On Tuesday both P.3 class walked to Dedridge Pond and woods to find out about the plants and wildlife at this time of year.  We used our senses to help us explore the woods.   We had to listen and to look and use our sense of smell.  

We found lots of beech nuts on the ground.  There were jaggy holly bushes, ash trees and oak trees.   We saw the seats in the shape of oak leaves.  Some of us saw squirrels in the trees and we all saw the adult swans and seven cygnets in the pond along with the ducks and seagulls.

Back at school we wrote about the things that we had discovered.   Maybe we will go back in autumn and spring to see if there are any changes in the woods.

This week we have been doing well helping our buddies by meeting them every morning and playing with them at breaks and lunch times. It is fun helping them to get used to our school and making new friends. Congratulations to Dana Russell on being our first buddy of the week.

P7a have been working hard to help tidy up the school garden this Thursday. We went out to see what is needing to be done in the garden and the answer is LOTS! We started off by training the willow, building up the pond a little, doing some weeding and harvesting some of the potatoes. We are hoping to work in the garden every week- weather permitting.Next week we are hoping to make soup with them- yum!

Primary 4 are leaping into action by looking at the Dr Seuss story of The Lorax.  We have discovered that there is a special message hidden in this story, a message that has already made us think carefully about the effects of the Once-ler’s actions.  We are using our detective skills to spot the differences between life before and after the arrival of the Once-ler.  Check back soon to find out if the Once-ler listened to the Lorax and learned a valuable lesson or, ignored him…

On Monday 27th August P5 visited the Book Festival to listen to Tony and Tom Bradman talking about their book ‘Titanic: Death on the Water’.  Tony read the first chapter to us which introduced the main charater Billy Fleming.  Children were then invited to ask questions which was very interesting.

P5 had an exciting first week back at school when we recreated the Titanic in the classroom.  We gathered metre sticks together but couldn’t find a space in the playground large enough for the Titanic so had to measure it out on the back path.  We decided to stop at 131m which is half a Titanic! We couldn’t believe how large a ship it actually was.

Congratulations to our new House Captains and Vice Captains. We are sure that you will rise to the challenges of your new posts and make Bankton proud.

Jupiter     

Captain:              Abby Clinkscales

Vice Captain:   Anna MacDonald

Mars        

Captain:               Samantha Tait

Vice Captain:     Bethany Shaw

Neptune 

Captain:              Jamie Skeldon

Vice Captain:   Mia Ballantyne

Pluto     

Captain:             Emma Turner

Vice Captain:  Sophie Maley

On Wednesday 22^nd August, Primary 7 embarked on their first adventure of the year- a visit to the Edinburgh International Book Festival. After a short bus journey from Livingston to Edinburgh, the excitement was mounting as we waited outside the tent to go in to hear from the author Sally Grindley all about her International Rescue Books.

After getting some tips about how to build characters and create a novel, we learned lots of interesting facts about endangered animals- some of which feature in Sally’s books.

Once our hour was over, we rushed over to buy some of her books then off we went to get them signed- the free key rings and bags were greatly enjoyed too!! After that it was back to school.

Each class is now using one of her books as a focus for finding out more about a specific endangered species. We’ve got loads of ideas for things to find out and will be putting on an exhibition for our parents and P4 pupils where we will show off all of the things we have learned. We can’t wait!!

A big Bankton welcome to all the P.1s and their families. Our first week at school has been a happy one with everyone settling well into new routines. We have drawn ourselves in our school uniforms and hope you enjoy our very first pictures. Don’t we look smart!

Primary 2 have been working hard this week.  We have been revising addition to 10, showing our teachers how good our writing is, designing an ‘All About Me’ shield which shows some of our rights and finding out about our new classrooms!!  As well as all of this we have had P.E. (which we will have every Tuesday and Wednesday), German, Music, Assembly and we took part in the voting for the new House Captains and Vice Captains. 

Next week we are looking forward to starting our new topic!!