May 12, 2023
by Mrs Nixon
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Learning in Room 3 Week beginning Tuesday 9th May

Despite being only a 4 day week we have crammed in a huge amount this week!

In Maths we continued to work with decimals, including multiplying by 10, 100 and dividing by 10 and 1oo. We are very much looking forward to showcasing and teaching our parents some of our learning at our ‘Pupils as Teachers, Parents as Pupils’ session on Tuesday morning from 11 – 12. Follow the links below to see some of the games and activities we have used to support our ongoing practise of our multiplication tables – some of us have achieved our first targets and we will be evaluating these again next week and making new targets.

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/carroll-diagrams/multiple

On Tuesday we very much enjoyed and benefited from a visit by Philippa Mason, a UK Parliament Senior Education and Engagement Outreach Officer (see photos above). She brought to life our learning over the last couple of weeks, on the subject of democracy. We particularly enjoyed a short role-play where she demonstrated how a Bill would become an Act in parliament. Next steps are to find out more about Scottish democracy and the organisation of the Scottish Parliament.

On Wednesday and Thursday we worked on narrative writing, demonstrating that we are very imaginative and have many amazing ideas. This was evident too during Miss Dixon’s RME lesson when we discussed and made our own laws for life following a discussion on The Ten Commandments and their relevance today.

Alexis and Robin travelled to Aboyne Academy for their first transition visit on Thursday where they met pupils from Ballater, Crathie and other feeder primaries.

On Friday the children were introduced to ITZA and given passwords so that they can participate in the Rewilding Challenge. The class are looking forward to watching videos, reading information, then taking part in quizzes to win points.

May 9, 2023
by Mrs Maclean
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Developing Meta Skills in P5-7

Here is an overview of the skills the children are developing across the curriculum and in the wider life of the school. They are becoming experts at identifying the skills, both in their learning and in their lives outside of school. Ask them which skills they think they are developing. Click on each skill to find out more.

More information about developing meta-skills in P5-7

Click on a skill to find out more.

Focusing

The ability to filter and sort information, to maintain attention on a specific topic or idea, to see what's essential and what can be discarded and to suggest changes to the environment which might support focus.

Integrity

Being respectful of others and accepting of others' ideas and values,
exercising control over our own impulses and emotions and
being fair and honest.

Adapting

being open to new ideas
identifying problems and finding solutions
responding positively to constructive feedback
being a resilient learner and having the ability to be flexible
learning to compromise and manage disagreements

Initiative

making decisions and thinking independently
choosing the most appropriate method for a task
setting goals and meeting deadlines
taking responsibility for their own learning
self evaluating progress
challenging themselves
being self motivated

Communicating

Sharing and receiving information,
listening carefully and asking interesting questions,
adapting language and behaviour to suit different situations,
communicating confidently both verbally and digitally.

Feeling

Recognising and respecting other people’s feelings and emotions,
showing kindness and empathy,
being aware of the impact of their actions on others,
having a sense of responsibility and concern for wider society

Collaborating

Working with a group and taking on different roles,
learning to understand and respond to feedback from others,
willing to help others in the team,
being sensitive to others’ feelings and willing to challenge poor behaviour if necessary.

Leading

Helping to lead a group to tackle a problem or reach a goal,
supporting others to participate,
learning from and building on other people’s ideas and suggestions during group work.

Curiosity

Being curious about the unfamiliar and unexpected,
posing questions to develop their understanding,
constructively challenge ideas that are presented,
use a range of sources of information to form and justify opinions,
show an understanding of the reliability of sources of information

Sense making

Identifying problems and researching different ways of solving them,
asking and answering questions about the world we live in,
grouping,classifying and comparing information,
examining options and giving their opinions

Creativity

Creating and designing solutions to a problem both independently and with others,
understanding that mistakes can help us to learn and lead to solutions,
learning from and building on other people’s ideas and experiences.

Critical thinking

Using different types of questions,
making and testing predictions,
examining evidence and making links between cause and effect,
weighing up pros and cons of different approaches,
selecting the best strategy to solve a problem and complete a task.

May 5, 2023
by Mrs Maclean
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Learning in Rm 3 w/c 1.5.23

What a busy week we have had in Rm 3!
In Maths we have continued to work on decimal numbers. Links were sent via Glow earlier this week. We created invitations and posters for the Coronation Street Party, which took place on Friday afternoon. Lots of parents and carers managed to come along and take part in royal-themed challenges. We had a special cake, fruit kebabs made by P1-4 and some fun activities to try.Photos can be found in the flip book below.

We had a visit from Tom from Grampian Training, who delivered First Aid training for P5-7 on Thursday and Friday. He covered Level 1,2 and 3 training- everything from cuts and grazes to heart attacks! The children were very engaged throughout, despite the huge amount of information covered during the day and a half training. They said that they had really enjoyed it and learned a lot! Tom commented on how well they listened and how focused they were. Next Tuesday we will present them with their certificates.

April 29, 2023
by Mrs Maclean
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Our learning in Rm 3 w/c 24.4.23

This week we have begun looking at decimals in maths with Mrs Nixon. (Links have been sent via Glow.)We have also been revisiting the idea of inequalities in algebra, using < or > to show less than and more than.
Our new context for learning has enabled us to look at the concept of democracy. We will be finding out lots more about this in the next few weeks.
We have now completed almost all of our Genius Hour presentations. This week we listened to Robin, who has been finding out about navigation methods and Chloe, who showed us the progression of skills in Highland dancing. She videoed pupils and staff and explained the steps and dances. Thank you Miss Florence and P1 and P6 pupils for helping with her project. We also heard from Zeera, who has been finding out about rabbits. We all loved learning a new word- fluffles! Seb told us about the history of different forms of transport and Sophie shared her artwork. We particularly liked her blue artwork, which started off as an experiment. We gave peer feedback on each presentation and many pupils have already identified next steps in their learning.

We looked at our Meta Skills Framework and talked about the skills we think we have developed through completing our projects.Here are some of our thoughts.

April 23, 2023
by Mrs Nixon
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P5-7 Learning Week beginning 17-4-23

The summer term – is this the best term of the year?

P5-7 began the new term by discussing this and their responses were mixed. Great weather, lots of opportunities for outdoor learning and the upcoming summer break were all positives but there was also some sadness at the thought of our P7s moving on and no longer being with us here at Braemar Primary. Don’t worry we are planning to give them a great last term!

Learning this week included self-reflection on our multiplication tables knowledge and recall. Everyone has some tables they chose to practise and most gave themselves a deadline of the 2nd of May to learn one of their tables well. We discussed various methods and strategies that might help with recall of tables. Here is a link to some of our ideas we found out about. If you try something different or one of these at home, please share your ideas here or with us at school (including a photo if you can!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_RBfrNAZEY&t=133s

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/times-tables-practice-makes-perfect/

We were learning/recalling how to work out the fraction of a number and our tables and division facts were essential to work these out.

Onomatopoeia poery on a watery theme was our writing focus and you can see some of them below. We also worked on completing our water saving posters from last term. We were given information about our Talking and Listening project which we will work on, mostly at home, over the course of this term. An electronic copy was sent to our glow emails and we have a paper copy with the date we are aiming to present our research. Over the next few weeks our focus will be on skills which will support our research and eventual presentation.

In P.E we began a unit on Volleyball with Mrs Nixon. We hope to improve our team building skills this term and we will continue with Hockey for a few weeks with Miss Dickson.

Our committees met on Monday. The Pupil Council met with the Parent Council to discuss a possible school event to celebrate the Coronation and the Digital Leaders and Wellbeing Committee continued to collaborate on the subject of Digital Wellbeing – more to follow!

The Stone

With a bang and a roar,

the sea crashed on the sandy shore.

Splish, splash, splosh,

it swirls back to the lapping, growling ocean.

Suddenly a stone plops from high cliffs, swallowed by the sea world.

All that is left are bubbles.

Rising from the ocean’s depths.

Alex Charles

The Sea

The sea was lapping gently

Until the waves roared in

CRASH BANG POOF

The waves exploded

Then flowing gently back

to the lapping

of the sea.

Robin MacIntryre

The journey of a drop of rain

Drip, plop, drop says the soft rain, slowly falling into pipes,

Swirl, swish, swoosh while it runs along the sewers, and

Then a CRASH, SPLASH, WOOSH when it breaks through to the vicious sea.

Then a calm splash, splosh drops when it goes into a stream.

Whoosh, splash, and then a drop into a peaceful loch. Lucian Sim

April 1, 2023
by Mrs Maclean
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Learning in Room 3 w/c 27th March

In Maths we have been working on fractions. ( Links to fraction games sent via email, let us know which ones you have tried.)

This week we also saw the first few presentations for our completed Genius Hour projects.Children talked about the skills they have been developing through personal learning projects over the last few weeks. Alex talked us through his project, finding out about jaguars. He had made a huge poster to share his learning. We gave him very good feedback on how he had presented facts about jaguars and we especially liked his illustrations.

We also heard from Alexis. Her project was to learn how to use a sewing machine. Over the last 6 weeks she has found out about the different parts of a sewing machine. She made a small cushion, a fabric container, which she is using to store pens at home, and her final creation was a skirt. Such a lot of learning in a short space of time! She is going to extend her project by using the skills she has developed in her chosen Masterclass next term.

Our final Genius Hour presentation was from Libby. She has written a book over the last few weeks, inspired by a classmate’s love of collie dogs. The book is beautifully presented, with carefully-drawn illustrations. Libby read the book to the class and then spoke about the writing process- from initial ideas, through editing and checking and then finally creating the illustrations. We were all very impressed with the story, so much so that we asked her to write a sequel! She is also going to develop a Reflective Reading taskmap so that a reading group can use her story for guided reading next term.

We discussed how many of the skills we have developed through these projects link to the wider world of work, as well as to our learning in school. We can’t wait to see the rest of the Genius Hour projects next term!

We had a visit from Lianne, Mar Lodge ranger,who came to our Assembly to tell us about the Cairngorms Nature Festival art competition. The children heard about the theme for this year- water- and Lianne gave lots of examples of what that might include. Click here to visit the Cairngorns National Park website for inspiration. Artwork can be in any format, but no bigger than A3 size. Entries should be in school on the first day back after the Easter holidays.

On Thursday we worked with Katie Spragg, artist in residence at The Fife Arms, on a nature- themed clay workshop. We went to the woods and gathered natural materials, along with imprints of textures we found there, and then used these to help us create tiny, textured nature scenes which told a story. Here we are making our models.

March 24, 2023
by Mrs Nixon
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P5-7 Learning Week Beginning Monday 20th March 2023

Another busy week in Primary 5 – 7 with lots of learning and variety!

With Ms Nixon we were looking at Fractions again this week – identifying, and calculating equivalent fractions and simplification of fractions too. This was an opportunity to use our multiplication and division facts.

The following websites can help revise multiplication facts and help you remember that division and multiplication are inverse operations. Knowing one supports recall of the other. However, it is always good to learn them both.

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/times-tables-tips/

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/number-facts/number-fact-families

In maths with Mrs Maclean we have been learning how to find a missing number using inverse operations. We can find the number input into a function machine, given the output and function. A good knowledge of multiplication and division facts helped us. We tried one step, two step and even 3 step problems.

Our Language activities included learning how to write notes and discussing how and where this skill might be useful in our lives. The subject was the water-cycle and we used the notes we took from two sources to draw our own water-cycles diagrams. We also created our own mini water-cycle in the classroom and Alexis has written about it here.

On the 21^st of March our class did an experiment to see if we could purify dirty water. We used green food colouring and salt to dirty our water but you could use anything. Then you need a big tub and a small tub and you put the small tub into the big tub. If it is lightweight, you can blue tack your small tub to the bottom. After you make sure that your mixture is mixed well you pour the dirty water into the big tub being very careful not to get any into the small tub. Then you need some cling film to seal your tub closed but do not make it so tight that you cannot do the next step. You take a medium weight item and put it on top of the cling film. The whole point of this experiment is to see that if you leave the tub in a hot place the dirty water should evaporate , turn the water into water vapour and when it touches the cling film it will turn into a liquid (this is called condensation) and because of our weighted thing the water then runs down the cling film because our weighted thing acts as a point. The water will drip into the small tub which is called precipitation. In the actual water cycle this is rain or snow from clouds. You must leave this experiment for about a week for it to work and when it is finished your small tub should be filled with clear water. We hope it will work and will let you know next week.

We wanted to find out more about purifying water so came up with the experiment below. Ask your child to tell you the difference between the two bottles we set up and their hypothesis.

As it was World Water Day on Wednesday we also found out more about Global Goal 6 – Water and Sanitation and the impact that unclean water has on the lives of others. It would be great if you could discuss at home ways you save or conserve water.

On Thursday Miss Dickson taught us how to talk and write about animals in French and we were working on Hockey skills. The weather was so lovely we got outside for P.E. Talking about outside there was a bit of a spectacle in the shelter on Thursday morning. We witnessed a sparrow hawk having his breakfast in the shelter (we watched through the window).

If you would like to find out more about these amazing birds of prey, follow the link below.

https://kidadl.com/facts/animals/sparrowhawk-facts

March 16, 2023
by Mrs Maclean
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Learning in Rm 3 this week, 16th March

This week in Maths we have begun studying fractions, decimals and percentages with Mrs Nixon.

You can use an interactive Fraction Wall here

And here you can have a go at dividing a circle into equal sized parts.

With Mrs Maclean, we are finding out how to solve equations. You can find out more about expressions and equations here.

Try to solve some equations below.

Algebra Worksheet — Missing Numbers in Equations (Blanks) — All Operations (Range 1 to 9) Algebra Worksheet — Unknown Variables in Equations – All Operations – Range 1 to 9 – Any Position

We have also been finding out about pollution in the oceans and rivers, through a live session with Dynamic Earth and a visit from Lianne, National Trust Ranger at Mar Lodge. You can work through this learning activity on BBC Bitesize to find out more.

You can also watch this video about marine plastics with Emily from Macduff Marine Aquarium.

We are going to include some of our learning about oceans and rivers and how this links to Global Goal 14 ( Life under Water) in our Scratch games.

March 5, 2023
by Mrs Maclean
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Our Learning in Room 3

This week we held a Family Learning session for parents and carers. We focused on reading across the school. In the older class, parents were taken through a mini reading session. We condensed our 3 day reading rotation into a one hour lesson. Parents read with groups of children and then took part in discussion of the text linked to the children’s chosen comprehension strategy. The children explained the range of strategies we use and then the parents had to complete tasks from the pupil-made taskmaps.

Our visitors said that they enjoyed seeing the kinds of activities we do to help us understand what we read. We gave them leaflets about Reflective Reading and a comprehension compass to take home.

reading leaflet final

On Friday we enjoyed finding out about our personality types using My World of Work. We thought about our preferences in different scenarios and then generated our ‘Animal Me’ profile. We all agreed that most of the profiles were very accurate. Next time we will be finding out how our interests can relate to different jobs.

We also talked about the skills we are developing both in and out of school and how these are important both now and in the future. Our list of skills had lots which overlapped with the Meta Skills Framework. We are going to be doing lots more work on identifying and developing these skills this term and next.

February 24, 2023
by Mrs Maclean
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Our Learning in Rm 3- a busy week!

PATPAL- Pupils as teachers, parents as learners.

This week we have been preparing for our literacy- focused Family Learning session, taking place next Thursday morning. We chose a book or a chapter from a book we know and made up our own reflective reading taskmaps. We will invite our parents to read with us and then will help them to complete the taskmaps. We had to make sure our questions were in the correct section of the taskmap. This made us think carefully about what the different kinds of questions looked like.

In Literacy we have also been writing a recount. We came up with a list of success criteria together, then got to work writing a recount of our ski days. We also added photos to our piece of writing.

This week our lunch clubs started up again. Alexis and Robin did a great job running Dance Club on Wednesday, despite the internet being down! Michael from Active Schools ran a Multi Sport club on Thursday. Next week Alex and David will start up their Lego Club.

We started our new IDL project on Oceans and Waterways with Miss Vanheusden. We are looking forward to finding out about marine wildlife, pollution and tsunamis!

And finally, today we started our Genius Hour projects in P5-7. There’s a wide range of topics from fashion design and dressmaking, building Braemar Castle on Minecraft, finding out about rare Pokemon cards, jaguars ( the animal, not the car 😁) transport and art. I’m looking forward to watching the learning progress over the next few weeks.

All that and 2 days at Glenshee!