It was great to meet our new Primary parents last night. A copy of the powerpoint from the evening is attached below. We hope you find it useful.

2014.06.11 New P1 Parents Evening

We have had a fantastic week in P2e. We were so busy on Friday we didn’t have time to post our blog. We have really enjoyed the start to Fitness Fortnight. We have tried kurling and we all really enjoyed trying to reach the target. Holly and Ben were very good and scored lots of points! We also went to gymnastics and we got to balance on hte beam. It was great fun! On Wednesday we had Sports Day. We all enjoyed taking part in the races. We all tried our best and congratulated each other. Well done to everyone who won medals!

We were also learning about how to keep fit and healthy. We know it is important to exercise as it strengthens your heart and other muscles. We have learned that breathing is really important as it helps make your muscles work harder. We also spoke about keeping ourselves clean. If we wash our hands regularly we are more likely to stay fit and healthy. We looked at germs and how easily they can be passed on. We now know a song we can sing when washing our hands.

Finally, on Friday we had a super time at the fun fair. We really enjoyed the bouncy castle and the slide. We really enjoyed throwing the sponges at the teachers. Caitlin hit Mrs Haddifon in the face! We hope Mrs Waddell had a good day and we will miss her.

We are looking forward to next week and taking part in more sporting activities.

See you next week!

Winners:

Table of the Week: Smartpants

Class Dojo: Holly

It has been a very busy week in P1b. We are really enjoying fitness fortnight. This week we had P.E, Sports Day, Kurling, gymnastics and boxercise. Here are some of our thoughts on these activities:

‘I won a medal for running fast at Sports day.’ Isaac
‘I liked sports day because I like running.’ Guy
‘I won two medals!’ Mia
‘My favourite was the egg and spoon race.’ Campbell
‘I liked when we practiced skipping with Mr Jeffries.’ Isabella
I liked doing forward rolls at gymnastics.’ Skye
‘I liked walking along the high beam.’ Mia
I liked jumping on the spring board.’ Euan
‘I liked boxercise because we had music on and played the famer game’. Ailah
‘I liked punching in the air’. Isaac
I liked the boxing game when we had to tig our partner’s knee. The fairy jumps were funny.’ Isabella.

Yesterday we learned about pollination. This is when insects go inside a flower and move pollen from one part of a flower to the other. This makes new seeds! We made a bee craft using different materials including black and yellow card, pipe cleaners, tissue paper and a plastic cup. We then used our bees to act out pollination. Next week we are going on a mini beast hunt to identify different mini beasts in our school grounds.

Wow!! What a week we have had in P2g! We are just back from an amazing time at our Mini FunFair to mark Mrs Waddell’s retirement. Thank you to everyone who arranged and organised it, it was definately a class highlight!

Here are some comments:

It was the best ever!! James
The amazingest thing!! Ben
Mr Welsh and Miss Henderson are the best for doing this! Emma
This is the best school ever! Evan
I loved my shot on the bouncy castle! Mrs Haddifon
I loved it when Mrs Haddifon got soaked at Soak The Teacher! Baillie

We have also been busy with our Health and Fitness Fortnight and have had our Sport’s Day, where Ava Campbell and James Jackson won medals. A big 2g congratulations to them!
We went to Gymnastics, had football coaching and played Kurling in the TA Hall. And then we learned about how much sugar is in different foods. Did you know there is more sugar in a packet of Skittles than in a whole Happy Meal with a Cola?
And after all that we even found time to enjoy the sunshine and chalk our spelling words in the playground! Oh and we had our Shared Start where we made yearbooks to record our memories of being in our busy Primary 2 class!!

We have also been decorating our class and corridor to celebrate our flower girls, so a huge thank you to Mrs Knotman for her help.
We are off to have a rest this weekend, ready for next week when we are making smoothies, doing T’ai Chi, and hopefully getting to take our Cress home.

Rabeea – this week we had our first academy visit and my favourite part was science because we had to make a container to pour water into using only paper and paperclips then cook an egg inside it. Our first was a disaster but the second worked well.

Sophie M – this week I enjoyed football elective becuase I improved my shooting skills and managed to score ten goals in one game!

Rebecca – I enjoyed sports day because I improved my running skills and didn’t come last in the races! 🙂

Dean – My favourite thing this week was the school football game this week but unfortunately we lost.

Sophie L – This week I enjoyed our day at the academy because when we were doing drama we were introducing ourselves and we were learning how to make up example issues to act out.

Christopher S – I enjoyed the high school visit because in science we made a ball which was supposed to bounce and at one point in drama we all had to say our names and rhyme something with it and some people did  some really funny things!

Alexander – I improved my maths this week by geting better at measuring. I got better at estimating how long something was before measuring it.

Christopher A – I enjoyed Musical Theatre this week because we were getting feedback on our performances and it has helped us to improve due to the appraisal.

Freya – In internet safety this week I improved my awareness of cyberbullying and how to keep safe on social media sites.

Who has impressed?

Rabeea – Sophie M impressed me by scoring ten goals at football!

Tom – Declan S impressed me by scoring two goals in the match versus Windyknowe and helping us make a comeback.

Rebecca – Sophie M impressed me because she came first in the sprint race at sports day. Also, Isla has impressed me by coming second with me in the three-legged race.

Jane – Hannah has impressed me by doing so well in the three legged race (she was my partner)

Callum – Dean has impressed me because he was a great three-legged partner and we finished third.

Eve – Amber impressed me by coming first in the 2 lap race at the sports day.

Nicky – Sophie M  impressed me as well by winning the sprint.

Freya – Mrs Waddell has impressed me with how long she has worked at Balbardie!

Christopher A – I’m also impressed with Mrs Waddell because she has seen us grow up from p1 to p7 and it’s going to be really sad to see her go.

Tom – Mr Berginis impressed me with how well he has done with the football team this year.

Dean – the school football team impressed me because even when we were getting beaten we still kept trying and showed perseverance.

Christopher S – I’m impressed with the school swimming team for winning the Procession swimming competition. We won the relay cup and the shield trophy.

Mr Berginis – I have been really impressed with everybody who represented the school this week at the Potted Sports, football match and Procession Swimming. They gave their all and done the school proud.

Hello Everyone

P1l are all thoroughly enjoying our Commonwealth Fitness Fortnight so far. On Monday Miss Henderson worked with us to make some delicious fruit and vegetable smoothies. Everyone worked on different combinations and they were very yummy, we were learning about how we can eat things in different ways. On Tuesday we had P.E with Mr Jefferies and we started to practise our skipping skills ready for next weeks skipathon. In the afternoon we were had a super gymnastics session with our instructor Amy. We did crocodile kicks, forward rolls, jumping, small balance beam and much to Mrs Leamy’s initial worry a high balance beam. It was a great session and everyone made it across the beam and some people didn’t even hold Amy’s hand! Wednesday was super sports day with everyone taking part with great enthusiasm. Today was another busy one with curling in the morning and in the afternoon we had boxercise with Mr McGregor from Bathgate Academy. We finished the day by making thank you cards to give to the instructors who have all been so great.

Day 1
Football:
Today was our first day of Health and Fitness fortnight and it was lots of fun.
This morning we went outside in the front playground and we did dribbling with a ball and we also did dribbling in a race – Eva
We played some games when we were doing football. We played banana tig, toilet tig and ‘here, there, anywhere, nowhere’ – Caitlin
We had partners that we had to follow with the ball – Brooklyn
When we were playing ‘follow the leader’ we had to pass the ball and part of the game we had to touch the ball with our foreheads and they got dirty – Cole

Funky Fitness:
We did a dance and we had to learn lots of different moves and it was really fun – Sophie
We went to the hall and learned a new dance move called ‘the body ripple’. We can show you this at home – Tom
At the end there were people being the audience and the other people performing. Then we swapped. We were being a quality audience – Ty
When we went to the hall to do a dance, it was called ‘street dance’. My favourite part was learning the beginning – Eva
I liked it because it was similar to the street dance I already do and I also liked that some of the moves were exactly the same – Rory
I liked it when we were performing in front of others – Liam

Day 2:
Kurling:
Today was our second day of health and fitness fortnight. Mrs Wilson took us to the TA hall to learn more about kurling.
Kurling is when you have a stone and you slide it along the floor and you try to get it into the target. It is fun – Sophie
Sometimes adults play kurling and they get a stone to roll it along the ice – Caitlin
On one of my shots, my stone was almost in the middle – Liam
You don’t actually use a real stone. You use a plastic one that slides – Rowan
I enjoyed shooting the stones across the floor to try and get them into the target. I kept missing it – Eva
I enjoyed when we threw the stone and I almost got it into the middle as well – Ty
When it was my turn I just about got it into the target – Cole

Day 3:
Sports Day:
Today was our Sports Day in Balbardie Park. Primary 1, 2 and 3 went over together and the boys raced the boys and girls raced the girls.
I won 2nd place in the overall competition – Megan
I came 3rd place in the tattie and spoon race and I got a sticker – Cole
The races we did were the tattie and spoon race, the running race, bean bag race and a lap run – Eva
I came 1st in the tattie and spoon race and I also won 1st place in the overall competition – Lucie
I came 5th two times in the races – Sam
I won a big medal and I won gold for the sprinting race – Sophie

Day 4:
Gymnastics:
There was a beam that you had to balance on and it was scary because you had to walk backwards – Sophie
At gymnastics we did crocodile kicks, three rolls and we jumped over two yellow pads – Samantha
At gymnastics we were having lots of fun and we had to do crocodile kicks and go through a tunnel – Alanna
We had to jump over bean bags on a little beam – Jennie
When we started jumping over the bean bags we had to do a forward roll. Then we went through a tunnel and we ran and jumped and touched the mat – Eva

Day 5:
Fun fair:
We had a fun fair in the front playground to celebrate Mrs Waddell’s retirement and the success she’s had in the school – Lennox
It was really fun and there was some ice cream, a bouncy castle and there was a bouncy castle slide too! It was fun with the hook and the boats too – Ross
I went on the slide and I couldn’t get back up because I couldn’t find the step – Brooklyn
When I went up the slide I thought I was going to fall off because the steps were slidey and quite steep – Jennie
I went up the slide and there was a traffic jam and I fell down backwards and was on my back – Rowan
I got a tattoo and it’s like a bird in roses – Abbie
I went on the slide and I thought I was going to do a forward roll because I was leaning forward – Sophie
When I came off the slide I jumped up because I thought it was hard ground and I scuffed my heel – Megan

Hello from P1l

It has been a while since we blogged and apologises for this. Each week the blog has faithfully been updated but unfortunately when it has been posted nothing has been showing up. We are hoping things have now be resolved and you will be able to see our blog in all it’s glory.
We have all been enjoying our Gardener’s World topic and our classroom is looking like a garden paradise.

Last week we looked at the life cycle of a tree with Miss Boyle and this week were very busy bees learning all about the good work bees do and what they look like. With the help of Mrs Jamieson we have planted some lettuces, potatoes, tomatoes and carrots outside and they are all growing very well. We all got to take our pea plants home today. On Monday we looked at some paintings by an artist called Georgia O’Keeffe, she paints beautiful big flowers and we had a go at doing our own.

Here are some of our highlights from this week:

Catriona and Summer enjoyed the flower painting.

Maisey enjoyed all of it!

Katie liked painting a worm.

Suvi enjoys the mini beast colouring.

Jess liked working with Miss Boyle on the life cycle of a tree.

Bye for now P1l

23.5.14

In school this week, we continued our Gardener’s World topic. On Tuesday, we wrote descriptions about our gardens- they are very good! We were learning to use describing words to make our writing more interesting.

We also looked at seed dispersal. This is different ways that seeds are spread to allow new plants to grow. Some methods of seed dispersal include: the wind, animals carrying and water. We watched a short video which explained this then had fun acting out different methods of seeds dispersal for our classmates to guess.

Today we had our very first assembly at Balbardie. Everyone was very impressed as we worked hard to learn out lines and songs.

Have a nice weekend,
Miss Bollen and P1b

16.5.14

On Monday we went a trip with our teddies to watch a music concert. When we got there adults played different instruments for us. They played percussion instruments, a double bass, a violin, a clarinet, a flute and a bassoon. We went on a bear hunt and heard the story of Goldilocks. During this the adults played instruments to make sounds from the story. We all seemed to enjoy the music and had great fun!

We have been learning about the five senses. Yesterday afternoon we went into the garden outside and drew pictures of things that we could see, hear, smell, touch and taste.

Isabella- ‘We saw a butterfly and ladybird.’

Isaac- ‘We saw wasps.’

Guy- ‘We smelled flowers.’

Euan- ‘I felt the dry grass.’

Sofiye- ‘We saw a bird house.’

9.5.14

Yesterday during outdoor P.E, we split into teams to make up our very own games. Miss Bollen gave each team different equipment to use and was very impressed with our imaginative ideas. Here are some explanations of our games:

Team 1: Ailah- ‘We were bouncing and kicking the ball around the cones.’

Mia- ‘We took turns to do this.’

Ailah- ‘We didn’t argue even though it’s hard to take turns in a big group.’

Team 2: Euan- ‘We were trying to get all of the cones inside the hoop.’

Team 3: Campbell- ‘We were doing racing. We were holding the baton so two people didn’t run at once.’

Team 4: Jaime-Lee- ‘We were throwing the ball and someone was standing in the hoop. If they caught the ball they scored points. If the person in the hoop didn’t catch the ball they lost points.

Next week we look forward to trying everyone’s games!

We have has a very busy week in Primary 2. We have been doing some important work on the computers this week so we joined up with primary 2g. We worked with p2g to make kites and spent some time in the afternoon outside flying our kites. We also made a primary 2 year book. We wrote about all the things we have done in primary 2 and shared what we liked to do in school and in the playground.

We are enjoying learning about weather. We watched a weather forecast and learned about the different symbols in weather forecasts. We are working in groups to create our own weather forecasts for the U.K and are going to perform these to the class. We also created a weather display. We worked in groups to create big pictures for our wall. We all love Frozen so we created some of the characters to go in our snow scene.

In French we have been learning about animals. We are able to say the names of quite a lot of animals. Can you guess what these animals are?

un poission rouge? un oiseau? un chien? un lapin?

Awards:

Pupil of the Week: Mya

Class Dojo: Karys

See you next week! Remember to wear your sports clothes for Fitness Fortnight!

Our learning

 Rabeea – This week I improved my leadership skills in drama because we were setting out the stage for our plays and I took charge and got the props and costumes organised and stage setting.

 Abbie – This week I’ve learned how to write a report. We wrote a report about smoking and the arguments for and against it becoming illegal.

 Fraser – I found our tobacco workshop interesting. I learned more things such as that there are between 4000 and 5000 chemicals in one cigarette!

 Luke – In handball this week I learned the rules of the game and how to pass properly and about the three second rule.

 Sophie L – In my athletics elective we did a running schedule to improve my speed and I was getting faster by the minute!

 Louise – This week we learned about the dangers of smoking and how it affects your health. We learned that if you stop smoking you can start to become healthier after just two months.

 Dean – In internet safety we learned that if something pops up on our laptop or computer screens we don’t click on it because it could be a virus or phishing.

 Tom – I’ve learned how to multiply and divide decimals this week. If you were dividing by ten all the numbers jump one column to the right. If you’re multiplying by 10 they all jump one column to the left.

 Alexander – This week we learned about mood and atmosphere. Some of the moods that authors create are scary, exciting, creepy, sad, happy and anticipation.

 Who has impressed?

 Sam – Alistair impressed me by getting onto step 6 this week. All of the other people who got step 6 impressed me too.

 Tom – Fraser impressed me by being able to beat me at Ten Up at badminton this week.

 Taylor – Eve impressed me this week in Musical Theatre when we were singing My Immortal and she sung very well.

 Louise – My table (les heros) impressed me by winning for the second week in a row. We showed teamwork, concentration and worked hard.

 Zenaib – Lauren Cameron in p6a impressed me with her beautiful singing in Musical Elective.

 Jane – Rachel in p6 really impressed me because she stepped in for Rebecca’s part at singing Mamma, I’m a Big Girl Now at Musical Theatre.

 Mr Berginis – The class impressed me with how hard they worked in maths this week. They have impressed me with their knowledge of decimals and how they relate to percentages and fractions.

Another week bites the dust!

We have faced some tough challenges in maths this week however we do know that if our brain feels like it is hurting it’s because we are using it! We are all getting much better identifying inverses and we do all agree that identifying the link between multiplication and division is particularly hard.

Dave – When we were doing the harder co-ordinates I thought it was going to be too hard but I did it because I listened hard to the instructions.

Sam – We used triangles to help us learn that we can use times tables to work out division sums. I get it now.

Our Tools for Writing workshop this week was all about overused adjectives. We used a thesaurus to help us find alternative words.

Shaun B – the thesaurus helped me to understand that there are lots of different words I could use instead of ‘nice’ or ‘great’ in my sentences.

This morning we played a variety of games in class. We have been learning to take turns, share, wait and have patience. Some of us are finding it a little tricky to wait our turn. However we are getting better and will continue to work on this until the end of term.

Lewis and Carter worked together to build a vertical jigsaw. The needed lots of patience!

We  played frustration. We had to take turns and be patient.

We played connect four. This is a game of strategy and concentration.

We had a special moment this week in class. We all know that Jay is good at drawing but we were really surprised with his 3D drawing of a living room. It was amazing. He really understands the complexities of 3D drawing. Others in the class have tried to add a 3D perspective to their pictures and Jay has taken an advisory role which he thoroughly enjoys. Jay would like us to wait until his drawing is complete before posting a picture here on the blog. It’s nice to have an expert in class!

Have a great weekend!