Tag Archives: Outdoor learning

Garden sale and Celebration of Writing

Leave a reply

Today at lunchtime we opened up the polycrub to visitors for our annual plant sale. Lots of parents and community members came along to buy a variety of plants, grown by the children . If you missed out, there are lots of plants left, waiting to be snapped up. Pop in at drop off or pick up time  and have a look.

Next up today was our celebration of writing, supported by The Braemar Buzzard. Every child had pieces of writing on display  under the theme ‘ My Braemar’. Ernest and Andrew had been busy making fresh lemonade in the morning, and they offered still or fizzy drinks to our guests. Parents and visitors had an opportunity to try their hand at a fun writing task, whilst watching  a couple of episodes of Braemar TV. Fiona and Marilyn presented the children with a certificate, along with a 12 month subscription to First News children’s newspaper.  Thank you to everyone who came along to either event today, and a special thank you to Marilyn and Fiona for helping with the writing project.

 

Sponsored walk in aid of MND research

Leave a reply

Click on the link below to see photos of our slightly soggy sponsored walk this afternoon. Thank you to all who supported the event. The Pupil Council will count the donations tomorrow and update here with the total raised. ***update*** We raised a total of £115 for the charity. Many thanks to all who contributed and well done to the Pupil Council for organising.

Go to this Sway

A busy few days!

Leave a reply

Last Friday P5-7 went out in the village with PC Cain, to help carry out speed checks as a way of raising awareness of the 20mph limit. The children had a go at using the speed gun and then spoke to drivers who had been stopped. They had put together a letter to hand out, asking people to consider their speed when driving through our village.

On Tuesday 2nd, Bike School came along and worked with all the children from P1-P7, helping those who are beginners or non-riders develop their confidence, whilst giving everyone an opportunity to develop their cycling skills. The children’s comments were very positive and everyone is looking froward to them returning next Tuesday, 9th June. A wee reminder too that the Bike Clinic is in school on Tuesday 16th, should you wish to get your child’s bike checked over.

Friday Outdoor Learning

Leave a reply

This week we spent Friday afternoon working on a  number of tasks in the school grounds.Everything in the polycrub needed a good watering and our Livingstone Daisy seedlings needed thinning and potting on.  We also washed the mud kitchen equipment, ready to play with next week. Some children painted cardboard flowers, which we will use as decoration. We did some recording for a ‘Braemar TV’ programme about outdoor learning. We also had an opportunity to use our new woodworking tools, with some children sawing and using a hand drill to make wooden sections for our playground snakes. Lots of new skills to be developed in the coming weeks!

Outdoor learning Friday 20th March

Leave a reply

Today we went outside to take part in the Nuart graffiti art event for schools. We came up with a word bank of words we would use to describe our school then Lucas S, Ivy and Edith mapped out on paper how to arrange them. We used chalk to transfer the words to a big 3m square in the playground. We will send a photo of our word square to be included in the event next month.

We also spent time in the polycrub, planting sunflowers, Livingston Daisies and Crocosmia. All our seeds got a good watering as it was very warm in there.

P5-7 had the opportunity to have a go at lighting a fire with the fire steel, in a very controlled and safe environment. Our outdoor learning progression is based on safety and an awareness of the Outdoor Access Code, so we were not able to have our firepit out this week due to the Wildfire Warning in place, however the children reinforced their understanding of the fire triangle and were able to develop skills in undertaking a risk assessment. The aim of this aspect of our outdoor learning programme is to equip our pupils with life skills, help them to assess and manage risk and become responsible users of our local environment, both now and in the future.

 

 

Learning in P1-4

Leave a reply

We finished off our ‘Wildlife and the Weather’ IDL with a visit from Lianne, Mar Lodge Ranger. She took the children into the woods where they they looked at the changing seasons and how animals respond to this.

On Friday afternoon we talked about our learning throughout the week. Edith has enjoyed learning how to multiply. Scarlett has been practising her 2, 5 and 10 times tables. Craig has been ‘learning his numbers’. We talked about how division is a bit tricky and how it’s the opposite of multiplying.  Some children mentioned learning how to join the letter ‘s’ in handwriting and how to write stories like a news reporter. They are enjoying opportunities in class to play at being reporters, complete with wearing a suit! In PE they have been learning how to play volleyball and in RME the class have been finding out about the colourful Hindu festival, Holi.

In assembly this week we found out about lots of different kinds of scientist, as part of British Science Week. To be good scientists we have to be curious and ask lots of questions, and we spoke about what kind of scientist we might like to be. Lots of information and activities available on the British Science Week website here.

 

Outdoor Learning Teamwork

1 Reply

This afternoon we all went outside to work together on some important jobs, as well as taking part in a creative activity in the snow!

We cleared all the raised beds in the polycrub and had a good tidy up, so that we are ready to start planting and sowing seeds soon. Lucas and Ben harvested a giant turnip and Craig  found 2 big cabbages. We stacked and tidied all the plant pots and put any waste into the compost bin. Jamie spread some extra bark chips at the entrance where it’s starting to get muddy.

We also sorted equipment for our ‘Mud Kitchen’ and had a chance to have a play with it in the snow, making snow pies and giant ice creams. We think this will be a very popular playtime activity all year round! A big thank you to everyone who sent in old kitchen equipment for this project.

P1-4 have been learning about how animals cope  in winter so we decided to set up ‘Squirrel Cafes’ around the school grounds, using the pinecones we collected earlier in the year. Hopefully our local squirrels will enjoy a wee treat over the weekend while the school is quiet.

February is “Random Acts of Kindness Month”. Inspired by the book and animated film ‘Thread of Hope’, pupils discussed what kindness looks and sounds like when playing and learning outdoors. They then painted in the snow with warm and cool colours to represent feeling upset (cool) and the kindness (warm) that can help in those moments.

Finally, we warmed up with a cup of hot chocolate at the end of the session. Great teamwork from everyone this afternoon!

IDL learning in Room 2

Leave a reply

This term our topic is the weather and its impact on our local wildlife.

We will regularly update the slideshow below to let you know what we are learning in class.

Go to this Sway

Learning activities P1-4 Friday 9th January

Leave a reply

Good morning again, P1-4,

here are some activities for you to try today.

Literacy

Write a set of instructions for how to build a snowman. Imagine they are for someone who has never seen a snowman before – include lots of detail.  Try to use a different opener for each line.  For example:

1. First….

2. Next…

3. After that…

 

Numeracy

Symmetrical snowflakes – can you draw a picture of a snowflake which has one or more lines of symmetry.  Perhaps you could carefully cut one out of paper and draw the lines of symmetry onto it.

 

Click the link to go to Hit The Button to practice your maths skills.

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

 

Science

How much snow investigation

You will need:

2 containers that are the same, e.g. large yoghurt pots or butter tubs

snow

water

 

Fill one tub to the top with snow.

Fill the other tub with water.

Leave your tubs in a warm place until the snow melts.

What do you notice?

Try packing the snow into the tub by pressing it down. Weigh the tubs. What happens when the snow melts?

Do water and snow have the same volume?

Have a great day,

Mrs McKnight