Category Archives: School News

St Nicholas Writing Competition – The Judging Begins

Our Pupil Council began the judging process today, looking at entries for the St Nicholas Writing Competition.  Here they are hard at work reading the entries.  The standard of writing was very, very high.  Winners for the both the reading and the writing competitions will be announced on Friday 11th of January at assembly.   Thanks Pupil Council for your help and giving us your views and insights into what makes a great story.

A Cup of Christmas Cheer

This week we made a special delivery to Broxburn Care Home to drop off a ‘Cup of Christmas Cheer’ for every resident. Our Relationships vertical learning group discussed the importance of spreading joy at Christmas and made up little packs which included a personalised Christmas card, a Christmas cup with a hot drink sachet and a wee cake. The package was well received by the residents and staff who were delighted with our little gifts.

Winter Ready

The council have uploaded their latest Winter Ready information to our school website, under the Parent Zone: https://stnicholasprimary.westlothian.org.uk/article/5923/Winter-Ready-for-Schools

 

Winter Ready 2018:

In the event of closures schools will contact parents/carers in the normal way via Groupcall. Parents/carers should ensure that their school/nursery has up to date contact information.

In addition changes will be notified via the School Closures pageFacebookTwitter and local media.

School closures

The Head Teacher has responsibility for undertaking a risk assessment in the event of severe weather or building difficulties.  There are several factors which may impact on this decision including:

  • the building itself and whether there is water and power
  • access to the school and decisions of school transport operators
  • whether there are enough staff available to ensure that the school can open safely
  • whether it is safe to send children home during severe weather.

The Head Teacher takes the decision to close a school to pupils in consultation with a member of the senior management team in Education Services.

Travelling to school

In extreme weather conditions such as snow, parents/carers should carry out a risk assessment as to whether they consider it safe for their child to travel or walk to school. Parents/carers should then inform the school of their decision at the earliest opportunity.

School Transport procedures in the event of adverse weather

During adverse weather conditions school transport operators have been instructed that if a child is picked up on route and news reaches the driver that the school is closed, the driver will proceed to the school with the child as planned.

Under no circumstances will the driver return to the pick up point until such time as the parents have been informed of the situation.

It is vitally important that parents are aware that transport may not operate at all in adverse weather conditions and parents must have a contingency plan should the bus not arrive at the pick up point. Please ensure that your child/children are aware of these guidelines and what to do if the bus does not arrive for any reason as normal.

If you have any queries about the school transport procedure please contact Public Transport either by telephone: 01506 280000 or email: customer.service@westlothian.gov.uk.

GLOW

All West Lothian pupils have access to the education community GLOW.  Pupils who can access a computer at home, at libraries or Community Centres, can access study material via GLOW.  The private website has study material and activities.

West Lothian Council GLOW allows teachers and pupils to communicate over the internet in a safe and secure way. Teachers can post work and lessons for pupils. Pupils can submit completed work. Features include safe and secure ‘chat rooms’ where teachers can answer pupil questions, and where pupils can help each other out and share learning experiences.

Norovirus (Winter Vomiting Disease)

A number of schools across Lothian have reported an increase in pupils with vomiting and/or diarrhoea.  The symptoms are suggestive of viral gastroenteritis (also known as norovirus or winter vomiting disease) which is known to be currently circulating in the community.  It is usually a short lived self-limiting illness from which children and adults recover quickly.

Further information about norovirus and its prevention can be found on the NHS Inform Norovirus Information Webpage

To minimise the likelihood of developing norovirus we recommend:

  • If your child develops vomiting and/or diarrhoea please ensure they remain off school until they have been symptom free for at least 48 hours.  This advice applies at all times.  So for instance if your child becomes unwell over the weekend they should not attend school on Monday even if by then they feel well.
  • Ensure that all members of your family wash their hands frequently using warm water and liquid soap, especially after using the toilet and before eating or preparing food.

 

Busy Little Elves in P3

Last week in Maths we were learning all about symmetry.  We used mirrors to check if a shape was symmetrical and how many lines of symmetry it had.  We discovered that not all shapes are symmetrical and that is called asymmetric.

In Literacy, we were learning about common and proper nouns.  We learned that a proper noun is a little bit fancy and needs a capital letter.  Words such as months of the year, names, places and days of the week are all proper nouns.

We are starting to feel a little festive, so in Art we were given a challenge by our class elf to create a Christmas tree using forks, paint, glitter and paper plates.

 

We have also been exercising our vocal chords and have been practising our Christmas carols in preparation for the Christmas carol concert next week.  We have also been pract

 

ising our dance moves for our Christmas party and have been learning The Square Dance, The Grand Old Duke of York and The Flying Scotsman.

What a busy week we had!

We hope that our class elves leave us some more fun challenges to do this week!

The BIG Debate in Primary 6

Primary 6 have been researching the moon landing of 1969. There are many conspiracy theories surrounding this event so P6 set to work to discover all the facts and then to have a debate.

After several arguments the class had a vote and the response was 50:50 as we could not decide which theory to believe.

It was fascinating introduction to the skill of debate.

Primary 5b

Happy St Andrew’s Day! This week we have been learning about St Andrew.

Ellie – St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, Rope, Fisherman and Fishmongers.

Paula – St Andrew was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus.

Christy – St Andrew was born in 5 BC

Cerys – St Andrew was 62  when he died.

Szymon – He was killed by the Romans in Greece.

Alexander – Some of St Andrew’s remains are in Scotland.

Sam – He said that he was not worthy to be crucified on a  cross like Jesus so he was crucified on a x-shaped cross.

Ciaran – The x shape was adopted as our national flag of Scotland (the saltire).

Matthew – He had a brother called Simon Peter.

Mirin – St Andrew appeared in a dream and told the Pictus people that they would be victorious in battle.

Phoebe – he followed Jesus and spread the good news.

Happy St Andrew’s Day!

We have also been learning about multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1,000 in numeracy and using subtraction strategies in number talks. We have worked very hard this week in all areas.

P5b

P5

Since returning from the summer holidays we have been very busy. We have been learning about shale mining in Broxburn and we looked at the Burngrange mining disaster.

Max – the Burngrange disaster happened 71 years ago.

Lucas – the disaster happened in West Calder

Mirin – 15 men lost their lives.

Daniel – one of the men died at the exit to the mine.

Connor – 2 of the men were brothers.

Paula – a giant explosion and fire caused the disaster and parts of the mine to collapse.

We have learned lots of information and created art work, job adverts, PowerPoints, mind maps and newspaper reports all about shale mining and the disaster.

We are now going to be learning about natural disaster.  We can’t wait!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gymnastics Champs!

Huge congratulations to gymnasts, Abbie Thomson, Anna Keogh and Chloe Laing – members of the St Nicholas Team – who scooped the award of 2nd place in the Scottish Gymnastics Primary Schools Finals in Perth last weekend, where they competed against schools from all over Scotland!  Well done also to Anna Keogh who took the award for 2nd Place for her individual performance.

We are all so proud of you girls – well done to all of  you!

 

 

SCHOOL OPENING

Thanks to an amazing effort by West Lothian Council teams, contractors and parents/carers, all but 13 council primary, nursery and special schools WILL safely open tomorrow (Monday, 5 March).

They join West Lothian’s 11 secondary schools, which will re-open on Monday as planned.

The following schools will remain CLOSED on Monday:

Blackridge Primary
Connolly Campus, Blackburn
Deans Primary, Livingston
Eastertoun Primary, Armadale
Hopefield Nursery School, Blackburn
Longridge Primary
Our Lady of Lourdes Primary, Blackburn
Our Lady’s Primary, Stoneyburn
Parkhead Primary, West Calder
Pinewood School, Blackburn
Riverside Primary, Livingston
St Joseph’s Primary, Whitburn
St John the Baptist Primary, Fauldhouse

All 13 of these will re-open on Tuesday 6 March.

All other West Lothian Council secondary, primary, nursery and special schools will be OPEN on Monday 5 March at the normal time. Parents/carers will receive a groupcall to confirm if their school is open or closed.

Re-opening nearly 100 schools following severe weather is a major job, with significant checks carried on every building required before it can be safely opened, such as ensuring they are still structurally sound, heating is working and toilet and catering facilities are in good working order.

Snow clearing work in school grounds is ongoing to ensure a safe route for staff and pupils, with up to five feet of snow drifts requiring cleared in some schools.

Due to the amount of specialist work required, it has not been possible to safely open every school on Monday.

If your child’s school is open, we would encourage you to send them if it safe to do so. Parents should carry out their own assessment of whether it is safe for their child to travel to school from their home, depending on their individual circumstances.

Parents/carers should take extra care when travelling to school on Monday, especially as some crossing patrol staff may not be in place.

All school transport will operate as normal.

Parent/carers of pupils attending special schools who receive transport should check with their provider on whether they are able to take their child to school.

There will be no breakfast clubs on Monday, and lunch menus may vary from usual. Wraparound care will be in place as normal, and parents/carers should confirm any after school arrangements with their provider.

WINTER READY!❄️

⛄❄SNOW DAY❄⛄

Here are some suggested activities that your child can do to continue their learning. Activities have been set within stages. Please post any pictures or comments to our Facebook or Blog.

❄️*P1 ACTIVITIES*❄️

– Write a little story about your snow day and bring it into school
– Draw a very detailed snowy illustration of your fun day
– Cosy up with a nice warm drink and read your reading books/home story books
– Build me a snow dog! 🐶
– Build a big snowman and get your mum or dad to help you measure how tall he/she is! Tallest snowman may win a prize!
– Access: http://www.gregtangmath.com/tenframemania and see if you can set a Primary 1 record for highest score
– Access: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=16&AgeGroup=1 and practise some addition and subtraction games
– Access: http://www.doorwayonline.org.uk/literacy/speller/ and practise some spelling
– One very helpful thing to do would be to look in your homework folder and practise correct formation of all letters and numbers
– Write your balloon words in the snow
– Make snowballs of different weights and roll them down a hill, see which one travels the farthest/fastest

❄️*P2-4 ACTIVITES*❄️

*write a snowy poem (acrostic, rhyming, repetition) ❄

*build a snowman ⛄ and measure how tall he is (send photos on Dojo if you wish)

*exercise counting 🏃🏼‍♀🏃🏼‍♂- keep warm by doing star jumps, jogging on the spot etc and counting in 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s and 10s. Practise reciting your 2, 5 and 10 times tables

*draw/paint a picture of the view outside your window 🎨 ✏

*use number gym/Greg Tang maths online /Topmarks Hit the Button to work on your number bonds 📱💻

*cosy up with a nice warm drink and read your reading book or library book 📚

*practise writing your spelling words in the snow

*design a cosy outfit to wear in the snow 🧥 👢

*make different weights of snowballs and roll them down a slope – which one travels farthest/fastest?

❄️*P5-7 ACTIVITIES*❄️

*build a snowman ⛄ and measure how tall he is

*write instructions on how to do something you did on your snow day (baking, snowman etc.) 🍰

*draw a picture of a snowy landscape ⛰ ❄️

*use number gym/Topmarks Hit the Button to work on your times tables 📱💻

*read at least 2 chapters of your accelerated/library book. 📚

*write a summary of what you’ve read.

*practise writing your spelling words in a creative way. 🔡

*measure the depth of the snow at 3 different points during the day. Did the depth increase or decrease? ⬆️⬇️

*use your knowledge of the solar system and write a paragraph about why we have winter. 🌍

*use a restaurant menu to create 4 multiplication/division problems. Solve your problems using efficient strategies. ➗✖️

*create a quiz about something you are interested in (include an answer key). 🔑

Again, Please share any pictures of the activities you’ve completed on Facebook or the blog! 📷

Most importantly, stay safe and have fun! ❄☃

Talking about learning…

Thanks to everyone who came to our curriculum cafe today to discuss their children’s learning with them over tea and a biscuit.   Our St Nicholas children were very proud to show their families evidence of all their hard work and effort.  Our cafe was very, very busy today – thank goodness our Pupil Council and parent partners were on hand to help.  Thanks also to Avril Fitzpatrick and Agnes Boyle – ladies from the local community who organise our teas and coffees and who we couldn’t do without.

Our next curriculum cafe will be on Friday the 4th of May.

 

P4 den building

We had great fun at Almondell Country park today building dens. We worked cooperatively in small groups to design and then construct our dens. It was great fun.

Stephen – Den building was fun because I enjoyed gathering all the materials and resources
Connor – I learned that some sticks are heavy and need two people to lift them.
Iga – I had fun building the shelter so that it was rain proof.
Finn – I enjoyed making smaller things inside the shelter. We made a fire escape, an arm chair and a kitchen.
Milo – I enjoyed testing out the dens at the end. Ours was big enough for all of us to fit inside.
Cian – I liked gathering the wood because if you went far away from your den, it tested your navigation skills.
Carson – I liked working with others in my team.
Aaron – I learned that there are different shapes to be made from the sticks.

More photos to follow if Mrs Cannung can work out how to download them!

P5 STEM – Floating and Sinking

During our STEM activities this week we decided to explore floating and sinking as it would be useful learning alongside our Titanic topic.

Our first activity involved making a prediction to decide if cans of juice would float or sink and why we made this hypothesis. We discovered that the cans of diet juice floated as they were less dense than the cans with sugary drinks. We also discovered that the non-diet juice contained over 18 café sized packets of sugar. After much discussion we concluded that water or milk would be a healthier option.

The next challenge was to make a change so that the floating orange would sink. The groups worked well coming up with different ways to achieve this: trying to squeeze the juice out, making holes in the skin and cutting it into smaller pieces. However the removal of the skin did the trick and Luke was able to explain why. Here’s the science:  Drop an orange into water and it floats, but remove the peel from that same orange and it will sink. The unpeeled orange floats because the rind is very porous and filled with tiny pockets of air. Even though you’re removing mass when you peel the orange, the peeled orange is more dense and sinks in the water.

The final challenge was to make a marshmallow sink and again imaginative ideas were at work. Making it smaller, cutting off the powder coating, squeeeeeezzzing it so hard to remove the air trapped inside. After much strenuous and messy activity the successful team managed to sink a small piece of pink marshmallow by making it smaller and squeezing it flat. We wondered what would happen if we dropped the marshmallow into different liquids such as cooking oil or used mini marshmallows. Further investigations are required.

Burns Day

Primary 6 did a bit of research on Rabbie Burns today, finding some more unusual facts about him and presenting it to the class on a ‘Sway’ presentation (a programme similar to powerpoint).  Did you know that Robert Burns had 12 children? Or that he almost moved to Jamaica?  Or that he was the first person to appear on a bottle of Coca Cola?  Neither did we until today.  We then had a wee Scottish treat – some shortbread and a thimble full of Irn Bru.

 

First Week Back

Today we learned about 3D shapes. I liked it because were learning the names of all the shapes better.  – Archie

We learned about the Titanic, for example that people said it was unsinkable. We also learnt how it was built and what 1st class and 3rd class was. – Victor

I learned that they used silver and gold paint for the first class rooms. – Megan

We did fractions like half, third, quarters tenths. We looked at different ways to represent them, for example in a number line, groups, fraction bar and circle model. – Zuzanna

We did the numbers in French up to 10. I liked it because I like speaking in French. – Lilya

We played a board-game to learn about the past tense. It was good because if you are not sure of how to spell the past tense you can use the game to practise. – Natan

We learned about sleeping: why it is important and what we should do to get a good night’s sleep. – Marta

We wrote winter acrostic poems using the word Snowflake. I think I did a good job because I took my time and checked my work using a dictionary. – Alicja

We drew the Titanic. I found it really fun but difficult too. I was very proud of my work. –  Maisie

 

The Gingerbread House Challenge

P6a revisited an old classic today – the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel.  We listened to this traditional tale, but then took it to another level by discussing possible hidden meanings, metaphors and symbolism in the story.  We now know that traditional tales were passed down from generation to generation to warn children (and adults) of potential dangers in life.  Hansel and Gretel will never be the same again!  We then took part in a challenge to see which group could build the best gingerbread house, using essential teamworking skills of: good communication and listening; effective cooperation and negotiation; and hard work!

Well done and congratulations!

A huge well done and congratulations to St Nicholas Primary School girls who took part in the West Lothian Schools Gymnastics Competition last week at Craigswood Sports Centre, Livingston.  Our Level 3 team came first across the whole of West Lothian and were awarded best individuals too.  All our girls were a credit to themselves, their parents and St Nicholas Primary School.  We are all very proud of your achievements!

Broxburn Science and Technology Event

Primary 6 had a fantastic day yesterday at the Broxburn Academy Science and Technology event. Pupils had the chance to learn about structural engineering and took on the paper table challenge.  We learned that things are strong in threes and triangles are the strongest shape. Primary 6 also worked with some 3rd year pupils to explore some scientific experiments, our favourite experiment was the ooze.

An Invitation to you…

Preparations are well under way for our first FAST session of this term on Thursday 26th October at 3.30pm in the P5 classrooms.

If you have a child who attends pre-school year at Nursery, Primary 1 or Primary 2 then we would be delighted to see you along with the rest of your family at FAST. We welcome older and younger siblings, parents and grandparents to participate in our sessions.

Here are some quotes from the families who participated in January:

· I’ve realised since starting FAST that my daughter is more independent than I thought. 

· My two children and I have really enjoyed FAST. It has also helped me by meeting other parents.

· It has become the highlight of my daughter’s week, when we pick her up from Nursery,  “Fast Families” is the first thing she says. 

· Our son has spoken a lot about FAST and enjoyed it very much. It has given him confidence. 

· FAST has given me the chance to see how my son is in school. I now know he is confident and finds FAST very enjoyable.

· I now understand the importance of play at home. It has developed the quality of the interactions between my daughter and I. 

· Through FAST we have developed our play, learned new words in English and made contact with new friends. 

· My son loves the diversity of the activities. Drawing, singing and talking about emotions. He always asks, “Is it FAST today?” He can’t wait for the next FAST session.

· Our boys enjoy the kids time the most and my wife and I enjoy the parents time. We talk about everyday problems that we all encounter and learning how to cope with them has been very useful. 

· The best thing about FAST has been developing new relationships. Having the opportunity to meet other parents and develop friendships. My son has met new friends who are not in his Nursery class and this will help when he starts P1. It has been great getting to know the FAST team too. 

A lovely ‘family fun’ hamper worth £25 will be going home with two families on Thursday evening and we will be enjoying a delicious Italian meal from Gianninos ….all FREE OF CHARGE.

Please join us on Thursday for fun, food and FAST families. To book a place please contact Miss Morgan through the school office.

Dentist visit!

We were so lucky to have a visit from a real dentist today- Louise’s mummy! We had a fantastic time learning how to take care of our teeth. Margarita even let us have a go at looking into Dinosaur Colin’s mouth with a special mirror.

We learned that it is important to brush your top teeth downwards,your bottom teeth upwards and your back teeth in little circles. We also sorted the food into ‘happy teeth’ and ‘sad teeth’ baskets. We learned that sweets, lollipops, fruitshoots and cakes are very tasty but they should be eaten as a little treat and not everyday.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Louise’s mummy for coming into our classroom and for giving us all a fantastic goody bag!

Adventures in Primary 5

My goodness P5 have had a busy few weeks ! We have been looking at historical aspects of the curriculum through a number of events. We participated in an ‘archaeological dig’ where we discovered various parts of a skeleton and then had to re-construct the formation of the body and complete a tricky calculation to work out the height of the person.

We took a trip to Edinburgh where we saw the various locations that we had been studying in class and even went back in time to meet Mary, Queen of Scots. She provided us with costumes from 1566 so that we could attend the christening of King James VI of Scotland who also became King James I of England. He was the King that Guy Fawkes tried to blow up at the Houses of Parliament on the 5th November. Mary taught us the ‘Dance of the Washerwoman’ and we also examined the food that would be served at a Royal banquet and used oranges and cloves to make pomanders. There were some unpleasant odours around in the 1500’s ! On our journey we explored the Royal Apartments in the Palace of Holyroodhouse and saw the spot where David Rizzio was murdered by Lord Darnley. We walked up the Royal Mile passed The Museum of Edinburgh where the collar and bowl of Greyfriars Bobby are kept. We spotted the distinctive Tolbooth building that served as jail in the days of Old Edinburgh. We passed John Knox’s house and admired the architecture and spoke about the window tax which resulted in the ‘wee windaes’. Further along the High Street we saw the Mercat Cross where the residents of Old Edinburgh would hear the news and passed the impressive St Giles Cathedral. We saw the location of the infamous Deacon Brodie’s workshop. Finally we arrived at Edinburgh Castle and saw the many defence features of the building, the one o’clock gun, Mons Meg and the statues of Wallace and Bruce. We managed to visit St Margaret’s Chapel which is the oldest building in the Castle. We were exhausted but had a wonderful time.

In art we have been exploring a new technique where we created autumnal art. We blended oil pastels to create the leaves and then blended paint to create a water effect around them. They were very impressive.

Visualising in Primary 6

Primary 6 have been learning and revising lots of different reading strategies. This week we have been working on visualisation. We were very surprised to find out that our own background knowledge effected how we visualise things. We read a story about a Bus Stop and had to draw each character in the correct order. It was very difficult! We all worked very hard and now feel more confident in visualising when we are reading! We can’t wait to try it out in our own reading books.

Visitors in P2.

 

As part of primary 2’s topic, ‘Toys, Now and Then’ we have had some visitors who came into our classes to talk to us about the toys that they had when they were a child.

Who has visited ?

Our first visitor was Mrs Macdonald.  She showed the children a doll that she was given when she was just two years old ! The children learnt that the doll is one of her most prized possessions.  She has some memories of playing with it and dressing it and washing it in the bath.  Santa gave her the doll.

We also welcomed Mrs Davies from our school office. She brought in her clockwork toy teddy bear to show us.  She has taken very good care it as we learnt that it is over 50 years old.  She has even kept the box! She thinks that her mum and dad gave her this.

Matthew’s mummy came and showed us the silver cross pram and doll that she played with when she was a little girl.  We were most impressed with how new it looked.  She must have looked after it very well.

Finally, Mrs Hesketh who is one of our Pupil Support Workers, came in with three toys from the past.  She showed us her ‘Dressy Bessie’, a doll named Peter and her mummy’s doll , which we found out is 70 years old and made out of china.

What did we enjoy ?

Isabella – I liked having a shot of Matthews mummy’s doll.

Leo – I liked finding that Matthew’s mummy’s doll had eyes that opened.

Eleanor – I liked holding Peter the doll.

Damian – I liked holding Dressy Bessie because it has lots of things on the dress.

Lucia – I liked Dressy Bessie because you could learn how to do laces and buttons.

Lovisa – I liked Mrs Macdonald’s doll because it was soft.

Patryk – I liked to hear that Mrs Macdonald’s doll had it’s own bath.

Andrew – I liked Mrs Davies’ bear because their was a magnet on it’s paw to open the pages of the book.

Haziq – I liked Mrs Davies’ bear because you could wind it up.

Thank you to our special visitors for helping us with our topic.

 

Meet the Teacher – Curriculum Evening – Wednesday 27th September

We would like to invite all our parents/carers to attend our yearly Meet the Teacher evening on Wednesday the 27th of September at 6pm.  Teachers will run sessions at 6pm, 6.20pm and 6.40pm, allowing parents with more than one child in the school to meet all their children’s teachers.  At these sessions, teachers will outline the children’s curriculum for the coming year.  You will also be able to look at some of our resources and see your child’s learning environment.

We look forward to welcoming you to St Nicholas Primary School next Wednesday evening.

 

 

Maths Minions in P6

 

This week Primary 6 have been working hard during Maths Week. We’ve participated in lots of fun activities here are some things we enjoyed, learned and want to do more of!

Anya – I learned your 11 times table.

Ava – I learned some of my other times tables (2 digit number ones).

Eve – I learned a lot about problem solving.

Stella –  I enjoyed doing the maths hunt.

Hollie – In the maths challenge we got a sheet of paper with lots of letters and numbers. We had to try and find the letter that connected to numbers hidden around the playground. To crack the code we had to solve times table problems.

Adrian – I enjoyed the problem solving task because we worked in groups of 3 and we had 10 problems to answer.

Anna – In the problem solving we were given a maths question. We were given three minutes to discuss and find and answer and write it down on our sheet. We had to write down how we worked it out and if we found it hard or not.

Some of us found the problems harder to solve, some of us found it easy!

Eve – I enjoyed the times table challenge when we had to beat the time.

Riley – I enjoyed the blether stations because it was challenging and I enjoyed working in a group.

Thomas – I enjoyed the times table challenge because I learned my 12 times table.

Agata –  I found the blether stations tricky because the word problems were hard to work out.

Hollie – I found the time table challenge hard because we all raced to see how fast we could work it out.

Sophia – I found the times table challenge hard because I don’t know them all yet.

Anya – I want to do more of the finding answers in a group.

Ava – I would like to do some more times table challenge getting timed and beating my own time.

Leo – I found the number of the day challenges hard because its was hard to work out if it was prime or composite.

Cameron – I enjoyed learning the compensation strategy.

Sarah – I enjoyed learning about near doubles.

Stella – Overall, we all enjoyed learning about different things in maths. We now know different strategies to use!

 

Scottish Maths Week in P2.

Primary 2 have been working hard this week and especially so since it is ‘Scottish Maths Week’.  We have been investigating how whole numbers are constructed by playing lots of place value games. We have also been exploring how groups of items can be shared equally, and learning how to half whole shapes.

Here are some pictures of us hard at work.

 

Celebrating ‘Roald Dahl Day’ in P2.

Image result for roald dahl

We had lots of fun today as part of ‘Roald Dahl Day’.  This special day falls on the 13th of September each year as that is the date that he was born.  During this day, schools up and down the country celebrate his life and his wonderful books.  So, what did we do ?

As part of the celebrations we heard the excellent story, ‘The Enormous Crocodile’.  We all enjoyed the story so much, (giving it a rating of 5 out of 5) that we wrote book reviews, drew our favourite part of the story and retold the story in our own words.

Keilidh drew and painted the Enormous Crocodile which we used on our frieze, (this is in the main corridor).

As well as looking at this book, we also spoke about some of Roald Dahl’s other famous books including, ‘The Twits’, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, and ‘The BFG’.  Thank you to Leo for bringing in his box set of books for us to look at.  In the afternoon we joined the rest of the school to watch a theatre company perform ‘Matilda’.  As Roald Dahl himself used to say, ‘It has been a whoopsy-splunker day’.  This translated means, ‘It has been a fantastic day’.

Some book reviews.

Our frieze so far …

Toys, Now and Then – Primary 2.

Image result for toys clip art

Our topic in Primary 2 is called ‘Toys, Now and Then’. We are really enjoying learning all about toys from the past. It is exciting to see just how much some toys have changed:

What have we learnt so far ?

Lucas –  ‘Toy cars used to be made from wood and tin. Now they are made from plastic’.

Chloe – ‘The first kites were made in China’.

Isabella A -‘Only rich children had toys a long time ago’.

Joshua – ‘The man who used to make Lego used to make toys out of wood’.

Lovisa – ‘The man who made wooden toys didn’t make bricks.  He made buses, trucks and ducks.

Thomas – ‘The factory that makes Lego has a massive Lego brick in front of it.

James H – ‘The Lego factory is in Denmark’.

Budding Artists in P2 !

Image result for piet mondrian free clip art

Primary 2 will be learning all about lots of famous artists over the course of the year and will make their own representations of the chosen artist’s work.  Our first artist of the month is Piet Mondrian.

What did we learn today ?

Tyler – ‘His dad was a painter and then he grew up to be painter’.

Patryk – ‘His job was a teacher’.

Lennox – ‘After he taught his children at school he went back home and painted.

Andrew – ‘He was born on the 7th of March’.

Dermott – To start with he didn’t paint what we did today, he painted fields and things’.

Shahzaib – ‘When he first started painting he painted houses’.

Sofia – ‘He decided to make different pictures’.

Ava – ‘He started to paint squares and rectangles’.

Justyna – ‘They were red, yellow, white, black and blue’.

Thomas – ‘He used five colours altogether’.

Piper – ‘He never mixed the colours in his paintings, he only used those colours.’

Chloe – ‘He was very famous’.

(Pictures of our art work to follow soon).

Library adventure

Primary 3 were very lucky to have a visit over to Broxburn library to listen to an Egyptian story read by Dianne the librarian.  However, Dianne was in character when we popped over and was dressed as a pharaoh!  She read us a story about Charlie Stinky Socks who was searching for gold in the desert.  He came across different Egyptian things on his travels.  Dianne let us borrow some books to learn even more about Ancient Egypt.  So far we have learned:

Matthew – Ancient Egyptians used a tool called a shaduf to bring water out from the River Nile.

Niamh/Tavia – Pharaoh is what we call their kings and it means house/palace.

Santiago – The most popular drink in Ancient Egyptian times was beer!

Grady – There are wooden boats called ‘felucca’s’ that travel along the Nile.

Zofia – Only boys who had a lot of money got to go to school.

We have loved learning about Ancient Egypt so far and can’t wait to learn more!

A Historic Day – P2.

Director believes bridge could restore Scotland's world-class reputationToday the boys and girls in P2 were super excited to be given the opportunity to watch the official opening of the Queensferry Crossing. We saw the Queen cutting a ribbon and  we also saw the Red Arrows flying over the bridge. How cool !

What did we learnt today ?

Lovisa – It took 6 years to build the bridge.

Joshua – 15,000 thousand people worked on the bridge.

Lucas – I learnt that the bridge is called the Queensferry Crossing.

Haziq – We saw three bridges on the TV.

Sofia- A new bridge was built because the other one is getting old.

 

 

 

Exciting mail

Primary 3 were intrigued when Mrs McGuire asked if she could have a word with them this afternoon. She had received a letter from the National Museum of Scotland saying that they had had a leak and some of their Egyptian artefacts had been damaged.  They were asking if she knew of any children who would be up to the job in helping them out.

Primary 3 were very excited when they realised that she that thought that they were up to the job and they were happy to accept the challenge!

 

Hip, hip, hooray for St Nicholas’ Sports Day!

A great time was had by all today, and the sun shone to make it perfect!  Thank you to all our children for being such great sports, their families who came to spectate (and take part in the races), staff for their hard work and to our PE teacher, Mrs Smith, for putting such a big effort in to a very well organised, fun day for the whole community.

 

 

 

A Grand Day Out!

What a great day we had at Glasgow Science Centre! We saw so much, including displays about renewable energy, our senses, organs of the body, optical illusions, aerodynamics, air pressure, electricity, light and sound to name a few! We also raced our own cars to see which were the most aerodynamic and with a complete circuit. An amazing experience! We’ll put pictures on Class Dojo.

P6 request- raffle items

Hi there,

Primary 6 will be staging their performance of the musical “Oliver!” on the afternoon of Monday 19th June and the evening of Tuesday 20th June. Tickets will be offered to parents of classes other than Primary 6 next Tuesday. We are hoping to raise some money for school funds.

We would like to draw a raffle after our Oliver Twist Show on Tuesday 20th June. We will have a children’s hamper filled with sweets/chocolates and an adults’ hamper filled with pamper items, food items, wine, etc.

We would be grateful for any donations of these items. Please give these to your child so they can hand them to the P6 teachers. If you would like to donate any bottles, please hand these in in person to the school office (marked for P6 raffle).

Thank you for all your support!

Kind regards,

Primary 6 staff

Image result for oliver twist gif

 

 

 

Fitness Fortnight – Fencing and Zumba !

Today , the P1s were veeeeeeeery busy as part of  ‘Fitness Fortnight’  In the morning, the boys and girls learnt all about fencing.  It was so much fun! We learnt that long ago everyone was taught how to fight using swords as there were no police officers to keep us safe from harm so when people fought they used to do so using swords ! We were shown lots of different kinds of swords that were used long ago including a knight’s sword, a pirate’s sword and a long sword.  We even got to have a shot of holding them.  They were might heavy !

We also got a shot at sparring with the practise swords.  We learnt how to stand properly, how to hold the sword in safe mode and how to keep ourselves safe whilst wearing the protective equipment.  A special thanks to Gordon from ‘Fencing is Fun’

In the afternoon, we welcomed Nina from ‘Zumba Kids Nina’.  She showed us some cool moves and we danced the afternoon away with a dance off and other dances.  It was fantastico! Thankyou to Nina for coming along to help us. Dancing certainly keeps you fit !

Hooray for the Galaday!

Our last winning float ! First Prize !

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We are really looking forward to entering a float for Broxburn ‘s Galaday,  ( Saturday, 26th of August) . This year’s theme is ‘Gaming/Board Games’. Having put a few options to the vote in each class we have a clear winner , ( all will be revealed very soon !).

We are looking for :

Emulsion paint of any colour.

If you can help with this please contact the office and ask for Mrs Macdonald/ Mrs Evans. Alternatively, Mrs Swinney, Mrs Skeldon or Mrs Neilson should be contacted.  These ladies have very kindly volunteered to be the parent representatives on our school’s ‘Galaday Committee.

As always, we will be needing children to sit on the float and lots of walkers to accompany our float. Your child will receive a letter in the next day with more details. If you wish your child to be involved in any way, please return the slip before the cut off date.

Spelling Carousel

Today Primary 5 were completing a carousel for their spelling words. Their tasks were:

Make the word with playdoh

Make the word with string

Write the word in chalk

Trace the word on your partner’s back.

We are now confident that everyone will achieve 12/12 on their spelling check up on Friday !

Fitness Fortnight Day 4!

Today we had a football session with James Pegg and a younger volunteer, Ethan from Broxburn Colts. We warmed up by running in and out of spaces and by following a leader. Next we had a go at dribbling with a football and scoring into the goals! We were very good at celebrating our goals!!

We finished our session by playing a mini game of football with our friends. We had great fun!

 

Here are our thoughts :

Thomas – ‘We had two players against each other’.

James F – ‘We played a game and you had to jump over hurdles and score a goal and get a point’.

Keilidh – ‘You had to get the ball off your partner’.

Lucas – ‘First of all we were put into teams and had to score a goal’.

Isabella A – ‘We had to do some exercises before we played’

Daniella – ‘These excercises are called a warm up’.

Jie – Rui – ‘We had to get the ball to the goal’.

Piper – ‘I liked the bit when I scored a goal’.

 

Fitness Fortnight – Day 3 !

  1. Smoothie Tasting !

Image result for smoothie tasting

Today we spent time learning more about fruits, why it is important to eat them and what they do to help keep our bodies healthy.  We then got to try two different smoothies that were made from strawberries and bananas and mangoes and passion fruits.  We got a mixed reaction.  Some of the boys and girls loved them, some didn’t.  One thing that we did all agree on was how important it is to eat healthily.

What did we think about the smoothies ?

Isla – ‘I liked the smell’.

Max C – ‘I really liked the mango and passion fruit one’.

Matthew P – ‘I liked both of them but I didn’t like the smell’.

Brooke – ‘I liked the strawberry one’.

Joshua – ‘I liked the smell and the taste’.

James H  – ‘I didn’t like the smell or the taste of them’.

Shahzaib – ‘The orange one was delicious’.

Haziq – ‘The mango and passion fruit was sweet’.

Thomas – ‘They were scrumptious’.

Cheers everyone !

Fitness Fortnight – Day 2.

Image result for free judo clip art

Today we did judo, walked our daily mile and tried lots of different fruits including, pineapple, watermelon, oranges, blueberries and raspberries. They looked delicious ! We also listened to the story, ‘Keep Running Gingerbread Man’.  We particularly enjoyed this as this story was a twist on the original fairytale and helped us to learn about the importance of a healthy lifestyle.

 

Run, run as fast as you can !

What a lovely surprise we got this this morning ! Another letter from our friendly dragon and a clue for the next fairtale that he wanted us to read.  What did he leave us ? Well, he left us a little gingerbread men so we listened to the fairtyale ‘The Gingerbread Man’ .  We then decorated our own little gingerbread men with sweeties and icing, (we can’t wait to eat them) and retold the stories in our castle books.

Fairyland in Primary 1.

Once upon a time …

The boys and girls have been super busy these past few weeks ! Well, we have turned our classrooms into Fairyland !  You may ask yourself why ? What has been going on ?  Well, sit back and we will tell you.

First of all we returned one day from lunch to a trail of glitter, a burnt out letter and a ‘D- Mail’ box.  Upon investigation, we soon realised that we had been visited by a Friendly Dragon.  He left us a letter telling us how sad he felt and left us with a challenge.  He asked us to rebuild Fairyland, (as the real Fairyland has disappeared leaving our favourite fairytale characters with nowhere to go) and read lots and lots of fairytales.  As you can imagine, we said ‘YES’ straight away. And so, we have been spending time making beanstalks, a giant castle, making little castles in groups, reading fairytales including: ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, ‘The Three Little Pigs’, ‘The Princess and the Pea’, ‘Little Red Riding Hood, ‘Chicken Licken’,  and ‘The Ugly Duckling’.  We have rewritten these stories in our special castle books and cannot wait to see if the dragon returns with more letters for us.

 


Street dance champion!

A huge well done to Ollie in P6 who came first place in a street dance competition at the weekend.  Ollie spoke to the whole school today at assembly as he shared the secret of his success – practising every night!  At St Nicholas we know that the key to mastering anything is to practise and persevere and keep that positive growth mindset at all times.  Well done Ollie – everyone is very proud of you.  A great achievement!

Primary 3 breathe easy!

As part of our Health and Wellbeing, Primary 3 have been learning about different strategies that we can use to help us deal with our worries.  We were very lucky to have a visit from Ellie’s Auntie Trish who is a mindfulness instructor. She showed us how to breathe properly and gave us a couple of strategies to use when we are feeling particularly worried about something. We know that there are lots of people we can talk to and that a problem shared is a problem halved!

P6’s week

This week we have been busy with our Oliver rehearsals which are already looking fantastic. Thursday’s maths was revising fractions, using RUCSAC to solve word problems and we also had a go at some maths challenges. We have also been learning about the health issues associated with smoking and the benefits of not smoking. We have learnt about Las Meninas, a famous painting by Diego Velazquez and we did our own modern versions of the painting. Check them out!

New Recruits !

On Monday a surprise package arrived in the post. We were not sure what it was but we got a big surprise when we opened the box because inside was a tub with five, tiny adorable caterpillars.

We created a lovely new habitat for them and named it Caterpillar Corner. We are responsible to make sure that they are safe and cared for. That night was going to be chilly so we decided to wrap the tub with a cloth to keep the caterpillars warm until we returned the following morning.

We have to be considerate classmates and make sure that it is not too noisy as they are very delicate creatures.

If we take good care of them they will transform into Painted Lady Butterflies. At the moment they are very hungry and are enjoying the nutritious food in their tub. We hope to see them create a chrysalis very soon.

As we observe the life cycle of a butterfly  in our classroom we will continue to develop our knowledge and skills relating to our STEM work.

We have had a class vote and have named our caterpillars:

Lloyd, Bananas, Bebe, Mimi and Cerys.

We shall update you with any changes as they occur.

Today’s Curriculum Cafe

Another successful curriculum cafe today.  Our cafes – facilitated by parents – provide an opportunity for parents to talk about their child’s learning and see some of their latest and best work.  Comments from today’s cafe include:

“Children can talk openly about their work.  Better than parents’ night.”

“Really good idea to hold these sessions.  I find my daughter actually talks to me about what she finds difficult without moaning as she would at home.  Basically, she’s willing to talk in a more mature manner.  Great to see her work at school.”

“Nice to chat with my child in an informal manner over a cuppa and see school progress.”

“I like spending time with my mum looking at school work together”.

Author Visit – David Goutcher

Today, Second level children (P5-P7) enjoyed a visit from David Goutcher, who writes spy novels for children.  David spoke about his life and previous careers as a policeman, secret agent and games developer.  The novels we looked at were very interactive – with layers of technology
embedded within them – and the boys and girls were engrossed.  P5 children said:

“I was shocked when he told us that he was an agent, and all the things that he had done like going undercover and trying out lots of different gadgets.” Hollie

“The visit made me think more about how technology is developing and all the things we can do with it – how things can come alive”. Owen

“I thought that all the technology used in the book was really interesting because you can see a lot more than just looking at a book.”  Dominik

Invitation – St Nicholas Curriculum Cafe – Friday 5th of May

You are warmly invited to another of our curriculum cafes on Friday 5th of May (drop in from 10.45am until 12 noon).  The purpose of this cafe is to encourage children to talk with parents – in an informal way over tea and a biscuit – about their school work. This gives our children the opportunity to talk about their learning and achievements so that they can be challenged, motivated and supported. Research shows that children being able to talk about their learning – and identify their next steps – is one of the biggest factors in educational success.  
Comments from parents at our previous cafe include:
 
“A great way to take time to have this discussion with your child – I never seem to get much time to do this normally.”
“It was a good opportunity to have a 1-1 with my child. It was a good in depth conversation!”
“Great to be involved so you can keep up with child’s development as they progress through the school.”
” It was useful for me to know where to help my child to improve.”
“Great idea. Nice to calmly discuss learning with children and see their work. Thank you.”
We look forward to seeing you on Friday.

Nursery Transition

The Preschool children have been enjoying visiting the Primary 1 classrooms as part of their transition into Primary 1. They have been visiting in groups and have been listening to lots of exciting stories!

The children have loved visiting the classrooms and are looking forward to doing some activities in their new classrooms over the next few weeks. The current Primary 1 will also be joining our Preschoolers during some of their activities to assist with transition.

Take a look at some of our pictures 🙂

P2’s Very Hungry Caterpillars

P2 got some very exciting post at the beginning of the week. We received some Painted Lady caterpillars! We were very surprised and happy.

We are keeping the caterpillars in our cupboard because they can’t be in direct sunlight and they need to be somewhere warm.

We have been checking on our caterpillars everyday and they have been getting bigger and bigger! We are looking forward to seeing how big they are when we come back on Tuesday. Some might even have formed their chrysalis!

Here are some facts that we have learned about caterpillars so far:

Anna- a mother butterfly lays an egg and then a caterpillar hatches out of it.

Freyja- a caterpillar sheds it’s skin.

Michael- Painted Lady caterpillars are black and yellow and a little bit grey.

Liam- the caterpillars form a chrysalis.

Zofia- the caterpillar has 6 true legs at the front of their body.

Alicia- they have hooks on their true legs.

Niamh- they have false legs at the back but they still use them to move around.

Lucia- they breath through spiracles. They are circles and they look like holes all over their body.

Lara- they have spikey hair called setae which protects them from birds and spiders.

Catherine- they eat a lot.

Thomas- they have a big mouth.

Matthew- they form a J shape when they are ready to make a chrysalis.

Here are some pictures of our caterpillars :).

P7 Happy Campers

Hi everyone,

Another fantastic day with abseiling, 3G swings, den building and the leap of faith.  All children are having a blast and are looking forward to their last night with a choice of a movie or disco.  We’re back tomorrow and will be in touch tomorrow morning – through the school office – with details of our estimated arrival time back at St Nicholas.  Pictures of children not featured here to follow…

See you all tomorrow.

P7 Broxburn Academy Camp Update

Hi everyone,

Just to let you know that our P7s have settled well into life at camp.  We’re getting plenty of fresh air, exercise and sleep.  They are all having fun and enjoying meeting new friends.  As usual, they are a credit to their parents, their teachers and their school.  We’re very busy here with activities timetabled constantly with very little down time – from first thing in the morning until last thing at night – but we’ll try and give you another update tomorrow.

Bye for now!

Eco Team aka Park Designers.

Today, some of our Eco Team met with Christine Lee from Sutcliffe Play as a new park is going to be built in the Badger’s Brook area of Broxburn. She gave us free reign to design what we think the park should look like.   As you can imagine, this was very exciting, after all, it is not every day that you get to do this.

To do this, we worked  in groups to choose themes for the park.  Popular themes included, animals, the zoo and nature.  We drew a plan of the park and then used our imaginations to draw what we think the park should look like. Our designs are fantastic !  Christine will now take these away and will choose the best parts from each in her final design. We will keep you all posted as to what the park will look like when we see the final plan.

 

 

P1’s Adventures at Edinburgh Castle.

P1 had a fantastic time at Edinburgh Castle earlier on today . We saw lots of the things that we have been learning all about  including , the ‘Crown Jewels’ , ‘Mons Meg’  and the ‘One o’ clock Gun.  We also looked at ‘The Great Hall’ , the ‘Castle Jail’, ( this was a favourite) and spent some quiet time in ‘St Margaret’s Chapel’.  Special thanks to our lovely helpers who came along today. We hope that you all had as much fun as we did!

Malawi, Malawi, Malawi!

This week Primary 2 have been very busy! We were lucky enough to visit the library for a talk about Malawi, have a talk about Mrs Renshaw’s trip to Malawi and began to sort all of the items for our Malawi Appeal.

Primary 2 want to share what they have learned:

Lara – the water in lake Malawi is dirty and if you swam in it it could make you ill.

Liam – Moni means hello in Chichewa.

Flynn – Bambo means father in Chichewa.

Catherine – Mayi means mother in Chichewa.

Leon – The weather is boiling hot!

Mya – There is a big mountain.

Thomas – People live until they are around 55 in Malawi.

Safaa – The ladies wear a Chitenji which is a nice dress.

Lucas Curran – The people are poor but they are very happy.

Lucia – The school in Malawi doesn’t have much stuff but they will get some stuff from our Malawi Wee Bag Appeal.

Michael – Malawi is a land locked country.

Oliver – Malawi is known as the ‘Warm Heart of Africa’.

Santiago – Zikomo means thank you.

Martyna – They don’t have walls in their schools.

Adam – The stars in Malawi are really bright.

Freyja – It took Mrs Renshaw 2 days to climb the mountain in Malawi.

Matthew – There is over 17 million people living in Malawi.

We have had lots of fun learning all about Malawi!

Curriculum Cafe

Our hall was packed today with families talking about learning with their children.  The purpose of the cafe was to encourage children to talk with parents – in an informal way over tea and a biscuit – about their school work.  This gives our children the opportunity to talk about their learning and achievements so that they can be challenged, motivated and supported.

Some comments from parents:

“A great way to take time to have this discussion with your child – I never seem to get much time to do this normally.”

“It was a good opportunity to have a 1-1 with my child.  It was a good in depth conversation!”

“Great to be involved so you can keep up with child’s development as they progress through the school.”

” It was useful for me to know where to help my child to improve.”

“Great idea.  Nice to calmly discuss learning with children and see their work.  Thank you.”

 

We hope to see you at our next cafe on 21st of April (drop in between 10.40 and 12noon)

“Stickman Production”

****Video will follow soon!!! (Problems uploading)

 

Primary 6a worked really hard to produce their “Stickman” puppet show to perform to the younger classes during book week. Every child had a part to play in this show whether it was narration, puppet mastery, lights or ICT. Primaries 1, 2 and 3 thoroughly enjoyed the show. Excellent work Primary 6, a great example of creative, independent work!

Primary 6b will be completing and performing their performance very soon. We are very excited to see it!

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