Tag Archives: challenges

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

The Eco-Committee

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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.

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

Hickory Dickory Dock Clocks

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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.

maths

Numbers to 100

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The children have been learning about the numbers from 0 to 100. There have been lots of practical activities, games, paired work and online activities to support their learning.

They have all done so well and are always keen to work hard in class. We are lucky to have such an amazing selection of resources to practise number skills in so many different ways,

maths, STEM

2D and 3D shapes

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The children have had great fun learning about 2D and 3D shapes this term. They have had lots of opportunities to familiarise themselves with the shapes through practical activities both indoors and outdoors.

There have been lots of conversations about the faces, corners and names of the new shapes. They have enjoyed finding examples of these shapes in the environment.

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

STEM Committee

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The p1/2 children have been the school’s STEM committee this term so they set a challenge to the pupils in the whole of primary.  The children presented the task to the older children and provided them with the resources required.

The children were put into mixed age groups of 5-6 pupils. They were given a set of materials and had to work together to create a paper chain. There was a time limit and limited resources.

There were prizes for the longest chain and for the team who demonstrated the best ‘teamwork’. It was amazing to see how the children collaborated and shared out the different jobs within their groups.

The final chains were laid out and measured against each other to find the winner.

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

Number Formations

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The Primary One children have been learning the letter formations this term. This begins as a character in a story, a little rhyme, some creativity and lots of practise.

For number 1, the children made penguins like the character in the story. This was great for practising those scissor skills and listening to instructions.

For number 2 the children made little nest models with two eggs made of plasticine, they also had two feathers for tickling each other like the character in the story. They worked with a partner to collect outdoor objects (two of each) and create a picture together.

 

Number 3 was a butterfly so the children added lots of ‘3 things’ to their pictures

 

For number 4 the children made these beautiful peacocks and learned a few facts about them.

 

Number 5 was a jumpy kangaroo so the children made jumps out of lego. Great for their fine motor skills.

For number 6 they used 6 sticks to make their own shapes and designs. They also used plasticine to make a swamp scene with 6 snakes, 6 rocks etc. This was a great opportunity for communication for collaboration.

 

Number 7 is a giraffe with 7 little birds on his back, 7 spots, 7 leaves etc.

 

 

 

For number 8  the children made spiders with 8 bendy legs and spider webs with 8 ‘spokes’ and 8 flies on their paper collage.

They also used plasticine to make ball shaped spider bodies and strengthen those little hands. Matchsticks were used as legs.

Number 9 was great fun practising in the shaving foam.

Tiger 10 was a favourite and the children made masks. They all had ten whiskers.

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

Voxter and Soft Play

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The children were so excited heading out on the bus to Voxter Woods for the morning.

Being in the trees was so much fun. There were swings, balancing ropes, a saddle swing and a zip line to play on. The children were really good at taking turns and helping each other on these.

There were trees to climb, dens to build or add to, bugs to investigate and lots of places to explore. What a fantastic place for children to exxperience.

They had snack in amongst the trees.

We all went to the top of the hill and got a class photo before heading back to the bus.

By the time we got to the Soft Play in Voe it was time for lunch. The children enjoyed their packed lunches which the school had provided.

The children spent the afternoon playing with their friends in the Soft play. There was so much to do and they never stopped.

There were some very tired bairns on the way back to school on the bus, but what a great day out.

 

Art and Craft, Listening and Talking, literacy, Social Skills, STEM

Beginning Phonics

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The children have started learning the sounds and formations of some letters this term. As well as learning with songs, stories, speedy skills and actions there are many other ways they practice these in class.

For ‘s’ they also had a go at making ‘s’ shapes with spaghetti and cutting out snakes which they covered with lots of s’s.

There are always visuals available for them to use and a roll-and-write card with a little ball on it which shows them the correct formations. Ellis is practicing ‘a’ below.

T was for tea! and what fun they had making tea.

They use the interactive whiteboard to practise formations and play games. They also use sand, little whiteboards, chalk, shaving foam etc. Lots of different opportunities to keep them engaged and enthusiastic.

For ‘i’  we got out the ink and lots of different stamps. They really enjoyed turning their pictures into works of art.

They practise recognising the letters and matching them to the initial sounds of words.

The children practised ‘p’ in many different ways. It is a tricky one to master but they really enjoyed opportunities for using ‘p’ words while using petals to make perfume.

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.

 

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.

 

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.

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.

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.