Dec 25
Literacy
We have just finished our class novel ‘Holes’ and we watched the film this week. We all really enjoyed this book and were engaged during the learning linked to it. In writing we have been linking in our book to create newspaper articles. We also created our own Winter inspired poems using our senses. In spelling we have been continuing to progress with our bronze, silver, gold, platinum and emerald words at our own pace. Some of the children have been learning about Greek and Latin root words.
Numeracy
We have been working on rounding numbers to the nearest 1000, 10 000, 100 0000 and 1 000 000. Some of us have been working on rounding decimals to the nearest decimal place and whole number. We have been learning strategies to further develop our understanding of multiplication, including arrays, area models and grid methods. The Stem Space project is nearly complete, and we have been learning how to draw in 3D. We have been using visualisation to predict how our shapes will look when they are rotated through 90 degrees.
STEM
We have had an extremely busy term working on lots of STEM projects. We have been looking at Climate Change and different types of clean energy. Efforts to get solar panels to light up LEDs were limited by the Scottish ‘sunshine’ but we managed to generate a little electricity! P6 from P4/5/6 joined us for a whole day working with the Smallpeice Trust and RAF to create our own gliders and measure their flights. We have been designing a sustainable aircraft to enter their competition. Our entry for the Aerospace Kinross challenge was successful and we’re looking forward to trying out our mini drones in class for the next stage of the challenge.
Health and Wellbeing
Our focus this term has been substance misuse. We have been learning all about vaping/smoking, alcohol and drugs. We have been focusing on the impact they can have on our own and others physical and emotional wellbeing. We have been looking at different scenarios around peer pressure and working on ways to overcome barriers linked to this. The children have been keen to learn more around internet safety so we have been focusing on ways in which we can keep ourselves and others safe online.
In PE we have been working on some gymnastics skills, including balances and jumps. We have also been helping to coach P3/4 in basketball.
We have been continuing to work closely with Abbie from Active Schools to work on communication and teamwork.
RME
We have been learning all about different Saints. We worked in small groups to research a Saint that we were interested about and made our findings into posters. In RME we have also been learning about Advent and how it is all about giving back. We thought about ways in which we could give back to others.
Christmas
We have been working hard to learn lots of Christmas songs to support the P1/2 class with their Nativity. We have been using our buddy time to practice on a Monday. Mrs Milne and Mrs Taylor are really proud of us for performing in front of a large audience.
We have been involved in a few Christmas card competitions this term.
Oct 25
P6/7 have settled in well this term. It has been a busy, but fun filled term so far.
In literacy we have been reading ‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar as our class novel. We have been learning how to answer different VIPERS questions linked to this book. In writing our text type this term has been narrative. We have been writing our own imaginative stories using different genres. We have been working in groups to create PowerPoints to present to the rest of the class. We will be working on asking questions as an audience and answering questions as a speaker.
In maths we have been reading and interpreting timetables. We have been using different strategies to support us when working out elapsed time and duration of a journey. We have been reading bus and train timetables to support this learning.
We have been revising our understanding of place value and how we can use it to multiply and divide by 10,100 and 1000.
We have been part of the STEM Space Project which supports us to develop spatial reasoning skills through maths lessons. We’re enjoying the activities, and they’ve got us thinking hard!
We did a short artist study on the Scottish artist Richie Collins and created our own pieces of art inspired by his work.
In STEM we have been learning about the forces involved with flight through a variety of experiments. We have been trying out paper airplane designs to see how different variables affect the effectiveness of the plane.
In Health and Wellbeing, we have been learning about smoking and the effects that it can have on our bodies.
We are working towards our Pope Francis award in RME. We have been learning to use the Gifts of the Holy Spirit at home, at school and in parish.
We have been lucky to have lots of sport opportunities in school this term. The playground leaders have been working hard to learn new games to support the younger children at break time and lunchtime. Matthew from Dunfermline Rugby Club came in for two taster sessions that the whole class got to participate in. We had a group of pupils who took part in the Junior Leader Training at the Community Centre with Mrs Fernie.
On Friday’s we are lucky to have the Junior Leaders in to lead basketball sessions. We also have a STEM club that runs on a Friday afternoon.
The P7 pupils had their first transition morning at St Columba’s. The morning was filled with information about the school followed by a chance to socialise with pupils from the cluster schools.
We have been lucky to have Mrs Reid back in school to support us in the school library. We visit every second Tuesday to sign books in and out. We have a quiet reading space where we read for pleasure.
This term we have enjoyed spending time with our P1 and P2 buddies. We have enjoyed shared reading sessions and supporting them during team games. We have also been learning songs to sing with them at the buddy service.
