Mount Cameron Primary 

Mount Cameron Primary is a Primary School in the St. Leonards area of East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Scotland.  Mount Cameron Primary was opened in 1972.  The school has 292 Primary School children (aged 5-11 years) and around 60 preschool children.  Our school has around 212 children in the Mainstream School and also has a Gaelic Unit, with around 80 children.  We celebrate diversity and value all pupils and families equally. 

Mount Cameron School building was rebuilt during the time from April 2006 to April 2007.  The whole school community now benefits from a brand new school building which features state of the art equipment and ICT infrastructure.

The basic aims of Gaelic Medium Education are to develop pupils' Gaelic language skills and to support pupils' personal development through Gaelic literature and culture.  The children begin in Primary 1, usually 'feeding in' from the Gaelic Nursery in the school.  During the first two years at school, the curriculum is delivered entirely in Gaelic.  During Primary 3, the children begin a bilingual programme, with the introduction of English reading and writing.  Finally, at Primary 6 and 7 stages the children also learn French.

All Primary pupils follow what is known as the 5-14 Programmes of Study, focusing on the following curricular areas:

• Languages  (including French and Gaelic for children in the Gaelic Department)
• Mathematics                                                                                                             
• Sciences
• Technology (including Information Technology)
• Socials Subjects (People in Society, People and Place, People in the Past)                                                    
• Health and Well Being (including Physical Education, Personnel and Social Development)
• Expressive Arts (Art & Design, Drama, Music)
• Religious and Moral Education  

In addition, the school is working on the development of a Curriculum for Excellence.

Children take part in National Testing in Reading, Writing and Mathematics as part of the assessment is for learning process.

Mount Cameron Primary has two nurseries which provide stimulating learning environments for young children.  The Gaelic Nursery offers 5 morning places for children and the English Nursery offers 5 afternoon places for children. Parents/Guardians wishing to apply for a place in either nursery should complete an application form, available from the school.

The children in both nurseries and the Mounties Prefive Unit work on the South Lanarkshire Council 'Learning for Living' curriculum.  This Early Years curriculum incorporates the key aspects of 'A Curriculum Framework for Children 3 to 5' (SOEID 1999).  Curricular areas include:

The children share school resources including the gym hall, library and computer bay.  Each provision plans for a focus of activities (shared with parents through the noticeboards) and works on a stimulating programme of activities throughout the year.

Mount Cameron has a Pupil Council.  Each class is represented on the Council.  The Pupil Council has a budget to spend and takes forward the ideas, suggestions and opinions of pupil in the school.  Mount Cameron also has an ECO Committee made up of Primary 5 pupils.  The ECO Committee is working hard to take care of our environment and also has a budget to spend.  There are 4 houses in the school - Barra, Iona, Mull and Skye.  All children in the school are sorted into 'Houses' and work hard to earn points for their houses.