Today we started our ‘In the Loch’ topic by beginning to create our gigantic Nessie to go behind our castle. We used paint for printing, tissue and gummed paper for mosaic and crayons for patterns. We’re not quite finished making the patterned paper, and will finish with Mrs Sutherland on Thursday. We can’t wait to put it all together to finish our Nessie.

In our topic, we hope to find out the answers to the following questions:

If you have any books on Nessie or Loch Ness, please feel free to bring them in for our story area of the castle.

See you all tomorrow,
Mr Cook

Today we learned that the 6th of January (today) is a special day for people across the world. Some people celebrate Epiphany. On this day it is believed that the Wise Men/ Three Kings/ Magi visited Jesus, bringing him gifts. Once we learned about Epiphany, we created Wise Men Puppets. Our Wise Men came in threes and followed the star, before going into our folders and hopefully arriving home.

It only seems like yesterday we went on holiday. I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year. It’s great to have everyone back. The spring term is set to be another busy one in Primary 1.

PE

This term, we continue to have PE on a Monday and a Wednesday. If you’d prefer, they can wear their PE kit underneath their clothes on these days. For the first half of the term we will have PE with Mrs Campbell, our PE teacher, on Monday afternoon. This is a treat for P1.

STAFFING

Mrs Sutherland will continue to teach Primary 1 on a Thursday this term when I am out of class on management. Mrs Paul, our Pupil Support Assistant (PSA), will continue to work with our class and our neighbours – P1M.

LEO THE LION

Our class mascot, Leo the Lion, has been to quite a few houses for the weekend now. He will continue to arrive home with one lucky P1 on a Friday afternoon to take part in your weekend adventures. It would be great if you could write a few sentences in their home/school diary about what Leo got up to. You could also include a photograph if you wished.

IN THE LOCH

Our topic for the first part of this term is ‘In the Loch’. We will be learning about Scottish Myths and Legends and Urquhart Castle. The Medieval Castle within our classroom has started to take shape. We will be working with P3FS over the next few weeks to build the castle walls. This is an exciting opportunity to work with the older pupils. We’re hoping to go on an excursion this term also. More details will be made available later on.

SHOWING

Your child, if they wish, can choose something to bring along and talk about with the class on the following date during our ‘Showing Time’:

HOMEWORK

To continue to support your child’s development, please continue to practise:

• ‘Look and Say’ words either within the Word Pouch or Word Sheet
• Phonic sounds and actions (Sound Pouch)
• Word building using cards within Sound Pouch e.g. c – a – t = cat
• Writing letters ‘o’, ‘c’, ‘a’, ‘d’, ‘g’, ‘q’, ‘e’, ‘b’, ‘p’, ‘h’, ‘n’ and ‘m’
• Writing numbers 0 – 10
• Ordering numbers 0 – 10, including asking questions e.g. ‘What is 1 more than/less than?’
• Adding two numbers together to make a sum of 10 or less

Mr Cook

Merry Christmas boys and girls. I hope Santa and his reindeer managed to find their way to your house okay . . . I hope the Reindeer Dust helped. I’m looking forward to hearing what you got from Santa when you come back to school.

I’d like to say thank you to you all for your cards and generous gifts. I was so excited to open them, but kept them under my tree until this morning.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday!
Mr Cook

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Mr Cook

That’s us reached the Christmas Holidays – what a quick two terms in Primary 1. I think we’re all looking forward to a much deserved Christmas and New Year break.

In Literacy we’ve learned now learned the first 33 phonic sounds inside the Sound Pouch in your child’s homework folder. We’ve worked hard learning the ‘Look and Say’ words in our Word Pouch. Some of us have begun the ‘Look and Say’ Word Sheet. We’ve been writing stories, lists and letters – learning how to overwrite and underwrite. We learned how to form the letters g, q, e, b, p, h, n and m. We’ve all begun reading the Oxford Reading Tree books with words.

In Numeracy we’ve been continuing to count objects within ten and we’ve learned how to form numbers 6-10. We’ve begun using the language of ‘more than’ or ‘less than’ to identify numbers, as well as beginning adding two numbers together within ten.

Through our topic ‘Mr Benn’s Fancy Dress Shop’ we explored role-play in terms of playing a character. We learned how to use money to pay for objects, and really enjoyed using our real till. ‘The Nativity’ topic investigated the Christmas Story and was brought together by our fantastic Nursery – P3 Nativity. The Nativity is currently being edited, and will be available to watch on a password protected website next term. We’ll be in touch with more details after Christmas.

We have said goodbye to our Fancy Dress Shop and our Santa’s Grotto where our busy elves have been working. We have an exciting link with P3 for our next topic which you’ll hear more about after Christmas.

Your child should have arrived home today with a 2014 Calendar and  a Christmas Card which they’ve been busy making this week. There’s also some Reindeer Food to leave out – helping Santa and his reindeer to find your house on Christmas Eve.

To continue to support your child’s development over the Christmas break, you may wish to practise:

•  ‘Look and Say’ words either within the Word Pouch or Word Sheet
•  Phonic sounds and actions (Sound Pouch)
•  Word building using cards within Sound Pouch e.g. c – a – t = cat
•  Writing letters ‘o’, ‘c’, ‘a’, ‘d’, ‘g’, ‘q’, ‘e’, ‘b’, ‘p’, ‘h’, ‘n’ and ‘m’
•  Writing numbers 0 – 10
•  Ordering numbers 0 – 10, including asking questions e.g. ‘What is 1 more than/less than?’
• Adding two numbers together to make a sum of 10 or less

Have a FABULOUS Christmas and New Year. I look forward to seeing you all back on
Monday 6^th of January at 9am.

Mr Cook

We had a FABULOUS time at our Christmas Party. We played party games, danced to fantastic party music, and we can’t forget the amazing party food that we ate.

Thank you to the parents/carers for their food donations.

Christmas Service tomorrow at the Culduthel Christian Centre. Please make sure you have on suitable clothing for walking to and from the CCC.

Today we got together with Mrs McArthur’s class to read ‘The Toys’ Party’. But this time Mr Cook had a bag of treats. He thought it would be fun to make the cake from ‘The Toys’ Party’.

Mrs McArthur and Mrs Paul thought he was playing a trick on P1, but out of his bag came a mixing bowl, cornflakes, tomato ketchup, milk, jam, sugar and baked beans.

We gave it all a massive stir – and a few of us even tried it. It tasted YUMMY!

Mr Cook has put it in the fridge . . . all ready for our Christmas Party tomorrow. I hope he remembers to take it out.

CHRISTMAS PARTY TOMORROW – please remember to wear your party clothes to school. Children will get changed after they have finished their party.

Yesterday we learned how to fold paper and use the scissors to cut out shapes. When we opened our bits of paper, we were left with these beautiful snow flakes.

They look fantastic on our windows – especially when the sun is about to come up.

Looking forward to another fabulous day in P1,
Mr.Cook

What a FANTASTIC two performances of ‘Hey Ewe!’ today. Every single child from the Nursery through to Primary 3 did such a FANTASTIC job.

Everyone looked superb in their costumes. With over 200 children involved, it really was a phenomenal show.

Thank you to all of the staff and pupils who assisted with the organisation of such a massive event.

We will keep you posted as to when the video is ready.

Thank you,

Mr Cook and Miss Shimmield

We did our two Dress Rehearsals of our Nativity to the P4/5s and the P6/7s. We loved being in our costumes. We really were the coolest Kings in town with our crowns and shades on.

We want to keep it a surprise for Mums and Dads tomorrow – so no photographs will be going up today!

Showtimes tomorrow:
AM – 10am
PM – 1.45pm

Please remember to bring your ticket with you.

See you tomorrow!
Mr.Cook

This afternoon we went to see ‘Mission Ugly’ – the pantomime which was written and directed by the P6/7s. It was fantastic. It really made us laugh. We were SO shocked when we saw Mr Cook jump onto the stage. We had no idea that he was one of the people in the pantomime.

We wish them good luck for their shows tonight and tomorrow!

Mr Cook

This week in Primary 1, we’re learning how to make the letter ‘m’.

When you’re practising at home this week, why not try putting some shaving-foam in a dish and attempt writing the ‘m’ in it? It’s a fun way of learning the shape of a letter.

Mr.Cook

We have chosen Harry this month because whenever you’re feeling down, and needing cheered up, he’s always there with a joke to make you laugh and smile. Thank you for keeping P1C bright,  Harry!

Today we learned about the Jewish festival, Hanukkah. We learned that Jewish people celebrate it for 8 days every year. We found out that they have a special candle holder called a Menorah that holds 9 candles. Jewish people light the middle candle on the first night and use that candle to light the first candle. On the second night they use it to light the second candle . . . and so on . . . and so on. By night number 8, all candles are lit.

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Sesame Street – Hanukkah – CLICK HERE!

We then made our own handprint Menorahs. It was quite tricky, because we have ten fingers, but we only had to make 9 candles. I wonder if you can figure out how we did it?

Today we had our first full rehearsal of ‘Hey Ewe’ with the Nursery, P1M, P1/2, P2 and P3.

Everyone clapped when we finished our songs, so we know that we did good.

We’re going to continue practising our actions over the next week, so that we’re PERFECT when we show the Mums and Dads.

Mrs Sutherland will be in class the next two days, so Mr Cook will see you on Monday.

Mr.Cook

When we arrived in the classroom today, we found that Mr Benn’s Fancy-Dress Shop had disappeared, and had been replaced with Santa’s Workshop in the North Pole. We have been given the job of Santa’s Elves . . . making sure that we help him with all his duties in the run-up to Christmas. It’s very exciting inside Santa’s Grotto.

We also started our advent calendar. Each day one lucky P1 is chosen to find the correct number. Inside the calendar is part of the Christmas Story, and a special gift for the boy or girl who opens the calendar.

Over the next few weeks we’re hoping to learn:

Who was Jesus?

How do we stand when we are on stage?

What is the ‘Christmas Story’?

How do Christians celebrate Christmas?

REMEMBER: Nativity clothes for tomorrow

Mr.Cook

Today we shared our learning at assembly. We really enjoyed sharing our ‘Happy’ mind-map posters, our ‘Happy’ song, and our ‘Happy’ reflection. It was a shame that we didn’t have the microphone as our voices had to travel a long way to the back of the hall.

We said good bye to the ‘Mr Benn’s Fancy Dress Shop’ today. It’s been a fantastic 6 weeks. For the final three weeks we’ll be learning about Christmas – its history and the celebrations.
A new exciting role-play corner has been added which will be revealed on Monday.

We hope Ryan has a fantastic time with Leo the Lion this weekend . . .
Mr.Cook

Yesterday our Primary 1 children were taken into the hall after lunchtime for a special treat . . . A story read by Mrs Caddell.

The Scottish Book Trust have provided each Primary 1 child with a bag including the three shortlisted books for the Scottish Book Awards.

We’ve been reading the stories in class – but it was a surprise when we got our very own bags.

Mrs Caddell read her favourite – ‘Jumblebum’ – but in a few weeks P1 children will get to vote for their favourite.

Share the stories with your child at bedtime, and talk about which book is their favourite and why. We’ll be tracking the book awards in March, so be sure to check back for the result.

This week in P1, we’ve been revising what we know about numbers to 10. We’ve been using the words more than/ less than/ bigger/ smaller/ most/ fewer/ before/ after to play games and do activities.

Keep practising all of your numbers from 0 – 10 at home.

Can you name each number?

Can your put them in the right order in a numberline? 

Can you give the number before/after?

Can you give a number that is more/less than another number?

CLICK HERE for a number game

Mr.Cook

Teach Your Monster to Read is a fantastic website which can be used to support your child’s reading at home. It is free to set-up an account – providing your child with fun, interactive games which reinforce phonics and word building.

Set-up a FREE account for your child to practise their phonics and reading at home by clicking the picture above.

Have Fun!
Mr.Cook

This week we’re learning how to form the letter ‘h’ properly. This can be a tricky one, so we’re working really hard on it in class. Some people have mastered it already, so homework will be simple tonight. Remember, you can practise all week to make sure you’re an ‘h’ superstar!

See you tomorrow,
Mr.Cook

Here is something you maybe didn’t know!

In our stories, we have heard all about three character’s – Biff, Chip and Kipper. But, that isn’t their real names. Biff is called Barbara, Chip is called David and Kipper is called Christopher. They have these names because Kipper couldn’t say their real names.

Mr Cook was shocked when he found out!

We didn’t share our learning today at assembly because it was cancelled. We will be doing it next Friday instead.

See you all on Monday,
Mr.Cook

This week, in P1C, we’ve been learning how to write the letter ‘p’ and the number ’10’. Sometimes we confuse our ‘p’ with our number ‘9’. We hope that Mr Cook’s secret method will help us remember:

All the way down, back up again, then around the race-track corner.

NUMBER 10 – CLICK HERE!

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Keep practising this at home!

Mr.Cook

Today we shared what makes us happy. We learned a ‘Happy’ song and made ‘Happy Posters’. We’re going to share these with the other boys in girls at assembly on Friday.

What makes us happy? . . . Find out below!

I am happy when:
I go to the swimming pool
I come to school and play with my friends
I go on the ship in my garden
My sister plays with me
I go on a bus
I go on my bike with my dad
I play in the snow
The sun comes out
I have my birthday
I play builders with my dad
I play in the snow.

Check back and see how we get on at assembly on Friday!

Happy Song – CLICK HERE!
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Mr Cook

What a fantastic day it was today in Lochardil. We loved having boys, girls and staff dressed in their pyjamas. The Junior Leaders did a fantastic job with the Pudsey themed games, and Mr Cook was tired out after playing goal-keeper at lunchtime.

With the support of you all, we raised a massive £404.88 – a fantastic total!

Our competition winners were announced at assembly and are on the Pupil Council blog.

We LOVED coming to school in our pyjamas today – even though it made Mr Cook a little sleepy. Leo has gone home with Finlay this weekend, so we’ll find out what adventures he’s been on on Monday.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mr.Cook

Check out our fairy display after our visit from the Fizzy Pop Fairies last week. We used paper plates and bags to make the head and body. Let’s hope we find Mischievous Mel . . . Let us know if you spot her!

This week we learned about why we wear poppies. We made poppy pictures using pastel to remember the people that fought in World War 1 and World War 2.

We have been learning how to write the number 9 in school this week. Can you write the number 9? Can you count 9 things at home?

Complete the ‘9’ page in your booklet tonight!
Mr.Cook

This week we are working on writing the letter ‘b’. Practise writing ‘b’ at home with a pencil – maybe you want to paint the letter ‘b’ or make it out of play-dough!

You should complete your ‘b’ formation homework tonight!
Mr.Cook

We have chosen Josh as he has worked hard in writing. He started underwriting last week – Mr Cook is impressed with how neat it is. Well done, Josh!

We loved having the Fizzy-Pop Fairies come to visit yesterday. The show was magical, and we loved making our puppets. We explored why it is important to stay healthy. Liz left us with a fabulous little pack which everyone got to take home today.

Keep your eyes peeled for “Mischievous Mel” – we’re all on the look-out.

Have a great weekend!
Mr.Cook

Here are our fantastic firework pictures which we made on Tuesday. We used crayon as well as sponging on dark blue paint to make the whizzing effect.

The Parent Council blog can be accessed by clicking the image above. Check it out for Parent Council Minutes and updates.

Today, we learned how to stay safe on Bonfire Night. We all agreed that we love fireworks and the big bonfire at the Bught – but there are some things we need to do to stay safe.

Fireman Sam can help by clicking the following link:

Fireman Sam – CLICK HERE

We did some firework posters in writing to tell people to stay safe, and we made some wonderful firework  pictures.

If you’re at the bonfire tonight, or you’re having fireworks – enjoy yourself – BUT . . . STAY SAFE!

Yesterday, we learned about Divali – ‘The Festival of Lights’. We made some candle pictures using card, felt and tissue paper. They look fantastic in the corridor.

Yesterday, with Mr Cook, we learned how to use crayons and paint to create fantastic Hallowe’en pictures. We drew Hallowe’en themed objects, and sponged on black paint. They look fabulous.

Today, with Mrs Sutherland, we learned how to put shapes together to make pumpkin faces. They’ve brightened up our corridor.

See you tomorrow,
Mr.Cook

Dracula loved seeing all of your fantastic costumes at the Hallowe’en Disco tonight. I hope you all had a brilliant night!

Mr Cook

Primary 1 really enjoyed their visit to the cinema today. Mr Cook and Mrs Paul were so impressed at how the Primary 1 children were ambassadors for Lochardil Primary School whilst at Eden Court.

The storyline told us about two girls who had a new home and school. Combined with the magic and mystery of the forest, we saw a happy ending which brought a tear to the eye of Mr Cook. The themes of friendship, new beginnings and family were all explored. This has been a great link to our ‘Ourselves’ topic.

Check out the video below:

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See you tomorrow,
Mr.Cook

We’ve another member of our P1 class who joined the 5 club last week. Happy Birthday, Harry!

P1C

What a quick two weeks the October break was! It was great to be back together on Tuesday – especially finding out we have some 5 year olds in our class now. We look forward to celebrating some more fifth birthdays this term.

PE
This term, we continue to have PE on a Monday and a Wednesday. If you’d prefer, they can wear their PE kit underneath their clothes on these days.

STAFFING
The management time within the school has changed this term. Instead of every second Friday, I will be out of class each Thursday on management. Mrs Sutherland will be teaching P1C on a Thursday.

LEO THE LION
Our class mascot, Leo the Lion, made a couple of home visits last term. He will continue to arrive home with one lucky P1 on a Friday afternoon to take part in your weekend adventures. It would be great if you could write a few sentences in their home/school diary about what Leo got up to. You could also include a photograph if you wished.

TRAVEL AGENTS
Thank you for all of the pictures and postcards that you provided for our Travel Agents last term. These will be returned this week within your child’s homework folder.

FANCY DRESS SHOP
We arrived back yesterday to a Fancy Dress Shop within our classroom – complete with dressing-up outfits, costume booklets and a REAL till. Through our mini-topic of ‘A Fancy Dress Shop’, your child will explore the adventures of Mr Benn that we will use for role-play activities. If you have any pictures of your child when they were dressed up (perhaps at Hallowe’en or a party), or any old clothes that you’d like to donate to our dressing up rail, these would be kindly accepted.

SHOWING
Your child, if they wish, can choose something to bring along and talk about with the class on the following date during our ‘Showing Time’:

Just a quick reminder, we are going to the cinema on Tuesday 29th October 2013. Please ensure your child has a snack with them for their visit. The permission slip and £2 should be handed in by this Friday, 25th October 2013, at the latest if you have not done so.

Mr Cook

Over the holidays, Mr Cook was busy finding things to put in our fantastic new Adventure Corner. We said goodbye to the Travel Agents before the holidays. When we came back to school today, there was a brand new FANCY DRESS SHOP. We have a REAL till with REAL money to use when we are customers and shop assistants.

We’re hoping to get some more dress-up clothes over the next few weeks.

Mr.Cook

Mr Cook arrived back in school today to find out that we had four FANTASTIC FIVES who had their fifth birthday over the holidays.

Happy 5th Birthday to Jayden.J, Emma, Mia and Lily!

Mr Cook and Primary 1C

We’ve arrived at the end of our first term in Primary 1 – I can’t believe how quick it has come around.

In Literacy we’ve learned the first 25 phonic sounds inside your child’s home/school diaries, we’ve begun learning our ‘Look and Say’ words, we’ve created stories through drawing and overwriting, we’ve been learning how to write the letters o, c, a and d, and started reading our Oxford Reading Tree stories with Biff, Chip and Kipper.

In Numeracy we’ve been counting objects within ten, learning how to write numbers within 5, and we’ve created sequences using objects and daily routines.

Through our topic ‘Ourselves’ we’ve learned and shared our likes and dislikes as well as exploring our new surroundings within the school.

We say goodbye to our Travel Agents which has provided us with many learning opportunities – there will be an exciting new role play corner after the holidays.

To continue to support your child’s development, over the October break, continue to practise:

• ‘Look and Say’ words within the Word Pouch
• Phonic sounds and actions (Sound Pouch now in folder)
• Writing letters ‘o’, ‘c’, ‘a’ and ‘d’
• Writing numbers ‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’, ‘4’, ‘5’

I’ve popped a Sound Pouch with all of the sounds your child has done so far into their homework folder. These sounds can be used to help your child build words by blending sounds together. E.g. s-a-t or p-i-g. Please see the phonic leaflet for game suggestions.

I look forward to seeing you all back on Tuesday 22nd October at 9am,

Mr Cook

Pupil of the Month – September 

Max has been chosen as our Star Pupil as he has been a great friend to others in the playground. He likes to help others out in the classroom, being a great Helping Hand to Mr Cook.

Yesterday we tea-stained our pirate maps to make them look really old. Today we drew our pirate treasure maps, based on our school adventure that we went on last week.

One more day until the holidays . . .
Mr.Cook

Come to our Hallowe’en Disco – organised by the P6/7 pupils. Return your slip along with £2 by Friday

Check out our funky number 5s. We used tissue paper and glue to create them:

2 more days before the holidays . . .
Mr.Cook