Wednesday we enjoyed making our castle walls with the outdoor learning equipment. We then tested them with cannon balls (foam balls). We used tarps to make a wall, using ropes and knots to keep them up. A few knots that we learnt were a slip knot, an overhand knot and a figure 8 knot.
Sadly we were not able to go swimming this week, but Mr. Herman will be in touch when the make up date will be. We practiced our connectives this morning however we still need some more work.

P1a have been revising lots of different things in maths this week. We practised sorting money, measuring and recognising 2D and 3D shapes.

We also learnt about the the greater than and less than signs with help from Charlie the Chocodile.

Charlie the Crocodile likes to snap up the bigger numbers !!

We also visited the P5 and 6s Fairtrade money raiser event and bought lots of yummy things.

We also made some Pirate faces out of paper plates!

Article 28
You have the right to a good quality education.
You should be encouraged to go to school to
the highest level you can.

Article 27
You have the right to food, clothing, a safe
place to live and to have your basic needs met.
You should not be disadvantaged so that you
can’t do many of the things other kids can do.

Many thanks to the 90+ families who have already registered for our online payment system. This is proving to be a great success, not only in Bankton, but across the James Young Cluster of schools. Very soon we will be using this system for school trips, residentials, uniform orders and tickets for school shows. P.1 – P.3 staff have reported a rapid increase in numbers of parents ordering school meals online. To help you choose something your child will like, I have also uploaded the West Lothian Visual Lunch Menu to the Useful Documents page. This visual menu was produced by Emily Sinclair, Bankton’s Support for Learning Teacher and is now used throughout West Lothian to help children with Additional Support Needs. However, it has also proved very useful for younger children, to help them choose something familiar for lunch.

Thank you once again for your support!

In PE we have enjoy learning to curl and target practice with javelins. We are getting much more accurate and consistent with the curling stones. Then in Science we had a lot of fun rolling different balls down the ramp to see which ball went the furthest. First we made a hypothesis of which one would go the furthest and then we tested. We found that the hockey ball when the furthest probably because it’s the heaviest one. Below are some pictures of us testing.
Also we are nearly at Manchester on our walking map. So far as a class we have walked over 300km!
We won the Goblet of Good Manners this week!

This week we got started on our personal projects. We chose a country in South America and researched using the internet and using fact books from the library. We have been very positive about this project and lots of enthusiastic vibes coming from the class.

Don’t forget the deadline for this project is the 6th June. We are looking forward to seeing them finished! Keep up this great work P7b.

In Miss Rodford’s vertical learning group, we were learning about …

Children having the  right to relax and play

 (Article 31)

We watched a video and looked at different items to work out what rights children have.  We found out that …

Children have the right to …
* Be cared for by a family
* To have a home
* To food and water
* To feel safe
* To play

We then looked at different toys and games and talk about why it is important to play and how playing makes us feel.

‘Playing makes us feel happy’ – Oscar

‘You might feel left out if you can’t play’ – Alex

‘We would feel tired if we worked all day’ Calum

During Eco Week we undertook a lot of different activities. One of the highlights was when Joanne Dunne came to visit us to show us a wormery. There were lots of squeamish children – not too keen to get a close look! Check out some photos.

We also got a chance to do some planting in the school garden. Watch this space closely!

This week in our Growth Mindset lunchtime club we have been looking at famous failures. A lot of famous people in the past have been discouraged but then went on to succeed. Here are a few examples:

• Albert Einstein wasn’t able to talk until he was four years old and teachers said that he would never achieve much.
• Walt Disney was fired from his newspaper job for lacking original ideas.
• Lionel Messi was cut from his football team when he was 11 after he found out he had a growth hormone that made smaller than most kids his age.
• Oprah Winfrey was fired from her job as they said she wasn’t fit for television.

And those are just four of millions.

Watch out for our growth mindset celebrity spotter display at reception.

Written by Jamie P7 (Mindset Master)

This week we celebrated Eco Week. We kicked off the week walking around the community with the p5/6 picking up litter. We found lots and left the area looking much nicer. We really enjoyed being outside in the fresh air helping the environment. We also made some posters to help remind us of simple ways to be more eco friendly such as turning the lights off, putting litter in bins and saving paper.

We also presented our Easter assembly to the school and to the parents. It was a pleasure to see so many people there to support us in our work. It was a lot of hard work but we are all very proud of how it turned out.

In PE this week with Mr. Herman we started a mini unit on target games. The games we focused on were indoor curling, bocce and a hoops target game. it was a lot of fun and we look forward to continuing this unit over the next couple of weeks!

Here are a couple of our Eco Posters!