We are pleased to be able to participate once again in the Rag Bag Collection Scheme. Our next collection date is Friday 12th May so if you are having a Big Coronation Clear Out over the holiday weekend, please donate your unwanted clothes to us to help raise funds for the ECC.  We don’t issue bags anymore, to reduce plastic waste, but you can collect your clothes in any kind of bags, big or small. Our collection date is the same as Catrine Primary so if you have a child there as well we would be most grateful if you would consider splitting your donation between the two as we receive our funds separately.
This week the STEM challenge is to try and build the strongest bridge. Bridges come in all different shapes and sizes. They are also built with lots of different types of materials. I have attached a short video about bridges and some materials they can be made of.
The material that the bridge is made of can sometimes determine how strong the bridge is. Let’s experiment and build our own bridges out of different materials that we can find in our homes and test how strong they are.
You can use a range of different materials such as tinfoil, paper, cardboard or anything you find around your house that you think would make a good  bridge. Encourage your child to feel, bend and explore the quality of the materials they choose. Encourage descriptive language such as strong, weak, long, short, hard or soft. Ask your child to try and predict which material they think will be the strongest before testing your bridges.
Here is an idea of how to create your bridge however I’m sure you will all have other fantastic ideas that I can’t wait to see.
Use two objects to create a balance point each side for your bridge.
Attach your material to create your bridges.
Place a few of the same item on each bridge and continue to place them on until your bridge cannot hold anymore. Count how many each bridge can hold before collapsing.
What you will need:
Two thick books or small boxes
Paper, cardboard or tinfoil
Tape
Coins or other small, heavy objects to use as weights (small rocks, nuts and bolts, etc.)
You could get your child to record how many of the different items each bridge could hold. A tally mark chart is a good way to record information and to compare which material was the strongest.
Hope you have fun and please upload any photos to your child’s learning journal or email them to easherrie.devlin@glow.sch.uk
As we prepare for the warmer weather, the safety of our children in the sunshine is a factor that we need to consider.
Each year we require parents to apply the first layer of sun cream BEFORE they arrive in the morning. Children MUST have sun cream on if they wish to play outdoors on sunny days. Each child should bring a bottle of sun cream with them to keep at the ECC. In the afternoon we would apply a second layer for those children wishing to access our outdoor areas.
The weather forecast for the rest of the week has to be high temperatures (and hopefully more to come in the next few months) therefore this will start from tomorrow (Tuesday 18th April 2023)
The children love to explore our outdoor areas so we thank you for your cooperation in helping to ensure that your child can continue to play outdoors in the nicer weather 🙂
Since we are finishing up for our holiday I thought I would make this STEM homelink out of this world!
I will provide different activities that link with the meaning of STEM. These activities will be based on developing the children’s knowledge of space.
S stands for Science.
Here are some videos to help explain what space is and facts about our planets.
For this activity encourage your child to independently use an iPad, laptop or phone to search some facts about space, rockets, astronauts or planets.
Siri is great to use to support your child to search facts without typing or you can guide them as to what letters they need to type to search.
Once your child has found some facts they could make a short video or poster to share with us some of the interesting information they have found.
E is for engineering.
The children have recently been enjoying the junk modelling in the ECC so have a look around the house and see if there are any materials you can use to create your own solar system or rocket. Here are a few ideas:
M is for maths.
If we have a clear sky on a few nights during the holiday, have a look to see if you can see any stars in the sky. Encourage your child to try and count how many stars they can see in the sky that night. Encourage your child to mark make (tally mark) or write the number to record how many stars they see each night.
Please send any pictures or videos to easherrie.devlin@glow.sch.uk