Author: Miss Truesdale

Ben Lomond Clan have been having a blast in clan this week with some spooky Halloween-themed activities.

We kicked things off by taking a look at Vincent Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ before adding our own Halloween twist to it. The children then crafted some amazing artwork inspired by this stunning piece, focusing on colour and creating texture with paint. 

We also took on a Halloween Code Breaker challenge, in which we used our teamwork skills and knowledge of four-digit addition and subtraction to crack a fun Halloween joke. We really enjoyed the challenge!

During Maths Week Scotland, Ben Lomond clan combined their knowledge of Scottish mountains with an understanding of negative numbers by examining the climate conditions at the summit of a mountain. This aimed to deepen their understanding of the mountain environment and highlight the real-world applications of negative numbers. We also connected our learning to our current clan novel “The Last Bear,” where April, the main character, moves to the Arctic Circle with her father to investigate changes in weather patterns.

The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about various mountains globally before focusing on Mount Everest. They engaged in discussions about maximum and minimum temperatures and calculated the differences, considering when these temperature readings might be recorded and why certain months experience hotter weather than others.

Next week, we will further develop our digital technology and data-handling skills by researching the maximum and minimum temperatures of Ben Lomond. We will then present our findings using Microsoft Excel. This will provide an opportunity to apply mathematical concepts in a practical context while enhancing their digital skills.

Throughout the first two weeks of school, Ben Lomond clan have been busy exploring the school building and our new Clan Room.

We delved into the book ‘Our Clan is a Family,’ which inspired us to play games that help us identify what connects us, what makes us different, and what makes us a team. We also made displays to reflect this and to decorate our new home. We enjoyed engaging in STEM challenges to further develop our teamwork skills.

In addition, we located Ben Lomond on a map and considered the activities we could do there and the animals that live there. We used this information to create unique table names including ‘Loch Porpoises’, ‘Highland Golden Eagles’, Wind-Surfing Sea Birds’ and ‘Fresh Water Otters’. We look forward to exploring this further through our new IDL topic.

We kicked off our exploration by delving into the intricate ecosystem of the Amazon Rainforest. The children have been researching fascinating facts about the rainforest and working on creating informative information reports. They have also had great fun designing and making tribal masks, which have really brought the topic to life for them.

Following our adventures in the Amazon Rainforest, we shifted our focus to the contrasting environment of the desert. We have been exploring how life in the desert differs from life in the rainforest and discussing the unique challenges and adaptations of desert creatures. To bring their learning to life, the children have been working on creating desert dioramas that showcase the key features of a desert habitat.

This week in Bramble Clan all of our learning was themed around British Science Week. This included science spelling words, research and writing about ‘How Volcanoes Erupt’.

Whilst rehearsing for our show, Aladdin we had discussions about lighting and microphones and the science behind this.

Our main focus this week was preparing for the upcoming ‘Dragon’s Den’ competition. We considered current problems and issues in the world such as excess rubbish, deforestation and climate change. After researching these topics, we worked in groups to invent a solution. Stay tuned for pictures and videos our amazing ideas!

This week Primary 5 performed our first ever Calderwood show, Aladdin to the Calderwood Community. The audience were blown away with their performing and back stage skills. What a journey and achievement this has been for our clans. We are so proud of our superstars!

We captured the talented cast and crew in their fabulous costumes. You can view these photographs via the link below.

Bluebell and Bramble Clans present…

Go to this Sway

Bluebell and Bramble would like to say a HUGE thank you to…

Boghall Primary who kindly shared some of their wonderful costumes with us.

The Calderwood Community who supported us with our raffle. The money raised allowed us to buy wigs, face-paint and props.

The Parent Council for purchasing microphones for us to use.

Our families and friends who helped us learn our scripts and who have supported us on this journey.

Everyone who came along to the show to share this memorable experience with us.

Bramble Clan looked at Christmas traditions in Scotland, with focus on pantomimes. They looked closely at the various features of a panto such as fairytale storylines, characters, comedy, Scots language, script writing, audience participation and prop and costume design. They then practised and performed their own mini pantomime at our Christmas at Calderwood concert. This was a fantastic opportunity for the children to further develop their meta-skills including creativity, collaboration, leading and communicating. The performance was absolutely amazing and the clan loved this experience. Various comments from the children included they “loved designing and wearing the costumes”, “making people laugh was fun” and “we enjoyed working together to create our own song and actions”.

A group of children from both Bramble and Bluebell have been performing with the choir at various Christmas celebrations in the school. They also visited the Linburn Centre for veterans with sight lost. This was a fantastic opportunity for the children to perform outside of school, building on their confidence and expressive arts skills. They were absolutely outstanding and the feedback from the centre included “they all looked very smart”, “very professional during their visit”, “well mannered” and “such a joy to speak with”. 

Both Bramble and Bluebell had a wonderful time at their Christmas party. They played lots of games, performed party dances and even had a few boys vs girls dance offs. Lots of fun was had by all involved!

The clans ended the term with auditions and castings for their show next term. It was clear that lots hard work and effort had went into preparing for the audition and all Champions involved were blown away with the talent on display. We are so proud of you all. 

It’s safe to say that Bramble and Bluebell clans have had lots of fun this festive period. Both Miss Truesdale and Miss Boden have loved getting to know their clans this year and can’t wait for next!

Have a wonderful Christmas when it comes and we will see you all in 2024.