Our Weekly School News – Sharing our learning with the school Community
Please have a read and a chat about what some of our Classes have been up to this week.
The Reading Ambassadors have been working hard to organise their Secondhand Book sale on Monday. The pictures show us sorting out all of the donated books.
The Homework Club and Global gang were delighted to receive a very generous cheque from the Co-op who raised £250 by holding a tombola and bake sale for our school funds. We plan to buy a portable cooker to use at Homework Club and in the classes. Thank you very much to all who helped to raise this fantastic amount.
Primary 1a
Class Activities and Pupil Comments
We’ve had lots of fun this week. Here’s some of the things we’ve enjoyed!
Riley: I’ve liked playing with the junk. I made presents for Dad.
Darla: I’ve been playing with Murry.
Miss Potts: I’ve enjoyed listening to the children’s beautiful singing when they have practised.
Luke: I’ve enjoyed playing with the microphones.
Amelia: I like the post office in our class. Playing with the till.
This week we visited the Church to look at the Christmas trees. We met the new Minister and enjoyed looking at all the different designs on the trees. Thank you for letting us come along!
Jillie: I liked seeing the Christmas trees.
Ethan: I had a pen. We had to find all the letters on the angels.
We also wrote letters to Santa and posted them on our trip. We hope we get some replies!
Charlie: We sent our Santa letters. We went and posted them in the box at the Church.
Reminders
Christmas Craft Afternoon – Tuesday 18th December at 2pm. Don’t forget to return reply slip if you haven’t already.
Christmas Show – we look forward to performing for you on Wednesday!
Primary 1b
Class Activities and Pupil Comments
We would like to start by saying a BIG thank you to Akie and Barbara who joined us last Friday for an afternoon of Lego! Akie showed us all the fantastic builds he had made; a replica of their house with a lego Ziya in his bedroom, a motorised vehicle and the Nativity scene. The children worked in groups with Akie to follow instructions and each build their own lego Rudolph to hang on their tree. We were also given some lego decorations to hang on our class tree. The children had a wonderful afternoon – completely engaged in building and constructing.
Beth: “I liked making my Rudolph”
Ziya: I liked my Mum and Dad coming in and I liked helping other children make their Rudolph”
Zach: “I liked making a Captain America plane”
Conall: “I liked building my Rudolph”
Mya: “I liked buildng my reindeer”
Kai: “I liked making Hulk”
Zane: “I like playing with Zach and Joshua”
Ellie: “I love playing with everything!”
Charlotte: “I like learning things that I don’t know”
William: “I liked being the teacher”
Tiffany: “I liked practising the songs”
The children have been working extremely hard practising for the Christmas show. They are ALL superstars!
Elliot is taking Ben the bear home this weekend – have fun Elliot and Ben!
Christmas Craft Afternoon – Tuesday 18th December at 2pm. Don’t forget to return reply slip if you haven’t already.
Primary 2/3
Class Activities and Pupil Comments
We have been doing a lot of Art this week to decorate the hall for our Christmas concert.
Zoe ‘ We made snowmen and snowflakes to stick up in the hall.’
Jack J ‘We have been practising our Christmas songs in the hall on the stage.’
Cooper ‘We made chains to decorate the class.’
We have recently started doing small activities at the start of each day in what we call our Morning Groups.
Darcie ‘I like when we get to go on the computers.’
In maths we have started to learn about symmetry.
Alexander ‘We have an advent calendar each morning and we have been getting letters every day.’
We don’t know who the letters are from but there is a little door on the wall so we think that is how they are getting into our class!
Reminders
Monday 10th December – book sale in the afternoon, all books 20p.
Wednesday 12th December – afternoon and evening performance of our songs.
Thursday 13th December – walk to Castle Douglas Parish Church to visit the Christmas Tree Festival.
Primary 3
In Art and Design this week, we have been creating Christmas trees using different shades and strokes of oil pastels. They look fantastic in our classroom!
We have been learning about vowels in Literacy this week. We enjoyed singing a song with the ‘Vowel Owls’ and we identified the vowels in different words with a partner.
As part of our Santa Claus comes to Castle Douglas topic, Mr Tyson came to talk to us about the history of Castle Douglas in preparation for our walk next week. We are looking forward to developing our map skills and learning new facts.
Reminders
Monday 10th December – walk to Hanover Court to perform our Christmas songs.
Monday 10th December – History of Castle Douglas town walk
Tuesday 11th December – walk to Castle Douglas Parish Church to visit the Christmas Tree Festival.
Wednesday 19th December – Christmas Craft Afternoon at 1.30pm.
Primary 3/4
This week we read The Kind Christmas tree.
“We thought of adjectives to describe the Kind Christmas Tree”. – Emma
“We created Christmas Tree pictures in the style of Paul Klee”. – Ruby
“It is an abstract piece of art”. – Caitlin
“We created different shades of colours by changing the pressure of the pencil”. – Fern
“We looked at the colour wheel and we had to pick three complimentary colours”. Coby
“We are working on symmetry in maths. We made a symmetrical picture of a gingerbread man” – Kaidi
“We have to use a mirror to help us” – Tika
“We have started learning Scottish Country Dancing in PE.” – Alex
As part of our Santa Claus comes to Castle Douglas topic, Mr Tyson came to talk to us about the history of Castle Douglas in preparation for our walk next week.
Reminders
Monday 10th December – walk to Hanover Court to perform our Christmas songs.
Tuesday 11th December – walk to Castle Douglas Parish Church to visit the Christmas Tree Festival.
Thursday 13th December – History of Castle Douglas town walk.
Monday 17th December – Christmas Party – Please bring party clothes in your bag.
Wednesday 19th December – Christmas Craft Afternoon at 1.30pm.
Primary 4
In maths P4 are continuing to compare, describe and show number relationships, using appropriate vocabulary and the symbols for equals, not equal to, less than and greater than. We had fun applying our skills on the Promethean board.
We have completed our hockey block in PE and enjoyed showing off all the skills that we have been developing when playing team games.
We have started exploring Christmas as part of our community celebrations topic. The class sorted cards into wants and needs. We talked about why other people may not have everything they need to live. The class decided to plan a way to help a local charity meet the needs of people in the community at Christmas by making a Christmas card. To do this we used 2Publish software in ICT. The children had to create, edit and print a card.
Wider Achievement
Kianna has moved up to level SS5 at swimming.
Rylan started cubs and made his promise.
Reminders
Please return your curriculum swimming letter.
We are visiting the church on Monday 10th.
Primary 4/5
This week in P4/5 we shared The Christmas Chorus CD with the rest of the school at our assembly. We all worked very hard to learn our lines and share how we made our CD. We have nearly sold 200 and have made a fantastic profit of over £530.
Shea – Lydia won the CD design competition, well done!
Jesse-Leigh – I had fun performing at assembly, everyone thought we did well.
Charlotte – I was nervous to begin with but became more confident as the assembly went on.
Elle – I was confident at speaking out to an audience.
Freya – I was nervous because I had to go first.
Callum – I am proud at the amount of CDs we have sold.
Shea – I am surprised but pleased at how much profit we have made so far.
Wider Achievement
Charlotte and Freya have been awarded a medal for their participation in football. They both attend Threave Under 9s Girls Team.
Callum and Shea did their Promise at Cubs this week. They received some new badges too.
Reminders
Please remember to return swimming letters.
Primary 5
P5 have been continuing their work on fractions. We have also discussed Christmas adverts and how companies promote their products. In social studies we have looked at the timeline of how Scottish parliament came to be what it is today. This week we joined P5/6 to practise the ceilidh dances we have learned so far – Dashing White Seargent and Military Two Step. Next week we will learn Canadian Barn Dance. In art with Mrs. Starkey children have been working on painting and blending.
Reminders
Please use this link to access and take part in the survey we have created investigating what members of the community think about our local area – https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/K29FWJW
Primary 5/6
Primary 5/6 Twitter Page
P5/6 would like to find out if Twitter would be a good way to share class news and activities rather than using the School’s Weekly News Facebook page.
Families would need to download the Twitter App on to mobile devices and then follow P5/6 on Twitter. Search for our page: “P5/6 and Mr Coulthard @mr_coulthard” to see regular learning updates, achievements, photos and class reminders. Feel free to also follow the school’s twitter page at “Castle Douglas P Sch @castledps”.
The class would like to try this for the next few weeks and then ask for your thoughts on what is the best way to share our learning with you.
Thanks,
Mr Coulthard
Primary 6
“We have been creating artwork using blending and different shades.” (Lacey)
“In PE, we have been working on Scottish dancing. We have done the Military Two Step and the Dashing White Sergeant.” (Rhianna)
“We have been learning about climate change and greenhouse gases. We looked at how to reduce our Carbon footprint.” (Tommy)
“In Maths, we were learning about how to calculate area and perimeter.” (Molly)
Primary 6/7
This week we have been learning about budgeting. We have been learning to add, subtract, multiply and divide money calculations.
Holly “We have been counting money and making the same amount in as many different ways as possible. We have also been seeing how much change we get back.”
Melissa “ I have been learning about decimal fractions.”
Miriam “In maths this week we have been learning about frequency tables.”
As part of our topic we have been learning what to do in an earthquake.
Reminders
We are planning to visit the Church on Thursday 13th December at 1.30pm. We would really like a parent helper to come with us. If you would like to join us please let Mr Whan know!
Primary 7
Sophie – We have been dancing in P.E in preparation for our Christmas party. I danced with Sam and Rory T.
Sami – We made Rudolph Christmas cards. We got to use glitter and stars.
Mia – We made party invites for all the staff in the school to invite them to our party. I invited Mrs Findlay.
Jayden – In maths, with Mrs Campbell, we have been working on perimeter. For a square you measure one side and times it by four.
Sam – I am proud of myself for being quick with my tables and I enjoyed doing long multiplication this week.
Ollie – In RME we have been learning all about the Christmas story. I am looking forward to finding out about Christmas around the world.
Well done to Neave, Deacon, Jayden and Hannah for achieving their Accelerated Reading target this week.
Reminders
Our Christmas party is Monday 17th December from 6.30pm – 8.30pm. Return slips for how the children will get home afterwards are to be handed in.
We are visiting the church on Wednesday 19th December at 1.30pm. Any parent helpers are very welcome. Please let Mrs Milligan know if you can help.
