought in photographs to help give us confidence and to engage our audience.

We know LOTS of inspirational people and will try to be more like them! Hopefully we can be an inspiration to others. We think we did an extraordinary job!

Excellent DTIM Mass turnout

St John's Primary News, Primary 3 Learning, Primary 4 Learning

Despite horrible wind and rain from Storm Dennis, over 40 children and their families attended the annual Saturday night Vigil Do This In Memory Mass in St John’s church this evening.

This is the second year of the combined Mass for Primary 3 pupils preparing for the sacrament of Reconciliation and Primary 4 learners getting ready for First Communions before summer and the children were a credit to the school and their families in the way they participated during mass, with thoughtful prayers for those in need and some excellent answers to Father Jock’s questions after the Gospel.

Father Jock spoke about rules in school and home and explained that whilst we are meant to keep the Ten commandments Jesus asks us to not be angry with one another and to make good choices.

It was lovely to see the church so busy on such a cold, dark and rainy evening, well done everyone who took part tonight!

Acceptable iPad usage agreement

St John's Primary Digital Technology

St John’s School P6 iPad Project – School Agreement

The St John’s Primary School iPad scheme will provide every P6 pupil with an iPad to assist and enhance their learning at school.

All parties involved (pupils, parents/carers and the school) must agree with all of the terms and conditions outlined below.

As a pupil, I agree to:

· Look after my iPad carefully at all times

· Always store my iPad in its supplied case when not in use.

· Only take my iPad out in class – never in the playground.

· Only use my iPad in lessons when instructed to by my teacher and close it or put it away when my teacher says so

· Only use programs on my iPad that my teacher has agreed I can use in the lesson

· Only use my iPad to record audio or video clips with the clear and explicit permission of everyone involved in the recording

· Never access inappropriate content on my iPad

· Not remove any security markings and not allow it to be subject to graffiti

· Immediately report any damage, loss or theft which happens in school to Ms Mitchell or Miss Sinclair.

· Report any technical problems to Ms Mitchell or Miss Sinclair.

As a parent/carer, I agree to:

· Encourage my child to care for and respect their iPad in class.

The school agrees to:

· Provide each pupil with an iPad and access to a range of e-Learning resources

· Provide pupils with a range of learning opportunities which make use of the iPad in school.

· Make sure that the iPad is working and that any repairs are dealt with as quickly and effectively as possible

· Give pupils an introduction to using and caring for the iPad. This will include a session on security, e-Safety, maintenance and health and safety

· Provide wireless access to the Internet across the whole school site.

· Issue questionnaires to pupils and parents/carers to help us in our ongoing evaluation of the project

Acceptable Use

We expect all parties concerned (pupils, parents/carers and the school) to follow all the rules and procedures listed on pages 1 and 2. If, however, a pupil breaks these rules then the school reserves the right to restrict or remove their access to any school ICT facility. Specifically in this case:

· If a pupil persistently refuses to follow a teacher’s instructions or stay on task, they may be told to put their iPad away and work from a book/paper for the rest of the lesson

· If a pupil accesses the Internet inappropriately, they may be banned from accessing the Internet in school for a period of time. Parents/carers will be notified if this happens

· In extreme cases, if a pupil persistently or seriously misuses their iPad, it will be removed from them by a member of the Senior Leadership Team or Support for Pupils’ staff for a period of time. If this happens parents/carers will be invited in to help the school resolve this matter

Signed (Pupil) ………………………………………………………. Date ……………………

Signed (Parent) …………………………………………………….. Date …………………..

Signed (Teacher) ……………………………………………….. Date ………………………

St John’s IT Rationale

St John's Primary Digital Technology

St John’s RC IT Rationale 2019

Edinburgh as an educational authority values the use of mobile technology embedded into lessons and sees it as one way of developing the young workforce. Although technology will no doubt change and evolve between now and when our pupils have entered their chosen careers, it is important to give them the skills required to reach their full potential. iPads are a cost effective and manageable way to engage learners in class and develop a variety of technological skills including programming and digital safety.

iPads in class will be used to access information online, present understanding of learning using apps such as Pic Collage and Book Creator and allow more communication with teachers within the classroom setting. It is hoped that P6 & 7 pupils will be able to use Microsoft365 tools including Team and Notebook to work collaboratively with others whilst saving their own work into a cloud based file.

As our senior pupils head towards High School transition, iPads will be used to improve the move between schools. Using their unique logins, pupils’ work will stay with them throughout their primary learning journey and this body of work will be used to inform their secondary teachers of their abilities.

We have iPads in all classes at present, until now Primary 7 have been the only class to have 1:1 capability. We are hopeful that by rolling this 1:1 programme to P6, pupils will have no barriers to IT access and will be able to call upon information from a wide range of sources.

The iPads also communicate with the Promethean boards in class using Apple TV, when the school opened this was one of the big features for learning and teaching. Pupils can share their work from iPads onto one of the three screens in class. This is particularly useful in group work tasks.

Class sets of iPads also enable us to remove barriers to learning for some pupils. It is a safe regulated space for children to access online resources and although many children have mobile technology at home, not all children have this level of access.

For children who have additional learning needs in literacy, iPads allow more for more extended writing by using apps such as Clicker docs and Primary Writer to support spelling.

We are delighted to have the facility to enable our P6 pupils to access technology alongside more traditional ways of evidencing learning. Our P6 teachers are excited to embrace new ways of learning and sharing this knowledge in class and I’m sure all our pupils will reap the benefits of 1:1 iPads as they progress towards High School transition.

Mark Burgess, Depute Head teacher