Yesterday we joined the P2B’s for Christmas party games.
Budding architects……
Building Nocturnal Homes: A STEM Adventure in P2
Last week, Primary 2 embarked on an exciting STEM challenge to design and create nocturnal animal dens! With teamwork, creativity, and a whole lot of imagination, the children used their engineering skills to build cozy homes for their chosen animals—complete with some unexpected luxuries like TVs and hot tubs!
Designing with Care
The challenge began with some big questions: What makes a good home for a nocturnal animal? and How can we build it using the materials we have? Working in small groups, the children chose their animals—badger, fox, owl, or hedgehog—and got to work sketching their designs.
- “A hedgehog’s house needs lots of leaves to stay warm”
- “Our fox needs a secret tunnel to hide”
The children carefully thought about the needs of their animals, considering shelter, safety, and comfort, all while showing off their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Creating with Junk
With their designs ready, it was time to build! Armed with junk materials like cardboard boxes, bottles, paper, and string, the groups brought their designs to life. The classroom buzzed with excitement as everyone worked together, using their meta-skills:
- Cate the Collaborator helped them share ideas and work as a team.
- Focusing Fergus kept everyone on track, even when things got tricky.
- Critical Thinking Chris inspired them to problem-solve when parts of their designs didn’t go as planned.
The results were nothing short of spectacular!
- The owl’s home had a cosy corner for resting and reflective tape so it could fly in and out of its home.
- The badger’s den featured a television!
- The fox’s den had a clever tunnel entrance and a hot tub.
- The hedgehog’s house was packed with leaves and even had an extra space for the baby.
Sharing Our Creations
Once the homes were complete, each group presented their work to the class, explaining how their design met the needs of their nocturnal animal. The presentations showcased not only their creativity but also their growing confidence in speaking to an audience.
The children loved hearing about each other’s designs, and the variety of ideas sparked even more creativity!
The Aftermath
By the end of the session, the classroom was a total mess—but they children enjoyed themselves and ended the lesson with a smile on their faces.
What We Learned
This STEM challenge gave the children a chance to:
- Apply their understanding of nocturnal animals and their habitats.
- Use design thinking to solve real-world problems.
- Develop collaboration, focus, and critical thinking skills through teamwork.
Next Steps
Inspired by the success of this project, the children are already asking what we can build next! Maybe a rocket for exploring the stars or a bridge for animals to cross safely?
The pull of the tide!
Primary 2 had an exciting, hands-on learning experience at Sound Beach, where we explored the fascinating world of tides and the moon’s role in creating them. The visit combined science, fun, and a little bit of magic as the children measured tides, investigated rock pools, and enjoyed the wonders of the seaside.
Morning Mysteries: Investigating High Tide
We began our adventure in the morning, just as the tide was nearing its highest point. Armed with sticks and big imaginations, the children worked in groups to place their markers at the edge of the water. They were amazed to learn that the moon’s gravitational pull helps control the movement of the ocean!
“I wonder where the sticks will be when we come back”
” Do you think someone will steal them?”
After placing our markers, we had time to explore nearby rock pools, where we discovered tiny crabs, slippery seaweed, and even a few shiny shells that looked like treasures.
Afternoon Exploration: Low Tide Discoveries
When we returned to Sound Beach in the afternoon, the scene had completely changed! The water had pulled far back, exposing sandy stretches and more rock pools to explore. The children were thrilled to see how far their sticks were from the water now—it was a powerful visual of the tide’s movement.
“Wow!! Look how far away the water is”
“Look, our stick is still in the sand”
We measured the distance between the morning high tide and the afternoon low tide using footsteps, sparking lots of curiosity about how far the water travels and how the moon manages this incredible feat.
A Playful Finish
After all our hard work measuring and observing, it was time for some well-earned fun! The children jumped into rock pools, created sand angels, and even unearthed a few “hidden treasures” like shells and smooth pebbles.
What We Learned
Back in the classroom, we talked about how the moon’s gravity pulls on the Earth’s water, creating high and low tides. 
JRSO
Junior Road Safety Officers in Action: Promoting “Be Bright and Be Seen”
This term, our Primary 2 class has taken on the exciting role of Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSOs), exploring ways to stay safe on and near roads. The children have been enthusiastic participants in various engaging activities designed to teach them how to keep themselves and others safe. Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to!
Creative Posters: Spreading the Message
Our budding artists turned into safety advocates during a poster-making session to promote the importance of being visible while near roads. Using bright highlighters, glitter, and bold designs, the children illustrated key messages, ensuring they would catch the eye of anyone passing by.
Here’s what some of the pupils had to say about their creations:
- “Be bright and be seen!”
- “You need to wear something bright so the cars can see you in the dark”
The finished posters are now proudly displayed around the classroom and will be shown at the school assembly next week.
Learning from the Lollipop Man
Our local lollipop man, Tony, visited the class to share his wisdom about staying safe on the roads. The children listened intently as he explained how he helps people cross roads safely and why it’s important to stop, look, and listen before crossing.
A Crossing Demonstration
The highlight of the afternoon was a practical demonstration where Tony showed the children exactly how to cross safely, emphasizing the importance of waiting for cars to stop before stepping onto the road.
After the demonstration, the pupils practiced crossing under supervision, confidently repeating key lessons:
- “It’s safe to cross at a zebra crossing”
- “You should not run on the road.”
Why JRSO Activities Matter
These activities are part of our wider road safety focus, helping our young learners develop lifelong skills and awareness about staying safe in different environments. By combining creative tasks, hands-on experiences, and expert advice, the children are not only learning but actively advocating for road safety within their community.
We’re proud of our Junior Road Safety Officers for their hard work and enthusiasm in promoting these important messages. Keep an eye out for their dazzling posters around school, and remember:
Be bright, be seen, and stay safe!
Metacognition skills: communicating, collaborating, leading, creativity, focusing
Week 4 Gymnastics
We had a few changes to the equipment this week. The wide box was a section higher, the narrow beam came after the wider benches and at the frame, the ropes were out. When discussing the equipment set up, we spoke about changes of height, direction and width.
Here we are in action.
Block Play
Look at our fantastic block play models from the year so far. The pupils block play has been progressing all term. Pupils are now really motivated to build at height, to make patterns with loose parts and to create stories around their buildings.
So many meta-skills are observed in block play in P2A, communicating, focusing, collaborating, initiative, critical thinking to name a few. Pupils are beginning to link their play to the meta-skills themselves here are some pupil quote from today:
‘We made a castle, with a pool and a rainbow bridge for diving in. Me and my friends were being focusing Fergus a – we couldn’t figure out how to balance the bridge then we moved some blocks and it worked!’
Data Handling: Nocturnal Animals
Our topic learning has been about nocturnal animals, today we sorted data about nocturnal animals into tally charts. We could remember this from P1 and we’re using the words ‘tally, total, heading, data, information’ – we were using our communicating cate meta-skill asking each other questions to gather data, giving instructions to support each other. We then used our tally chart data and put it into a bar graph which was new learning. We were able to answer questions about each others bar graph. Next, we will create our own surveys to ask our peers.
Gymnastics equipment
We were excited last week when we saw all the big equipment up. We worked hard, loving all the different stations.
Gymnastics
We spent the first two weeks in gymnastics on the mats. We revised and developed our shapes, balances, jumps and rolls.
Lego Marble Runs – STEM
P2A were using their communication and critical thinking meta-skills to plan and build marble runs with a partner. They evolved quickly and included: mazes, dead ends, slides, flumes, tunnels, bridges.
We have been focusing on communicating as a group. Learning to use eye contact, turn take and share ideas. Our weekly STEM challenges are great for practising these skills.
Pupil Voice: ‘Look this is a false end so then you have to go back and through the tunnel to get to the end.’
‘We were using our communication Cate meta-skill by sharing our ideas with each other and he used eye contact when speaking to me!’
