The whole school is getting ready to celebrate Christmas in a variety of ways.
My thanks to our wonderful support staff who have decorated the hall and foyer so beautifully. It really is exciting when the lights are switched on for the first time.
All children are busy rehearsing for a variety of performances but the learning still happens in every class.
In Primary 3 this week the children made Advent promises and learned about the Advent wreath. There has been further work on vertical addition too.
Primary 4 have been presenting their mammal projects in class to their peers.
P5/6 have been learning about chemical reactions in science and how to make ‘magic milk’. In maths they have been learning a new strategy for mental addition.
Primary 6 have been presenting their research projects in school about Natural Disasters. They have been learning about the tsunami that hit Japan in 2011 and are writing reports based on the topic.
Primary 7 had a visit from Mark Reid who works for The Colours of our Scarves. He facilitated a very effective anti sectarianism workshop in class. They learned about stereotypes, discrimination and criminal sentencing.
On Wednesday we had a visit from Lee Craigie, a commonwealth athlete, who represented our country in the sport of mountain biking. She delivered a very inspirational talk about endeavour and effort to our P4-7 pupils. A phrase adopted in Primary 4 is ‘not to park your bike in the shed’! Primary 7 then participated in a fitness workshop.
In the nursery….
This week saw the arrival of Santa’s helpers, the elves, into the workshop. The children had great fun dressing up and they all looked the part. Lots of wrapping and hammering has been going on. The work bench has been very popular with all children and were hoping to add another one in the following week.
In the snack are the children have been discussing what foods keep them warm now we have entered a new season Winter. Winter has been discussed in all areas of the nursery.
Outside activities have been a great success this week. We were inundated with our nature visitors due to the lovely bird food on offer. The children enjoyed mixing all the ingredients and coming up with a feast for the birds and the birds definitely enjoyed eating it. Children impressed the staff will their knowledge of birds and could tell us the names and identify them. Towards the end of the week when the days got darker the children loved to explore outside in the darkness.

In the literacy area Christmas cards were written by the children who then took a walk to the post office with staff and their buddies to purchase stamps and post their cards.
The afternoon children had the opportunity to go along to the school hall to see the excellent performance of Woops a Daisy Angel. They all enjoyed it and are now eager for their own Nativity performance which takes place on Wednesday the 17th Dec.

Next week we look forward to welcoming friends and family to our Christmas Concerts. Primary 1 will also be attending Glenlee Primary’s nativity as well.
Thank you for reading my blog,
Mrs Hendry