Ethos and School Life

Our school ethos and culture is underpinned by our shared values (RESPECT Balloons). We promote the shared values through positive rewards and communication with pupils and parents:

Our House System

At Knoxland Primary School we have a House System in place. Our houses are name after local clans: Napier, McNaughton, McGregor, Colqhoun, Buchanan and Lamont. Every child is allocated a House when they enrol. Siblings are allocated to the same House.

The purpose of our House System is to provide opportunities for our school community to come together and for older and younger children to work and play together. We organise House Events thoughout the year where children can earn points for their House through their participation and effort.

Each House has a Captain and a Vice Captain who help to plan and organise the House Events.

Class Dojo

Every parent will be invited to join Class Dojo. This is an App used by the class teacher to award points to children in the classroom. Parents can also view how many points their child has received at home. Each Class Teacher also maintains a Class Story (blog) that shares with the parents who have joined photos and information about the learning taking place in class. There is also a School Story where whole school information is shared. When your child joins a class their class teacher will send home the code allowing their parent to view the App

Friday Clubs

Most Fridays from 2-3pm we run Friday Clubs. The children choose from a range of activities such as sports, fitness, arts and crafts, singing, drama, digital technology, construction etc. This is an opportunity to develop their own talents and interests. Friday Clubs are also linked to our Promoting Positive Behaviour Policy where children can lose minutes from their clubtime for not following the RESPECT Balloon Shared Values and will be given timeout. Children can suggest ideas for clubs such as our KPS Charity Club and our Gymnastic Club

Restorative practice

At Knoxland Primary we promote the resolution of conflict through talking and listening to each other. The TRUST process encourages children to allow each other to tell their stories, to listen and respect each other, try to understand and strategise and to take responsibility for their actions. Adults in the school help the children follow the process by mediating to resolve conflict.

We encourage a whole school approach through:

Weekly assembly

At our weekly assembly we celebrate achievement. Children receive "Student of the Week" certificates and we hear about achievements beyond school. We revisit our RESPECT Balloons to emphasise our shared values.

themed weeks and focus days

We celebrate a range of Themed Weeks and Focus Days through out the year to raise awareness about certain Numeracy, Literacy or Health and Wellbeing Topics. We also organise various charity days throughout the year.

September - Maths Week

October - Personal Safety Week

October - Hallowe'en

February - Fair Trade Friday

March - Book Week - World Book Day

June - Healthy Living Week - Sports Day

School performances

At Knoxland Primary we provide opportunities for children to develop their confidence through performance. Consequently we have two school performances each year one at Christmas and the other in February where the children perform Scots poetry and song. Each class also plans ans performs a school assembly each year. Parents are invited to these events.

We encourage all our children to take a leadership role through:

Leadership Roles

We encourage our children to take on leadership roles such as House Captains and Vice Captains, Lunch Monitors, Playground Leaders, P1 Buddies, Wet Day Monitors. Children who take on responsibilities can claim credits through the Children's University

Community Action Teams

P4-P7 each apply to join a Community Action Team who strive to make a positive change for the school or community. Team may plan campaigns to raise awareness of an issue such as road safety or plan events to raise money to buy something for the school such as new sports kits or outdoor play areas. At the moment we have the following Community Action Teams:

The Children's Rights Team
The Road Safety Team
The World Culture Team
The Royal Horticultural Team
The Sports Award Team
The Digital Schools Award Team
The Green Flag Team
The School Grounds Team

We encourage our children to share their opinions through:

We encourage an ethos where our children feel able to share their views and opinions. Our teachers listen to our children when planning the learning in the class. We offer personalisation and choice examples of which are our home learning menus, Friday Clubs, House Rewards and Community Action Teams. Our House Captains and Vice Captains represent their houses whilst each class has a representative who participates in the Student Council

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