Carmondean Primary School Blog

Primary 6

Just a reminder about some of the events taking place in P6 this week:

Tuesday 17th May: We will be heading to Deans High School for our Transition Morning. This will take place between 9:30 and 12 so the children will be back in time for lunch but they will need to take a snack with them for break. Also could all children bring in their PE kit as some children will be getting a taste of High School PE.

Thursday 19th May: Weather permitting this will be our Sports Day, please ensure all children come in their house colours and the appropriate kit and footwear. This will be starting at 9:30am.

House colours are:

Raeburn: Green

Sutherland: Yellow

Waverley: Red

Deer Park: Blue

PE Kit is still required on a Monday and a Wednesday for both classes.

Please ensure your child completes all spelling activities including the additional task, this will develop their skills in writing further.

P6KS have been doing an animation project using iPads with Miss Blackwall, our PGDE student, so children are able to bring in any figures to assist them in their project, such as Lego men, small superhero figures etc.

Don’t forget about the new lunch system using Ipay Impact, a much easier way of paying for school lunches online. Letters have been given to advise you how you can do this but any problems just get in touch with us.

Have a good week!

Mrs Smith, Mrs Muir, Mrs Kelly & Miss Blackwall

13.5.16 Primary 7

Hello

Well as you know, primary 7 went a little animal daft this week and were involved in various animal activities throughout the week. We concluded the week with an animal movie of their choice and some animal origami before Free Time Friday. The children requested “The Jungle Book” so we spent the morning singing and dancing to the music. Children have now completed their animal fact files which look fantastic – well done for all your hard work everyone!!

Overall, we have had a very fun and busy week. We are looking forward to Monday and hearing all about France when everyone comes back together.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend,

Miss Walker and Primary 7.

Primary 4, 13.5.16

Thank you to everyone bringing in their junk…we now have a collection gathering in the corner of our classroom and it will be put to good use next week and the week after. I can’t wait to see the mini-beasts created from it as the plans are very thorough and have some excellent ideas for movable parts.

We have some very exciting news! Our caterpillars have turned into chrysalises and we watched them turn before our very eyes! One caterpillar was still choosing his position on Monday morning but the rest had gone to sleep, attached to the lid by their tails. By Tuesday we watched them turn one by one, going from this:

to this:

We will keep you updated of any butterfly appearances 🙂

Also this week we had our visitors from West Lothian Youth Foundation as well as a player from Livingston F.C Youth Team. The children were very intrigued by what they had to say and ad lots of questions for them.

Another visitor we had this week was a lady called Christine from Child Smile who came to speak about the work they do for the community. It also fitted in with our health topic this term which is healthy eating, healthy teeth and health and hygiene. She was very impressed with the children’s knowledge and hoped they were putting what they know into practice at home. She brought with her a present for each of the children. Here is a picture of us all with our gifts of toothpaste and a toothbrush:

We were out enjoying the weather this week doing a little mini bug hunt. We successfully found all kinds of mini-beasts for inspection and learned a little more about their habitats and where they like to hide. There weren’t many places to look as our allotments are no longer there. We are looking forward to our proper mini-beast hunt at Hopeton House where we will be doing a pond dip as well as a mini-beast safari. This is happening at the end of term and more information about this trip will follow.

Here we are enjoying the outdoors with some of the bugs we collected:

Remember we have our trip to Dynamic Earth on Monday. Please bring a packed lunch, those who have lunches provided will receive theirs from the school.

Sports day will be Thursday, please wear house colours (see below). It will start at 9.30am.

Reminders:

Monday 16th – Dynamic Earth, packed lunch required.

Tuesday 17th – Outdoor PE Kit

Thursday 19th – Weather permitting – Sports day 9:30am. Please wear house colours:

Raeburn – Green

Waverley – Red

Sutherland – Yellow

Deer Park – Blue

Please bring in costumes if you have not done so already.

Homework

Due Friday 20th – Spelling as normal

Reading –

Red: The Karate Princess in Monsta Trouble ch.1 and 2

Blue: p.60 – 73

Green: p.53 – 64

P4/3 Update 13.5.16

Well done to all the boys and girls who completed their big homework task. We have displayed all our posters in the classroom and they look fantastic!

Remember that sports day is scheduled for next Thursday. P4-7 will be in the morning (this includes the P3s in our class) and we are due to start around 9.30. If possible, please send your child wearing something with their house colour along with appropriate outdoor PE kit.
Deer Park: blue
Raeburn: green
Sutherland: yellow
Waverley: red
Keep your fingers crossed for good weather (or at least no rain).

We have all been working very hard on the P4/5 show and are looking forward to performing it.

Next week homework will be spelling and reading pages. Please remember indoor PE kit on Monday.

Next week is my last week in school before I go off on maternity leave and as of Tuesday 24th Mrs Gilmour and Mrs Harris will be taking over the class for the remainder of the term.

Have a great weekend
Mrs Wallace

See you soon!

This post was written last night at around 5pm (12.5.16). However due to terrible wifi we were unable to post. We have just docked at Hull and will see you all this afternoon 🙂

Bonjour! Thank you once again for all of your lovely comments. The children enjoy hearing them all at breakfast.

Today we left the hotel for the final time. Craig really enjoyed the food at the hotel while Erin thought that her bed was very comfortable.

Our first stop was Nausicaa, the sea life centre. Nathan enjoyed looking at lots of seahorses and sharks while Jay liked watching the Penguins swimming underneath the water. We watched a film in 4D where our faces were splashed and our hair was blown around furiously! The gift shop in Nausicaa was fantastic! Many presents were purchased. Jay has now acquired a soft toy great white shark called Stephen who will be a great addition to the family I am sure!

Next we drove out of France and into Belgium where we stopped in town of Ypres. We visited a glorious chocolate shop where everyone purchased some delicious treats! The chocolate shop owner was even able to give us some special money off deals!

We then went to see the Menin Gate. It is a memorial to soldiers who died in the First World War who have no known graves. We each got a poppy to stick next to one of the names on the Menin Gate. This was a touching moment for us all.

We are now sitting in the ferry terminal as we write this waiting to go into our rooms for our final night before home. We are looking forward to dinner and disco before bed.

The children have had an amazing week but are very excited to see you all again!

See you soon everyone!

Written by: Miss Clark, Erin, Nathan, Craig and Jay (and Stephen the shark!)

Aujourd’hui mai 11!

Bonjour!

Thank you all for commenting on our past posts. They are all lovely and we enjoyed reading yesterday’s comments at breakfast this morning.

We spent the day at Bagatelle Theme Park. It was easy to get around and we didn’t have to queue for that long for any of the rides. It was rather cloudy in the morning but later on in the afternoon it was extremely hot and sunny (around 24 degrees!)

Here are some of our favourite moments from the Theme Park:

Becky: “I enjoyed taking Miss Clark on the Famous Jack ride and the flume. It was funny because she screamed the whole way round!”

Lewis T: “I enjoyed the Triops ride the most. Your legs were able to swing in the air and you went upside down loads of times!”

Leanna: “My favourite ride was the log flume. I got soaked!! But I still went on it 7 times!”

Claire: “I really enjoyed the Famous Jack ride too. It spun you around lots of times and Miss Clark’s screaming could be heard for miles!”

Some other funny moments include… Megan accidentally dunking her foot into the river on the water ride, Mrs Gilmour and Mrs Wotherspoon getting stuck on a broken ride and having to be rescued, the clown that played games with us and Miss Farren screaming constantly!

We also managed to buy some presents for our relatives at home at the theme park and are excited to give them to you!

We are looking forward to our final day in France and Belgium tomorrow, visiting Nausicaa, the Menin gate in Ypres and some chocolate shops (yum, yum!)

Au revoir mes amies!

Written by: Miss Clark, Becky, Lewis T, Leanna & Claire.

Guess the teacher!

Fun selfie on the Twist Air (chairaplanes!)

Mrs Gilmour being rescued from a broken water ride!!

At the end of a fun-filled, action packed day!

11.5.16 Primary 7

Good Afternoon

We had a very busy morning today and the children undertook a variety of activities relating to animal food chains. First of all, children designed their own “super animals” which had to be adapted to suit their environment. We had glow in the dark honey foot lemurs with bat wings and sharks with scorpion tails to name a few – very creative! We learned about how energy flows throughout food chains and the importance of having a top predator. The children engaged in food chain drama to showcase their understanding of food chains and the consequence of removing one species from the chain (lots of lions and gazelles in the classroom)! We also had a lot of discussion regarding the impact of humans on our wildlife. The children were then given time to continue with their research projects (animal fact files) which are looking fantastic – excellent work everyone!

This afternoon, primary 7 had lots of fun in P.E where they played basketball and spent the last hour out in the sun playing games and organising events for sports day.

It sounds like those in France are having a fabulous, busy time! We would like to ask you about your time at the theme park and what your favourite rides were?

All of primary 7 say HELLO and we hope you have a fantastic day at the theme park!!

Miss Walker and Primary 7

Bonjour tout le monde!

Thank you for reading our last update. We all loved reading the many comments you left us yesterday and today. Please keep commenting on our daily updates!

Thank you for your questions Primary 7! After dinner we have been enjoying doing different things. On Sunday night we went to the disco on the ferry. Yesterday, we went to the local park. Today, we are relaxing in our rooms after a very busy day. We are normally in our bedrooms for 9:30pm and lights out are at 9:45pm. This morning we woke up at 7:30 but tomorrow we have a long lie until 8am!! We are glad you are having a good week. We can’t wait to see you all next Monday and hear all your stories!

Today we have had a very busy, but interesting day. We started off by visiting L’Etaple cemetery. We were surprised as to how vast it was. Keston found the visit very educational as we were able to find out lots from the gravestones about the soldiers and civilians who had died. We found it interesting that the graves of the German soldiers weren’t so well kept.

We then travelled for about 2 hours on the bus to reach the Somme area. Our first stop was La Grande Mine. The crater was huge. It was caused by 27 tons of explosives set off by British soldiers who wanted to defeat Germans. The children all thought that the names on the walkway around the crater were very interesting as they told more information about soldiers who fought at that time.

Next we visited the nearby village of Contalmaison where we visited the McCrae Battalion Memorial (commonly known as the Hearts Memorial). Sam Tischler and Molly felt very honoured to be given the opportunity to place the school wreath on the memorial. Both Sam and Molly describe the experience as very memorable and touching.

Then we had our lunch at Thiepval. Sandy thought the memorial, for those who were never found during the Battle of the Somme, very beautiful as poppies regularly rained down from the top of the memorial. Sandy & Keston were convinced that they had found some long lost relatives on the memorial.

On our way to Ulster Tower we stopped off at Beaumont Hamel where we saw a memorial to Canadian and Scottish fallen soldiers among many others. We were surprised to find a Caribou atop of the Canadian Memorial!

Our last stop of the day was Ulster Tower. We were given a tour around the Thiepval Wood Trenches by a very knowledgable tour guide called Teddy. He showed us various trenches that were built by Scottish soldiers. We loved that the trenches were named after famous Scottish streets and cities (e.g. Inverness Avenue, George Street and Union Street). It was a truly emotional and humbling experience.

We are now back at our hotel after enjoying a lovely 3 course dinner. Please keep leaving comments, we love reading them.

Bon nuit!

Written by: Miss Clark, Mrs Harding, Sandy, Molly, Sam Tischler & Keston

10.5.16 Primary 7

Hello

So lovely to hear from those in France. Today in school we learned about animal adaptations and began a new mini challenge where we are creating animal fact files. We hope to continue this and complete these throughout the week. We then spent our afternoon out in the sun assisting primary 1 with sports day preparation and then playing rounders with primary 3. We all had great fun!!

Primary 7 would like to say hi to those in France. We have worked out that “Il fait chaud” means “it is hot” but we have no need to be jealous as the sun is shining here too 🙂

We have some questions from the class:

What activities are you getting up to after dinner time?

What time are you going to bed?

What time are you having to get up in the morning?

We hope you are having a blast and miss you all loads! Looking forward to hearing all your stories when you get back.
Miss Walker

Bon soir en France!

Continue reading “Bon soir en France!”

Primary 7 9.5.16

Hello everyone!

Just a wee update to let you all know what the primary 7s are up to in school this week.

Today we began our new mini topic – Animal biodiversity and adaptations. The children learned about the 6 main animal groups; mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, amphibians and insects. We learned about their key characteristics and how we can identify them. The platypus proved to be difficult! We also used classification keys to identify a series of invertebrates and also made our own keys to identify a group of insects.

This afternoon, we created signage for the school leavers’ assembly. This involved making signs as well as stars to decorate the stage. Tomorrow we will continue with our new mini topic and learn about animal adaptation.

The children have some questions they would like to ask those who are in France:

How is the weather?

What is the food like?

Finally, the children would like to say “we hope no one was sick on the ferry and that you all have an amazing time!”

Miss Walker

Primary 3 w.b. 9.5.16

Good Morning!
Primary 3 have been working hard the past few weeks on their Outstanding Outdoors Topic. The children who didn’t go to Lowport created a super wall display while the rest of the class were away. So far mosst of the learning has focused around plants. Our table sunflowers are beginning to grow. The children are taking responsibility for watering them every few days are are enjoying watching the progress. This week we are moving on to learn about the local area we live in. We are looking forward to learning more about Livingston and landuse in the area.
In maths, primary 3 are finishing off their work on numbers to 1000. We have been very impressed by their knowledge of numbers so far!
This week we will begin CEM testing. The children will complete tests on computers over the next 2 weeks to measure their progress in maths, literacy and general learning.
A reminder that Homework begins again this week. The children will be given reading, spelling and maths homework to complete by Friday.
PE this week is on Monday and Tuesday for P3R and Tuesday and Wednesday for P3C.
Thank you for your support
Miss Christy and Miss Rafferty

Primary 7 6.5.16

Hello everyone!

We have had a short but very busy week since the children returned to school.

The children are continuing to work on their High School Profiles in class. Children write about how they feel they have developed throughout Primary School in these areas: leadership, team skills, research and planning, problem solving and communication. These profiles will be passed on to each child’s high school before the end of the session. We are pleased with how they look so far. Keep up the good work P7!

We have been continuing with our new topic of Economically Less Developed Countries (ELDC) this week. We have been exploring the importance of access to clean drinking water and how this one factor can have a profound effect on whole countries. We explored the rights that we have in Scotland and compared our lives to those who live in ELDC. The children made impressive rights posters to show their knowledge.

Soon, as part of the ERASMUS+ Project, Primary 7 will be exploring the country of Bulgaria in more detail. Miss Clark will be sharing her experiences of the country and the children will be researching the country’s culture and traditions as part of a mini project. We will keep you posted on our progress!

This weekend some of the children will depart on our France Residential. The children are very excited and I am sure the trip will be a success. Miss Walker has an exciting week planned for all of the children staying at Carmondean, including lots of PE, trips down to P1 and an exciting mini topic. Miss Farren & I can’t wait to hear what they have been doing whilst we are away!

We will keep you posted of our movements in France by writing on the blog on some nights during the week. Feel free to leave comments as we know the children will love reading them 🙂

Au revoir!

Miss Clark & Miss Farren

Primary 4 6.5.16

Our organised Day for Change is here and staff and children are arriving in school in their pyjamas as I type! We will let you know the success of the day just as soon as we have final totals.

Our V.I.Is are growing and hopefully be turning into a chrysalis very soon. Here is an update of their progress:

This weekend we want to wish Skye Thayne huge amounts of luck reciting her Burns poem for the finals! We can’t wait to hear how you did on Monday 🙂 Very proud class and teacher but all credits go to you for the fantastic effort and work you have put into it!

Next week we have people from West Lothian Youth Foundation coming in to talk about the work they do within the community. This is as a result of the letters we sent to Livingston F.C.

Children were given letters about our trip a week on Monday (16.5.16) to Dynamic Earth. This was as part of the Golden Ticket win we had whereby the school was permitted free entry to Dynamic Earth for trips. We are very excited about this. Please ensure your child has returned the purple form to permit them to go.

We are holding a small talent contest next Friday in order to choose one act for the final talent show in June, held by our House Captains. We are all very excited about this and preparing our acts. It’s going to be hard to choose just one from such a talented class!

Reminders:

Purple trip form returned as soon as possible.

No PE kit required on Monday 9th.

Outdoor PE kit required for Tuesday.

Homework Diaries signed.

Junk to be collected for mini-beast challenge in school.

Homework:

Spelling as normal

Due Friday 13th May – Reading: Read the following pages and complete an activity.

Red – Chapter 7

Blue – P.47 – 59

Green – P.41 – 52

Miss Smith’s Maths Class – Homework on position: please familiarise yourself with angles through accessing and playing these games online. If you do not have access to a computer or the internet, please let me know as I have alternative hand outs.

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?b=maths/angles

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?a=activity16

P4/3 Update 6.5.16

It sounds as though our Primary 3s had a great time in Lowport last week and behaviour was apparently fantastic so well done!

Today is Day for Change in school (organised by P4/3 and P4) and we’re hoping to see as many people as possible in school in their pyjamas (and slippers too if they like). We will be collecting change to send to UNICEF who help children all over the world who are living in dreadful conditions.

We have all been working hard practising for the P4/5 show, learning the songs and dances and lines. Less than 4 weeks to go now and the boys and girls are all very excited.

Next week homework will go back to normal with spelling, reading and maths all to be completed. We also have our big homework task due next Wednesday.

There will be no indoor PE next Monday due to a show rehearsal and outdoor PE will be on Tuesday so please bring appropriate kit that day.

Have a great weekend
Mrs Wallace

29.04.16 Primary 7 update

This week Primary 7 have been busy preparing work that we will showcase at our Leavers Assembly. Children have been working together to write a song and have also wrote letters to their favourite members of staff.

It was our last session of P.E with Deans Community High School this week. I think it is safe to say that this was a very positive experience for all pupils.

30 children took part in the first drumming workshop of this term and will continue working with Miss Farren each week to ensure we can play the new composed piece of music for 5 minutes in sync… (No pressure at all!) They will each receive a copy of the music patterns and can practice these in their own time. Click on the links below to see our progress so far!

Thank you to all the children who returned their My Life So Far project. Many have been completed to an exceptional standard. Both Miss Clark and I enjoyed reading them and they even brought a wee tear to our eyes. Can those who have not handed in their project please do so next week. Thank you.

Have a lovely long weekend!!

Miss Farren and Miss Clark

100_0943

100_0946

Group drumming

Lowport Diary Star Date 29/04/16:02

From the canal basin, we made our way to Linlithgow Palace to be given a very informative guided tour by the Linlithgow Primary School guides. These skilled children were so knowledgable and interesting, that several tourists joined our tour, thinking it was the official one! Then it was back to Lowport Centre for a very satisfying packed lunch, complete diary entries and, hopefully, get the bus back to Carmondean for 2.00 p.m. as planned. We hope you have joined us on our adventure and enjoyed reading about our exploits. If you think this is a worthwhile way of keeping you informed of our activities, please leave us a comment.

Primary 6 29th April 2016

Looking forward to seeing you all later on this morning for the P6 Assembly, the children have worked so hard and a credit to the school.

Just to remind you that on Monday and Tuesday school will not be open and there will be no spelling next week.

PE kit required on a Monday and Wednesday but encourage your child to come with lots of layers as our weather is being so unpredictable lately!

P6KS have a PGDE student for the next five weeks. Miss Blackwall has been taking the class for various lessons but will be teaching them full time from the 9th May for 3 weeks with the support of Mrs Smith and Mrs Kelly. She has settled in really well and has lots of exciting things planned for the children!

Have a lovely long weekend and lets hope the sun comes out at some point!

Mrs Smith, Mrs Kelly & Mrs Muir

Primary Five 29th April 2016

In Maths this week Mrs Jamieson’s group have been working with fractions and Mrs Steel’s group have been dividing.

In Language we have started to look at the poetry of Grace Nicholls and write our poems based on what we have read. The children have come up with some excellent ideas and have written some lovely poems.

In Health we have started working on our Drug Education topic and this week we have been looking at smoking and how this affects our health.

The school show rehearsals are continuing and we would remind the children who have parts to keep learning their words as we will soon be expecting them to practise without scripts.

Next Wednesday all the P5s will be taking part in their swimming assessment at Deans High School. Please remember to send swimming kit with your child on Wednesday. Swimming suits and shorts/trunks only please.

Thank you for your continued support

Mrs Jamieson and Mrs Steel

Lowport Diary Star Date 29/04/16:01

We had a fairly quiet night at Lowport with most sleeping by 9.45 p.m., but a few miscreants lasted till 11.30. After a liesurely breakfast of cereal, sausages, beans and a plethora of sundries, it was a quick gallop up to the canal basin for our canal cruise. More later.