Please find a social story below to support our learners with the February break.
Calderwood Can Certificates-27.01.23
Well done to all learners who received a Calderwood Can Certificate this week!
Thistle loves Scotland
We have been really enjoying learning all about Scottish words and phrases. We have been creating some very special poems to share with our families at Calderwood Caledonia evening. We investigated the clans associated with our surnames and re-created their tartans.
We have been investigating famous scots and have focused as a whole clan on Mary, Queen of Scots. We have been learning about bias, exploring how people lived in the 1500’s and designing our own crests and shields. We are very excited for all our visitors to see our timeline we have created.
We have been exploring Scottish words and translating them into standard English, we loved hearing stories such as Clan MacWee and Mr Men come to Scotland.
Using Scottish maps we have explored co-ordinates and plotted cities, mountains, rivers and landmarks.
In PE, we have been learning skills such as rhythm, timing and the polka in Scottish Country Dancing. We have also been developing our understanding of tolerance and respect when dancing with new partners.
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Learning about Scotland in Bramble Clan
This term our learning has been focussed on Scotland.
In writing, we have been learning how to write Haiku poems. After learning and practising the rules, we decided to write Haiku poems based on a Scottish theme. We created a tartan design as a background to our poems, taking care to follow the line patterns and shapes commonly found on tartan. These are displayed on our clan area wall and we hope to share them with you when you come to visit us next week when we share our learning.
In reading, we have listened to and read lots of Scottish stories and texts and have been understanding and reciting Scottish Poems for our poetry competition. We have learnt a variety of Scottish words such as dreich, bairn and fankle. We gathered a list of words together and matched them up to the correct meaning. Some of the scots words have made us really laugh like bahookie, crabbit and keek.
In P.E, we have been working together with Bluebell clan to learn Scottish country dances. We used skills in resilience, tolerance, co-ordination and stamina to support us in learning these dances. We have learnt the Canadian Barn dance, Gay Gordons, St Bernards Waltz and the Flying Scotsman. We have enjoyed this learning and have realised it is fun but exhausting too!
In outdoor P.E, we have been learning to play traditional outdoor games such as rock, paper, scissors, hoop and Peevers. We are learning to play games that need as little resources as possible that we can play together at school or home and we are using our creativity skills to come up with new rules and games. We have loved learning and playing these games together and have shown great sportsmanship, teamwork and creativity.
We have been learning about the life of Mary, Queen of Scots and have been investigating all the key moments in her life. We learned about where and when she was born, about James V, how she became Queen at a very young age and about her life in France. We worked with Bluebell and thistle to learn about her early life. We have used our researching skills to find out more using devices and books we have borrowed from a local library. We have been creating a timeline of all the important events in Mary’s life and have chosen different ways to share what we have found out. We have chosen to draw pictures, build models, write birth/death announcements and created drama freeze frames with added captions which we have then collated and added to our timeline displayed in class. We are enjoying the freedom of choice in sharing our learning in different ways and seeing our work added to the timeline as we learn more about Mary’s life.
Burns Recital Competition 2023
Bluebell- Scotland
Bluebell have been celebrating Scotland in lots of different ways this term.
We began this term thinking about ‘What makes Scotland great?’. We did some brainstorming with our learning partners before we carried out our own research. This supported our persuasive writing ‘To persuade someone to visit Scotland’. Bluebell Clan wrote fantastic persuasive pieces where they used lots of bossy verbs and powerful persuasive phrases. It definitely made Scotland seem like the best place in the world! We also learned about ‘Haikus’ and wrote our very own Scottish inspired Haikus that we will be on display for our Caledonia Clan Celebration on Thursday 9th of February. Alongside this, we learned about Robert Burns and recited different Scots poems which led to our Burn Competition. A huge well done to everyone who participated as you all showed great enthusiasm in performing your chosen poems.
In PE, we have been practising different types of Scottish dancing and we look forward to demonstrate this to you.
We have also participating in food technology this term. We started this off by baking shortbread! We made this in small groups where we used our team working skills to take turns and complete the recipe together. We used our communication skills to read the recipe and follow the instructions. We also used our numeracy and maths skills for adding and taking away as we measured the ingredients. We learned about the dangers and risks within a kitchen and discussed ways we can keep ourselves safe. Miss Ali tried our shortbread and she said it was absolutely delicious!
For our topic, we have been learning about the life of Mary Queen of Scots. We have had lots of opportunities for discussion of the events in Mary’s life. We have also had lots of opportunities to carry out our own research and work collaboratively in small groups. As a class, we are currently making our Mary Queen of Scots time line display where we all had different roles to play. Some of the tasks included; making a birth/ death announcement of Mary Queen of Scots, make a poster on the Rough Wooing, write a short diary page on how Mary felt traveling to France and drawing a map of Scotland and pin pointing the different places Mary had visited. Again, this will be on display in class for you to look at during the Caledonia Clan Celebration.
Ben Lawers – Scottish Myths and Legends
Ben Lawers have been learning about Scottish myths and legends and showing their learning through a creative digital project. Inspired by Netflix, pupils have been working in groups to turn their chosen myth and legend into a documentary series. They have been working on designing and editing skills to create a high quality home page, and their acting skills to share their learning through video. At home, pupils could access their work through their OneDrive/OneJotter and present their work.
Nursery Chronicle 2.2.23
Calderwood Nursery Chronicle 2.2.23
Calderwood Commitments Actions:
- PM session children only – Order your child’s lunches for next week by clicking here
- Please click here to share whether or not your child will be attending nursery during the school February holiday
- Before we officially decide on our values are please add your final thoughts to the Padlet: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/calderwood/2022/10/20/curriculum-rationale-values-at-calderwood-nursery/
Calderwood Calendar
KEY DATES
13/02/23 – School Closed Feb Break (Nursery remains open)
21/02/23- School Reopens
20/02/23-23/02/22- Stay and Play (slots below)
- Mon 20th and Wed 22nd – 9:30am-11:30am
- Tues 21st and Thur 23rd 1:30pm-3:30pm
UPCOMING DATES
You can find upcoming dates here
Calderwood Communication (For information):
Our Values
Before we officially decide on our values are please add your final thoughts to the Padlet below.
You can also contribute to the development of our school values: you can contribute here.
Reporting an absence
A gentle reminder that when reporting an absence during term time this should be done through the school office on 01506 280060 or wlcalderwood-ps@westlothian.org.uk
As our nursery staff are on the floor playing and learning with the children the nursery phone or messages are only checked at specific times.
Calderwood Communicates in Nursery
This year, as part of our Nursery Improvement Plan, we are striving to improve literacy for all our children at Calderwood Nursery and ensure our literacy experiences are a high standard. To do this, Mrs Laing’s role as Early Years Officer involves leading the improvement of Literacy. This will include ensuring we have a literacy rich environment, working with children in small groups throughout the week to improve listening skills and increase vocabulary through play and stories. Participation in small groups will be encouraged and children wishing to play in other areas of the nursery will be able to do so.
I aim to share group learning with parents which will reinforce the learning we are doing in nursery. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to speak to me directly.
HOME LINKS:
The children have been interested in learning about Dinosaurs.
Discuss your child’s favourite dinosaur with them. What did it look like, sound like, feel like, smell like? You could make one, draw one or record your discussion.
As always, please share any experiences with us on Online Learning Journals.
As ever, thank you for your continued support. If you would like to leave us any feedback, please click here.
Kindest Regards,
The Nursery Champions
Calderwood Primary Chronicle: 03/02/23
Link: Calderwood Chronice_03_02_23
Calderwood Primary Chronicle: 03/02/23
Calderwood Commitments (Actions):
- Caledonia Clan Celebration: You can find out more about this Primary 1 – 7 family event and book to attend the event by clicking here. The choir sign up for the event is here.
- Free Football Tickets: Football Buzz has kindly offered us free tickets for the Livingston v Aberdeen football game on Saturday 4th You can collect these from the school office on Friday 3rd February. The tickets will be issued on a first come first served basis.
- 6th – 10th February: iPay is open for donations for our Caledonia Clan Celebration. Any funds raised will help to purchase Scottish and poetry books for the school.
Calderwood Calendar:
- You can find our term 3 calendar here: Calendar link
- 3rd February: Calderwood Scottish Poetry Recital: Clan Winners: Families of the Clan winners have been invited to attend. Children reciting poems, the choir and house and vice captains please wear school uniform (not P.E uniform) please. Primary 7s should wear their Primary 7 tie.
- 6th February: Afterschool Clubs Start
- 7th February: Primary 5 Limelight Music Performance: Please find an Invite to Primary 5 families to join us.
- 9th February: 6:00pm or 6:40pm: Caledonia Clan Celebration
- 10th February: 11:15am: Tay Clan Calderwood Connects: 2 family members can attend
- 13th – 20th February: School closed for February Break, reopens 21st
Calderwood Communication (for information)
- Primary 5- 7 Home Learning: We are currently changing our home learning grids in P5-P7. We would appreciate if any parent/carers could provide their feedback and views on this. Please complete the questionnaire.
- Ben Lomond Residential: Please find the presentations that were shared at the Parent/ Carer information session.
- Calderwood Cares: Please click here to find out how we can support your family with food, toiletries and clothing.
- We have had some further reports of head lice in clans, please find some information on the signs of head lice and how to treat it here.
- Values consultation: We continue to seek your opinion on what you think our school values should be, you can contribute here.
- Mrs Mullen, our PSW Champion will be leaving us at February Break to move on to a new adventure at the NHS, we wish her lots of lucks. Ms Mungall will also be leaving us at February Break, thanks to both champs for supporting our clans.
Calderwood Compliments:
- Congratulations to all our poetry clan champions who will be performing in our Scottish Poetry Recital Competition on Friday 3rd February, we wish them lots of luck!
- Thank you to everyone who donated to our dress down day. We raised £268, this will be used to purchase Food Technology equipment for our STEM Studio.
Cost of Living – Calderwood Cares
We are looking at ways to support our parents during the ‘Cost of Living Crisis’.
At Calderwood, there are a number of ways we would like to support our families during this difficult time. One of which would be to start a food pantry and we are looking to gauge interest. Our plan would be to issue a weekly order form for items that you may need urgently. This service would be strictly anonymous and we can arrange delivery or pick up on a Friday.
We would also like to know how we can support parents by inviting in or running sessions with agencies such as ‘The West Lothian Advice Shop’. They can offer free and impartial advice for those experiencing financial hardship and can signpost to different agencies to support families in all matters.
If this is something you feel you would benefit from, please answer this short survey so we can begin to source items and arrange dates with the West Lothian Advice Shop.
