In Digital Literacy, we have been learning to make a maze game using 2Simple. Some people made their game about Pac-Man. The games looked amazing and it was very fun to make them!

Every Monday until the Easter holidays Emily Smith who is a part of Feis Rois visits us at Hottsbridge. She is teaching us to sing Gaelic songs with actions. We are starting to learn to play instruments that go along with the Wheel of Fortune.

On Thursdays we go to Eaglesfield to try and master classes in playground leaders, glass art, mindfulness, Fairtrade, and blogging. Also, we have P.E (gymnastics) – it is so much fun!

A warm welcome back to pupils – and what a lovely short week it has been. It was fantastic to hear all of the wonderful things everyone has been up to during the break – I’m sure it’s also nice to get back into a routine!

Easing gently back into our class routines and learning, the pupils have focused their skills in developing numeracy, spelling and topic work.

Next week we have exciting editions to the class timetable such as Feis Rois and masterclasses. I’m sure the pupils will be eager to share on the blog! 😊

Last Tuesday, the P4-7 class had a lovely visit from Mrs Pickles, one of the Ambassadors for STEM.

Fitting in very nicely with our Water topic, the pupils were given the chance to show off their knowledge about what they had been learning. Mrs Pickles was very impressed with their answers, especially the vocabulary the pupils were using!

Mrs Pickles had shown us different experiments that helped to reinforce our learning of the water cycle, and the states of water. We got to watch steam and condensation form from a kettle boiling, observe water as a solid (ice), liquid (water) and gas (aerosol room spray), and pretend to be different states of water.

One particular experiment we were very interested in was the ‘cloud in a bottle’. This involved a bicycle pump, 2L plastic bottle and some liquid solvent. Air pressure from the bicycle pump was pushed into the bottle (which contained the liquid solvent) and a tight seal was formed around the top. We counted to 30 and the pump was released – this created a very clear ‘cloud’ inside the bottle! It was fascinating to watch.

We also enjoyed creating our very own paper plate water cycles. This helped us visualise the water cycle being broken down into the different stages. They will make a lovely addition to our wall displays!

A popular question – one that can be answered with a whole list of things!

Last week, the pupils had transformed into young investigative mathematicians – using different instruments to measure solids and liquids for our Water topic, recording what they had found out. It links perfectly with our Maths as we are learning to estimate and measure accurately with length. No surprise – the pupils are really good at this!

As a reward, one of the pupils was given the chance to pick the art focus for the week. She chose to create underwater pictures – great link with our Water topic – using paint. We concentrated on using the technique texture to add life to our pictures. They are turning out great, and we hope to finish them this week.

Rounding off our Christianity topic, the pupils were busy learning about the values of the religion. Using what we had learned in the lesson, we then got to act out a small drama piece to demonstrate some of these values.

Mentioning drama – did someone say Christmas show?! This year, the pupils will take part in ‘Lights, Camel, Action’ with a strictly twist. We have been reading through the script, practising our parts, listening to the music and having a sneak peek at the choreography. We can’t wait!

P6-7 pupils also had the pleasure of meeting James Docherty, who spoke to them about well-being and how to keep mentally healthy. We hope they enjoyed it as much as the teachers did.

I hope to keep posting weekly updates of the P4-7 class learning, so keep an eye on the blog for these. You can also encourage your child to join in by writing a reply to the posts 😊

Second week after the October break and the pupils have been busy learning lots of different skills. Here are some of the highlights:

We have continued with our Water topic, investigating soluble solids (how heat and stirring can affect substances), volume, capacity and weight. Lots of messy fun!

Through our Christianity topic, P4 were learning the order of Christian calendar events while P5-7 discussed different Christian denominations and their differences. Next week we will be using ICT to make a PowerPoint about these topics to show one another in class.

On Thursday, Mrs Carter started our social dance lessons and we got to listen to music we really liked.

We also started our class novel ‘Kick’, which (so far) has been a thumbs up!

Today also marks the start of the Sumdog Dumfries and Galloway Maths Contest. P4-7 pupils are encouraged to join in with this in class and at home, so we are able to compete with other schools across the region. ☺

Last Wednesday (30th October), the P4-7 class enjoyed a wonderful visit from John at ComputerXplorers. He delivered an excellent discussion about augmented and virtual reality in gaming, and provided the pupils with hands-on experience using augmented software. The pupils first used Quiver to make their coloured in pumpkins come to life; they then used Kodu to create their very own games. As you can imagine – they all had a blast! And if that wasn’t enough – John had brought his very own robots to show everyone how they moved.

“Rebecca the Stem Ambassador came into Hottsbridge Primary to work with each class. She was very good at explaining the water cycle to everyone and helping us to filter our own dirty water. In the dirty water there was: half a cup of tap water, a spoonful of vegetable oil and three spoonfuls of cocoa powder. We mixed the ingredients until it was nice and dirty looking! After, we were able to see how water can be filtered through the rocks in the ground using sand. It was lots of fun.”

“Our first week back was amazing. We have been learning about Space for our topic, rounding to 10, 100 and 1000 in maths, writing letters to our favourite famous people, times table practice and experimenting with paints in art.

We have a rewards jar in class and are given raffle tickets by Miss Barker for following the class rules, listening to instructions and hard work.

P4-7 follow the #VoiceCheck, which is a light system that tells everyone when it is quiet, whispering or indoor voice time.

Everybody has a different classroom job and are responsible for carrying these out in the class.”