Life Skills: Sewing and Textile Technologies 

P4.1 have been learning the basics of how to sew with Mrs Denny. We have learned how to thread a needle and sew a running stitch. We also explored tools that help sewing, like pins and thimbles. Our tuff tray and STEM corner had binka material and blunt needles for us to experiment with threading a needle and creating a running stitch.

To celebrate love and kindness on Valentines Day, P4.1 created adorable squishy Lovebugs to gift to someone at home or to keep for themselves. We used a running stitch to attach two pieces of felt together and stuffed them with fluff.

A group of ladies from a local sewing group in Barrhead visited our school to share their skills and help us out. They were very impressed by our manners, re- silience and effort! For most of us, it was our first time sewing and we absolutely loved trying something new.

We were so engaged with our sewing and Mrs Denny loved to hear that so many pupils tried sewing at home after their lessons. 🧵We have also had pupils show us their knitting and crochet projects.  We have been continuing our Health and Wellbeing lessons all about Friendship, Empathy, Emotions and Kindness. Our Lovebugs are a little symbol of love and kindness and we will gift them on to someone who means a lot to us. What’s nicer than a handmade gift? ❤️

During our Viking topic, we explored different types of materials Vikings would have worked with, such as wool, leather and linen. We worked in groups to create a large Viking man and woman from collating different materials. We learned how we can mark material with pencil and pull it tight to cut it.

Health and Wellbeing: Friendships, Kindness and Empathy.

In Health and Wellbeing, we have been exploring empathy and trying to understand how our friends are feeling by looking at body language and facial expressions as well as listening to what they are saying. We have explored ways to be a better friend and deal with disagreements. We created a friendship tree with examples of things that good friends do, like apologise to each other, compromise and make each other laugh!

Literacy and English & Drama: Class Novel

We are still reading our class novel, Ottoline and the Yellow Cat. We have made some interesting predictions and asked excellent questions based on the evidence we have collected in our notebooks.

Building on our Health and Wellbeing lessons, we tried to understand the thoughts and feelings of a strange little character called Mr Munroe who cannot speak. We had to look for clues about his body language and actions in the novel. Mr Munroe was wearing many crazy disguises in the story to get the attention of his friend, Ottoline. Can you spot the different item added to his disguise each time?

We tried a drama technique called a ‘Forum Theatre’. Two pupils were the actors and the rest of class had to instruct them how to act by looking back in the book. In particular, we had to look for verbs and adverbs. We had so much fun using props to enhance our drama and staying in character.

Ten o’clock: Ottoline inspecting the curtains and Mr Munroe trying to get her attention.

Eleven o’clock: Ottoline inspecting the polishing of the door handles and Mr Munroe trying to get her attention.

Twelve o’clock: Ottoline is checking the taps in the bathroom and Mr Munroe is starting to get fed up of being ignored!

Mr Munroe slams the door as he goes into his bedroom in a huff! Much to the shock of the maids who were sorting the towels.

Lunch was a bit awkward between Ottoline and Mr Munroe. Not much was said! We think Mr Munroe was perhaps feeling tired or overwhelmed after getting so annoyed.

Two o’clock: Mr Munroe STILL can’t get Ottoline’s attention as she inspected the MB Hoovering company.

Three o’clock: Mr Munroe has resorted to wearing flippers and gloves to get Ottoline to notice him…but she is too busy inspecting the maids folding her pants and socks!

Four o’clock: Ottoline is enjoying relaxing in her comfy bed and she’s had enough of Mr Munroe trying to ask her a question!

Five o’clock: Dinner time and Mr Munroe has given up! He is nowhere to be seen. Ottoline has dinner alone, served by the cooking company

Six o’clock: The last inspection of the day! Ottoline helps the Light bulb Company inspect the roof lights. However, Ottoline wonders where has Mr Munroe gone after bothering her all day…

We gave amazing directions to the actors and all actors managed to stay in character really well! Mrs Denny thought everyone worked really well together. We had great fun gathering all the props and exploring the interaction between the characters in more detail. ❤️

Numeracy and Mathematics

The Squares and Triangles were exploring and identifying more complex 3D shapes. We built shapes, explored their properties and nets, used technology to visualise shapes, and identified them in real life environments. We have also explored patterns within the properties of pyramids and prisms. Lots of great discussion and revision!

The Circles have been strengthening their knowledge of money, creating larger amounts with notes and coins. They have been calculating change from up to £5. This group have also made great improvements in recalling their 3 and 4x tables with speed and accuracy.

Crazy Hair Day

Thanks to all parents who supported Crazy Hair Day. We loved seeing each others fantastic designs!

The XA Factor – 21st February

Congratulations to our 3 lovely pupils that got into the XA Factor 🙌 We are so proud of you all and your confidence and talent on stage was great to see! We have so many talented pupils in P4.1, many of whom auditioned this month. Keep up the confidence as I know you have inspired many other pupils to audition next year.