Hello everyone!
We are having a great week of learning in Primary 4! Last week we learned about the story of Easter and why Christians celebrated Easter in RME. Our big question (asked by Lucy G in P4C) was “What’s a bunny got to do with Easter?” We explored how Easter was a spring time celebration and often represented new life. We also spoke about the symbolic meaning of eggs in relation to spring and Easter. The children then made their own Easter baskets by folding paper and we filled them with some Easter treats!
In Numeracy we have been continuing to learn about fractions. This week we have been comparing fractions by putting them on a number line from smallest to largest. We discovered that the bigger the “denominator” was, the smaller the size of the fraction.
In school this week the children are completing SNSAs (Scottish National Standardised Assessments) in the areas of Reading, Numeracy and Mathematics and Writing. The children are working very hard and we are very proud of their achievements 🙂
Our dramas about the Viking creation story are really coming together. The children will be performing/filming tomorrow and we are really looking forward to seeing everyone’s hard work come to life 🙂
Last week in writing the children wrote fantastic fact files about one of the Viking gods (Thor, Freya, Odin or Loki). These pieces of writing were absolutely filled with interesting and surprising facts! The children are also working extremely hard to achieve their writing targets each week – we are very impressed P4!
Our last day of school is Thursday this week. We hope you have a fantastic Easter break and we look forward to welcoming the children back on Monday 19th April.
Thank you for your support.
Miss Clark & Mr Woodward
Tag: Vikings
Welcome back to the P4 Blog!
Hello everyone!
Mr Woodward and I have loved welcoming to the children back to school! It is so lovely to be back together and learning again. The children were so excited to return and have been working so hard in every curricular area! We are very proud of them 🙂
Our new PE days for this term and after the Easter Holidays are:
Monday – PE with Miss Clark & Mr Woodward
Thursday – PE with Mrs Ferguson
Both sessions of PE will take place outdoors so please make sure your child is prepared with warm clothing, a waterproof jacket and shoes that you do not mind them getting wet/muddy.
In Reading we have been doing lots of rhyming and reading aloud activities related to “The Cat in the Hat” by Dr Suess. The children have really enjoyed exploring the rhyming words in this story and creating their own poems based on the rhymes called “What the Cat Did!” Mr Woodward and I were blown away by the children’s creativity – well done everyone 🙂
In Numeracy the children have been exploring fractions. This week we have focused on finding fractions of amounts. We have been using a variety of strategies to help us to do this including – drawing pictures on our whiteboards, using counters/cubes and using number squares. Well done everyone – keep up the good work!
Our Viking topic continues with the children beginning to create their own dramas to retell the Viking creation story. They have all chosen their own roles including acting, directing and some even choosing to be in charge of sound effects and production design! Each group will film their own dramas later in the week and we cannot wait to see the finished results!
Thank you so much for all the help and support that you provided your child with during remote learning. It is greatly appreciated.
Have a great week!
Miss Clark & Mr Woodward
Primary 4 22.9.19
Hello everyone
We hope you’re having a lovely weekend.
It has been another busy week in Primary 4. In RME we have been continuing to learn about Communities and Belonging. We understand that some people choose how to live their lives based on the religion that they follow. For the past 3 weeks we have been learning about how people who follow the Jewish religion only eat certain foods called “Kosher”. We have also learned that they never mix meat or milk together, they even have separate sinks, plate and cutlery for meat and milk dishes. This week the children shared their understandings by creating a meat menu and a milk menu (starter, main course and dessert) containing only Kosher foods. We will continue to explore different food laws, looking at different religions and what they believe.
Our Viking topic is well underway. The children have been comparing how a Viking’s life was different to our own lives. However we have found some similarities too. The children noted how Viking boys often led very different lives to those of Viking girls and how boys and girls now have much more similar lives. We will create our own realistic Viking characters and will write scripts telling of some of their adventures. We hope to share these with you at parents evenings in October.
We have been very impressed with the children’s developing knowledge of time in numeracy. We have now explored both analogue and digital clocks and have practised o’clock, half past, quarter past and quarter to. We have also explored the differences between am and pm times and the children learned what activities in their lives that they do in a.m. times and in p.m. times. Next week we will explore time in 5 minute intervals using the digital clock. We will also look at longer periods of time such as weeks, months and years through using calendars. Please continue to support your child with telling the time at home.
Reminders
Homework share it jotters are not due in until Thursday 3rd October. All starred activities must be completed, the rest are optional.
PE days are Tuesday (Outdoor, weather permitting) and Thursday for Indoor PE with Mrs Ferguson.
Parents Consultations take place on Wednesday 9th October 5-7:30pm and Thursday 10th October 4-6:30pm. Information regarding appointments will be made available soon.
Thank you for your continued help and support.
Miss Clark & Mrs Muir
Primary 4 6.9.19
Hello everyone
We have had a very busy but fun filled week in Primary 4. We have been continuing to learn lots about the Vikings. This week we learned about the Viking homelands of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. We found them in an Atlas and marked them on our own maps. We then identified the Viking settlements in the UK. The boys and girls made excellent maps showing the routes across the North Sea that the Vikings may have taken to get to Scotland. We also learned about Viking long boats, what they were made of, how they were built and why they were so long and sleek. Next week we are hoping to make our own long boat models so watch this space!
In numeracy we have been continuing to learn about time. This week we focused on telling the time to the nearest 5 minutes on an analogue clock. Next week we will use digital clocks to help us to tell the time. Please continue to practise telling the time at home with your child whenever you can.
Your child still has one full week to complete their homework. We would like to see homework jotters next Thursday in class so that the children can spend some time on Friday sharing what they have done with their teacher and each other. We are looking forward to looking through their first homework task of P4 🙂
In reading, each class has begun to read and explore their new class novel. Mrs Muir’s class are reading “The Legend of Spud Murphy” while Miss Clark’s class are reading “Ottoline and the Yellow Cat”. These books will not come home with the children however we expect the children to still be reading at home even if its just a few pages each week. Please record what your child is reading each week in their homework jotter.
Reminders –
PE days – Tuesday (outdoor) and Thursday (indoor)
Homework due – Thursday 12th Sept (spelling, reading and maths activities should be completed. Other tasks are optional).
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Clark & Mrs Muir.
Primary 4 Update
Welcome to a new year in primary 4! Both classes have settled in really well and we’ve been very busy agreeing our class charter, our learning targets for the term and getting to know each other and the classrooms.
We have started our Vikings topic already and have been looking at the similarities and differences between our lives and the lives of Vikings. We were all quite shocked that the Vikings sometimes took their farm animals to live with them in their houses! We will be investigating lots more about the Vikings and incorporating other curricular areas including drama and art to help us with our learning.
In numeracy we will be consolidating the times tables we have already learned and starting to learn the 6,7,8 and 9 times tables. We will also be practising telling the time. We will revise telling the time to quarter past and quarter to the hour and then focus on telling the time to minutes past and to the hour. It would be great if you could practise telling the time with your child at home too.
Homework:
Homework will be issued every two weeks starting next week. There will be a variety of activities, some will be starred which means these should definitely be completed. There will also be other activities which are optional. House points will be given for any optional activities completed. We’ll share our homework in class every two weeks on a Friday.
For the first term we will not issue a reading book as we will be working on a class novel and doing lots of reading in class. However we encourage all the children to read books at home. If you would like to borrow a book from school for your child to read, please let us know.
PE:
Indoor PE with the PE specialist Mrs Ferguson is on a Thursday and outdoor PE is on a Tuesday. Please could you make sure your child has a PE kit. If it’s easier the PE kit can be taken in at the beginning of the week and left in class until the Friday. Mrs Muir’s class have PE first thing on Thursdays so please could your child come in wearing PE kit and with their school uniform in their bag to change into after PE.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask us.
Thanks for all your support,
Miss Clark and Mrs Muir.
Primary 4 15.11.18
Hello everyone
We have had a busy but interesting week in Primary 4.
In maths we have been learning how to answer subtraction questions using the written method. The children have been working hard to exchange when they do not have the number of ones required. We have also been practising quick recall of subtraction facts within 20. Please practise these facts with your child at home.
In writing we wrote scripts in groups of 3. We were telling imaginative stories about the Vikings we had created previously. The children worked very hard to incorporate stage directions into their scripts. They also used colons when introducing what a character was about to say. Next week the children will act out their scripts in front of an audience. We can’t wait to see the finished products!
We began exploring our new topic of Enterprise this week. The children discussed what they wanted to learn and how they want to learn. They also came up with some ideas for the name of our company and filled in job application forms for different roles within our business. We will be making reindeer sweetie bottles to sell to family and friends. The children are very excited and we’re sure that the finished products will be fabulous! 🙂
The Christmas Fair is on Friday 30th November from 6-8pm. Tickets are available from the school office or able to be purchased on the night.
Letters were sent out earlier this week for the school Christmas Lunch. This will take place on Tuesday 4th December. Children should order their lunch by next Wednesday or they will not be able to have a Christmas lunch on this day. If your child does not wish to have a Christmas lunch then they should bring a packed lunch to school on this day.
Reminders –
PE days: Thursday and Tuesday (outdoor)
Homework –
Spelling – LCWC x 2 and a spelling activity due on Friday
Maths – Subtraction sheet due Friday
Reading – see sheet in spelling homework jotters for pages. Due next Monday.
Thank you for your support.
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Clark & Miss Donaldson
Primary 4 7.11.18
Hello everyone
We’ve had a good week in Primary 4 so far. In writing we finished writing our fabulous Halloween stories and they are fantastic. They were filled with adjectives, exciting details and spooky characters! Well done boys and girls!
In reading the children have been working hard to read their books carefully looking for tricky words. They have then been beginning to use a dictionary to search for the definitions of these words in order to develop their understandings. This task has been challenging but the children have been working so hard and are developing their ability to use a dictionary quickly and effectively.
Tomorrow will be a very exciting day in Primary 4 as we host our “Viking Bake Off” event. Miss Millar and Mr Shanks will judge our creations! The children will make sweet oat cakes with honey and will get to taste their own handiwork! We can’t wait to see how they turn out 🙂
Christmas Fair letters have now been sent home along with raffle tickets. The Christmas Fair is on Friday 30th November from 6-8pm. You can buy tickets by returning the tear off slip to school or speaking to office staff.
Primary 7 are still selling Poppies 50p/ÂŁ1 preferred donation. We are looking forward to attending the P7 Remembrance Assembly on Friday to learn more.
Reminders –
Spelling – due Friday
Maths (studyladder game) – due Friday
Reading pages – due next Monday
PE days – Indoor: Thursday Outdoor: Tuesday
Thank you for your support
Miss Clark & Miss Donaldson
Primary 4 1.11.18
Hello everyone
Primary 4 have had an extremely busy but very fun week! On Monday we were visited by some very important people – two vikings! They wore traditional Viking clothes and spoke to us in a language Vikings use called Norse. The children were able to learn some new words and were even beginning to understand instructions in Norse! The Vikings taught us all about special traditions, burials, clothes, food, weapons and even dancing! What a fantastic learning experience! Thank you Vikings 🙂
On Wednesday we attended a sports event at Craigswood Sports Centre with other Primary 4 children from our cluster. The children competed in the handball festival with great enthusiasm showing great skill and sportsmanship. Thank you to Mrs Ferguson for working with the children to improve their skills. Well done Primary 4!
This week in writing the children wrote a spooky story all about Halloween. They worked very hard to focus on our 3 core targets whilst writing – using full stops and capital letters, spelling all common words correctly and using a variety of connectives. We will finish these stories next week and we cannot wait to read the finished articles!
On Monday your child received a reading book home and a new homework sheet inside their spelling jotter. Each week your child will have pages to read in their new book. They will have a full week to read these pages (from Monday to the following Monday). Spelling homework will continue as before and maths homework will be given each week. This may be in the form of a worksheet but also could be a practical activity/Studyladder game. Thank you for all your support with homework.
Last Thursday’s Halloween disco was a huge success! It was terrific seeing all the children dressed up and having a fantastic time! Thank you to the PSA for organising such a well planned and fun event! And well done too to Zara and Sophie for winning the costume competition!
Reminders –
Spelling – due Friday
Maths worksheet – due Friday
Reading pages – By next Monday
PE days – Outdoor: Tuesday Indoor: Thursday
Primary 7 are selling poppies in the run up to Remembrance Day. If you wish your child to buy one then Primary 7 are asking for a donation of at least 50p but preferably ÂŁ1. Thank you for your support.
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Clark & Miss Donaldson
Primary 4 11.10.18
Hello everyone
It was lovely to meet so many parents and carers last night at our first Parents evening. We look forward to welcoming many others this evening.
This week we have been completing work on our whole class novel studies “Ottoline and the Yellow Cat” (P4C) and “The Legend of Spud Murphy” (P4D). After the October holidays your child will receive a book home with them and will be given pages to read each week. They will also complete written work in class related to what they have read.
On Monday we learned about Viking homes. The children explored what their homes would have looked like and the similarities and differences between Viking longhouses and our own homes. Some of the children weren’t sure if they would like to share their house with the farm animals! The children then began to create their own Viking homes from a “birds eye view”.
In ICT this week the children were using the programme “Textease” to create their own Viking posters. They learned how to change the size, look and colour of our text and the children enjoyed that they could place their text anywhere that they wanted on the page. We’re looking forward to completing the posters after the holidays.
Tomorrow is the last day of term before the October holidays. We look forward to seeing the children back at school on Tuesday 23rd October.
Have a lovely October break.
Miss Clark & Miss Donaldson
Primary 4 5.10.18
Hello everyone
We have had a very busy week in Primary 4! We just performed our Harvest Assembly to Primaries 5, 6 and 7. The children sang beautifully and performed spectacularly! We were very proud teachers 🙂 Well done everyone!
Parents’ nights are next Wednesday from 5-7:30pm and Thursday from 4-6:30pm. We are looking forward to meeting with you then. If you haven’t booked an appointment yet please contact the school office.
In PE the children have been developing their skills in Handball. They have been working very well as part of small teams. On Wednesday 31st October we will all be attending a Handball Festival and playing games against other schools. Keep practising P4! 🙂
This week we have been learning about the science of floating and sinking. We discussed what items we thought might float or sink and there were a few surprises! We learned that the weight of the objects wasn’t always important but that the materials the objects were made out of and their DENSITY were very important. Today we are using Plasticine to make Viking long boats. We will then test them to see if they float!
Next week there will be no spelling homework. This will resume again after the October Holidays. Maths homework will be a task on the website “Studyladder”. Children have their username and password in their homework diaries.
Reminders:
Outdoor PE – Tuesday
Indoor PE – Thursday
Parents’ evenings – Wednesday and Thursday evening
No spelling homework next week.
Maths due Friday (StudyLadder)
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Clark & Miss Donaldson
Primary 4 13.9.18
Hello everyone
We hope you’re having a lovely week. We’ve had a busy week in Primary 4.
This week the children created their own Viking character. The children drew their Viking and used descriptive language to describe his/her physical appearance and personality. We then wrote about an adventure that our Viking went on focusing on a problem our Viking encounters and resolving the problem at the end of our story. Soon we will do some drama work related to our Viking characters, acting as if we actually are our character!
In Health we have been learning about the value of honesty. The children discussed why it is important to be honest and how not telling the truth can sometimes cause a lot more trouble. The children then displayed their knowledge which will now form part of a classroom display.
In maths the children have been learning about 2D shapes and patterns. The children are able to identify different 2D shapes and discuss their properties confidently. They will now use their knowledge of pattern and shape to create symmetrical Viking shields. We’re sure they will look fantastic!
There will be no homework next week due to the long September weekend. Spelling/maths homework will resume as normal on Monday 24th September.
Reminders:
PE days are Tuesday (outdoor) and Thursday (indoor). Please ensure that your child has appropriate kit on these days.
Badgers spelling sound: -ture
Foxes spelling sound: -mb
We hope you have a lovely long weekend. We look forward to welcoming the children back to school next Wednesday 🙂
Miss Donaldson & Miss Clark
Primary 4 5.9.18
Hello everyone
Primary 4 have been working so hard this week. We have began our spelling and phonic work daily and homework was given out on Monday that is due in for Friday. The children should complete LCWC (Look, Cover, Write, Check) twice and then complete a spelling activity.
The children have also been given log in details for studyladder. The children should attempt to log in this week and complete at least 1 activity before Friday. If you have any trouble logging in then please let us know.
IMPORTANT – You should have received a letter this week explaining about a change of date to the Auchengillan Residential. The new dates of the trip are Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th April. If you have any queries then please speak to the school office.
In numeracy the children have been learning to round numbers to the nearest 10. We began by rounding tens and units and we are now beginning to round hundreds numbers to the nearest 10 too! Please ask your child about what they have been learning.
Our Viking Topic is now in full swing! The children have learned about the countries that Vikings came from (Denmark, Norway and Sweden) and found them in an Atlas. They have also drawn their own Vikings and painted them as part of a display for our wall. We are hoping to arrange for some visitors to come to school to tell us more about Vikings – watch this space for more details!
Important Information:
PE days: Tuesday (outdoor) Thursday (indoor)
Spelling & Maths homework due: Friday
Reading (book of your child’s choice): At least 10 pages by Friday
Sounds of the week:
Badgers group: gn
Foxes/Hedgehog group: kn
Thank you for all your support. Have a great week!
Miss Clark & Miss Donaldson
Primary 4 week 2.10.17
Last week we had our assessment week. This meant that we completed various tasks and assessments.
One of the challenges we had to do was to work in teams to design and build our very own Viking Long ship. We had to work in teams to use junk to make a model and make sure that we were including 4 of the main features of a Viking ship. Â Here are some examples of what we made:
We also had to draw a Birdseye view of a Viking Long house and include the different areas and furniture they would have had in their homes.
This week we have started to practise for our Harvest assembly. This is not a parent assembly, it is only for the school. Please keep a look out for any words or songs your child may have to practise at home.
Parents evenings will take place next Wednesday  and Thursday evening, we look forward to seeing you there.
Reminders:
please make sure your child has a water bottle
Label all items of clothing
P.E days are Monday and Thursday (indoor)
Homework is due on Fridays
Thank you,Â
The Primary 4sÂ
Primary 4 15.9.17
Welcome back to the Primary 4 blog!
We hope everyone is looking forward to the holiday weekend. This week we have had a focused week on ‘Inspirational maths’. We have been working on challenges that help us to develop our skills in solving problems, being resilient and finding strategies to work through problems.
We have also been continuing to learn about the Vikings and have started to use an  atlas to find out more about where the Vikings came from and why they came to Scotland.
In reading both classes have been focusing on a novel and have been exploring ideas of setting, genre and the authors’ use of language to convey this. The children have been taking part in various activities and group discussions.
In writing we have been developing our use of descriptive language including the use of adjectives and similes when writing imaginative descriptions.
This week the school photographer has been in and photographs have been handed out if you would like to purchase any.
Reminders:
Monday is our outdoor gym day
Thursday is indoor gym
Please make sure all children’s belongings are clearly labelled to avoid loss of property.
We would also appreciate if children could bring water with them to school.
Thank you for reading our blog. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to speak to us or write a note in the homework diaries.
The Primary 4 teachers!
Primary 4 28.10.16
We hope you all had a fantastic holiday!
We have been busily finishing off our Viking topic this week, presenting our fantastic Big Homework pieces! I have never seen such super work, the effort with these is tremendous and we thank you so much for the time you spent with your child doing this. They have been so enthusiastic about it all and were so excited to share their work.
  
We also learned about the game the Vikings played in their spare time. Some of us even managed to make our own creative versions of Hnefatafl:
Primary 7 were also finishing their topic this week and came to read us their Japan books. We thought these were brilliant and gave them our feedback on an assessment sheet.
Next week we will be beginning guided reading whereby the children will be given a novel to read pages of at home. Please keep a look out on the blog for accurate homework updates weekly.
Reminders:
2 weeks until Erasmus visitors come to see our school from Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, France and Italy.
Outdoor PE kit needed on Tuesday.
Indoor PE kit – Thursday
Homework:
Due Friday 4th November: Maths Homework
Spelling homework as normal
Due Monday 7th November: Reading
Miss Smith’s Class
Red group – Ch 1 and 2
Blue group – Ch1
Green group – Ch 1, 2, 3
Miss Donaldson’s Class
Red – The Karate Princess in Monsta Trouble Ch 1 and 2
Blue – Chapter 1
Green – Chapter 1, 2, 3
Primary 4 week beg 13.10.16
Welcome to the primary 4 blog,
we have had an exciting week in Primary 4. We began our week with a visit from the Vikings! We have learned lots of interesting facts about the lifestyles of Vikings. The children got to hold real artifacts, see weapons and listen to old tales about the Viking gods.
We have also had our Viking Bake Off this week. The children worked in teams to measure ingredients and follow the recipe to make Viking bread. We are grateful to Mr Shanks and Mr Grieg who came in to be our guest judging panel! They gave the children full reviews on their baking and chose a winning team from each class. All the children enjoyed this and loved taking part in this activity.
We want to thank you for attending this weeks Parent’s evenings. We hope you enjoyed looking at the children’s work and our Viking breads.
We hope you enjoy the holidays and we will see you back at school on Tuesday 25th October. We would also like to apologise for the confusion about when big homework is due. We would appreciate it if you could hand in big homework when you return on Tuesday the 25th, not the 21st as we wrote on the letter.
When we return we will be continuing library books but also introducing our guided reading novels. You should expect assigned reading each week. We would be grateful if you could support and listen to your child reading this.
Have a wonderful holiday, stay safe!
Thank you, the P4 teachers.
Primary 4 7.10.16
This week ended with a bang! Our Harvest Assembly and all of our hard work was a huge success.
We forgot to also show you photos of us measuring the length of a Viking long boat and pretending we were on a voyage. We couldn’t believe the length of it!!
We are looking forward to meeting parents next week for our first parent’s night of the year! If you have not yet made an appointment, you can book online.
This Monday we are going to be transported back in time with our Viking visitors. They will be showing us battles, ways of life, dress, food and treasures of the times of the Vikings. We will post photos next week to show you the types of things we got up to.
Reminders:
Tuesday – outdoor PE Kit
Wednesday Indoor PE Kit
Homework:
Due Friday 14th: Spelling and Reading as normal (New sheets will be issued.)
Due 21st October: Viking Big Homework, see last week’s blog post for instructions.
Primary 4 23.9.16
We hope you all enjoyed your long weekend. This has been a short week for us and we have begun practising for our school Harvest Assembly. This assembly is not a parent one but one for the children. Please look out for any speaking parts and help your child practise at home.
It was great to see some of you at our Residential information evening. Please if you have any further questions do not hesitate to ask us.
Next week is our assessment week, whereby children will be working in one jotter to give us a snapshot view of their abilities in all areas of the curriculum. These will be on display at Parent’s night for your perusal.
We have completed our Vikings for the frieze also. see below for the pictures as promised.
Reminders:
Practise assembly words
Homework:
Due Friday the 30th – Spelling and reading as normal
Due Friday 21st October – We will be handing out a big homework menu sheet. We know life is busy so please choose an activity according the time you have available to facilitate your child to complete this.
