Bramble Clan ‘Cultivating calderwood’

Bramble clan are well under way with their new IDL ‘Cultivating Calderwood’.

We have been learning about the water cycle through reading and decided to create our own water cycle in a bag.  We added our predictions of what we might see happen on to a post-it note and then discussed what was happening and learnt about the process of the Water Cycle.

Next, we have been looking at recycling and what reduce, reuse, recycle means.  We did some note-taking in our reading lessons and then created posters about what we had learnt about these 3 areas.  We are more aware of what we do already and what we might do to look after our planet by recycling.  We have chosen to create art from items that need recycled as part of our home learning grid.

We planted sunflowers and have positioned them in our area on the windowsill.  We are going to plot their growth on a labelled line graph.  After day 13, we have seen a lot of growth and are very excited to see these each day, especially after the weekend.  One of our pupils has planted an orange seed he brought in from home to see if it will grow.  We planted 2 in different conditions – 1 in soil with water and sunlight and 1 with water and sunlight only.  So far none of them have grown.  We will continue to monitor this.

We planted some seeds at the end of last term, in our school garden and discussed what a plant needs to grow.  We applied this knowledge to explore what a sunflower needs to grow and what the life cycle of a sunflower might look like.  We drew the life cycle of a sunflower, showing each stage of its life and what it will look like.  These are displayed on our IDL learning wall in our corridor.

Art

We explored different art methods in different clans with Mrs Scobie, Miss Ali or Miss Quinn.  With Miss Quinn, we looked at 1 point perspective art looking out of a greenhouse towards a house.  With Mrs Scobie we looked at 1-point perspective looking into a greenhouse.  With Miss Ali, we used watercolours to draw flowers.  We were very pleased with our results.  These are displayed in our area.

Finally, we have been exploring the different parts of a flower.  We have learnt the names of each part, their purpose and what they look like.  To look at these and identify these in real life, we dissected a tulip.  We then placed each of the parts on a flower lab mat, stating the length and purpose of each.  We enjoyed this exploration and even extracted pollen from the stamen.  We were fascinated to find out that a flower has both male and female parts.

We have been extremely busy and are so excited to learn more!

Published
Categorized as Bramble

Calderwood Primary Chronicle: 05/05/23

Calderwood Chronicle_05_05_23

Calderwood Commitments (Actions):

 

Calderwood Calendar: 

  • Term 4 Calendar link Updated – updates in yellow
  • 01/05/23- 10/05/23: iPay Impact open to Purchase Rookie Rockstars Tickets
  • 05/05/23: Chiefs, House and Vice Captains, please wear your Primary 7 shirt and ties as supporting with visitors/ tour.
  • 08/05/23: School and Nursery closed.
  • 10/05/23-11/05/23: Validated Self Evaluation from West Lothian Council – Visitors in school
  • 10/05/23: Ben Lawers Excursion: Active schools: Cross Country: Unfortunately failure to return the EE2 means they will not be able to go on the excursion. Please see separate email.
  • 11/05/23: 6pm: Parent Council Meeting: Arena or online: Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4321333221?pwd=WmlFc0I1TTVUdDJtMWNER2N3Y01PQT09

Meeting ID: 432 133 3221   Passcode: 202305

Parents and carers can submit suggested items for discussion to: chair@calderwoodpspc.org or through your clan rep.

  • 19/05/23: P5 Excursion: Active schools: Swimming Assessment: Unfortunately, failure to return the EE2 means they will not be able to go on the excursion. Please see separate email.
  • 19/05/23: 11:15am: Skye Clan Calderwood Connects – 2 family members welcome.

 

Calderwood Communication: 

 

Calderwood Compliments:

  • On our inservice day this week, all our champs took part in outdoor learning training from Love Outdoor Learning as part of our school improvement plan. A huge thank you to our Parent Council for paying for this training and a subscription to resources for us from the Magic Miles 2022 fundraising pot! Without the support, this opportunity would not have been available to us and we can see the impact on the clans already this week. Thank you.
  • This week we received a child protection audit from West Lothian Council, which highlighted that all our paperwork and processes were correct with no points for improvement. Our Pupil Council reported that:
  • staff look after them and make them feel safe : “all staff are approachable”
  • an ethos of community and kindness within the school: ”We don’t just take care of ourselves, we take care of each other”
  • they have at least one trusted ‘champion’. They spoke about other ways they can share worries such as emotional check-ins, worry monsters, worry boxes etc.
  • school helps them look after their physical, emotional and mental wellbeing through HWB lessons, assemblies and activities
  • they learn about keeping themselves safe by using online, bonfire/firework, road and personal safety strategies.

 

I hope you all enjoy the long weekend!

 

Miss Burton

 

Mini Champ Opportunities

 

 

Mini Champ Groups
Counting Champs
Caring Champs (Mental & emotional HWB)
Communicating Champs
Eco Champs
Rights Respecting Global Champs
Inclusion Champs (Including fundraising, PEF etc)
STEM Champs
Outdoor Champs
Digital Champs
Creativity Champs
Junior Road Safety Champs
Sports Champs
Calderwood Council & Chiefs
House & Vice Captains

Science Centre Trip

Bramble Clan had a fantastic trip to the Glasgow Science centre in Term 3 alongside Bluebell and Thistle.  There was much excitement on the bus and we loved all the hands on activites.  The I-max Cinema experience was incredible, taking us on a 3D experience on a real space station.

Please take a look at the bottom of this sway to see us in action on our trip.

Go to this Sway

 

Published
Categorized as Bramble

Calderwood Choir

Our Calderwood Choir have had a fantastic year so far, performing at various events.  They performed at various Christmas events such as the Nativity, Christmas Craft Fair and the switch on of the Calderwood Christmas lights.  In Term 3, we performed a set of Scottish songs for the poetry recital and for our Calderwood Connects.  The choir’s performance of ‘Caledonia’ was just beautiful and some emotional tears were shed from some audience members who were so moved by the rendition of this song.

The children have been requesting songs to sing at rehearsals and have enjoyed having a go at their favourites.  The choir have now decided on the songs they wish to learn and perform and we will be working on these throughout the rest of Term 4, getting them performance ready for end of term events.

The choir continue to display commitment, dedication and motivation during rehearsals and performances and have developed their confidence to sing in front of our community.  The children give it their all and the joy in singing is palpable.

We can’t wait to perform for you again this term.

In the meantime, have a look on twitter to hear some snippets of our performances.

 

Nursery Chronicle 28.04.23

Calderwood Nursery Chronicle 27.04.23

Calderwood Calendar

KEY DATES

01/05/23 School closed & Nursery closed
02/05/23 School closed & Nursery open
03/05/23 School Children resume
08/05/23 School & Nursery closed

 

UPCOMING DATES

You can find upcoming dates here

 

Calderwood Commitments Actions:

 

Calderwood Communication (For information):

Curriculum Rationale

Thank you to our children, parents/carers and champions who have had a key role in deciding our values and developing our Curriculum Rationale. Please see below our Curriculum Rationale, we would like your feedback on this.

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/calderwood/2023/04/27/calderwood-nursery-curriculum-rationale/

Nursery Lunches

Please see our updated lunch menu for April-October 2023.

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/calderwood/2023/04/27/nursery-lunch-menu-april-october-2023/

Champion Update

This week we say goodbye to Miss Wood PSW, we wish her the best of luck on her new venture and thank her for her work at Calderwood Nursery supporting our children. We are currently undergoing the recruitment process and will update you with our new PSW champion as soon as possible.

Our champion team is continuing to grow. Below outlines some changes to our team for 2023/2024.

Calderwood primary and nursery will have an increased management team next year, with a Head Teacher, Depute Head Teacher and three Principal Teachers.

We have recruited two new Early Years Principal Teachers who will support with overseeing and leading the nursery, one PT will join us at the end of May and the other in August.

In June, Mrs Brito returns from maternity leave. Mrs Brito and Mrs Lewis will become a part time job share. Therefore, we will be recruiting another Early Years Practitioner to join us in June. We will also be recruiting for another EYP for August.

We look forward to welcoming all new champions.

 

HOME LINKS:

The children have been interested in learning all about Spring, particularly, animals including farm animals and the life cycle of a tadpole turning into a frog.

This week, try becoming a wildlife detective when you are out in the community – I wonder how many different species you can spot?

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

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