All posts by Mrs Forsyth

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, Science, Social Skills, Social Studies

Strom Beach

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P1/2 are making the most of the fine weather and getting outdoors to explore the local environment.  On Friday we all headed along the road and down the hill to the beach in the Strom Road.

The children were so engaged and really enjoyed themselves. There was so much to do. Lots of digging, making dams, finding treasure and great excitement finding little creatures that live in and out of the water.

The children brought their snack to the beach with them to allow more time there for exploring and playing.

There were opportunities to develop those gross motor skills by climbing and balancing safely on the rocks.

 

Most of the children managed to go over the top of their wellies at the edge of the water so there were lots of soggy socks and trousers by the end of the morning. To be fair to them their wellies aren’t very tall.

These three had a great idea and took off the soggy socks to go for a paddle.

None of them complained though.

The sun stayed out for the whole morning and the children had a great time. The sheep were very entertained by the children on the walk back.

We hung out some washing to dry for a bit back at school.

 

Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, Social Skills, STEM

Go Furt Fridays

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The children get a focused loose parts and outdoor play session on Friday mornings. The water trays with pipes, half pipes, containers and connecting parts are always popular. The skills the children demonstrate here are fantastic.

They also learn how to climb and play safely in the trees together.

Imaginative play outdoors creates so many opportunities for developing social skills. it is particularly important for developing and establishing new friendships amongst the children.

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, Social Skills, STEM

The Three Little Pigs

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The children were all familiar with the traditional tale of the Three Little Pigs and loved joining in the story with actions and voices.

We read two different versions of the story and watched a short video too. The children were great at comparing the differences and similarities between the different versions of the same story.

The class were then split into three different groups and worked on creating the houses that the pigs built.  Lots of communication, teamwork, problem solving and creativity were evident during this session.

The houses look great and there are three little happy pig puppets living outside.

The new children were introduced to Drawing Club using the three little Pigs story. This is not simply about drawing, there are many skills involved and the final drawing were fantastic.

 

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, numeracy, Social Skills, STEM

First Day

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What a busy and fantastic first day you the children have had. Here are some activities captured on camera today for you to see.

……….building, problem solving, co-operation

…….fine motor skills, focus and concentration, patterns

Counting, number bonds , creating Penguin One for number formations,

outdoor fun, collaboration, mark making, following instructions

Imaginary play, dinosaurs, curiosity, interactions, communication

Routines, structure and lots of listening

The children also had a music lesson today and the activities in the photos just show some of what the children were doing during their first day of school this session. They are a busy bunch.

 

 

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, Science, Social Skills, Social Studies, STEM

Polycrub Success

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This week, the final week before the school holidays is when we need to clear out the polycrub. The children have been so excited. Especially seeing what has been growing underneath the soil.

There has been extra excitement as there has been a little mouse making frequent visits to steal peapods. The peas were the first thing we picked. There were hundreds of them. Every child had bag of some to take home or eaten, and all the other children in the school got ones as well.

Along with the peapods the children pulled up the onions, which have done really well this year and brought in the pots of basil they have been looking after.  They could be re-potted at home into larger pots and keep it growing or lots of the children are keen to make pesto pasta and use the basil now.

The children grew some nusturtium flowers this year. They added a lovely pop of colour to the polycrub

And as you can see in the photos, the cabbage is doing amazing. #

Yesterday the children also took home some of the plants that were still in pots. Lots of Strawberry, cucumber, marrow, courgettes, tomatoes as well as some sunflowers.

They are keen to keep them growing at home. The children have been learning how to re-pot plants once they outgrow the pots they are in so should be good at this. I hope they continue to grow and produce some fruit/vegetables at home.

Today they dug up the tatties, carrots and beetroot. A mixture of successes but such amazing learning opportunity for the children.

I hope they enjoy these at home and have a little try of some of the things they have grown themselves.

 

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, maths, Social Skills, STEM, technology

Moving Up Day

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The children had a great day moving into their new classes. It was so lovely to welcome new pupils to the school that day as well.

There was an opportunity to explore and play in the classroom. The train set was very popular, as was the role play and craft areas.

before the early years children joined us we had a little song and video about writing capital letters. They listened really well and then we went outdoors to create these letters using natural objects. The children worked in pairs to do this. It was a great opportunity for developing cooperation and communication and also for exploring the outdoors.

The final alphabet looks amazing and is up on the wall in the school.

after breaktime the younger children joined us as next years primary 1’s. They all listened to the story of Inch and Grub, which is really funny. It is about two cavemen who are constantly trying to be better than each other.

They then had to work in pairs to make the tallest towers in competition with another pair. This was a lot of fun and the children got to use lots of different construction materials and loose parts. So many opportunities for team work, sharing, turn taking, collaboration and problem solving skills.

The children then drew a picture of something that Inch and Grub might put on their towers. They look great.

At lunchtime the children were great. They all followed the new routines really well and enjoyed their fish and chips.

It was a busy and fantastic day and the children got on so well.

 

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French Fun

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Every week there is opportunity for a little bit of French. The older children in p345 also come to get French lessons when the p12’s have their extra PE lessons with Miss Morrison.

The children learn most of their french through games and activities with the older children doing a little bit of reading and writing as well.

This term they have had fun learning new vocabulary for body parts and clothing. They hung up clothes and played the dressy up bag game, which they loved.

They also listen to french stories, songs and rhymes and use the special books along with the electronic pen to listen to some books in the class library.

They love when Patrice, the puppet, comes out and speaks to them in French, He asks lots of questions.

Listening and Talking, Science, technology

P2 Powerpoints

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As part of our weekly ICT lessons the Primary 2’s have been learning how to make Powerpoints. They had to have an introductory slide followed by 5 more slides with examples from the different animal groups they have been learning about this term ie. mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds , fish and reptiles.

They were really proud to share their powerpoints with the rest of the class.

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, literacy, Social Skills

Bucket Fillers

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After reading the Story ‘Have You Filled A Bucket Today’ the children created this display.

They spoke about how everyone has an invisible bucket which can be filled up or emptied by the words and actions of others.

They practiced filling each others buckets in school by being kind, giving compliments, good manners, showing respect etc.

Around their posters they added words and drawings of examples of how to fill and empty peoples buckets.

Listening and Talking, maths, Social Skills

Measuring Capacity and Weight

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The primary 1’s loved using non-standard units to measure the capacity of different containers. Unfortunately it was too windy to take this learning outdoors this year so the mop was used frequently.

The primary 2’s moved on to understand the need for standard units of measurement and learned about litres and half litres, measuring the capacity of some quite large containers.

The children have been using the language for comparing weights to compare objects using the scales, finding out which objects were heavier/lighter than and heaviest/lightest.

They then used non-standard units, such as cubes, beads or pegs to weigh a variety of classroom objects.

The primary 2’s moved onto learning about kilograms and half kilograms and really enjoyed estimating and weighing heavier objects, including each other.

 

Listening and Talking, maths, STEM, technology

Directions in Maths

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The children have been learning about the information needed to give directions, including turning right and left as well as forwards and backwards.

In these photos the children worked in pairs where one of them was a robot and the other had the control panel to give instructions.

There were also sounds, actions and additional instructions to follow, which made this activity a lot of fun.

Back in class the  children used the Beebots, a programmable toy, to program short journeys on the mats.

Expressive Arts, Listening and Talking, Science, Social Skills, Socila Studies

Science Workshop

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The children were treated to a fantastic science show from ‘Sunbeam’ and ‘Raindrop’ from the Edinburgh Science Centre.

They spoke about the different kinds of weather in the different habitats around the world. They explained how the earth has many layers and how the atmosphere protects the earth.

They demonstrated the importance of the Ozone Layer and spoke with the children about how we need to look after our planet.

The characters of Raindrop and Sunbeam were really engaging and the children loved the experiments and interactive parts of the show.

The parachute became the atmosphere and all the children are inside. It got quite hot in there with all the p1-3 children tucked in nice and cosy. demonstrating how the atmosphere holds the heat in.

The children also got to play games using the information they had been learning about.

Art and Craft, Listening and Talking, literacy, Science, STEM, technology

Digital Committee – QR Codes

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The P1/2 class are the Digital Committee this term. They have worked hard to create this interactive display to challenge all the children in the school.

They presented their idea in assembly to the other classes.

To answer the question about each minibeast the children must scan the QR code on an ipad. This takes them to a website where they can find the answer.

Health and Wellbeing, Listening and Talking, maths, Social Skills

Grandparents Afternoon

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What a fantastic afternoon spent with so many grandparents. The children were so delighted and excited to play games, do puzzles and show everyone around. There was such an amazing feeling throughout the whole school.

Art and Craft, Expressive Arts, Listening and Talking, Social Skills

There Was An Old Lady

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The children loved the Song called ‘There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly’. We read the story in class, then watched a video which allowed the children to compare and chat about the differences. They sang the song in Music with Mr Travins earlier in the week too.

The Children did Drawing Club about the story and enjoyed playing with the puppets afterwards.

They set up their own puppet Show in Class during Golden Time on Friday. It was amazing to see the organisation and cooperation amongst the children. They provided seats for the audience, as well as tickets and ‘snacks’.

The whole audience joined in with the singing. I shall try and share a little video on here for you to see.

 

Art and Craft, Listening and Talking, maths, numeracy, Social Skills

Number Activities

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The Primary 1’s have been learning about place value using different materials and continuing to practise sequencing and ordering numbers within 20.

They have also been learning to read the number words and have played lots of games and enjoyed matching activities.

The older children have been continuing to work with numbers up to100. They have been learning about rounding numbers to the nearest 10 and also sequencing and ordering numbers.

They have been doing a lot of skip counting games and activites. Counting in 1’s, 2’s, 3’s, 5’s and 10’s using lots of different classroom materials.

They have been learning about odd and even numbers, and how counting in 2’s links to doubling and halving, factions, symmetry and the processes of multiplication and division.

 

The children enjoyed fingerpainting arrays, choosing  different multiplication cards and then writing the answers next to them

Listening and Talking, maths

Measuring Length

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With the lovely weather the children have been outside doing some measuring as part of their maths lessons. They have been comparing objects

There have also been lots of opportunities in the classroom for measuring using different non-standard units and activities on the Interactive Whiteboard.

The Primary 2’s have been learning about metres and have also enjoyed being outdoors to do their maths this week.

They have made their own metre strips to take home. These will be helpful for next weeks homework.

Expressive Arts, Listening and Talking, Social Skills

Drumming with Joy

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On Friday mornings we have been doing some Drumming with Joy. The children have been so good at listening and trying their best with all the games and different rhythms. Their confidence is growing week by week and they are really enjoying this opportunity to learn about African music and cultures.

As well as drumming there is time for dancing, singing and a lot of fun.

The children love playing the Dunduns keeping the beat throughout the pieces they have been learning.