The children listened to the story of Guy Fawkes and also had a chat about being safe on bonfire night.
The children used junk modelling techniques to create their own firework to go above the London skyline.
The primary one’s used 2D shapes to make the rockets with their names on them.
They loved using the beads to make firework patterns. They also made a really good firework noise on the plastic tray!
Halloween is always so much fun and lends itself so well to the classroom with exciting fun learning opportunities. Below the children created a potion with many disgusting ingredients, using magic words and actually getting it to bubble up and overflow the cauldron. The potion made lots of weird and interesting things happen. Children are so creative and imaginative.
They wrote out their chosen ingredients and shared spells with each other.
The primary ones had to use their phonic sounds and choose the correct ingredients to read magic words.
The classroom has a Haunted House area with lots of Halloween creatures and costumes to use.
There have been a few disgusting days in the water tray with slime and goo, full of spiders and snakes. And other opportunities to measure weigh and create bottles of potions with different materials.
The children can’t wait to scare their parents with these ‘teethy’ symmetrical pumpkins!
and the spooky bat prints!
The primary 1 children have been doing agreat job learning their phonic sounds. They listen to a little story and learn a song and action to go with each new sound they learn. There are then opportunities to practise the letter formation eg. on the big whiteboard, in sand, shaving foam, chalk, little whiteboards etc. They also have daily practise through ‘Speedy Skills’.
They also play lots of games using the new sounds learned eg, Sorting words beginning with phonic sounds into hoops, Whiteboard games, Bingo, Treasure hunts, Lotto, pairs games, matching games, splat the sound with fly swatters, etc.
There are also opportunities to explore and chat about their sounds as they play in different areas of the classroom.
French lessons are very active and the children have a lot of fun.
There are two groups for lessons – p1/2 in the first group and p3/4/5 in the second group.
The children dance, play musical games and practise short conversations with each other.
They listen to french songs and stories. They love when Patrice(the puppet) speaks to them and gets up to silly stuff to keep them entertained and keen to have a go at speaking in French.
They practised the names of the colours in french by playing games, making artist pallets with paint and colouring ‘arc de soleil’ images.
During each lesson the children learn a few facts about France. They enjoyed using google maps and online sites to research information. The younger children made a start to Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe pictures using artstraws and the older children added more detailed parts.
Sophie even made an Eiffel Tower out of Lego
The younger group have been learning numbers to 10 and the older group numbers up to 20 by listening to songs, active games and playing Bingo.
The children loved hearing the story of the three Little Pigs.
The children worked in groups to create houses made of straw, sticks and blocks. They had to decide how to join the different materials and make it as strong as they could.
It was great to listen to the children sharing ideas, chatting about the story as they made the different parts of the houses. The three versions look great.
The primary 2 and 3 children used the story for writing practise and have written books of their own. below are examples of writing from three different primary 2’s.
The Primary 3’s have been focusing on extending their vocabulary and including different connectives to lengthen their sentences.
The primary 1’s and 2’s loved using the story for Drawing Club. It is amazing to see the progress in the P1 fine motor control.
The have also been using stick puppets and masks to role play the story and make up their own adventures too.
The children had so much fun making glasses today. They enjoyed hearing about the Dinosaur who Lost his Specs and decided what their glasses would enable them to see. Some glasses made everything invisible, or a particular colour, and some even made everything fly or even gave the children super powers!
Today the children enjoyed listening to the story of ‘The Elves and The Shoe Maker’. Last week in library time we read ‘Don’t Chew the Royal Shoe’, which was really funny.
So after some discussion about different kinds of footwear the children had a go at making their own using various materials.
The children worked in pairs and had to help each other complete the task of having a pair of shoes each. They did really well and we spoke about co-operation and helping each other.
They were so chuffed to wear them when they were finished and we now have a bit of a shoe shop developing in the classroom.
The children listened to the story of Rumplestiltskin and then they all had a go at Drawing Club in little groups.
The children learned a little bit about forces and we focused on the spinning motion of objects which they have loved investigating.
They then made their own penny spinners and designed them so they would look really cool when they were spun around.
Through role play the children have learned a lot about how to look after their bodies and what it would be like to be a patient or a nurse/doctor in a hospital.
The children learned about their bones and loved having Bob the Skeleton in the classroom for a visit.
They created wonderful skeleton pictures using art straws and had to think carefully about where there were joints.
They also had a torso in which had removable organs. It was like a puzzle to get everything to fit in and a great way to learn about some of the different parts inside their bodies.
They learned a little bit about their heart and lungs and completed some exercise challenges to see how this effected the different parts of their bodies.
The children worked in groups to create these amazing posters spending time learning about the different things they need to do to look after their bodies.
There are so many aspects of their school day which lend themselves to the Busy Body topic this term. working in the Polycrub, growing their own food, snacktime and lunchtime are also perfect opportunities to discuss healthy food and a balanced diet and outdoor play really provides lots of exercise and fresh air.
The Primary 1’s look forward to meeting up with their buddies every week. The p7’s plan a variety of fantastic fun activities to do together and recently completed this collage based on the Hungry Caterpillar story.
We are so lucky to have wonderful places to walk to from our school.
There is always plenty to chat about, investigate and be curious about on our walks.
Once we got to the beach it was time for snack! It is always quite exciting having food outdoors with friends.
the sun came out for us and there was plenty of interesting finds on the beach.
The longer we stayed the more curious and creative the children became. Some of the children began re-routing the water flowing across the beach and building dams and new channels.
Opportunities for using loose part to create dens. Great for developing problem solving and teamwork skills.
Collecting the melting snow from icicles dripping from the roof. Great science and STEM opportunities outdoors.
Some of the melting ice was collected in a different way!
Deciding which containers are best for different purposes. Evie’s snowman needed three different sized containers.
Opportunities to develop creativity, confidence and take risks- so many skills being developed.
Collaboration, choice and commitment in play develops so many social skills and friendships. It can also be exhausting!
Testing to see which snowball goes fastest- big or small? Does lifting the guttering higher or lower? So many opportunities for conversation, developing vocabulary and communication skills outdoors.
Checking out footprints and the different patterns boots make in the snow.
The children all looked amazing today and had great fun listening to and reading stories.
Several of the staff joined in as characters from the book The Day the Crayons Quit.
The children loved sharing their books and explaining who their characters were.
Ellis dressed as Greg from Diary of A Wimpy Kid and Mrs Moncrieff was the white crayon to colour him in.
In the afternoon the children became authors and publishers and wrote their own books! They were so enthusiastic and the independent writing was amazing.
The children love learning about the Vikings and have been enjoying role play opportunities in the classroom. It is great to see them all getting on so well together using what they have been learning in their play. Below is a snapshot of Wednesday afternoon’s adventures.
The galley is now finished and they have been taking turns and sailing around the world discovering new places to settle.
Sometimes, just their imaginations are enough. They set out chairs and rowed their longship – even before it was built.
Once in their new lands the children have been learning how Vikings trade items to get what they need. Their are jewels, gems, furs, food and jewellery to swap, using the scales and balances to work out different amounts.
They would also need to cook over an open fire in the middle of the longhouse using foods available.
These viking warriors are getting ready for another attack.
The children are enjoying using the Viking longships in the water tray to set battle scenes and talk about their topic.
The children were already for their visit from the Nesting and Girlsta Jarl Squad.
In class they made axes, shields and helmets with Viking runes and designs on them.
The children all designed individual shields and they voted for the best one which was enlarged and put on the Jarl Squad’s galley. Esme won this and her shield looked amazing.
The Jarl Squad came in singing and cheering. The Jarl enjoyed his quiz which the children helped prepare and then everyone enjoyed a Boston Two Step with the jarl Squads’ band.
There have been a few sessions of traditional dance this term. The class have been learning the Grand Old Duke of York. The Circassian Circle, The Grand March and the Boston Two Step.
Lots of great listening to follow instructions and keep time to the music.
They also had a session dancing with their Buddies. The Primary 2’s got P6 buddies for the dances. It was so much fun.
Then we had a whole school dance which included the Early Years children and school staff.
The children started by selecting suitable boxes/junk to make their model dinosaur. They worked in pairs so there was a lot of discussion and collaboration to find the parts and join them together.
We spoke about how to make their model strong by creating different types of joins in using PVA and sellotape.
The next stage was seriously messy. They used papier mache to cover the dinosaur, focusing on the joins and making sure the newspaper strips went from one part of the model onto an adjoining part.
Once the models had two coats of papier mache it was time to choose colours for their dinosaur.
Once the paint was dry the children thought about the detail they wanted to add- eyes, teeth, claws etc.
The primary 2’s have been working on adjectives in their literacy work so this was a great opportunity to apply that learning to describing their dinosaur.
The writing was read out in class for the others to guess which model the description matched.
Their is now a little Dinosaur Exhibition set up in the school for the other classes and staff to visit to see the models and the writing.
Every week the Primary 1’s meet up with their buddies in Primary 7. This is always exciting and the bairns really look forward to it. They do lots of fun things together inside and outside during this time. Below are just some of the things they have been enjoying doing together.
All the children in the school made Christmas cards for the over 80’s who live in the community. The primary 1/2 class uses tatties to print penguins then put on details with cut paper and pens. They looked fantastic. I am sure the recipients were delighted with these precious cards.
We only managed a few rehearsals in school before the snow came and we had to close. The children were so good at listening and following instructions. They made their own props and practised songs as often as possible.
The children did so well remembering their lines and singing their songs on the big stage. It was a great experience for them performing in front of such a big audience.
