Well done to everyone who took part in our Scottish Poetry Recital competition. It was a tough decision for our learners to vote on their two best performances from each class to share with the school. Please see the link below to watch each finalist recite their poem.
1st and 2nd place will be awarded on Wednesday 2 February with all children receiving a certificate.
We are so proud of everyone that took part and for our families taking the time to practise their poems at home! #achieve
This week began with a fantastic trip to Dynamic Earth. We found out how the world was created according to the theory of the Big bang. We also learned about the phases the world has gone through in order for us to have the chemicals and products within the world. This fed into ‘Our Community’ topic as it taught is how coal and gases were formed.
This led nicely to Tuesday where we had a visit from a lady from Library Services. She brought with her lots of artifacts from museums from the shale mining times in West Lothian. We learned about the lights they used down the mine and what it was like to live without electricity. The battery which powered their light in their helmets weighed a lot and we discussed the difference between batteries then and now. We also got to explore fossils in rocks and learned how these were made.
On top if this, our last visitor came into school from the community. His name is PC McMahon and is one of the community officers from this area. He came to tell us how he helped the community and was able to answer questions about what he did. The children asked very good questions as a result of knowing lots of information from Mrs Vance’s visit! We definitely made him think!
We have one last visit as a result of our letters and it is Monday the 30th of May. We will be visiting Morrisons to find out what part they play in the community and to have a little tour.
There is no further progress with the butterflies / caterpillars and they are all still in their chrysalises with no change. Our worms are doing well and are creating lots of patterns for us to follow in their soil. We will probably set them free soon.
STOP PRESS Four of the butterflies have hatched and have been released today (Friday)
Well done to the Deer Park team in sports day today, however we need to find out the results from the infant sports day to see whether they are overall winners or not. Thank you to all the parents who came along to participate, and for the tug of war at the end!
Reminders:
Monday 23rd – Holiday
Tuesday – Outdoor PE Kit
Wednesday – Dress Rehearsal for the show (performing to the school)
Saturday 28th – SCHOOL FAIR
Homework:
Due Friday 27th : Spelling as normal
Reading pages plus activity:
Red – Ch 3 and 4 of The Karate Princess in Monsta Trouble
Blue – P.74 – 87
Green – P.65 – 77
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
What an interesting week we have had with lots and lots going on!
We had two V.I.Ps in our classroom and two V.I.Is… We will begin with the V.I.Ps. After we sent our letters out to the community, we had three responses to our letters, one from PC McMahon who will be visiting us in the next couple of weeks and Mrs Vance and Mr Cowan, parents of children in our class. I wish to take this opportunity to thank you both for coming in to chat to us and tell us more about the part you play in your communities. We found it fascinating and asked lots of questions. Both visits led to fantastic discussions afterwards with the children too. We did some research on John Newland (after a few google searches for his correct name) and found out a little more about his part in the Bathgate community and their Galaday. We are looking forward to finding out more about free pool too! It was very good of you both to give up your free time and we thank you.
Also, today I received an e-mail from Livingston F.C in response to the letters sent to them. The children do not know this yet but they are going to try to send a player for a meet and greet with the class, as well as someone who can explain a little more about what they do in our community. We shall see if any of the children read the blog and mention it tomorrow!
Now for the V.I.Is…(Very Important Insects) we have been lucky enough to acquire 35 worms and 5 caterpillars to help us study mini-beasts for our topic. We have set up a worm farm at the back of the classroom and have been watching them wriggle their way down into the soil. The caterpillars have been very lazy so far, at times we have had to check whether they are still alive, but all 5 are doing well and have grown so much over just 4 days. We are excited to see what they will look like as butterflies.
Next week we are off Monday and Tuesday, and on Friday we have our Day for Change. Children will be fundraising for UNICEF on this day and are looking forward to not having to get ready for school. They tell me they are going to roll out of bed and come in wearing their pyjamas they slept in!
We have a talent show at the end of the school year being organised by the house captains. We will be holding a contest in the classroom very soon to decide who goes through to the final, so be thinking about a talent you can showcase if you wish to take part! Watch out for reminders in diaries to find out when this will be.
We have also been working on the acting and songs for our school show with lots of practice dates in the diary. Costume letters will also be coming out soon so please look for these in bags. If there are any problems with any aspect of the costume required, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us and we will do our best to help out.
Reminders
Monday 2nd and Tuesday 3rd – holiday
Wednesday 4th – return to school
Friday – Day for change. Bring any spare change you wish as a donation to UNICEF and come to school in your pyjamas.
Homework
Reading due Friday 6th May:
Please begin collecting appropriate junk for our mini-beast challenge. Children have chosen a mini-beast to do a class talk on (information to follow) and in class are being asked to create a mini-beast from junk with movable parts. Any junk for this would be greatly appreciated.
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