In the Dyslexia and Inclusive Practice group we have been making posters about what we can do to help people with Dyslexia.
We are trying to earn the Gold DIPA award and are creating a logo to represent DFS in our school.
Health and Wellbeing
Alana – We have been doing both physical and mental health awareness.
Kelsi – For mental health we have been creating kindness tokens on the computer to give out to pupils across the school for being kind.
Rights Respecting Schools
Welcome to the RRSA group with Mrs Boyd and Mrs Park!
⭐️ Our aims this session:
Within the RRSA group we are aiming to boost friendship within school and start a Fair Trade tuck shop. We are also working towards the gold Rights Respecting Schools award as we have already achieved silver.
⭐️ So far this session the RRSA group have…
- Set up and ran a successful group known as ‘Friendship Friday’ where pupils could come along and make new friends and play games. Each week we welcomed friends, old and new, enjoyed snacks and played games! 😌
- The group came up with the idea of ‘friendship bracelets’ to be given out at assembly to pupils who have offered their friendship and kindness to others. Pupils sourced and designed the bracelets. They opted for school colours and the wining catchphrase was ‘be kind, be friendly’. 🥰
- As part of ‘Fairtrade Fortnight’ the group presented at assembly and arranged a yummy tuck shop! The RRSA group researched and sourced our products, as well as serving customers at the stall each day. The tuck shop was enjoyed by all and was a huge success in raising awareness of and enjoying Fairtrade produce in our school. 🍌🍪🍫
Eco/Community
We are working towards achieving our Eco Schools Green Flag award. Last term the ECO Group completed an evaluation of the school and looked at areas for improvement. After evaluating the results we identified 3 key topics to focus on this year: Litter, Energy and Biodiversity. We started discussing some ideas on how to develop in these areas across the school and in Term 3 we are hoping to start putting these ideas into action!
Digital Leaders
Welcome to the Digital Leader Group with Miss Caldwell!
Our aims:
This session, the Digital Leaders are focussing on developing digital resources within the school and classes. So far this year we have applied for the Digital Schools Award, which we will be working towards through developing our digital learning and teaching. The Digital Leaders have audited the iPad apps, deleted those which are not necessary and added relevant apps for relevant stages throughout the school. We have ensured that each class teacher has a class iPad and we share the extras between classes where needed. The Digital Leaders have provided log ins for all teachers to allow them to access the wifi on class iPads. We are currently working on a document linking appropriate maths games to each outcome/level within Numeracy and Maths. Digital Leaders are responsible for ensuring digital technology is used effectively and sharing new ideas with their teachers.
Comments from our Digital Leaders on why they wanted to join the group:
Brayden – I want to be a leader of digital learning in my school.
Jack H – I want to extend the website and organise STEM week.
Roan – I chose digital leaders because STEM is fun and I wanted to work on the website.
Ian – I wanted to be in digital leaders because I like STEM. I like ICT.
Brett – I like digital leaders because we are updating the website and we will go on the computers and do STEM week.
Robbie – I was excited to be in digital leaders because I like ICT and writing on the computers.
Emily – I wanted to be a digital leader because I like STEM.
Kaitlyn – Digital Leaders sounded fun.
Ava – I joined digital leaders to try and win the Digital Schools Award.
Lauryn – I joined digital leaders to upgrade the ICT suite.
Jacob – I wanted to come to digital leaders because it sounded like STEM.
Abigail – I like working on the computers.
Sophie – I joined digital leaders because computers are fun and amazing.
Jack R – I joined digital leaders because it would be fun and you can learn a lot.
Alfie – I like computers.
Francesca – we are updating the school website.
Kirsty – I wanted to learn more about computers.
Jessica – I joined digital leaders because I was interested in what it was about.
Evan – I like ICT.
House Captains
Primary 7 House Captains
MOCHRUM
Vice Captain – Kayden
MERRICK
Vice Captain – Leon
KILDOON
Vice Captains – Erin & Andrew
GLENALLA
Vice Captain – Ryan
Return to School
Classes Session 19/20
EARLY YEARS CENTRE
Welcome to our Early Years Centre!
“As they play, most importantly, children learn how to learn” – Fred Donaldson
Our blog page will keep you updated on all the interesting activities and opportunities happening in the setting.
June 2020
What a term it has been boys and girls! The ladies are busy in school preparing the nursery for when you come back after Summer. We are going to be focussing on good handwashing skills when we return, and I’m sure you have already been practising this at home!
For all our boys and girls who are entering Primary 1 after the summer, we are having a little picnic to say goodbye to you all! You should have received a leaflet with this information but if not please contact the school for more information!
Hope you are all still out enjoying the sunshine! 🙂
Important Announcement
We are now live on Facebook! We have created a private group on Facebook in order to keep in contact with all the boys and girls during this difficult time. Please search for ‘Gardenrose EYC’ on Facebook and request to join our group.
Additionally, we are still posting on our Twitter page, @GardenroseEarly, where you can see lots of fun activities! Please follow us.
May 2020
Hello boys and girls! All the ladies in the EYC hope you are all well at home and managing to get out and enjoy the fabulous weather we have had.
We are posting lots of interesting activities and ideas on our Facebook page – Gardenrose EYC. If you have not already joined, then please search for it on Facebook and you can join in! We recognise that some people choose not to use Facebook, so we are still updating our Twitter on a daily basis with the same activities for you to enjoy.
If you are in need of any books or other materials such as home learning activities etc. then please do not hesitate to phone the school and your message will be passed on to the relevant person 🙂
April 2020
Your first April task is to draw a Spring animal that you have seen at Easter Time! Does it have little wings? Curly wool? Long, floppy ears? We would love to see!
Below we have linked a lovely story about a friendly dog who is confused and scared of the virus. A child-friendly way of explaining the virus to children and hopefully settle any worries they may have!
‘Dave the Dog’ is worried about Coronavirus e-book
March 2020
Hello everyone! The ladies from the EYC are hoping you are having fun completing all your home learning activities.
A little challenge for you today: because today is the 25th of March, can you find a 2 and a 5 somewhere in your house? Look very carefully!
Also, we found some interesting activities on the Roald Dahl website that can all be done indoors! Our favourite activity is making a newt that would scare away Miss Trunchbull (from ‘Matilda’)! If you do have a go at any of these activities, be sure to email any pictures to the Gardenrose mailbox (gardenrose.mail@south-ayrshire.gov.uk) so we can see them!
The link to the Roald Dahl website is: https://www.roalddahl.com/things-to-do-indoors.
Home Learning
While our EYC children are not in school, there are lots of different activities you can do at home to continue to support your child and develop their learning.
Every child has been issued with a home learning pack, which contains activities for you and your child to complete and a leaflet full of suggestions to create your own activities at home.
Please keep checking this blog regularly . Throughout this period of home learning, the page will be updated regularly to give you more ideas and some motivation to complete your home learning activities. If you have any queries please contact gardenrose.mail@south-ayrshire.gov.uk. We would love to see examples of your child’s learning so please send any pictures or copies to the email.
About our setting
At Gardenrose we encourage free-flow play through our two areas: the Sunshine room and the Rainbow room. We also have a large outdoor area full of loose parts and tools to extend children’s learning, develop problem solving skills and have lots of fun!
All the learning in our setting is determined by our children’s responses and interests. The EYC staff use ‘talking tubs’ to collate children’s knowledge on different topics. The children’s ideas are collated and the learning is planned to allow children to explore topics and learn key Literacy and Numeracy skills while doing so.
We work closely with our colleagues at the Carrick Centre, Maybole who provide early education for 2 year old children. These close links mean that children’s transitions between the centres are well organised and smooth!
Dates for your Diary
PEEP sessions are running from Monday 20th January for four weeks. The focus of these sessions is Literacy. Sign up sheet is posted in the Nursery entrance.
Letters have been sent home regarding the EYC library visits and visiting the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. If you require nay further information, please speak to your child’s key worker at drop-off and pick-up times.
Stay and Play sessions will be updated when dates are arranged.
Make and Taste Sessions
Information letters have been sent home regarding the Make and Taste Sessions. These sessions are fun and a great way to help our children learn to safely prepare food and make scrumptious treats!
Dates and times for these sessions are as follows:-
Green Group – 3rd March starting at 2pm
Blue Group – 10th March starting at 2pm
Purple Group – 17th March starting at 2pm
Yellow Group – 24th March starting at 2pm
Red Group – 31st March starting at 2pm
Term 3
This term in the Nursery, we have been very interested in dinosaurs and fossils! We have been using Dinosaurs to learn about measurement, in particular we have measured the length of different dinosaur species. We also enjoyed making dinosaur footprints.
In preparation for our Make and Taste sessions, we have been tasting different foods from around the world. Susan and Tracy assisted the boys and girls in creating their own mini pizzas. The children chose their ingredients, measured them out and discussed any risks that they might encounter in the kitchen.
Furthermore, the Nursery participated in the Parent Council Bouncy Castle activities! We had such a fun time playing on the equipment and sliding down the slide!
With it being the month of January, the children had opportunities to learn about Scottish culture and the famous Scots poet Robert Burns. We loved singing traditional Scots songs, such as ‘Trouble in the Chip Shop’ and ‘Coulter’s Candy’. In our home corner, the children arranged a Burns’ Café where all guests were served traditional Scottish cuisine (don’t worry – no real food present!) and had lots of fun playing.
The 19th February saw our first group of children visit the Robert Burns’ Birthplace Museum! The children thoroughly enjoyed participating in the ‘Timorous Beastie’ workshop hosted by the museum – they even got to dress up as little mice! It was great to learning on Robert Burns from being in the nursery.
Summary of Term 2
Halloween was the first big event on our
EYC calendar. Our lovely EYC ladies arranged some creepy, gooey activities for us to try – we even had slimy worms (spaghetti!) in our water tray. Our costumes ranged from scary werewolves to a very cute Eeyore, and we danced and played games at our Halloween party!
On the countdown to Christmas, our EYC was feeling the excitement!
The children performed our Christmas nativity, “The Sleepy Shepherd” to mummies, daddies, grannies and grandpas! This was a huge achievement for all of the children, as some of us had never been on stage before. We learned and
sung a number of songs and even A special well done to our brave boys and girls who took on a speaking role in the nativity – you spoke clearly and confidently!
We also enjoyed a wonderful Christmas lunch! Some of the children tried new foods and we all had a lovely time!
Hello from Primary One and Miss Lee! Welcome to our blog page where you can see all of the fun and exciting things we have been learning about!
We have had a very busy first term and have settled into school life and our daily routines with Miss Lee.
Term One
Literacy
This term we have been learning to write our first name, holding our pencil correctly.
We have also been learning to identify and form initial sounds. We use different active approaches to recognise and form our letters such as playdough, magnetic letters and our chalkboard.
‘I love making my letters’ – Ollie
Numeracy
We have been learning to recognise and form numbers to ten in Numeracy. We love participating in active maths approaches such as going outdoors to create our numbers in the playground using chalk!
We have been also learning to create patterns through colours and shapes!
We have been learning to create patterns in Maths and applying them to our IDL Giraffes Can’t Dance. We created our own African animal patterns in class together using a variety of art materials.
Family Learning
This term we have enjoyed family and friends joining us in school to have lunch in the dinner hall for our Teddy Bears Picnic as well our Construction Tuesday Challenge afternoon for Maths Week.
Halloweeeeeeeeen
We celebrated Halloween in style with a Literacy Sharing of the Learning morning with families. We then had our Halloween party, where we played ghoulish games, danced like Frankenstein and had some spoooooky treats!
Children In Need
Primary 7 organised some fun activities to raise money for Children in Need. There was a range of activities including :
Wear Active Wear or your own clothes- (Non-Uniform day)
Big morning move with Joe Wicks (Live Streaming)
Pie the teachers – highest bidders gets to pie the teachers including the Head Teacher Cake stall and Pudsey biscuits.
Cameron in P5 was a brilliant Auctioneer and made sure that he secured the highest bidders in order to pie the teachers. Max and Martin were the highest bidders to pie Miss Lee! Our Winter also got to pie Mrs Morrison! We raised an amazing £400.21 for Children in Need thanks to the generosity of our families.
Term Two
This term we have been learning lots of news skills in literacy and numeracy with Miss Lee. We have been focusing on writing more independently through our story maps each week as well as starting to read tricky words in our reading books! Within numeracy, we have been learning to add within 5 and 10 as well as learning to measure through play based learning.
‘I thought the table would be 37 cubes long but it’s more than that!’ – Alex
Our IDL topic was the Arctic in which we were learning about the environment, arctic animals and water through our science outcomes. We also created some beautiful Northern Lights pictures using chalk pastels for effect.
Through expressive arts, we were learning the story of Christmas through our strictly themed Nativity ‘Lights Camel Action 2’ which we performed to our parents/ carers in December! It was FAB-U-LOUS!
After all of our hard work performing to parents it was time for us to PARTY! We had great fun dancing , playing games and we even got to see SANTA!!!
Merry Christmas everyone!
Term Three
In January we were focusing on Scots Language. We recited our poem ‘The Dinosaur’ to our special visitor L.Griffiths who then chose our three finalists for our school poetry competition! We had lots of fun learning our scots song ‘Ye Canny Shove Yer Granny’ that we performed at our Scottish Concert in February.
A huge well done to our three P1 finalists! You were all outstanding in your performance of ‘The Dinosaur’.
Congratulations to Emily who was our P1 Poetry Winner!!!
To finish off our Scots Language input we hosted our very own Gardenrose Ceilidh with P2 on Friday 31st January. We invited our family and friends to bring their dancing shoes to join in our dances too! After all of our Scottish dancing we had some Scottish treats and drinks for everyone! We hope you all had right guid time!
Through our Scottish topic of Brave we have been learning to describe Merida in our writing using adjectives. Within numeracy we have been learning to tell the time and focusing on double number addition and subtraction.
Through our IDL we were learning about the famous Loch Ness Monster. We made our very own Nessie in partners using lego! Have a look at our creations!
‘Miss Lee I’ve seen Nessie when I was on holiday. She’s REAL!!’ – Eoin
After a busy January we were ready to bounce our way into February with our Sponsored Bounce, organised by our Parent Council. We had a great afternoon jumping for joy, we’re not sure who had more fun…the boys and girls or Miss Lee!
A big thankyou to the Parent Council for organising the event!
Literacy
We have been learning a new initiative ‘Talk for Writing’ in class. We are learning to retell stories through actions and story maps, which will help us rewrite the story. We also have new jotters to help with the formation of our letters!
MISS LEE’S STAR WRITERS!
Spring has sprung in Primary 1! Sophie brought in a daffodil to show the class and Lucy has been keeping us all updated with how many lambs are being born each day on her farm. With lots of discussions about Spring we are learning to write lists of what we see in the Spring and have been creating some lovely related art work in the open area.
World Book Week
We celebrated World Book Week in our PJs this year whilst taking part in lots of different literacy activities with our families.
Numeracy
We have been learning different aspects of numeracy this term through play based learning. We developed our home corner into a pancake cafe. We had desert chefs, waiters/ waitresses, a manager and of course our very satisfies customers!
‘Look Miss Lee I can toss two pancakes at once! Oh that’s a diamond and a square pancake!’- Caleb
We have also been learning to identify coins in class. We can talk about their size, shape, colour and value. We are also learning to add coins together to create a total!!
Emilia brought in a special coin that her Mummy wore on her shoe for luck on her wedding day!
‘My Mummy had this on her shoe when she got married’- Emilia
Remote Learning – also shared on the home learning page!
Primary 1 have been working hard on their home learning tasks!
Great work everyone! Keep sending me your pictures and videos from home to share with our Gardenrose community!
Miss Lee set an IDL topic for ‘The Owl Who was Afraid of the Dark’ for home learning. The pupils had to design a new home for Plop and then create a 3D model. Have a look at some of our fantastic projects!
We also created our very own Owl’s and labelled their features. The boys and girls in P1 named their own Owl’s as well…very creative!!
After reading our Bedtime Story ‘Monkey Puzzle’ with Miss Lee we created our very own story maps through the Talk for Writing approach.
Well done everyone!
Term 4
We may still be learning from home, but my boys and girls are doing a super job of completing their tasks!
We have been continuing to focus on our writing skills; focusing on formation, punctuation and finger spaces. Have a look at some of our super writing pieces!
We have been sharing our favourite moments in P1 through writing. Miss Lee enjoyed reading these and put a big smile on her face during this time that she can’t see her little ones!
We have been learning to collect data in maths. We have been focusing on tally marks and will be moving on to pictograms next week!
We have been learning to interpret data. Take a look at our fabulous pictograms and bar charts!
We have been learning all about symmetry. P1 have created symmetrical patterns through pictures, loose parts and lego to show their creativity in this maths aspect.
Lucy loved this activity, Miss Lee thinks she has been very creative at home!
We are learning to identify our senses in Science this term. We have been creating senses task boards as part of our Home Learning to learn about the 5 different senses.
I will upload weekly homework grids as normal for my boys and girls to complete. I will attach the spelling list each week as well as other fun activities to complete!
We have been learning about People Who Help us. We have been learning about our emergency services and how they help us as well as Road Safety. Have a look at some of our home learning!
Spelling Lists
Weekly Homework Grids
P1 Home Learning Grid Wk 20.4.20
P1 Home Learning Grid Wk 27.4.20
P1 Home Learning Grid Wk 04.05.20
P1 Home Learning Grid Wk 11.05.20
P1 Home Learning Grid Wk 18.05.20
P1 Home Learning Grid Wk 25.05.20
P1 Home Learning Grid Wk 01.06.20
P1 Home Learning Grid Wk 08.06.20
P1 Disney-Virtual-Trip Wk 21.06.20
Maths Resources
Daily Tens and Problem Solving Wk 20.4.20
Daily Tens and Problem Solving Wk 27.4.20
Daily Tens and Problem Solving Wk 11.5.20
Daily Tens and Problem Solving Wk 18.5.20
Daily Tens and Problem Solving Wk 01.6.20
Daily Tens and Problem Solving Wk 15.6.20
IDL- People Who Help Us
As promised I have provided an example of a KWL I would complete with the pupils below. As part of your home learning task (see home learning grid) please create your own and send it to me to collate and then create our exciting new topic!
Creating Miss Lee’s Doctor’s Bag activity
Week 18.5.20 Doctors cut and stick activity
Police Task See, Think, Wonder
Home Learning (15th June)
Here are the new Weekly Learning Grid and Resources for this week.
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KS1 Weekly Wellbeing Journal Pack 1 Tuesday
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Home Learning (18th May)
Here is the new Weekly Learning Grid and Resources for this week, our new Habitat focus is ‘Seas and Oceans’.
P1-P2-Minibeast-Scavenger-Hunt
P2 Help and Advice for Parents
The Five Oceans Labelling Activity
Home Learning (11th May)
Good Morning everyone, we hope you and your families are well. Here is the new Weekly Learning Grid and resources, our new Habitat focus is Rockpools!
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Home Learning (4th May)
Good Morning everyone, here is the brand new P2 Weekly Learning Resources. Remember, as this is a shorter week there are not as many activities. Take care and have fun!
Spelling Words 4th May – Here is the video lesson to go along with your new spelling words – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_LjqrhMbNk
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Home Learning (27th April)
Hello everyone, we hope you are all getting on well. To give you a variety of ways to access the P2 Home Learning information we have popped it onto this Blog as well. Here is the new P2 Weekly Home Learning Grid, along with the different resources you might need.
Primary 2 have been having so much fun and learning loads this term! We have been learning all about different Toys, as part of our topic. We have looked at the different forces which we need to use them, as well as how toys have changed through the years. In our writing, we have covered different genres with a focus on poetry and personal writing. In Numeracy, we have continued to build our mental maths skills with our number work, and have also been learning about position and movement. Primary 2 have also enjoyed having parents in to help us with our learning on different occasions. We had a Literacy Open Morning with parents, where we did Hansel and Gretel learning rotations. P2 have enjoyed learning Mandarin this term with Miss Lili, where they have been learning to have a simple conversation in Mandarin. Primary 2 have also been in the Infant Nativity this year, where have covered aspects of RME, Drama and Music. We have wowed our audiences with our performance as Nazareth Neighbours, Stars and Roman Soldiers. Over this term we have been amazed at all the personal achievements that P2 have earned from clubs and activities outside of school – we love to celebrate these wider achievements in school too! We have had so much fun learning in Term 2, and can’t wait to start Term 3 where we will have a Scot’s Language focus around Burn’s Day and our new topic will be Katie Morag.
P2 Home Learning
P2 have been working hard at home! Please remember to check the Glow Teams Primary 2 page everyday to see if there is new information or tasks uploaded. It has been super to see all of the hard work being done by the class – check out the photos below 🙂
Welcome to Primary 3 with Miss Pollock!
Home Learning Week Beginning 18th May 2020
Here is our new Home Learning Grid and resources for this week. You will also find each of these on Teams.
Term 4 – Home Learning 18th May
The Story of Pirate Tom (Rags to Riches Tale)
Term 3
For the first few weeks of term 3, we will be focussing on Scotland through exploring Scottish artists, language, songs and landmarks. We are very excited to learn about Scots Language which will include reading and writing different types of poetry as well as learning to recite our poem ‘A Dug a Dug’ for our Scots poetry competition! We are currently learning about the Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist, Charles Rennie MacKintosh and have created our own line drawings of the MacKintosh rose design.
In numeracy and maths, we will be focusing on money and time as well as continuing with our number work. We will be using our skills to count coins and notes up to the value of £20 and calculate change. We will also be learning to tell the time in 5 minute intervals and smaller using both digital and analogue clocks. We will then focus on using our skills to apply our knowledge and understanding to unfamiliar and real life contexts.
Check out this group using a range of coins to make different totals!
In I.C.T, we have read Buddy’s Internet Safety story to learn about how to stay safe online. We created posters to share safety tips with other children in the school.
In Mandarin, we have been learning the colours. We have been learning a song with Miss Lili which we will be performing at the Carrick Centre at the end of the month as part of the Mandarin Showcase.
Check out P2 and P3 at the Mandarin Showcase!
A huge congratulations to our Scottish poetry finalists; Finlay McDermott, Imogen Crossan and Ellie Martin. Primary 3 also learned ‘Donald Where’s Yer Troosers’ to perform at the Scottish Concert.
P3 had a great time at the Parent Council’s sponsored bounce. Lots of red faces by the end of it!
Primary 3 have enjoyed taking part in Number Talks sessions and playing with numbers to reach their target number. Take a look at some of these fabulous strategies. We are looking forward to testing out our new whiteboards from Count On Us too!
Term 2
In term 2, our interdisciplinary learning topic was My Amazing Body. The children have researched the position and function of the skeleton and the major organs and through health and wellbeing, have explored what they need to do to keep them healthy.
Primary 3 have been very busy this term rehearsing for the nativity performance ‘Lights, Camel, Action 2.’ We have been working alongside primary 1 and 2 to learn our lines and lots of songs. To help with our knowledge and understanding of the Christmas Story, pastor Bill came to visit us. He also brought his guitar so we could sing some Christmas songs too!
Primary 3 had a great time getting organised for Christmas. We enjoyed making lots of Christmas crafts for the Christmas Fayre and we had a ball at our Christmas party!
Term 1
Throughout term 1, we have focussed on farming as our interdisciplinary learning topic. The children have explored different forms of agriculture in Scotland and the foods associated with these. We were very excited to welcome Lilias from the Royal Highland Education Trust who visited us to tell us more about food and farming. She brought lots of exciting things for us to look at. The children also had the opportunity to work with their parents on ‘Construction Tuesday’, where they built their own farms and tractors using Lego and K’Nex.
Primary 3 enjoyed a visit from the SSPCA and the opportunity to take part in the Rabbit Rescuers workshop. We learned all about rabbits and how to look after them. Some of the children even got to try on the vets uniform!
Welcome to P4’s blog!
Daily Home Learning Tasks (click here for a list of suggested activities for each day. You can choose what you would like to complete. This is updated daily)
Oliver and the Seawigs (Current class novel)
Chapter 1 | Quiz | Activities
Chapter 2 | Quiz | Activities
Chapter 3 | Quiz | Activities
Chapter 4 | Quiz | Activities
Chapter 5 Part 1 | Quiz | Activities
Chapter 7 | Quiz | Activities
Chapters 8 + 9 | Quiz | Activities
Chapter 10 Part 1 | Quiz | Activities
Cakes in Space
Chapter 1 | Quiz | Activities
Chapter 2 | Quiz | Activities
Chapter 3 | Quiz | Activities
Chapter 10 + 11 Book Review Quiz
Additional Learning Resources:
Assignments
I will post any specific tasks for you to do via bulleted links below. Your responses can be uploaded as a word doc, ppt, photo or video into our P4 Team Assignment tab, or emailed to me directly at jennifer.ross@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Recommended Websites
I would really encourage you to try and access some of the below websites as often as possible as these are excellent learning resources:
Sumdog (for Maths, Spelling & Reading)
Readingwise
Nessy (only if you have a school log in)
Topmarks
Mathsframe
Scratch and Hour of code (Coding/Computer Science)
Linguiscope (Username: qma Password: peggy)
Issues with Access:
If you are asked to enter log in details when clicking on Office 365, your details are as follows:
- Your Glow username (the one you use to log in to Glow) followed by @glow.sch.uk
- The password is then the same as your Glow password (for most of the pupils at the moment the password is Gardenrose1)
- Tutorials are available on the Gardenrose Facebook Group and Twitter should you require further assistance, or contact a member of staff.
How to send me work
On Glow you should all be able to access the app “Office 365” which contains Word, Powerpoint, Excel as well as Teams. These can be used for completing any Home Learning activities and uploaded onto our Teams as a message attachment, or emailed to me privately at jennifer.ross@south-ayrshire.gov.uk. If possible, take pictures of any work or activities you have completed and email these to me or upload them onto our Team chat.
I have set more specific tasks and projects in the “Assignments” Tab on Teams. Here, there is an option to upload your work (documents, photos, videos etc) which allows me to mark and respond.
BACK TO THE BLOG!…
Here you can find out information about what we’ve been getting up to recently! We are very excited to share our learning with you.
Term 3
The last Term has been a whirlwind of activity! It all started in January with our Scotland topic. This year our poem was “Wee Freenly Dug” and our song was “The New Teacher.” Well done to our winners, and to all of P4 for making such a big effort practicing our poem and song!
In class, we enjoyed writing our own Scots Poetry, learning about Scottish culture and designing our own castles and tartan outfits. We painted some beautiful “Monarch of the Glen” paintings.
We were also lucky enough to receive a 4 week block of Golf training in PE! Definitely some future Golf stars in P4.
We have LOVED reading The Chronicles of Narnia and studying the film in class. We built our own cardboard wardrobes, Aslan masks and even tasted some Turkish Delight! We were able to make lots of links between the story of Narnia and the Easter Story.
Towards the end of Term 3 we have been spending a lot of time learning our songs and dances for the Amazing Upper Show – Back in the Day. Our songs are…
70s: Status Quo: Rocking All Over the World
80s: Ray Parker Jr: Ghostbusters
90s: Steps: 5678/Tragedy
00s: Snow patrol: Chasing Cars
To view some of our rehearsals, check out the Gardenrose Videos page on our Blog.
Some AMAZING artwork…
Term 1 & 2 have flown in!! Some of our highlights have been:
- PE sessions at Carrick Academy
- Filming our own weather reports
- Making a snowstorm in a jar in science
- Building igloos out of sugar cubes
- Maths and literacy sharing the learning days
- Reading Pugs of the Frozen North
- Halloween activities
- Children in Need – watching Miss Ross get pied in the face!!
- Being visited by Buddy the naughty elf
- Christmas party and the panto
- Making Snow & Decorating biscuits on the last day
In Term 2 we have been very busy.
We learnt about how to write persuasively during writing after we received a very upsetting letter from Mrs Morrison which told us we might have to come to school on a Saturday!! In Literacy, we are continuing to develop our reading, writing and grammar – we have enjoyed doing this in active ways by playing spelling games such as “Splat!” with our Flyswatters and the Gumball spelling boardgame.
In Maths we have been continuing to develop our knowledge of our times tables and mental maths skills, through Big Maths Beat That! And Number Talks. We always try to beat our score and are keen to share our strategies. We’ve especially loved playing maths games online as a class – especially Sumdog and Marlon’s Magical Maths Mission! Our main topics of focus this term have been Fractions and Shape.
In ICT we have started to learn about coding through the use of Scratch. Miss Ross showed us how to code our own videogames and we are excited to learn even more in Term 3. Alongside this, we have continued to develop our knowledge of using the internet safely and responsibly whilst carrying out research tasks. We are continuously improving our word processing skills.
P4 just LOVE art. This term we learned about Brazilian artist Romero Britto. His work always features a symbol and we discussed what symbolises us in order to create a personalised piece of artwork in his style. Miss Ross was so impressed by the level of thought and detail we put into our designs.
We also learned about the colour wheel and can name the Primary/Secondary colours. We discussed how different colours made us feel and related them to different temperatures – in order to create our fabulous snowmen artwork!
In PE this term we enjoyed our weekly visits to Carrick where we got to try a variety of different sports hosted by the Sports Leaders. We also had great fun learning Scottish dances for our Christmas party.
Anyway, that’s all from us for now. Please keep checking our blog for updates – we just can’t wait to see what Term 3 brings!
Welcome to our class page from Primary Five and Miss McNeillie
Term 1
We started the year by reading The Boy at The Back of the Class by Onjali Q Rauf. Studying this class novel allowed us to explore the plight of refugees in a sensitive and engaging way. We loved exploring the life and struggles of Ahmet and developed compassion towards a very relevant and current topic happening around us. We also wrote persuasive letters to the home secretary in support of refugees in response to this class novel.
In health and wellbeing lessons, we found out that Growth Mindset and Kindness are two of the most important things that Miss McNeillie wants to teach us. We read a book called “Have You Filled A Bucket Today?” which was a fun way for us to learn that our words and actions have an impact on people even if it’s invisible and we cannot see the positive or negative impact. Each day we use post it notes to send our classmates anonymous notes in their ‘buckets’ to make them feel good about themselves.
We participated in weekly swimming sessions at Maybole Swimming Pool and everyone loved developing their swimming skills and having fun in the water.
Primary 5 also worked very hard to prepare and perform a Harvest Celebration Assembly. We researched what harvest was, how Christians celebrated harvest, wrote a script, created sensory poems and painted autumn wreathes. Our performance was a huge success and Miss McNeillie was so proud of us!
We used water colours to paint huge pieces of paper and then sketched leaves to create our wreathes.
We enjoyed a visit from the SPCA and used tablets to code robots. We worked in groups to build the rabbit robots and had to use coding to make them move around our classroom using technology.
We also participated in a Beyond the Panda experience which linked to our learning in Mandarin. We learned lots of facts about pandas and the importance of their conservation. Fun fact – we could not believe that pandas do not have thumbs!
We celebrated Maths Week by exploring how numeracy and mathematics apply to jobs and careers in the real world. We talked about how maths is all around us in our everyday lives we rely on things such as time to function. We invited parents into our class to participate in a STEM challenge – our challenge was to create a safety device for a raw egg so that it could drop from 1m high without cracking. We created a design and chose suitable materials to create a device in co-operative learning groups.
Term 2
Our Topic this term is The Victorians. In the beginning we did not know very much about Queen Victoria or what life was like during Victorian times but we now know loads of amazing and interesting facts and are able to compare our lives today to the past – we were fascinated that children were made to work from a very young age. We were also particularly amazed researching and exploring how Victorians celebrated Christmas and finding out what traditions are still around today! Ask us who invented Christmas crackers, we are experts.
We visited the Carrick centre and learned how to make shortbread and pizza. We loved cooking together and tasting our food! We used reading, listening skills, group work and cooking skills to be successful.
Term 2 was hectic with Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas celebrations! We had lots of fun. During science lessons, we looked at states of matter and how things can change state from solids, liquids and gasses. We made predictions about what would happen when we mixed certain substances together. We were amazed when we made a pumpkin eruption. We created science reports about our findings and identified if our hypothesis was accurate!
We had lots of Christmas fun! We made reindeer hot chocolate cones for the Christmas Fayre. In numeracy lessons, we focused on money and also business enterprise. We had a budget to stick to and wanted to make a profit. We explored mathematical language such as profit, loss, budget and break even. We also learned about hidden costs such as delivery charges when buying items online. We think it is important to link our learning to real life contexts!
Term 3
Our topic this term is firstly Scot’s Language and The Life of Robert Burns as we explore his early life and become familiar with his famous poems. We are learning “To A Mouse” and “Willie Wastle” as part of our Scots language unit of work. We also learned our national anthem “O’ Flower of Scotland”. P5 worked extremely hard to learn a Scots poem and song. An extra special well done to our Scots poem finalists Bronwen, Lara, Blair and Russell and song finalists Finlay, Cameron, Samuel and Courtney. You were all fabulous!
We also created some lovely Scottish themed art. We sketched realistic portraits of Robert Burns using sketching pencils and painted tartan backgrounds. We placed our portraits on top of the tartan to make them stand out.
Below is photos of us sketching and painting and also some finished art work which we are very proud of:
We know that the best way to improve our own understanding is by teaching others. We have promoted ‘mini-professors’ that consolidate their knowledge by supporting others. We love teaching and learning with our peers in P5! Below is some photos from our peer learning in action during numeracy sessions:
In light of current events in the world we are also exploring natural disasters as our topic in Term 3. We are becoming familiar with causes of natural disasters and the impacts of extreme weather on life and land. Look at our amazing models we created as part of our home learning – they are amazing! Huge well done to the boys and girls and their families who put in lots of effort, time and hard work to produce wonderful models.
We are currently participating in weekly Golf sessions with Oli from Trump Turnberry. We are learning a range of new skills and getting to use lots of equipment. We can now putt and chip successfully! We have also been learning how to play badminton in our weekly PE sessions.
We updated our Health and Well-being wall our new class motto is “Strong people do not pull others down, they help pull them up”. Every week we choose a pupil to celebrate and we write things that we love about them or what makes them unique and add post-its to our display. It is a super way of encouraging kindness and improving self-esteem in our classroom. We enjoy celebrating each others successes and spreading kindness everyday. Here is a very happy boy showing off what his class love about him:
We are also participating in a Citizen Science Project linked to our topic of Natural Disasters and Extreme Weather. We are carrying out a study to explore the impact of weather on birds and mini beasts in our local area around the school. We have been working with Karen, a ranger from Culzean who has been sharing her expert knowledge with us! We loved getting outdoors and exploring our local area.
This term, we will also put together our school show. This includes a lot of singing, dancing, acting, hard work and most importantly FUN! We are excited to showcase all our hard work!
Below is the Home Learning Grid for Term 3:
Term 4
P5 Home Learning Plan April 2020
We are all adjusting to home learning and using Microsoft Teams to keep in touch and complete tasks! Below is a list of activities for Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Well-being which have been posted on the P5 Team.
Home Learning Plan Activities
Literacy
Spelling:
- Practise the 50 GL spelling word list in a range of ways. Use the spelling menu you usually use for homework which includes active spelling strategies.
- Have a spelling test with an adult to see which words you still need to work on
- Practise common words and highlight which ones you need to work on
- Play lots of engaging games to practise spelling and grammar on Topmarks. Google “topmarks spelling games” or use this link https://www.topmarks.co.uk/english-games/7-11-years/spelling-and-grammar
Reading:
- Read a story with a member of your family and discuss your favourite parts and favourite characters. Did you enjoy the book? Why? Why not?
- Read a book, newspaper or magazine and get an adult to create questions for you and quiz you on what you read.
- Create a different ending for a famous story or fairy tale you know.
- Create 5 questions about anything you read and get someone to answer them
- Log in to Readingwise to complete tasks online (if you need log in details contact Miss McNeillie on TEAM’s)
Writing:
- Write a list of things you would like to do or places you would like to go after lockdown. This could be then be ticked off once lockdown is over and you can look forward to these things!
- Write a paragraph about what you did in the Easter holidays – what have you been doing to keep busy and stay safe?
- Watch Newsround and write a news report on one of the stories you hear.
- Research Tom Moore and write a paragraph about who he is and what he is doing.
- Look on TEAMS for questions about The Tiny Dragon and write responses to the discussion questions.
Remember VCOP in all of your writing!
Numeracy
- Log in to Sumdog daily and play games to revise all numeracy and maths concepts. Miss McNeillie can see who has logged in and how they are getting on. Sumdog is a wonderful resource to keep practising vital maths skills!
- Practise all times tables and know the answers rapidly – get an adult to test you with the poster included in home learning packs. Play hit the button!
- Complete a Daily 10 mental maths on Topmarks or create your own questions – https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/daily10
P5 covered time in term three. Below are a list of activities that could be completed at home to revise these skills.
Time Activities:
- Create a time table of how you will spend your time over the week. Make sure you include times.
- Can you use a bus time table to plan a journey?
- Select a start date and time
- Where would you be leaving from
- Where would you be travelling to?
- What time do you have to leave your house to reach the bus stop?
CHALLENGE – work with an adult
- You must travel to Glasgow airport and you must be there 2 hours before your flight leaves
- Your flight time is at 1:00pm
- What time must you leave your house to arrive at the airport 2 hours before the flight leaves?
- How will you get to the airport?
- If you must use public transport you must ensure you leave in plenty of time.
- Will you be travelling during peak hours? Consider this when planning your journey.
FURTHER CHALLENGE – work with an adult
- You decided to travel from Manchester airport and your flight is at 6:00pm
- What time will you leave Glasgow to arrive at Manchester airport 2 hours before your 6:00pm flight time?
- Find an analogue and digital clock (if you don’t have one at home you will be able to find one on google). Throughout the day you check the time. Can you write the time in different ways? Can you convert the time from 12 hour to 24 hour time?
- Help make dinner – (adult supervision):
- Check how long it takes to cook everything
- You must check the time
- Set a timer
- Remember you don’t want to burn anything
Clean your room:
Estimate how long you think it will take
You can set a timer
Was your estimate accurate?
How long did it actually take?
Aim to beat this time next time you clean your room😊
Health and Wellbeing
1.PE with Joe Wicks on Youtube to stay active
2.Cosmic Yoga on Youtube for mindfulness
- Positive Thinking Task
- Choose a quote below and illustrate it (you could draw more than one)
- Discuss what you think the quote means
- Discuss with an adult why a positive attitude is important
- Gratitude Mind Map
Create a mind map with the heading “What I am Grateful For”. Around the bubble write and draw things you are grateful for e.g friends, family, the sun and so on. It’s always good to reflect on the positives😊
5.Watch the Disney movie Inside Out (if possible) and write a review. Make a list of the different emotions and how each of them are displayed throughout the movie. How does Riley act to show these emotions?
Topic – The NHS
What is the NHS?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/38906932
Follow the link above and watch videos and read information on Newsround about The National Health Service. Create a poster or fact file about what you learn!
Days of the Year Challenges – Fun for all the family!
Remote Learning Timetable 27.4.20
Click the link above to access this weeks suggested activities. This also shows the BBC Bitesize Daily Lessons schedule which is mentioned within the timetable,
Can all P5 students please access their Readingwise, Sumdog, Nessy and Education City accounts as these websites are a fantastic way to keep working on many vital skills at home and Miss McNeillie can set work and monitor your progress!
It would be great to see all your hard work so any photos of you engaging in home learning or completed tasks and activities would be fabulous to add our blog so please post photos either on Facebook or on our TEAM’s page.
Home Learning Timetable 5.5.20
Home Learning Timetable 11.5.20
Click the link above to find this weeks home learning timetable and below is the resources mentioned within it which you can also find on Glow. Have a great week!
How not to go to School – short story
Read the story ‘ How To Not Go To School’ and get an adult to quiz you about it. Post what your favourite part was on our P5 team.
Week beginning 18.5.20
Please find links to this weeks home learning grid and related activities:
Character Profile – for Bill’s New Frock tasks
How to Write a Summary – for Bill’s New Frock Chapter 1
Have a great week!
Home Learning Resources
Week beginning 27.5.20
Monday is a bank holiday and Tuesday is an in-service day so enjoy your long weekend with your families!
Home Learning Grid 27.5.20
Real or Fake
Media Maths
What’s in the news?
Home Learning Photos from Term 4 – Thanks for all your hard work P5!
Welcome to P.6 with Mrs Park and Mrs Boyd! 🙂
Term 4- Home Learning
On a daily basis, Mrs Park and Mrs Boyd will be uploading task boards and resources onto our P.6 Teams Page. We will also share these on this site for those who are unable to access Teams at busy times. You can upload work via Teams or email us at:
sarah.boyd2@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
alison.park@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
P.6 Task Boards
Week beg. – 20th April 2020
Week beg. – 27th April 2020
P.6 Types of angles powerpointP.6
P.6 wb 27th April 2020 wed-fri
Week beg. – 5th May 2020
Week beg. – 11th May 2020
Week beg. – 18th May 2020
Wednesday The Five Pillars of Islam
Week beg. – 27th May 2020
Week beg. – 1st June 2020
Thursday RE-5-Pillars-of-Islam
Week beg. – 8th June 2020
Ice Pack what do I want lesson 2
Week beg. – 15th June 2020
Term 3 has been extremely busy so far for our fabulous P.6 pupils!
Auld Lang Syne
We kick started the New Year with a focus on Burns and Scots Language. Pupils demonstrated commitment to learning an extract from ‘Tam O Shanter’, as well as the song, ‘Leezie Lindsay’. In class, pupils enjoyed exploring Scots poetry and went on to write their own lament, in the style of ‘Lament for a lost dinner ticket.’ Videos of some of these can be found below.
Primary 6 had a crucial role in our annual Burns Supper! Pupils were part of performances, recitals and served the food to our hungry guests. The hall and tables were decorated with artwork and crafts produced by our pupils. It was an unforgettable event! 🙂
Jury’s Out!
Our pupils had the privilege of being involved in a ‘Mock Court’ project, working with other schools across Ayrshire. The pupils each had a specific role in the case and worked extremely hard to present their case and its evidence. Pupils attended Ayr Sheriff Court to take part in the mock trial and were outstanding in their contributions. We were extremely proud of our pupils, well done everyone for your group efforts!
Back in the day…
Primary 6 pupils put their heart and soul into rehearsing for the school show ‘Back in the day…Dancing through the decades’. A video montage of rehearsals can be found on our main glow page: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/sa/gardenroseprimary/gardenrose-videos/ It is hoped that perhaps the show will go on, once normality resumes! 🙂
Out of this world!
Term two has been very busy in our class. Following on from our Space topic in term one, we kick started our term with a trip to the Science Centre in Glasgow. The class were amazed by the planetarium and enjoyed being taken on a journey through space in the comfy reclining chairs!
We also visited the iMAX 3D cinema and watched a short film on ‘Our Beautiful Planet’. Pupils enjoyed looking at our planet from the ISS as well as learning about the effects of climate change. The trip was a lovely way to consolidate our learning and learn some facts we perhaps didn’t know.
Time travellers
This term we’ve taken ourselves back in time to the 16th Century, learning about ‘Mary Queen of Scots’. Pupils have explored a timeline of significant events during Mary’s lifetime and how her reign affected Scotland’s history.
Microorganisms
Pupils have enjoyed pulling on their lab coats and exploring the topic of microorganisms. We have explored how quickly mould grows in a variety of conditions and carried out experiments in class.
Christmas Celebrations
Pupils have enjoyed researching how countries around the world celebrate Christmas in our ‘Christmas Around the World’ RME topic. Pupils have eagerly shared their own family traditions and reflected on traditions from around the world.
The class made personalised snow globes and edible snowflakes to sell at the Christmas Craft Fayre. Pupils successfully managed budgets, calculated profits and enjoyed being festive and creative!
Talk for Writing
We’ve been developing the way we write in class, taking on the ‘Talk for Writing’ model. Pupils have enjoyed dipping their toe in an all-encompassing method of exploring texts and writing. We have been studying the story named ‘The Red Eye’ and imitated the story, innovated the story and then independently applied our knowledge and skills. We are looking forward to further embedding this in the new year.
Welcome to Primary 7 with Miss Caldwell!
Hi P7, Miss Caldwell here. I know some of you have been having difficulty accessing our P7 Microsoft Team and the files/assignments I have uploaded onto it. This may be because Glow is being accessed by so many people and is overloaded. In the meantime I have added some resources onto this blog page as an alternative. (For our usual Blog, scroll down!)
Parent/Pupil Guide to Microsoft Teams
Home Learning Term 4 Weekly Activity Grids –
Primary 7 Home Learning Activities 20.04.20
Primary 7 Home Learning Activities 27.04.20
Primary 7 Home Learning Activities 05.05.2020
Primary 7 Home Learning Activities 11.05.2020
Primary 7 Home Learning Activities 18.05.2020
Primary 7 Home Learning Activities 27.05.2020
Primary 7 Home Learning Activities 01.06.2020
Primary 7 Home Learning Activities 08.06.2020
Primary 7 Home Learning Activities 15.06.2020
Home Learning Files –
Recommended Websites
I would really encourage you to try and access some of the below websites as often as possible as these are excellent learning resources:
Websites & Resources
Sumdog (for Maths, Spelling & Reading)
Readingwise
Nessy (only if you have a school log in)
Topmarks
Mathsframe
Scratch and Hour of code (Coding/Computer Science)
Linguiscope (Username: qma Password: peggy)
Issues with Access:
If you are asked to enter log in details when clicking on Office 365, your details are as follows:
- Your Glow username (the one you use to log in to Glow) followed by @glow.sch.uk
- The password is then the same as your Glow password (for most of the pupils at the moment the password is Gardenrose1)
- Tutorials are available on the Gardenrose Facebook Group and Twitter should you require further assistance, or contact a member of staff.
How to send me work
On Glow you should all be able to access the app “Office 365” which contains Word, Powerpoint, Excel as well as Teams. These can be used for completing any Home Learning activities and uploaded onto our Teams as a message attachment, or emailed to me privately at sophie.caldwell@south-ayrshire.gov.uk OR sa18CaldwellS@glow.sch.uk. If possible, take pictures of any work or activities you have completed and email these to me or upload them onto our Team chat.
I have set more specific tasks and projects in the “Assignments” Tab on Teams. Here, there is an option to upload your work (documents, photos, videos etc) which allows me to mark and respond.
Term 3
In February, we had an amazing residential trip to Dolphin House. Thank you so much to the staff at the centre who crammed so many activities into our stay! We did abseiling, caving, beach exploration, visited the park at Culzean, discovered valuable rocks on the beach at night, climbed to Straiton monument in the snow, sledged at the top of the hill, learned mountain survival tips, built dens in the forest, roasted marshmallows during a beach fire, enjoyed dancing at a our disco and finished the week by taking part in some orienteering. We were so busy the whole time but still had some free time in our dorms, developing friendships, social skills and even sharing some of our sweeties with Miss Caldwell, Miss McNeillie and Miss Ross! Amazing memories made that I’m sure everyone will cherish forever. Check out some of our pictures of our busy week’s residential 😃.
As part of our Burns work we created ‘Immortal Memory’ projects to be put forward for the competition. We had three winners – Francesca, Maisie and Lauryn, who were chosen to perform their projects at both the Burns’ Supper at Gardenrose and as representatives for the school at the South Ayrshire Burns’ Supper.
For the first month of term 3, we focused on Scotland and Robert Burns. We developed ‘Immortal Memory’ projects using ICT and literacy skills based on the life, works and cultural impact of Robert Burns. We learned poems and songs by Robert Burns, including: Red Red Rose, Auld Lang Syne and Address Tae a Haggis. We all worked together to plan and host our own Burns’ Supper, as well as performing our song ‘Caledonia’ at the school’s Scottish concert.
Our second topic is a country study on China. We have begun to explore the environmental, social and cultural aspects of the country and comparing this with Scotland. We loved our trip to Edinburgh Zoo to experience the amazing Chinese Lanterns, hand crafted with silk!
In numeracy and maths, we are looking at complex algebraic equations, angles and shape. We have been developing our skills in applying our knowledge to unfamiliar and real-life context during problem solving. We are continuing to use Sumdog as a consolidation tool to keep our mental maths skills quick and accurate, which is also reiterated during daily number talks. We have been making use of the concrete, pictorial, abstract concepts for learning when facing new concepts. We have been making use of Chris McKenna’s blueprint board to develop our numeracy skills using different strategies including bar models!
In literacy, we had a focus on the Scots language for the start of term. We learned new Scots words and created our own Scots poems. We also translated Scots passages. We are now focussing on creative writing and will enter into the BBC 500 words competition at the end of February. In reading, we are completing a whole class novel ‘Fireweed’, which we chose due to the WW2 link as this interested us as a class. We will use talk for writing strategies to develop our reading skills.
Term 2
During Term 2, we had the opportunity to visit Carrick Academy for 5 weeks to develop our PE skills alongside Sports Leaders from S6. We developed our physical abilities in fitness, basketball, football, handball and badminton.
For numeracy & maths, we focussed on profit and loss, through our enterprise project of creating tea light holders for the Christmas fayre. We researched the best value products and decided prices accordingly. We managed to sell out of all our tea lights! We also worked on fractions, decimals and percentages within a range of real life contexts including discounts and percentage increase/decrease. We created ‘how to’ guides to FDP which are shared on our Maths working wall!
In literacy, we focussed on literature circle groups, each working on developing reading skills through a different book. We developed higher order thinking skills through Blooms taxonomy, as well as looking at inferential questions. We can now use our inference skills to read between the lines using show not tell. For writing, we have been looking at functional writing. We worked on persuasive and discursive techniques and incorporated these into essays based on our topic of Energy (renewable vs fossil fuels). We also wrote instructions to create a Hydro Power science experiment and a report on the different varieties of energy sources and how these are used.
Our topic, as mentioned above was Energy. We explored different types of energy sources and how these are used in our every day lives. We also researched Fossil Fuels and Renewable Energy and created adverts persuading people to use one or the other. All of us thought Renewable Energy was better due the environmental benefits!
In health and wellbeing, we completed a mini-topic on Substance Abuse. We looked at different substances – legal and illegal – and discussed the impact these can have on our bodies, as well as the impact on our family and friends. We explored the legalities of drugs and how we can keep ourselves safe. We used our persuasive techniques to create posters persuading people not to use illegal substances.
Term 1
In September, a group of us visited Carrick Academy to compete in the Sports Hall Athletics competition. We had so much fun and ended up winning the Carrick cluster! We competed at the South Ayrshire finals at the Citadel and had a great day out.
In September, we hosted a coffee morning to raise funds for MacMillan Cancer Support. Each of us had a role and we invited parents/carers and students to join us. We had a raffle, tea and coffee serving, cake stall, guess the teddy’s birthday, bric-a-brac and guess the sweets in the jar. Thanks to everyone’s hard work, and the very generous donations we received, we managed to raise a HUGE £432 for the charity.
Throughout Term 1, we have focussed on World War 2 as our interdisciplinary learning topic. The children completed a variety of activities including
- Creating rationed recipes.
- Researching key WW2 events.
- Creating timelines of key events and figures leading from WW1 to WW2.
- Explored discrimination in WW2 vs discrimination today.
- Created presentations using GLOW (powerpoints, sways and quizzes) based on a theme from WW2 of our choice.
- Shared artefacts and stories from our families who were involved in the war.
- Explored the Blitz in Britain, specifically in Scotland.
- Created art-work using collage and paint to depict a scene of the Blitz.
- Designed and built our own gas masks.
- Made tables to show different groups of people who were evacuated.
- Used primary and secondary sources of evidence to research evacuation.
- Created imaginative pieces of writing based on WW2.
- PLUS lots more – please ask us about our learning as we are very keen to share what we know!
In literacy, we have been focussing on creative writing, using character, setting and plot effectively to create gripping short stories! Lots of our imaginative writing has been based on WW2, such as evacuee diaries and ‘what’s in the case?’ For reading, we have been working on a whole class novel called ‘Auggie and Me’, the sequel to ‘Wonder’. We have been working on key reading comprehension skills through the use of higher order questioning. We completed presentations on an area of WW2 of our choice as our assessment for listening and talking and produced some really impressive presentations with lots of information!
In numeracy we have been focussing on the four operations and place value. We have been working with numbers up to and above a million, as well as decimal places. We have linked our place value learning to money and have explored the use of debit and credit cards. We have looked at bank statements and discovered the way you can keep track of your money as an adult. We will focus further on money when we complete our enterprise topic as part of the Christmas Fayre.
Check out Francesca and Connor representing the school at the Sunday Remembrance Service and parade alongside Mrs Morrison. They were an absolute credit to themselves and the school!
