Carmondean Primary School Blog

Primary 6 29.11.16

Hello everyone!

Primary 6 are having a very busy and productive week so far. Our “A Tale Unfolds” topic is well underway and the children are participating very enthusiastically. We have been exploring different camera angles and have been using these whilst filming others to great effect. We’re looking forward to the rest of the topic!

The children have also begun rehearsing hard for their assembly which is next Friday. Please continue to encourage them to practise their words at home.

In maths both classes have been continuing to work on our multiplication skills. We have been doing this through a variety of activities including whole class multiplication challenges. Well done to Murray & Louisa who are the current champions in Miss Clark’s maths class. Keep practising!

Please note that the children no longer have indoor PE with Miss Inglis on a Wednesday. From now on P6 PE days will be:
Monday – Indoor Gym with Miss Clark & Mrs Wylie.
Thursday – Outdoor Gym with Miss Clark & Mrs Kelly.

Enjoy the rest of your week! 😊

Miss Clark, Mrs Wylie & Mrs Kelly

UPDATE:

The date of our assembly has now changed to Friday 16th December – even more time to practise! 😊

P1/2 Week beginnning 28.11.16

Primary 1/2 have had another busy week.

The Nativity is well underway and children are making super progress in learning their parts. Primary 2 are working particularly hard to learn their lines so thank you to all parents who have helped with this. They have asked if they can be dressed in party clothes for the performance and letters will be sent out with information about this later in the week.

We have continued to work on our Houses and Homes topic this week. We have completed our first challenge to make Gingerbread Houses and the results are fantastic. We have also been painting our clay models.

This week we are completing our Enterprise for the Christmas Fair. We are making Santa Soup which is hot chocolate, marshmallows and a candy cane. These will be on sale at the Christmas Fair for £1 however if anyone wants to buy their own they can bring the money before Friday.

Have a lovely week

Mrs Jamieson

Primary 2 28.11.16

Last week we continued our Nativity practices and we’re sure it’s going to be a great show! The dress rehearsal takes place on Wednesday. If your child has lines to learn please could you continue to support them to learn them.

Thursday will be the school Christmas lunch. If you have not ordered a Christmas lunch please make sure your child brings a packed lunch to school.

Lastly, the Christmas fair takes place from 6pm – 8pm on Friday. We hope to see you there.

Ms Matheson and Mrs Muir.

Primary 1 w.b. 28.11.16

This week in Primary 1 we will be continuing to practise for our upcoming nativity. Some children may be asked to bring in a small item of clothing as part of their costume. If possible please send this in by next Monday (5th December). Tickets for nativity are now on sale. You should have received a letter about these last week. Please return request form along with payment as soon as possible.
Also this week we are very excited about our school Christmas Fair. The children will be completing a small enterprise craft to sell. If you wish to buy your child’s item before the fair then please send in £1 and it will be sent home with your child.
Thank you for your continued support.
Miss Christy, Mrs Oliver and Mrs Muir

Primary 3 28.11.16

Primary 3 have been working so hard in their Nativity. The boys and girls have been practising singing, dancing and their lines for the show. Thank you to everyone who has brought in their costume for the Nativity. We have our first dress rehearsal this Wednesday.

We are continuing with homework this week. Children have their weekly spelling and maths to complete. Please encourage your children to read their reading book regularly. New pages are set every Tuesday and Thursday.

In Maths the children have been mentally subtracting large numbers with the help of a hundred square. They have also been trying hard to learn their x2 x10 and x5 times tables. Children need to practise these regularly to help them retain what they have learned in class.

Primary 3 have their Christmas lunch this Thursday and we hope you can all make it to the Christmas Fair on Friday!

Miss Rafferty and Mrs Smith

Primary 7 25.11.16

Hello,

We have had yet another busy week in Primary 7.

This week in writing primary 7 researched the effects of smoking and created informative leaflets using Publisher. The children worked really hard on these leaflets which will be displayed in the classroom.

The pupils’ Christmas lunch will be taking place next Thursday (1st December). Primary 7s will help to run this, and of course, enjoy their Christmas lunch!

During Enterprise the children have been busy creating Christmas crafts, organising workshops and games for the Christmas Fair. They will continue to do so next week in preparation for Friday 2nd December. Primary 7 are looking forward to running their stalls at the Christmas Fair.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Wilson & Mrs Gilmour

Primary 5 25th November 2016

We have been very busy this week preparing for the Christmas Fair. In groups we have been making different items to sell in the Enterprise Zone. We will be giving the children the opportunity to buy something that they have made ahead of the Christmas Fair. We will confirm prices at the beginning of next week when everything is finished and let the children know when to bring money in.

We have also been spending lots of time putting the final touches to our assembly for today. The children have worked really hard at all their parts and the singing is beautiful. We hope the rest of the school are as impressed with it as we are!

Could you please hand back any permission slips for being a helper at the Christmas Fair next week. This gives the children a chance to help sell the things we have been making. Thank you to those who have volunteered so far-we will send a note in homework diaries next week with a time slot for them to help.

Reminders for next week

Monday- Reading and spelling homework

Tuesday- Maths homework and PE kit.

Thursday- PE kit

Friday- Christmas Fair

Thank you for your continued support

Mr Greig and Mrs Steel

Primary 4 week beginning 21.11.16

This week we have been very busy with our Enterprise topic. The children have started to focus on job roles within a business, they have even written job application forms for the roles they would like to do. We have also been using the computers to research what we will need to create our product and have been discussing the best products to use.

The Christmas Fair is fast approaching so we have started our Christmas crafts which will be displayed in the hall on the night. The fair is on Friday 2nd December and we would love to see you all there.

As we did not have P.E this week we will be having an extra session next week on Wednesday so please provide P.E kit for Wednesday and Thursday, thank you.

It has been a very cold week and children have needed gloves, scarfs and hats. To ensure that these don’t get lost or misplaced it would be very helpful if on the labels they could be named.

Next week we are excited that we will be able to go and watch the dress rehearsal for the P2/3 Nativity show. Please wrap up warm as we will be walking to the church.

Reminders:
P.E kit on Wednesday and Thursday

Homework:
Spelling as normal
Maths sheets – both classes
Reading (please see homework diaries or homework grid on previous blog)

We hope to see you at the Fair! Thank you for your continued support,
The Primary 4 teachers

Primary 6 22.11.16

Hello everyone

Here are some quick reminders about upcoming events in Primary 6.

Big Homework
The children have all been given a piece of big homework to complete for Friday 9th December. They are to present information about a current news story that has taken place in a European country in the form of a class talk. The children can use powerpoint, cue cards or a poster to help them to communicate their information. If your child needs any materials or support from school then they should please let their teacher know as soon as possible.

P6 Assembly
Primary 6 have begun practising for their assembly which will take place on Friday 9th December. Please note that this assembly is NOT open to parents/carers and is a school only assembly. Your child should have received song words home with them today. Please encourage them to learn the words to the song. Also, every child will have a speaking part for the assembly and this will be given home with them by the end of this week. These should be memorised by Monday 5th December at the latest. We are sure our assembly will be a great success! Thank you for your support with this.

Christmas Fair
The school Christmas Fair takes place on Friday 2nd December from 6pm-8pm. Tickets are available from the office or upon entry on the night. We would love to see as many children and parents there as possible. Please note: If your child is in the choir you do not need to pay for a ticket for them as they will be singing on the night.

P6 Christmas Party
Yes, it really is that time of year already! The Primary 6 Christmas Party will take place on the afternoon of Monday 5th December. Your child can bring party clothes to school in the morning to get changed into or can be collected at lunchtime and come back in their party clothes at 1:10pm. We are all looking forward to it 🙂

We hope this blog post was helpful at keeping you informed of what’s coming up in Primary 6. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Miss Clark, Mrs Wylie & Mrs Kelly

Primary 1/2 Week beginning 21.11.16

Hello everyone

Primary 1/2 have had another busy week. Last week we welcomed our Erasmus visitors. They came to visit us in class and taught us some new words from different countries. We also took part in a Scottish assembly.

In science we were learning about the moon. We have learned about the phases of the moon and watched videos of last weeks super moon. Over the next month we will be looking out for the moon and recording the phases we can see.

We have been working on the story of Hansel and Gretel and enjoyed playing in the Gingerbread cottage. We have also been working on puppet shows to retell the story and have made clay gingerbread cottages. We look forward to painting these this week.

Rehearsals for our Nativity play are well underway. Primary 1 are working hard learning their parts. All Primary 1 children will be on the stage and will be provided with a costume. Primary 2 children are also working hard to learn their parts. Thank you to all parents for your support with this; it is greatly appreciated. We will be using our hall time over the next few weeks for rehearsals and PE will be party games, therefore no PE kit will be required for the rest of the term.

Have a good week

Mrs Jamieson

Primary 1 w.b.21.11.16

We had a great week last week meeting and working with our ERASMUS+ visitors. The children performed 3 craws beautifully in our assembly and worked alongside some of the visiting teachers on Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning. We even learnt a Slovakian song about poppy seeds!
Nativity practice is now well underway. If your child has a speaking part, please continue to practise words. Every child will dress up in a costume for the show. We have a good selection of costumes in school, however we may ask the children to bring in something small e.g. tights, a t-shirt to supplement these. Please check your child’s homework diary in the upcoming weeks for this.
This week we are continuing with addition in maths and will revise all sounds learnt so far in phonics lessons. Please continue to practise key words at home as these will help with reading books.
Thank you for continuing support.
Miss Christy, Mrs Oliver and Mrs Muir

Primary 3 News 21.11.16

Primary 3 had a great week filled with lots of learning experiences including developing their understanding of the five senses. We got to taste various foods and describe the flavour as well as smell and feel a range of items. We got to welcome our Erasmus + visitors who then came to our classes to develop our multi lingual skills pronouncing various words in all the six different languages. After our visit to the woods, the children have produced some excellent setting descriptions making sure they have included a variety of adjectives describing all they could see and hear. In maths we have been continuing to refine our subtraction strategies as well as learn our 2 and 10 times tables. On top of all of this we have been getting stuck in to our Nativity rehearsals, developing lots of dancing, singing and acting!

A few reminders for the week ahead:

Nativity: Please can you make sure children with lines are regularly reading these at home and learning them off by heart. The show is two weeks away and whilst we have timetabled in lots of rehearsal time we would really appreciate the extra input outside of school also. Please check your child’s bag if you need to send in any costume bits and pieces, if you’re unsure just ask one of us!

Homework: Our spelling focus is on both ‘ee and ea’ sounds this week so children will be learning both sets of words from the last two weeks. Can we ask that children make a big effort with their sentences, adding lots of description and starting their sentences with different openers. It’s a habit worth developing.

PE: 3S have PE on Wednesday and 3R have PE on Thursday this week.

Enjoy your week!

Mrs Smith & Miss Rafferty

Primary 2 Update 21 November 2016

Last week was a very busy but exciting week as we welcomed our visitors from Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Italy and France. We learned lots of new words in different languages, were taught a song by the Slovakian teacher and a Bulgarian dance.

On Friday we started our new topic ‘The Emergency Services’ and we were very excited to have a visit from a local policeman. Everyone had lots of questions to ask him and some of us even got to try on his uniform. We were very relieved that the handcuffs were too big for us so we were able to slip out of them very easily!

This week we will be continuing our practices for our Nativity show. It is really starting to come together now. Please could you continue to help your child learn their lines if they have any. If your child needs to provide a costume they will have received a letter. If you have any problems with getting a costume please let us know.

Thanks for your continued support,

Ms Matheson and Mrs Muir.

Pupil Ethos 21/11/16

ERASMUS+ Comes to Successful Conclusion

Our ERASMUS+ visitors have now returned to their homes taking with them some stunning memories of Scotland, West Lothian and Carmondean P.S. Their last day was taken up with working in classes teaching all children from Nursery right up to Primary 7 the terms in our Multi-Lingual Dictionary, which was created earlier in the project. Who could have thought that listening to and repeating words in 6 different languages could lead to such discussion when the children realised how closely related some of the languages were. In the afternoon, our guests participated in a Willow Weaving Workshop run by local artist Joan Campbell. Soon, children all over Europe will be trying out their skills as our visitors cascade their learning. The evening was pretty special too. We had challenged the catering students at West Lothian College to design a Scottish Menu for our guests which they served up to us in the Tarrace Restaurant in the college grounds. The meal was lavish and sumptuous using the very best of Scottish ingredients to produce ‘Master Chef’ quality in all three courses. Next, a speedy return to Carmondean P.S. where our guests participated in a Ceilidh. First, they were entertained by West Lothian Schools Pipe Band, who put on a dazzling display of musicianship. They were followed by four girls from the Myra Mackie School of Dance, who treated us to a display of traditional Highland dancing, including the treacherous ‘Sword Dance’. The girls put on a skillful and precise performance for our guests. Next it was the turn of our own Carmondean P.S. Choir under the leadership of Mr John Platt. What a performance – our guests gave the choir a standing ovation which lasted for over 1 minute! Lastly, after cutting the Cake, it was time for our guests to try some Scottish Country Dancing, which they managed (sort of) before ending the night with Auld Land Syne. So, it was with an element of sadness that our visitors parted from Scotland yesterday leaving with so many happy memories and having learned and shared so much about education, learning and teaching. Was it all worth it? You betcha!

Primary 7 18.11.16

Hello, Bonjour, Ciao, Zdraveite, Ahoj, Cxesc !

We have had a busy week with our ERASMUS visitors. The children have been learning a variety of words in French, Italian, Bulgarian, Slovakian and Polish. Their pronunciation was very good! We noticed a few similarities between many of the words. The children in the choir and the house captains attended a very successful evening of Scottish entertainment on Thursday evening. The choir sang a selection of Scottish songs and they were outstanding! Our ERASMUS visitors gave them a standing ovation at the very end. The children then led the visitors in a variety of ceilidh dances. A great time was had by all.

The children had their final visit from WLDAS with the focus on smoke free homes and zones. Please return the pledge form by Monday 21st November if you wish to participate in this.

We have started our Enterprise topic. The children have decided if they would like to organise games or sell goods at the Christmas Fair. They will be working on this for the next two weeks. Please can you ensure your child has checked with their teacher before spending any money on resources for their chosen Enterprise activity as the school are often able to provide these cheaper than if the are bought in the shops.

We have noticed that many children are coming to school with no jacket or just a thin cotton hoody. Please be aware the children are outdoors on many occasions and so it is very important that they have a waterproof jacket with them every day. A gentle reminder that the children have PE on a Monday and Wednesday and require kit for both of these days.

The children will be working on their My life so far in school until Christmas on a Thursday. Thank you for all the support that you have given your child so far. They are looking fabulous!

Reminders:

Spelling homework each night

Maths homework

My life so far – Thursday

PE on Monday and Wednesday

Thank you for your continued support.

Miss Wilson & Mrs Gilmour

P5 Week Beginning 14th November

We have had a fantastic week meeting the Erasmus visitors and entertaining them in lots of different ways. We loved singing our traditional Scottish song for them on Tuesday at the assembly and we hope the visitors were impressed by our talents!

We also got the chance on Tuesday to make and taste some traditional foods from around GB and NI. We had great fun doing this and the food was really tasty. We managed to make and sample champ, haggis and neeps, leek and potato soup and scones with jam and cream. Hopefully Mums and Dads might get a chance to taste these too if the boys and girls are allowed to try some cooking at home-I think we might have some potential chefs in P5!

Below you can see some us cooking and tasting:

We have also had a successful week selling wristbands and badges for Children In Need. We will post next week with how much we have raised. Remember we are holding a Dress Down Day on Friday 18th- wear something spotty!

Next week we will be starting work on our Christmas Fair enterprise where we are working in groups over the stage to create things to sell on Dec 2nd at Fair. The children will be given the opportunity to buy one of their items before the Fair- more information to follow.

Remember that next week is our class assembly for the school so remind your child to continue to learn words for this.

Other reminders

Mon- Reading and Spelling Homework

Tues- FUTSAL and Maths Homework

Thurs- PE kit

Fri- P5 School Assembly

Thank you for your support

Mr Grieg and Mrs Steel

Erasmus+ Civic Reception

West Lothian Council provided our guests with a Civic Reception at the West Lothian Civic Centre today. Provost Kerr, Chief Executive Graham Hope, Depute Chief Executive Elaine Cook and Council Leader Cllr McGinty all addressed the assembled guests and Marcela Sterbakova from Slovakia ( the Erasmus+ Project overall coordinator) replied on behalf of all partners. This was an auspicious occasion which presented both West Lothian Council and Scottish Education in a very good light. Our guests also received their certificates at this event and each country received a beautiful gift from the Council. Thanks to Mr Eddie Anderson for sharing the official photograph with us.

Erasmus+ Visit

What do our visitors think of Carmondean PS and it’s children? I think this video (made by the Italian Team) says it all :

Primary 2 14.11.16

We have finished our Granny’s Day topic which the children have really enjoyed. Thanks for all your help with their homework.

We will be starting our new topic, The Emergency Services, this week when we will be getting a visit from a local policeman.

Tomorrow our visitors will be arriving in school. We can’t wait and we’ve thought of lots of interesting questions to ask them. As part of our assembly on Tuesday we will be singing ‘You cannae shove your Grandad aff his bike’, which you may have heard being sung at home over the past few weeks!

Our Nativity practices are continuing. If your child has come home with words please help them learn them.

Have a great week!

Ms Matheson and Mrs Muir