Today we were learning a little bit about Robert Burns and how people celebrate Burns Night. The children prepared tatties and neaps to go with the haggis. They were very careful with the peelers and knives listening well to instructions.
They all got to have some of the Burns Supper they had cooked. A few loved it, some liked it and quite a lot of children did not like it at all but had a try.
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.
The children have just begun a topic on symmetry and have really enjoyed the first few activities. They had fun looking at reflections and using mirrors to make pictures complete.
They worked with a partner to create a giant symmetrical design using classroom objects.
They made symmetrical body shapes with their partner.
They had great fun investigating symmetry with the little mirrors.
The children had a go at painting symmetry butterflies. They make a very colourful corner in the classroom.
They then had a go at creating their own symmetry paintings for their gallery.
It is so exciting to see how the Primary 1’s are using their phonic sounds to build words. Everyday we practise their sounds and do lots of games and activities to practise blending letters to read and make words.
They loved playing hopscotch in the classroom using wordcards.
The children worked together to make two Remembrance Day poppy wreaths.
The Primary 2’s wrote instructions for how to make them.
The children made these lovely poppy pictures with their fingerprints. Adding stems and leaves with black pen.
The children are loving the opportunity to bring in things from home for their weekly Show and Tell. Their confidence is growing as they learn the basics of how to do a presentation.
I’ve only managed to get a few photos but will add to this page as I get more.
This little area of the classroom is all about Autumn. The children have been thinking about all the changes that happen with this season and about animals who hibernate – focusing on hedgehogs in particular. 
They have been making little hedgehog homes\nests using the loose parts.
We have been outside again spotting signs of Autumn and having discussions about the changes we see and things we find.
The children loved baking in preparation for the school coffee morning. The Primary 1’s made chocolate crispies and the Primary 2’s made Malteser Squares.
It was great to have parents into the school again. The children were so excited to see their families and enjoy the tea, coffee, juice and homebakes together.
It was a very busy classroom with excited children showing their parents and families all the things they like to do and have been learning about this term.
We are very lucky at Whiteness School to have such an amazing outdoor space. The children went exploring in the wildlife garden for signs of Autumn. The noticed the fallen leaves and how the trees were changing. They looked at the different colours and found berries, seeds and seed pods.
We are looking forward to going out again and noticing more things as the seasons change.
It has been wonderful to have so many visitors in the school recently and the children have loved hearning about the different jobs people do.
Carina’s mam came in and told the children about being a dental nurse.
Alfie’s mum came in and told them about being a nurse and showed them lots of different things she uses in her job.
Mandy from the kitchen came and spoke to the children about what she has to do in her job as a cook. They had to guess what some of the items were that she brought with her. They especially loved the salad spinner and the protective specs!
Willum’s mam and dad came in to tell the children about their jobs. Louise is a pharmacist and the children found out about how important it is to only take medicine given by an adult and never eat a sweetie if you don’t know what it is or who it is from. They really enjoyed the peerie quiz ‘Is it a sweet or a medicine?’
Davie is an officer on a boat and they loved seeing the photos and finding out about the different jobs people do on the boats. He has travelled all around the world and spoke to the children about the different journeys and places he has been too.
The P1/2 class presented their IDL learning in a whole school assembly on Friday. They shared drawings of themselves with things they like and are good at. They had lovely drawings of their families, including some writing done on the computers.
They dressed up as what they would like to be when they grow up and showed their paintings to the rest of the school staff and children.
The paintings are on display in the classroom now.
The children pulled up the beetroot from the Polycrub. They washed it and chopped it and put it on to boil.
They cut a square of material and put it in a pan to boil with vinegar.
Once everything had boiled the beetroot was drained and the material put into the purply red juices.
This is Sophie’s instructions describing what we did.
The children had great fun making perfume using petals from different flowers. There was honey suckle and fuschia as well as flowers from the school polycrub to make fantastic smells with.
They used small scissors and tiny spoons to create their perfumes in little glass jars and containers.
They were very proud of their final products. They named their perfumes and made labels for the little bottles.
We took advantage of the lovely morning and headed off for a walk to the beach. Dylan and Ross joined the class and everyone had such a super time.
The children were so curious about what they found at the beach, little whelks that ‘waved’ at them, lovely bits of pottery and seaglass(treasure), speedy crabs running side-ways, different kinds of shells and hopping creatures under stones.
They explored the rocks and the boats at the beach. They were really respectful of the environment and were aware of keeping themselves safe duiring our walk and at the beach.
The primary 1’s love hearing their new sounds. They listen to a story, sing along to a song, play games on the whiteboard and practise formations.
They practise the letter formations in various ways including, in the sand, shaving foam, with playdough and on the whiteboards.
They have been doing speedy skills everyday to practise the letter formations and lots of hiding and searching games. 
They also have had ‘s’ for spaghetti, ‘t’ for tea to play in and ‘i’ for ink experiments.
They enjoy using the Jolly Phonics books to retell the stories and find all the things in the pictures which begin with the sounds they are learning.
I love seeing how well they are doing practising their formations at home. Lots of great ideas and support.
The children used vegetables they grew in the polycrub to make soup. They pulled up carrots onions and snipped some coriander leaves to take indoors.
They washed, chopped and prepared the vegetables. The children listened so well and were very careful with the vegetable knives.
The vegetables went in the pan with a stock cube, the coriander and some salt and the classroom smelt wonderful.
A few of the children liked the soup but lots of them said they didn’t- at least they gave it a go.
The primary 1’s loved meeting up with their buddies today to make name collages together.
