Category Archives: Useful Websites

Community, Events, Nursery, Primary 1, Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 5, Primary 7, STEM 2017, Useful Websites

Building Site Safety

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Today, Mid Calder Primary had an important talk from Stephen from Hadden Construction, the company who are building our new nursery. He showed us the plans for the nursery, described what it will look like, and spoke to us about some of the equipment that will be used to build it. We also learned about the different careers people can have in the construction industry. He also taught us, very importantly, about the potential dangers found on a building site, and how to keep ourselves safe.

Stephen also introduced a whole competition to design a poster about building site safety. Hadden Construction have very kindly donated money to the school for prizes, so we are very excited to take part and to share what we have learned about how to stay safe.

If you want to learn more about building site safety, visit Ivor Goodsite’s website: https://www.ivorgoodsite.org.uk/kidszone/

Information for Parents, News, Useful Websites

National Improvement Framework: Information for Parents/ Carers

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The National Improvement Framework for Scottish education is an ambitious strategy to help all children to achieve their full potential as successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. The Framework sets out how evidence is gathered to inform action, making sure that we are all focused on improving standards for our children.

The National Improvement Framework strategies are as follows:

• to improve attainment for all, particularly in literacy and numeracy
• to improve the learning progress of every child, by reducing inequality
in education
• to improve children and young people’s health and wellbeing
• to improve employability skills and sustained positive school leaver
destinations for all young people
In this attachment you will find a parents guide to the National Improvement Framework: nif-info-for-parents
Anytime Anywhere Learning, Health & Wellbeing, iAchieve, Primary 5, Profiling, Supporting homework, Useful Websites

iAchieve in P5

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At Mid Calder we recognise that profiling it creating a holistic overview of the child as a learner through reflection and dialogue. This is central to practice in recognising achievement, profiling and reporting.

What is profiling?

Profiling means that learners will be engaged in regular, on-going discussions with staff about their progress. This should be a continuous process for all learners from 3 to 18.

iAchieve

iAchieve is our new approach to achievement which is being used in all our cluster schools. Each child now has a copy of their iAchieve level (you can download these here: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/public/mcps/uploads/sites/2949/2016/09/iAchieve-Level-4.pdf

This is used to track their achievements inside and outside of school. When they have achieved three of the tasks in each box they will receive a certificate in class or at a Friday Assembly and move on to the next area within their level, for example if they complete Brilliant Bronze for Responsible Citizen they will move on to Super Silver.

If the achievement has been completed at home the pupil can fill out an iAchieve sheet which are available from their class teacher or Primary 4 to 5 have the option of using their private iAchieve blog: https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/wl/mcpsiachieve2010/

Using the iAchieve Blog:

  • Google MCPS Blog to access the school blog
  • Select iAchieve, Primary 5 from the tab along the top
  • Pupils enter their Glow username and password
  • At the top they can click add, new post or on the right hand panel they can click add a new post
  • The blog post should link to their iAchieve pathway
  • Tick the categories for the post including:
    • Award
    • 4 Capacities
    • Value
    • Level – 5
    • And any other relevant category
  • Tag their name by typing in their name and clicking add
  • Add a title
  • Write their post (you will see examples on the blog):
    • Title of achievement from their pathway (in bold and colour)
    • Summary of achievement and what they learned
    • What school value they lived (the school value can be in bold and colour)
  • If you wish to add a photo:
  • Click on add media
  • This will ask you to browse for the photo on your computer
  • Click insert into post
  • Click Publish

Download these instructions: iAchieve-in-p5

iAchieve Level 5: iAchieve Level 5

Community, English & Literacy, Useful Websites

WL Library Services: e-books

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eBooks

Download eBooks to a wide variety of devices for free

How do I register?

Simply register on the site with your library barcode and PIN (usually the last four digits of the phone number we have on record for you), then login and start searching.

What can I borrow?

You can borrow or reserve up to six ebooks for free from the West Lothian eBooks(Opens in a new window) site, and download them to a wide variety of devices.

There are hundreds of books to choose from on this site, and thousands more copyright free titles on sites like Project Gutenberg(Opens in a new window) and Obooko(Opens in a new window)

New eBook Collections

We have created several new collections of ebooks: Tartan Crime, Modern Women, Nordic Noir,Family Sagas, Most Popular and Just Returned, so click on the Collections Tab(Opens in a new window) to see what’s available.

How long can I borrow them for?

You can borrow ebooks from between 1 and 21 days. You select the loan period once you have chosen the titles you want to download, and the ebooks expire from your device at the end of the selected loan period.

eBooks can be download to an ebook reader, tablet, smart phone, computer and laptop,. They cannot be downloaded to the Kindle reader due to Amazon’s policy, but can be downloaded to a Kindle Fire.

Find out more at: http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/ebooks 

Events, Homework, Maths & Numeracy, Nursery, Primary 1, Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 5, Primary 7, School Improvement Plan, Uncategorized, Useful Websites

Curriculum Evening: Maths

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On Thursday night we invited parents and carers along to find out about our world of Maths at Mid Calder Primary. As you know Maths is on our school improvement plan for the second year, we began in the hall discussing with parents our journey with maths so far. Then the Numeracy shared with us some information about SEAL (stage of early arithmetical learning) and how parents can support at home.  This was followed by workshops in classes demonstrating what a typical maths lesson looks like and how parents can support their child at home. A big thank you to everyone who supported the event and to our house and vice captains who helped with the smooth running of the event.

Feedback from parents included:

  • ‘These evenings are great to get ideas as to how to help my child at home’.
  • ‘Our daughter talks a lot about the strategies she is learning about’.
  • ‘My child is very enthusiastic when doing Maths homework’.
  • ‘This was a good insight into how my child is learning and developing within Maths’.
  • ‘We can see the improvements being made, keep up the good work’.

School Overview:

Numeracy Team Input:

Nursery:

Primary 1:

P1 from midcps

Primary 2/3:

 

Primary 4/5:

P4/5 from midcps

 

Primary 6/7

English & Literacy, Homework, Maths & Numeracy, Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 5, Primary 7, Supporting homework, Uncategorized, Useful Websites

Sumdog

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As P3-P7 now have access to Sumdog to support their learning in maths, and P2-P7 have it to support their learning in reading, P5 buddied up with P3/2 today to show them the wonders of Sumdog. The Primary 5s showed their buddy how to login, how to play some of the games, how to earn coins as well as explained how to get their first pet and how to decorate their Sumdog house.

Sumdog will be used to support learning in school, but can also be accessed at home where the children can complete challenges set by their class teacher. They can access this account at home by using the log in provided in their homework diary/book.

To access Sumdog, go to: https://www.sumdog.com

English & Literacy, Information for Parents, Supporting homework, Uncategorized, Useful Websites

eBooks available for your child’s IT device from West Lothian Library Service

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Following a report in December 2015 by the National Literacy Trust  looking at eReading and reading motivation in young people. The findings included that significantly, more pupils thought reading was cool after being involved in the eReading project.  To read the full report visit:www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0002/9076/The_Impact_of_Ebooks_final_report.pdf
Below is a link to a leaflet displaying some of the most popular eBooks for younger readers available from West Lothian Libraries.  Children need to be a member of the library to make use of this free service.