The children are learning about what is ‘On Our Doorstep’ this term so every Monday we are heading out to explore.
Our first trip out was down to Taing beach.
During each trip out the children have a little challenge or activity to do in mixed age groups of four pupils. For this first visit the children had to collect 10 shells each and work together to create a design.
it was great to see the pupils of different ages working together on this task.
The children have been having fun learning about length. The Primary 1’s created these flowers and talked about longer, shorter, taller, tallest, smaller etc. Lots of great discussions and vocabulary used.
They used their ‘magic sticks’ to compare the size of objects outdoors.
All the children used different body parts to measure objects eg. ‘heel to toe’ steps, and handspans. They loved doing this and got good at estimating their answers before actually measuring to check.
The Primary 2’s used different units to measure objects in the classroom and outdoors. They then went on to learn about metres and half metres.
They worked in pairs to create a snake which was exactly 1 metre long.
The primary 1’s showed their buddies how to measure objects using their sticks and the p7’s recorded the answers.
They have had fun using the playdough to make long and short worms.
Go Furt means get outdoors………It was a chilly 3 or 4 degrees on Friday morning but the children were still keen to get outside to build shelters and play together.
We will be heading out every Friday to make the most of our wonderful outdoor space at Whiteness. There is a shed full of loose parts which the children use to develop so many important skills including problem solving, cooperation, teamwork, etc.
It is fantastic seeing them having so much fun together and there imaginations are just the best!
The children worked in pairs to create a kite using a variety of materials. Lots of skills were being developed through this activity – for example collaboration, co-operation, problem solving, listening etc.
The wind was blowing so it was great to go and test the kites. The children soon found out that in order to fly the kites well they had to work together.
The children were excited to get back out to the polycrub and have a think about what they are going to be planting this year. The raised beds are all ready and the water butts are full.
The primary 1’s have been completing lots of different games, puzzles and practical activities to learn about the numbers to 20.
They can count, sequence, order and sort all these numbers using lots of different materials.
They have also been learning about addition and subtraction, again with lots of practical resources and games as well as using technology.
This term the children are enjoying African Drumming lessons with Joy. Lots of concentration and confidence building going on in these classes.
As well as drumming the children learn about the drums and where they come from. There is also time for lots of games, dancing and singing during the lessons.
Today was the start of the swimming lessons with Mr Kirkness at Scalloway Pool.
The children did so well listening to instructions and following all the new routines. Everyone had a great time in the pool.
There is also time for snack at the poolside and also a bit of spelling, reading and maths. It is a very busy morning for the children.
The children worked in mixed groups to make rain gauges to measure rainfall.
They then had to find a suitable position outdoors to place their rain gauge and dig a hole to place it in to keep it stable.
There was a lot of excitement around the pond as they all spotted our very large resident frog!
We will go out at regular intervals to check on the rainfall and record the results in class.
The children measured, cracked, poured, mixed and got all the ingredients combined to make a perfect pancake (dropped scones) mix.
The children learned how to look for the bubbles in the cooking pancake mix to know when to turn it. While the pancakes were cooking they all had a go at tossing a pancake in the air- great fun!
At snacktime the children chose their favourite topping and enjoyed their pancake day treat.
The children were learning about Robbie Burns last week and prepared the food for cooking a Burns supper.
The primary 2’s peeled and chopped tatties and neaps and put them on to boil. Evie mashed the neaps when the were ready.
They mixed up the haggis and put it in the microwave to cook.
Everyone had a try of the food and their were mixed responses…….
They learned a little bit about the history of Robbie Burns and what he was famous for. They loved hearing the start of the poem about the Mouse.
They also looked at some scottish tartan and had a go at weaving using paper strips. Their designs look amazing.
The children have loved setting up and learning about the properties of water experiments.
They have enjoyed investigating ice and creating habitats with the polar animals.
This is how the children began planning for this terms topic on Changes. They thought of lots of possible ideas of things that can change and were very excited to be involved at this stage.
This created a lot of discussion and great questions from the children who worked in little groups to come up with the ideas.
Lots of opportunities for maths and literacy throughout the classroom linked to Christmas.
The children have had great fun creating these aliens after reading a story in class with Miss Jamieson. There was a lot of discussion and many amazing descriptive words about their characters. The Primary two’s practised their ICT skill by typing and printing out fancy lettering for words to add to the display.
Well done Primary 123 who raised an amazing £331.29 for Children in Need today.
They organised a coin collection in the school and got everything ready for other classes to come and sort their coins into the different tubs.
The children did really well and had to ensure the correct coins went into the correct buckets.
They had spent time the day before in pairs and small groups preparing the buckets and learning about the different coins as well as where the money collected is going to.
The children had a choice of whether to re-cycle their bags into something new or to design a new Bag for Life to re-use.
There were so many amazing designs and such creativity from all the classes. It was difficult for the p123 Eco-Committee to judge but well done to Evie, Freyja, Ella, Merryn, Eve and Aylee.
The p123 did a presentation in assembly two weeks ago about how we can re-use, re-cycle and reduce waste to help the environment and announced the competition then. They showed off all their examples of how they have re-used and re-cycled their bags.
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!
