It is always so exciting once the plants start to appear! The bairns are doing a great job of looking after them and thankfully the weather is improving and there is a bit of warmth and sunshine.
Poly Crub
Our Kindness Trail
Kindness is one of the schools’ Core Values and we feel it is the most important. It is always on the agenda but it is good to make it a focus and spend time discussing with the children different ways of being kind and how it makes us and others feel.
The children listened to stories, watched clips and had discussions about kindness. We also had little role play scenarios to act out and discuss.
Any children who were noticeably kind could choose a smiley face and add it to the Kindness Trail which is making its way around the school corridors.
Lots of parents have emailed in Acts of Kindness that they have seen the children doing at home. They loved hearing the different ways their peers have been kind and it has really spurred them on with their efforts.
All adults in the school are noticing their kindness and commenting on this with them. The cooks are well impressed with the good manners at lunchtime with lots of pleases and thankyous.
Voar Redd Up
On Friday the tide was low so the bairns went to the Taing beach to take part in the Voar Redd Up. They mostly found bits of rope and plastic but the more unusual finds were a toorie and cans and bottles in the grassy area between the school and the top of the beach road.
There was also time to go exploring and find shells and crabs.
STEM fun
We read this book by Polly Dunbar about a penguin who wouldnt say anything. It was very funny and the children loved it.
In the story the penguin gets fired up to Space in a rocket so the children made their own little penguins as part of a STEM activity.
They had great fun seeing how high the penguins could be blasted. The Primary two Children have been learning how to write instructions so did a fantastic job explaining how to do this STEM challenge.
Life In Action!
The children’s IDL this term is called ‘Life In Action!’ so they have been working together and planning what they would like to learn about,
Finding tadpoles
It is always great to get outdoors, especially when the sun shines.
We all went for a walk in Strom Road noticing differences around us with the changing Seasons.
There was great excitement when the children spotted lots of tadpoles all along the ditches.
We had a look in the school pond and found lots of frogspawn there so hoping to spot tadpoles soon.
Polycrub update
A huge thankyou to the parents who helped to water the plants throughout the Easter holidays. They have fairly shot up. The sunflowers were ready to be re-potted into bigger pots so the children have been busy doing that and lots of watering this week.
As part of their literacy this term the children have been learning how to write instructions. Lucy-Jo was very clear on how to plant a seed.
Fractions
Last term the children were learning about fractions. Their favourite activity was making toast! They had to then cut up their toast and put toppings on their halves and quarters. There was lots of discussion about making fractions equal sized as well as lots of chat about their favourite toppings.
Grandparents
It was lovely to welcome lots of Grandparents into the school and classroom again. The children were so delighted to be able to share their learning and show them what they love doing at school.
The Eco-Committee
The primary 1/2 class are the Eco-Committee for this term. They shared their plan in assembly last week of how they were going to involve the whole school in planting and growing their own food in the Polycrub this year.
Each class have been given a section of the polycrub to be responsible for planting in. There is also a rota for watering and looking after the plants throughout the term.
There have been lots planted already – tatties, peas, radishes, carrots, lettuce, beetroot, to name a few.
The children have also planted sunflower seeds and tomatoes in little pots which will need careful looking after and re-potting oncce they grow a little bit.
Each class is responsible for not only looking after the plants but keeping the polycrub tidy and organised for the next class or group of children who come in.
it is also a great space outdoors at Whiteness Primary to play. The children took a break from planting to work on their teamwork skills and have a lot of fun on the hill.
World Book Day
The children, and staff had so much fun on World Book Day. So many great character costumes and books were brought in.
They loved listening to stories, acting out stories, reading and making books.
They painted their own book covers and wrote stories inside. They loved using their favourite stories to help. So much excitement and enthusiasm for reading- it was so lovely to see,
Our Hospital
The children moved on from wanting to help treat pets to help treat each other. They asked for a hospital, so after a lot of chat about what we would need they set it up.
It has been such a popular area of the classroom and it is lovely to see the children being so kind and compassionate toward each other. I think their may be a few doctors and nurses of the future here.
The Pet Popper-Upper
As part of their learning about looking after pets the children listened to the story of the Pet Popper -Upper. They then had to set to work creating their own one.
The ideas and creativity was amazing and the children loved coming up with new ways to make the pet pop up. it was good to see their confidence growing as they tried new modelling techniques and practiced craft skills.
Valentines Day
As it is the long weekend and the children wont be at school for Valentines Day they have been getting cards made for all the people they love.
Its great seeing how one simple idea can lead to so many different interpretations and designs.
NGUHA visit
The children were all ready to entertain the NGUHA Jarl Squad on Friday. They had made helmets. axes and shields and looked great as little viking warriors.
They loved doing the quiz with the Jarl and showed them paintings of their pets, outboard engines and money signs. They particularly enjoyed the consequences which the Jarl had to do when he got the questions wrong.
At The Vets
The children were talking about how much they loved animals and telling each other what pets they have.
We spoke about how to look after pets and then decided we needed a Vet area in the classroom. They have loved making sure all the pets are well cared for and looking after them if they need a visit to the vets.
They all painted their favourite pets, which they shared with the NGUHA Jarl Squad as part of their quiz.
How many dogs can you see?
Hickory Dickory Dock Clocks
The children loved the story of the Hickory Dickory Dock Clock and set to work creating their own versions.
Their clock needed tp have numbers, hands, switches and passcodes to work. The final Clocks were great and the children loved showing them to the class.
Many of the children wrote about their clocks and how they had made them.
First Day of Term 3
The children had a great time today exploring and playing with the new resources ready for them in the classroom.
The vets area was really popular and the children worked together to plan out what they would need in the vets to look after the animals.
They collaborated and worked well together to build the train set. It was great to listen to their conversations and how they shared their ideas. The children also loved investigating the snow and ice in the water tray.
Lots of great vocabulary and science going on.
They spent part of the day outdoors, making the most of the snow. It was amazing to see the friendships, teamwork, problem solving and creativity going on. They had so much fun.
Just before they headed back indoors it was time for a photo with their igloo and snowman.
The Build Up to Christmas
The children loved the lead up to Christmas in the classroom. There were lots of opportunities for craft, writing and number activities every day.
They enjoyed hearing the story about the birth of baby Jesus and of course did an amazing job performing at the Christmas Concert.
Every week the children have french lessons so they learned a little bit about french traditions and how children in France celebrate Christmas.
Here, the children played ‘Christmas in France’ and have left their shoes under the Christmas tree for Father Christmas to know where to leave the presents.
On the final day of term the children played Christmas Party games.
Bingle Bongle Bit Bots
After listening to the story of The Bingle Bongle Bit Bot and how he fixed everything the children set to work making their own Bingle Bongle Bit Bot robots.
They learned some new techniques for joining the different parts of their models to ensure they held together.
They had to make sure the robot had switches and buttons for different purposes. Some even had docking stations for charging and different compartments for storing things in.
