reminders – Page 2 – Carmondean Primary School Blog

Primary 4 11.11.16

Today we held a one minute silence for Remembrance Day. Primary Sevens have been selling poppies all week in the lead up to today.

Next week we will be welcoming our Erasmus guests to Carmondean Primary School. We are very excited and this week we have been working on a challenge to learn more about the countries involved. These will be shown in a display for their arrival. We looked at the country’s national flowers, capital cities, important rivers and flags as well as their language.

We will be beginning our new topic next week, enterprise, whereby the pupils will be choosing their object they wish to make and sell. We will be carrying out surveys and using data handling in order to plan something we hope will sell well. We will discuss the terms ‘profit’ and ‘loss’.

Reminders:

Tuesday and Thursday – No PE Kit required.

Can all parents please ensure their children do not play on the sandpit at the beginning or end of the day where there is no adult supervision. Thank you for your support with this.

Friday 18th November – Dress down in spots for Children in Need and bring 50p donation. Wristbands will be on sale from Monday.

Homework:

Due Friday 18th November: Reading, please see the homework grid from last week’s blog.

Maths for both classes – worksheet.

Spelling as normal.

Primary 5. 04.11.2016

This week we have started preparing for our assembly by learning the words to four different songs, one for each of the countries in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. We have also begun to learn about the patron saints of these countries.

We have also finished writing our latest stories, “I was left behind”. Some of our stories are so good that we have chosen to put them in our learning journals.

Over the next couple of weeks we are going to start selling wrist bands to support children in need. To raise publicity for this we are creating posters which we can stick up around the school.

Primary 5B have had a a student from Deans Community High School helping us out this week.

Reminders for next week

Spelling homework
Maths homework
Reading Homework
PE kits on Tuesday and Thursday

Can you make sure that you sign your child’s homework diary so that we know you are checking them?

Thanks.

Mrs. Steel and Mr. Greig

Primary 4 9.9.16

This week we are well underway with all of our subjects. We have investigated water and what it is used for. It is great to see all of the tally charts coming in from home detailing water use in our houses. These will be used to compile a class tally chart on water use. They are due in on Monday. We have a visit from Scottish Water planned on Monday and are excited to see what they are going to tell us.

We have been making very scary life size Vikings for our classroom frieze and when they are finished, we will take a picture of them and post it on here to introduce them to you.

Reminders:

Could all clothing have children’s names or initials on them please.

Tuesdays – Outdoor PE kit (Weather permitting)

Wednesdays – Indoor PE kit

Homework:

Due Monday 12th – Water tally table

Due Friday 16th

– Spelling homework

-Reading homework – at least 10 pages of own choice of book.

-Miss Smith’s Maths Group – Place Value homework focusing on Th H T U

-Miss Donaldson’s Maths Group – Place Value homework focusing on H T U

As homework this week, please spend some time on the following web site to practice place value.

http://www.topmarks.co.uk/place-value/place-value-charts You should aim to work with numbers involving Th H T U but you can start at any level. You have not yet started decimals so if you do investigate these, please do not get worried if they are unclear at this stage. Please ask a parent to sign your homework diary or comment to let me know how you got on with this.

Place Value Charts – 5 to 11 year olds – Topmarks

www.topmarks.co.uk

About Place Value Charts. Place value or hundreds, tens and units can be a difficult concept for children. The value of each digit in a number depends on its place or …

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Smith and Miss Donaldson

Primary 4 1.9.16

It was lovely to see so many parents on Tuesday night, thank you for coming along to see us. If you couldn’t manage, don’t worry, we have put a class newsletter into your child’s bag as well as a spelling homework exemplar to see the kinds of things we will be doing in the first term of Primary 4.

We have had a busy week this week settling into our new class properly. We have discussed and created our class charter based on the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. We have used this charter to decide upon our classroom rules. The whole school focus has been on SHANARRI, and within this acronym, Primary 4 have focused on Inclusion. We discussed and gave examples of how we were all included in Carmondean Primary School and then illustrated these ideas using pens and coloured paper. We have sent home the charter we decided on to allow you to see what rules we shall be following this year. These are in the children’s words and what they found important to them. Please could you return the tear off slip at the bottom of the rules letter to show your support and understanding of the importance of following these.

We have been learning about colour as one of the visual elements of Art, and even did a science experiment investigating colour!

We have started planning our Viking topic this week and look forward to learning more about it this term. We have had some fantastic ideas from the children such as making Viking food, creating a small viking village and even creating our very own life sized viking! We also thought of a lot of questions we would like to have answered by the end of the topic which has given Miss Donaldson, Miss Miller and myself lots of food for thought when planning the topic.

Children have been given letters home relating to their achievements and interests. We would be extremely grateful if these could be completed and handed back into school.

Reminders:

Letters to be returned to office: personal information, achievements, agreement of rules.

Please could we ask all items of clothing to have the children’s initials on them for ease of identifying the owners. We have had a few items lost and thankfully found this week, but it would be made easier with names on them somewhere.

Tuesday – outdoor PE kit (warm, appropriate clothing and shoes.)

Thursday – Indoor PE kit (dark coloured shorts and white t-shirt if possible)

Homework

Due Friday 9th

– Spelling homework: see newsletter for further information, 4 days of spelling words completed in homework jotter.

– Reading homework: read with a parent / guardian at least 10 pages of personal choice reading book.

– Learn computer login details. These will be in the front of homework diaries.

Due Monday 12th

– Use of water grid – one night of the week (once home from school) children should place tally marks every time family members use water for any activity. This could be making a cup of tea, washing up, wetting a cloth, running a bath, having a shower. Grids will be made in class and put into spelling homework jotters.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Smith and Miss Donaldson.

Primary 4 26.8.16

Welcome back everyone!

It has been so nice seeing everyone back at school and getting to know everyone in our new class. We have been very busy this week settling in, for some of us into a new classroom, and to others having new classmates! Welcome also to three students who are new to our stage, two in Miss Smith’s class and one in Miss Donaldson’s, and to Miss Miller, who will be helping in Primary 4 up until the end of February. I have to say, I have been very impressed so far with the way we have been following routines and getting used to being a Primary 4 in the upper school!

If anyone has any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to meeting some of the parents next Tuesday 30th August at Meet the Teacher. This will help us put names to faces and to pick up the class newsletter to find out what is happening this term in Primary 4.

Reminders:

Tuesday 30th 4:30 – 5:30 – Meet the Teacher. Feel free to drop in between these times.

Outdoor PE kit (outdoor shoes and warm active-wear) every Tuesday

Indoor PE kit (shorts and T-shirt) every Thursday

Homework:

Due Monday 29th August – Please cover both spelling homework jotters and homework diaries with paper. If you do not have paper at home, please let me know as we can provide this without a problem.

Miss Smith and Miss Donaldson

Primary 4 3.6.16

I will begin by saying a huge well done to all of the primary 3s, 4s and 5s in their excellent efforts in the school show. It was absolutely fantastic and all your hard work definitely paid off. I was a very proud teacher on Wednesday with what you managed to achieve. I’m sure all of the parents agree!

We began our week with our last community trip – to Morrisons. There, we had a tour around the counters and areas of the store including the fruit and veg isle, where we learned of strange foods and where they came from, the fish isle, where we learned how they gut a fish before sale and also had a tour ‘behind the scenes’. We learned of how the store collected and sorted deliveries and even how the store recycled their packaging! We even got to taste foods from all areas of the store, including pancakes and tiger bread from the bakery, a fruit cocktail from the fresh produce and cheese from the refrigerators. It was very interesting, and we thank Mrs Hendry for organising our visit.

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We have been busy presenting our mini-beasts to Primary 4/3 where we showed them our 3D models, plans and leaflets. We are busy learning about power point and how to use it to create quizes and linked slides using the information we wrote in our leaflets.

Reminders:

Please sign homework diaries

Please return any costumes your child has brought home. Thank you to those who have already done this.

Monday – Indoor PE Kit

Tuesday Outdoor PE Kit

Homework:

Due Friday 10th – Maths for Miss Smith’s Class. (Sorry I didn’t put a date on last week’s blog for the homework and due to the show it was only handed out on Thursday.)

Due Friday 10th – Spelling as normal (this will be the last week of spelling for Primary 4. Your child will move into Primary 5 with on the target they finish on this day.

Due Friday 10th – Reading pages and an activity.

Red – Read again from page 78 to the end of the book with a parent.

Blue – p.102 – 114

Green – Ch 6

Primary 4, 20.5.16

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.

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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.

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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

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

Primary 4, 23.4.16

What a busy week it has been, getting into our new topics and recovering from the fantastic Auchengillan!

The children were excellent and their behaviour and manners were commented on by everyone, from the kitchen staff to the outdoor staff as well as the administration staff so a big well done to everyone who came.

We got very muddy on the last day as it had been raining prior to our visit. We had a very quick change before heading onto the bus to go home. See below for a few sneaky pics! We have made a video of all of the photos taken by staff which the children will see very soon.

Whilst we were away at Auchengillan, the people who stayed with Mrs Wallace did a fantastic job of organising Primary 4’s event, ‘Day for Change.’ This will take place on the 6th of May whereby children can mark the event by getting dressed in their pyjamas and slippers to come to school. If they wish they can bring in a donation of change, as much or as little as they want.

It has been a busy week for our staff and colleagues this week in Bulgaria too! I hope you have all been catching up with their activities on the F.L.A.G Blog page. In class we have been reading it every morning and discussing similarities and differences as well as talking about their experiences.

Look out for our newsletter for this term. It highlights up and coming events, current topics as well as reminders. We will be welcoming a few new visitors to our class next week as well as part of our Science topic, Mini-beasts. Caterpillars and worms will be making their way into their enclosures at some point for us to observe over the next few weeks.

This week we sent off letters to members of our community to invite them in to chat about their role in our community. We sent ten letters to various people the children considered to be important in our community and have one visit booked in for next week already! Fingers crossed more people reply to make our learning all the more interesting and relevant.

Reminders:

Please sign homework diaries

Indoor PE kit – Monday

Outdoor PE kit – Tuesday

6th May – Day for Change

Homework:

Due: Friday 29th April

Reading book pages:

Red – Ch 3 and 4

Blue – p.21 – 32

green – p.15 – 27

Corresponding activities (first one to be completed by next Friday 29th as they have two weeks to complete an activity.)
Miss Smith’s Maths Class – Multiplication / division sheet.

Auchengillan Residential P4

This is just a quick reminder for children in Primary 4 going to Auchengillan tomorrow.

The bus will leave from the school car park at approximately 9:30am. We will return to school at approximately 3:00pm on Friday 15th.

Please remember the children need a packed lunch for Thursday and if school meals are provided by the school for your child, these will be here ready.

An evening meal on Thursday and breakfast and lunch on Friday will be provided by the centre.

Please ensure names are put on all clothing. Things you should bring include:

socks
underwear
jumpers / sweaters
T-shirts/tops
old joggers / trousers (if possible no jeans)
old training shoes (2 pairs if possible)
indoor shoes or slippers
outdoor shoes / boots
warm waterproof jacket and trousers if you have them
gloves and hat
nightwear
toiletries including toothbrush and toothpaste
towel
bin bag for dirty / wet clothing

No electronics should be brought with the children. Cameras are permitted should they wish to bring them. No money is required as it was included in the price of the trip and children will be given their money to spend at the shop when required.

Some of the activities we will be doing include; grass sledging, water walkers, laser tag, inflatable assault course among other things.

Miss Smith, Mrs Tully, Mrs Dudgeon and Mrs Scott are looking forward to sharing the Auchengillan experience and all of the fun we are going to have there 🙂

Primary 4, 11.3.15

This week we went to see the dress rehearsal of the P7 show Hosanna. Those of you who are going to see it will love the songs and the acting! Well done P7! We will be beginning our show practice next week ready for our production of ‘Robin Hood and the Sherwood Hoodies’.

We had Mrs Henry in from Morrisons yesterday giving us a taster of some Scottish foods. We tried things like potato scones, oatcakes, tablet, Ayrshire ham, scotch pies, and cheddar cheese among lots of others! We were very adventurous with our choices and most people in the class tried everything. We then found out where each piece of food was from in Scotland.

We are looking forward to hearing the class talks over the next couple of weeks we have had power points, drawings, photographs, books and tickets as some of the materials brought in to accompany our talks. They look very interesting so far!

As of Monday our timetable will be changing slightly. We have indoor PE on a Monday now instead of a Wednesday. Could you ensure appropriate kit be brought on this day. Outdoor PE remains a Tuesday.

Next week, we will be supporting Sport Relief. In order to do this, the P6’s who are organising will be holding a bake sale on Thursday 17th. The cakes will range between 20 and 50p. If you wish to contribute, they will be collecting baking donations next week.

On Friday the 18th to mark the event we will be having a dress down day where children should come to school dressed in sporty clothes. A 50p donation is required for dress down and all proceeds go to Sport Relief. On Friday break time, there will be a beat the teacher challenge which children can pay 50p to take part in also.

Reminders:

Monday 14th – Indoor PE kit

Thursday 15th – Outdoor PE Kit

Thursday 17th – Bake Sale for Sport Relief

Friday 18th – Dress down, 50p Sporty clothes

Please remember to sign homework diaries

Homework:

Miss Smith’s Maths Class – multiplication homework due Monday 21st.

Reading – Please continue to read a library book or books from home to keep practising reading skills, continuing through the holidays.

Spelling as normal.

Primary 4, 4.3.16

What an exciting day we had for World Book Day and some excellent costumes and characters from our favourite books! We took part in a class quiz to see how much we knew about famous books just for a bit of fun in celebrating World Book Day and customised bookmarks to make them our own.

This week we also had fun in health, ordering drinks depending on the amount of sugar we thought they had in them. We were extremely surprised when we seen the results. We have been learning about the effects of sugar on our teeth and are awaiting a visit from the Dental Nurses who have kindly agreed to come in to visit us and give us a talk. This will be followed up nicely next term with healthy eating.

Reminders:

Sport Relief bands will be on sale next week for £1.

Homework diaries to be signed.

Outdoor PE kit on Tuesday.

No indoor PE on Wednesday.

Homework:

Due Friday: Spelling as normal (all on new sheets)

Reading: apologies to the blue group, I forgot to hand out the book review sheets on Monday and therefore, they sat on my desk all week.

This week Reading homework for everyone will be a book review. Apologies again.

Class talk due to be handed in, the following week we will work our way through hearing them.

Primary 4, 19.2.16

This is just a quick entry seeing as it has been a very short week!

Assembly words have been handed out this week. Please help your child to learn them.

Reading from Monday will be connected to our reading books and based on the techniques we have learned during Reading Routes. As a result, can children ensure they bring their reading books with them to school every day.

Reminders:

Please sign homework diaries

Outdoor PE: Tuesday, weather permitting

Indoor PE: Wednesday

Friday 26th February: Class assembly at 11:30am which you are all welcome to come to. Please make contact with the office if you have not already done so to tell them how many people you wish to come. This will allow us to have an appropriate amount of seats out.

The assembly explains information about Scotland’s seven cities and information about how Mary Queen of Scots was connected to some of them.

Homework:

Spelling as normal

Reading

Red – 132 – 153

Blue – 113 – End

Green – 95 – 108

Learn assembly words and assembly songs.

Due 11th March – Class talk. If children wish to do this in pairs, they can, however both children should have the same amount of interaction with the class for assessment in listening and talking and answering questions.

Primary 4 12.2.16

Thank you to all parents who attended parent’s night over the last two nights. It was great to see so many of you again and the conversations had by all were extremely helpful. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support this year.

This week we said goodbye to Miss Leyland who had been in our class since we came back to school in January. The children put together a lovely card for her and wished her good luck on her next journey in learning and in life.

This week we received an e-mail with further clues for our travels of Scotland’s main cities. We put together the clues and found we were in Huntly, near Aberdeen. We have been researching the oil and fishing industries, the main rivers, Dee and Don and also the famous silver granite buildings!

Reminders:

We are off on Monday and Tuesday (15th and 16th)

Wednesday – Indoor PE kit required.

Friday 26th Parent Assembly more details to follow.

Homework:

Even though we are off Monday and Tuesday Spelling and reading as normal.

Reading Pages:

Red: 110 – 131

Blue: 93 – 112

Green: 85 – 94

Maths: worksheet will be handed out on Wednesday.

Primary 4 4.2.16

Well, It’s great to be back and to see everyone again 🙂 I have enjoyed telling the children about all of the experiences and stories from Poland. In assembly tomorrow there will be a little taster of the things they can expect to be creating on the run up to Easter from the crafts Mrs Tartaglia and myself learned whilst there.

This week we have continued learning about Dundee. It is one of the main cities in Scotland and we now know all about the three J’s – Jute, Jam and Journalism. We even had a go at creating our own cartoon character and comic strip just like D. C Thomson.

Great to see so many children completing their sentences in their homework jotters in joined up writing. It is not perfect at this stage but the experience of trying it right now is all we are aiming for. The effort from the children has been super. It is beginning to show in some areas of our class work also which is great!

This week, unfortunately letters have had to be sent home to children who have not been coming prepared for indoor PE. Each week we write reminders in our homework jotters and still there are a lot of people forgetting. We have PE on a Wednesday indoor and a Tuesday outdoor.

I’d like to say good luck to Miss Leyland who will be leaving us on Tuesday to continue her studies and experience of teaching. She has been an asset to the school and our Primary 4 class and has delivered fun and exciting lessons for the past 5 weeks. We wish her all the best 🙂

Reminders:

Outdoor PE – Tuesday

Indoor PE – Wednesday

Parents night – Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th

Friday 12th – Valentine dress down. Wear something pink or red and dress for valentine’s day. Donation of 50p to raise funds for the school should you choose to take part.

Homework:

Due Monday 8th – Miss Smith’s Maths homework

Due Friday 12th – Spelling and reading:

RED – Pages 90 – 109

BLUE – Pages 80 – 92

GREEN – Pages 64 – 84

Thank you for your continued support and look forward to seeing you all next week.

Miss Smith

Primary 4 15.1.16

We received a letter to kick start our Scotland topic which asked us to help with some research of Scottish myths and legends. Children participated in research tasks and found out three main mythical creatures connected to Scotland. These are Kelpies, selkies and Nessie.

We have been using our atlas skills to work out the countries and capitals of the United Kingdom. We also were learning more about North, South, East and West, as well as the points in between.

In science, we conducted experiments, learning about static electricity. We had some very interesting hairstyles afterwards as we had to think of ways to ‘charge’ our balloons.

I hope children have been practising their poems over the last week ready for our class competition next Thursday. There will also be opportunities in class to recite poems with the teacher and classmates before then. Class winners will then recite their poem to the school on Friday of next week. Winners from this competition will attend the main Burns poetry recital.

Thank you this week to everyone for having their PE kit in on the days we had PE with only the exception of one or two both days. It made a huge difference. Hopefully the weather will pick up for next Tuesday and we will be able to get out for some rugby. It was not in our favour this week.

Reminders:

Sign homework diaries

Tuesday – Outdoor PE kit needed. Please bring warm clothes

Wednesday – Indoor PE kit needed.

Homework:

Due:

Thursday 21st – Burns poem recital in class. Please have these learned. Children know the expectations for this as they differ between poems.

Friday 22nd – Reading Red – p.27-46

Blue – p.23 – 36

Green – p.20-28

Spelling – look cover write check each night. One night sentences in Berol script handwriting. Please note, this is to build confidence, and is as practice. I am by no means expecting perfection with linked script at this stage.

Thank you,

Miss Smith

Primary 4, 8.1.16

Happy New Year!

We hope you have had an enjoyable and well rested festive break. We are happy to be back and are looking forward to a busy term ahead full of learning.

We are very lucky to have Miss Leyland with us for the next six weeks. She will be working in our classroom and with the children throughout her time at Carmondean.

This week, we started our new Interdisciplinary Topic, Scotland. The children were eager to share their existing knowledge and keen to give their suggestions as to what and how they wish to learn.

We have chosen our Burns poems and these have been sent home with the pupils today. We have selected one out of the following four Robert Burns poems; On Holy Willie, Scots Wha Hae, A Bard’s Epitaph and Willie Wastle. I have attached these below. Click on the ‘Poems’ link to access them. These should be learned by Thursday 21st January.

Please check your child’s bag for a newsletter detailing what is happening this term.

Poems

Reminders:

Please sign and check homework diaries weekly.

Outdoor PE – Tuesday (Please bring old, warm clothes in case they get muddy.)

Indoor PE – Wednesday (Please check your child has appropriate indoor kit with them on these days. There are a lot of children coming to school unprepared.)

Homework Due:

Monday 18th: Maths co-ordinates worksheet Miss Smith’s Maths group.

Friday 15th: Spelling and Reading Homework. Spelling should have one day chosen for sentences written in Berol Script.

Learn Burns poem by 21st January.

Thank you,

Miss Smith