Carmondean Primary School Blog

Primary 3

What an exciting week its been with all this snow! However we are all braving the weather to get to school still however do keep an eye on the blog for any news of school closures if the weather gets any worse.

So we have kicked off the New Year with a Big Homework! The children have been asked to use a variety of junk materials to build a castle and label it with the key features listed on the sheet. This is not due until after the half term on Wednesday 14th February. Children will also have to present their models and talk about how they constructed them and what each feature represents.

Phonics and reading will carry on as normal and maths will be given fortnightly. You will receive a newsletter this week outlining the homework and topics we will study this term.

PE kit is required on the following days:

3G: Monday/Thursday

3S: Wednesday/Thursday

Please ensure your child is suitably dressed for outdoor PE: joggers and long sleeved tops and trainers.

Miss Smith set off to pastures new this term and we all miss her terribly however we welcome Mr Gordon to Primary 3 and look forward to getting to know him as the year goes on.

Hope your week is going well!

Mrs Smith and Mr Gordon

P2/1 week beginning 15th January 2018

P2/1 were very excited to be lucky enough to be part of a special assembly yesterday with a Polar Explorer! Craig Matheson visited Carmondean yesterday and we heard all about what it is like to visit the North and South Poles. We learned about the animals that he has seen, the types of clothes he wears in the cold climate- Frazer even got to try on his special gloves, and all the training that he has to do to get ready for his expeditions.

This week we will be following up his visit by doing a series of Science lessons. Today we worked with a partner to design boats. We linked this to our Topic by imagining we were designing them for the Post and food supplies to be delivered to the Post Office shop that Katie Morag’s Mum and Dad run on the Island of Struay. It took us a few trial runs to finally get a finished product that would float well enough to get all those important things to the shop! Have a look at some of them below:

Next week we will be performing our Scottish Poem for Burns’ Day. Please keep practising this at home with your child.

Reminders-

Monday- New common words, Time your climb (P2), Maths (every second week)

Tuesday-New Reading books

Thursday- PE with Mrs Ferguson

Thank you for your continued support.

Mrs Steel

Snow Work in Event of School Closure

With the adverse weather conditions we are facing at present, there is a very real risk of a school closure. In that eventuality, the following links will allow you to read/download appropriate work that can be done by your child. Teachers will also upload appropriate work to the BLOG.

N.B. This work is only for use in the event of a school closure.

P1-2 winter weather work early_first level 2018

P3-4 winter weather work first level 2018

P5-7 Winter Weather Work 2018

If you would like to post pictures to our Blog, please email them to the school email address (wlcarmondean-ps@westlothian.org.uk) and put your name in the subject line. I will then transfer them to the Blog.

Primary 1 w.b 15/1/18

Primary 1 were very excited to welcome Craig Matheson a Polar Explorer to Carmondean yesterday morning. The children heard about his adventures in the Arctic and Antarctic, tasted some of the dried food he eats when away and tried on some of the clothes worn nowadays in the cold climates and 100 years ago when Captain Scott first went to the South Pole. The children particularly enjoyed seeing pictures of the animals Craig has seen as he explores.
This week we are going to be completing Polar experiments each afternoon in class. We will learn about food chains in the arctic, how adding salt to water affects density and how to keep warm in the cold.
We are also continuing our phonics programme and this week will learn j and v. Thank you for your continued work practising these sounds at home.
Reminders:
PE is now on a Thursday with Mrs Ferguson. Please come prepared for this with a named PE kit.
Water bottles should be brought to school every day. These should contain only water.
This week in your homework folder you will have received 2 Scots poems. Please learn 1 of these at home ready to perform to the class on Wednesday 24th January.
Thank you
Miss Christy, Mrs Harris and Mrs Oliver

Primary 4 – Update 15 January

Happy New Year!

Everyone is back at school after the festive season fully rested and ready to learn! Last week we wrote stories and drew pictures about our Christmas holiday. Miss Donaldson and Ms Matheson were surprised how busy some of the children had been.

On Monday this week we had a visit from Craig who is a real Polar Explorer. He told us about his trips to the North and South Poles. On his trips he has to pull a sledge with everything he would need for the entire 2 month journey. We were able to see photograhs of his sledge and skis and to try on some of warm clothing. He also told us that he does not need to wash on his trips as it is too cold for bacteria to survive. Some of us got to taste the special food he takes and Ms Matheson got to taste some dried seal meat. It tasted just like old shoes, chewy and salty!

We will be learning more about the Polar regions in science this week. One of the activities planned, for example, is to design and make a boat looking at the relationship between the shape of boat and the number of passengers it holds.

All the children have now chosen their Scots poem to learn. Your help in learning them would be greatly appreciated.

Indoor gym is now on Wednesday. Outdoor gym will be on Monday, weather permitting. Please could children bring suitable gym kit on these days.

Have a great week.

Ms Matheson and Miss Donaldson

Primary 6 12.1.18

A very happy new year to you all! 2018 has started with our usual hive of activity in primary six.

For reading this term we are returning to fiction and all pupils have now been given their new novel. Each week the pupils will be given a certain amount of their book to read and this may be accompanied by an activity for their literacy circle booklets. Each week the pupils will record the date in their booklets of when their homework is due, this will normally be a Tuesday. We will also be reading a class novel and in keeping with our topic this term , we have chosen Kasper, Prince of Cats as part of story is set on the Titanic.

Our topic this term will be the Titanic and once again we are delighted with the enthusiasm the pupils have shown for this subject already! When we are working on the topic the pupils will ‘become’ passengers on the ship. They have all been given the names of actual passengers and their first task is to find out about themselves. We will be doing this in class, however many pupils have taken it upon themselves to start their investigations at home, such keen learners!

Preparation has begun for our P6/7 show and soon pupils will be given the chance to audition for parts. More details about this to follow.

REMINDERS –
PE – outdoor Kit on Mondays / Indoor kit on Wednesdays

Homework
Reading homework due on Tuesday
Spelling words will be given on Mondays with homework due on Fridays.
Maths Homework – we would like to remind all pupils that they have maths homework EVERY WEEK. If we do not give out maths homework in the form of a worksheet we still expect the pupils to be practising Times Tables, Fact Families, and Number Bonds. We have shown the pupils’ games and activities they can do to practise.

Thank for your continued support.
Mrs Wylie, Mr. Woodward and Mr Shanks

Primary 1 w/b 8/1/18

Hello All

We hope you had great fun over the holidays and we are glad to see you all back safely.

We have a very busy term ahead of us with two exciting topics – Dinosaurs and The Enchanted Forest. This week a mysterious egg was delivered to school for us to look after from a Professor Rex.

We are not sure what is in it – we will keep you updated!

In Maths we have started to learn about the Months and Seasons before moving on to telling the time on analogue and digital clocks. We will also be introducing the concept of subtraction next week.

In Language the children have been consolidating sounds and blending these together and are continuing to learn rhyming patterns with a focus on -an words this week.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Primary 1 Teachers

Primary 1 w.b. 18.12.17

Primary 1 did an excellent job in their performances of ‘The Wriggly Nativity’ yesterday. Thank you for all your support throughout the process, practising lines and going over dances.
This week we have been learning about the Christmas story and have enjoyed a more relaxed curriculum with lots of crafts and fun activities.
We hope that you have a fun and restful Christmas holiday and we look forward to seeing all the children back in the New year.
Miss Christy, Mrs Oliver and Mrs Harris

Winter Ready

By now, all pupils should have brought home their Winter Ready Instruction Sheet which will have their GLOW Username and Password printed on it. This sheet gives instructions about how to access GLOW to continue learning and teaching over the Internet in the event of a school closure due to severe weather. Older children will be able to do this independently, but our younger pupils will need some adult help. Included in the Help Sheet are instructions on how to download a free copy of Microsoft Office to a computer or other device – every GLOW user has 5 licenses they can use to download the software to their devices. Maybe Santa will be bringing a selection of laptops and tablets so parents may find this useful news! Hopefully, we won’t have to implement remote learning and teaching as the weather will not be so severe, but just in case …

Primary 6 15.12.17

We had a very creative start to the week as Primary six constructed different aspects of the nativity story from a variety of recycled materials. Their creations were so successful that we felt we had to invite the rest of the school to see them!

We were privileged to see the dress rehearsals for the nursery and infant classes’ nativities. We thought they were fantastic. Their parents and visitors are in for a treat next week.

Auditions were held for the school talent show next week. Well done to all the acts that entered what a talented bunch we have. We wish the two acts which were selected from primary six the very best of luck.

On Thursday it was our Christmas jumper day and everyone looked very festive and jolly and of course in between all these festivities we continued working hard at multiplication and division!

We had our primary six assembly this morning and it was a great success! There were amazing teamwork skills on display and we are very proud of the hard work and presentation skills of ALL the pupils.

REMINDERS –
PE – outdoor Kit on Mondays / Indoor kit on Wednesdays

Homework – Spelling Test will take place on Monday and will include words from the last six weeks.

Maths Homework – we would like to remind all pupils that they have maths homework EVERY WEEK. If we do not give out maths homework in the form of worksheet we still expect the pupils to be practising Times Tables, Fact Families, and Number Bonds. We have shown the pupils’ games and activities they can do to practise.

Thank for your continued support.
Mrs Wylie, Mr. Woodward and Mr Shanks

Primary 5 15.12.17

Primary 5 have had another very busy week.

In Maths we have continued to learn about the properties of 3D objects and we completed this topic with a K nex challenge. All children participated well and produced a group of shapes to display.

In language this week we have been writing stories related to Harry Potter. We have been redrafting our writing using the Clicker programme and will be collating our work into a book next week.

In PE we have started a block of Basketball with Mrs Ferguson which we will continue after the holidays.

Mrs Jamieson and Miss Farren

Primary 7 14.12.17

Hello everyone

We have had a lovely week in Primary 7 so far. We had the opportunity to watch both the Nursery/P1 nativity and the P2/3 nativity. We loved both performances and we thought that the children did really well.

This week we have been putting our ICT skills to the test! We will be using GLOW throughout Primary 7 to look at the blog and for transition activities with Deans Community High School. In order to use this platform we had to reset our passwords. We also went to P1 and P2 to help them to log into the computer and reset their GLOW passwords. All adults have been very impressed with how skilled the Primary 7s were at teaching the younger children in the school.

There will be no homework next week. Homework will resume again on the second week back (wb 15.1.18) after the Christmas Holidays.

The P7 Christmas Disco will take place next Thursday 21st December from 6-8pm. Please note that children must be picked up from inside the school at 8pm, we cannot allow children to walk home themselves.

This will be our last blog post before the Christmas so we would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We are looking forward to welcoming the children back to school on the 9th January.

Thank you for your support.

Miss Clark & Mrs Macaulay

Primary 2 update 13.12.17

Today was our dress rehearsal for the Nativity and it went really well. You will be in for a treat next Wednesday if you can come and see it. If you haven’t already got your tickets please contact the office.

Tomorrow is a dress down day and children can come to school dressed in something Christmassy or with a Christmas accessory (for example Christmas jumpers, onesies, hats, scarfs or reindeer headbands). There is a suggested donation of 50p for anyone who wishes to take part.

Party

It’s our P2 party on Friday. The children can come to school dressed in their party clothes.

Our outdoor PE day is still Monday but our indoor PE day has changed to Wednesday. Children can leave their PE in school from Monday to Wednesday if that is easier.

Thank you

Mrs Muir

Primary 6 Class Nativity Challenge

Our two Primary 6 classes were set a critical skills challenge today to tell the complete Nativity Story from beginning to end in chronological order through building models of the key scenes in the story. We then evaluated each other’s work using the task criteria (which were quite exacting), and opened our doors for other classes to come and see what we had been learning and to comment on how well we’d done. From planning to finished work was 2-and-a-half hours. Here are Primary 6 A’s efforts:

And here are Primary 6B’s:

Primary 6 8.12.17

We had a fun filled start to our week with our Primary Six Christmas party. Our pupils Scottish country skills were in full flow and what an impressive group they are! It was pantomime time too this week and the pupils (and staff) thoroughly enjoyed the interactive performance of the Wizard of Oz.

We have been tackling problem solving challenges in maths this week, putting our analytical skills to the test. The key message …..read the question, highlight the important information and work out which mathematical operation will help you solve the problem. We had some great breakthroughs and look forward to cracking the codes next week!

Primary Six have an assembly on the 15th December and the pupils have created interesting, fact filled and humorous scripts. May we remind you that this is an assembly for pupils only, we will have another assembly in 2018 where guests will be invited.

We are continuing with our ‘Beat That’ maths challenge on a Friday morning and whilst scores are rising, there is work to be done. Come on Primary Six, Practise your tables!!!

REMINDERS –

PE – outdoor Kit on Mondays / Indoor kit on Wednesdays

Homework – spelling due on Friday. Please note that spelling homework jotters should NOT be handed in before Friday as the children should be using them to practise their spelling words daily.

Maths Homework – we would like to remind all pupils that they have maths homework EVERYWEEK. If we do not give out maths homework in the form of worksheet we still expect the pupils to be practising Times Tables, Fact Families, Number Bonds. We have shown the pupils games and activities they can do to practise.

Thank for your continued support.

Mr Woodward, Mr Shanks and Mrs Wylie

Primary 5 week ending 7.12.17

Primary 5 have had a busy and exciting week!

In Maths we have been learning about the properties of 3D shapes and using our skills to make decorative cubes and pyramids.

Religious Education has taught us more about the Christmas Story. We consolidated our learning by writing scripts for our very own news report. Through working in groups we continue to learn the importance of team work.

On Tuesday many of us enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch and then on Wednesday, Hopscotch Productions entertained us with the Panto, The Wizard of Oz. Lots of fun and laughter was had by all!

We have now finished our music block with Mr. Platt and began Art with Mrs Fox. This will continue next term on Wednesdays. P.E with Mrs Ferguson remains on a Thursday.

Our writing scheme is based on our class novel, Harry Potter. From creating our own wizards, maps and wands we are almost ready to transform our work in to a mini book.

Finally, an exciting day to be shared in Primary 5 as we finish the week with our Christmas Party!

We hope you have a lovely weekend.

Miss Farren and Mrs Jamieson

Primary 1 Update 7.12.17

Hello Everyone

Primary 1 have been getting into the festive spirit this week with our Pupil Christmas Lunch and the fantastic Wizard of Oz Pantomime on Wednesday. It was also great so many of you made it along to our Christmas Fair and made the night a huge success!

This week we are beginning a block of PE with our PE Specialist Mrs Ferguson. Please can all children bring their indoor PE kit every Thursday.

In Writing this week, the boys and girls were excited to write letters to Santa. We are continuing to introduce new sounds and blending them together to read and write words.

In maths, we have been learning to write and sequence numbers above 10 and will be moving onto pattern.

Next week, we will be having our nativity dress rehearsal. If your children have been asked to bring in any clothes for their costume we would be extremely grateful if you could send them in before Tuesday 12th December.

Thank you for your continuing support,

Primary 1 Teachers

Primary 3 News

It’s the most wonderful time of the year……..where we are getting well and truly into the festive spirit of things! We have been rehearsing our Nativity and letters are going home today with information about tickets and times. Your child also received information about their costume so please send in any items as soon as possible.

We all enjoyed our Christmas Lunch yesterday served by our very own P7s and we also were lucky enough to watch ‘The Wizard of Oz’ performed by the Hopscotch Theatre Company today!

Next week the P3s will be having their Christmas party on Tuesday afternoon so please send the children in with their party clothes in a bag to get changed into after lunch.

The dress rehearsal for the nativity is also next week on Wednesday, so please ensure costume bits and pieces are in for then.

On Thursday 14th December we are having a Christmasmas dress down day so dig out the Christmasmas accessories and donate 50p for the PSA.

Homework will also be put on hold until after the New Year, but please encourage your child to look back over their words and read as much as possible!

Many thanks!

Mrs Smith and Miss Smith

Primary 7: Ready, read, repeat

Hello everyone

Primary 7 had an excellent day last Wednesday during “Ready, read, repeat” (our school book event). Many children dressed up as their favourite book character and participated in our first P7 book swap! Each child brought in a wrapped up book and swapped it with someone else. It felt a bit like Christmas morning when we all opened our ‘presents’!

The children then used their own devices to look into the different types of furniture they could buy to brighten up our classroom library. Each child also picked a new book each for our classroom library after looking online.

At the end of the day we went down to P1 to visit our buddies. We gifted them with a special book that we had created for them. Our buddies were the main character of our stories! We also read other story books with them.

P7 had a fantastic day of reading! We hope you enjoy reading your books everyone!

Miss Clark & Mrs Macaulay

Primary 7 30.11.17

This week in p7 we have been busy getting ready for the Christmas fair. We have made lots of unique products, games and tasty foods that you can buy tomorrow. The Christmas Fair takes place betwen 6-8pm. Please come to the P2 classrooms to visit our stalls!

On Tuesday we had a whole school St Andrew’s Assembly hosted by our fantastic house captains. Every year group sang a Scottish song. We sang Caledonia.

On Wednesday we had our book day (Ready, Read, Repeat). We all dressed up as our favourite book characters and every year group got £1000 to redecorate their library. We also received an extra £200 to pick new awesome books for the library. We also took part in a P7 book swap and were delighted with our new books! We were eager to start reading right away. For a couple of weeks we have also been very busy making books for our buddies and yesterday we finally read our buddies our books and they loved it! We think the next years Primary 7s are going to love this activity.

Also, a huge congratulations to Cara, Louisa, Melody and Anna G who all came back from the West Lothian Gymnastics Competition with medals! We are very proud of you 🙂

Zayan, Lu’ay, Molly and Anna – P7C

Reminders –

PE days have now changed. The children will have Outdoor PE on a Monday and Indoor PE on a Tuesday. Please ensure children come prepared for PE on both days. P7C have another 2 weeks of swimming lessons on a Monday.

Spelling and maths homework is due in on Friday

Christmas Fair tomorrow – If helping to set up after school P7s should bring a packed lunch to school or order a packed lunch in the morning.