Category Archives: Primary 1

Pupil Council: Recognising Achievements

Today at our Pupil Council Meeting we discussed different achievements we would like to complete by P4 and P7.

For example by P4 it might be:

  • I can take part in  a school trip.
  • I can receive Star Pupil.
  • I can take part in the Nativity/ concert.

By P7 it might include:

  • I can use my own device in school safely.
  • I can take part in a residential.
  • I can apply for House Captain.

Look out for our finished achievement lists!

Internet Safety in P1a

Last week as part of Internet Safety Week, P1a spent some time talking about the computers, laptops, tablets etc that we use at school and at home. We discussed how we  use them for different purposes such as research or playing games, and how we sometimes use the Internet to do these things. We also talked about the importance of looking after our devices, and taking care when we handle them. The next day we began exploring different types of Personal Information and we discussed whether or not we would share this with others, especially with people we don’t know. Then, we related this to keeping ourselves safe online by watching and discussing a short cartoon called ‘Hector’s World’.

 

Internet safety Day in Primary 1b

LI: We are learning about sharing information safely online.

SC: I can identify information which is safe to share online.

SC: I can identify information which is not safe to share online.

To celebrate Internet Safety Day, Primary 1b have been exploring how to stay safe online. We watched a very interesting cartoon called ‘Hector’s World’ which helped us to understand what types of personal information are safe or not safe to share online. After watching and discussing the cartoon, we demonstrated what we had learned through an activity. Brandon held up a ‘yes’ sign, and Finlay held up a ‘no’ sign. The children had to respond to the following questions by running to the correct sign.

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Is it safe to share your name online or with a stranger?

The children all answered ‘no’.

Is it safe to share your age online or with a stranger?

The children all answered ‘no’.

Is it safe to share your address online or with a stranger?

The children all answered ‘no’.

Is it safe to share your school online or with a stranger?

The children all answered ‘no’.

Is it safe to share a nickname online?

The children all answered ‘yes’.

Is it safe to share your name, age, address or school with an adult that you know and trust?

The children all answered ‘yes’.

We all agreed that the only information we would share online would be a nickname. To help us remember, we worked in pairs to create silly nicknames for each other.

Can you guess whose nicknames these are?

Mac-attack

unicornpunicorn

superpup5

pencilpumpkin652

superdog2016

snackattack

5dinoattack

brandyattack5

captainsparkles822

doggydoggy5

Danielbaniel201668

superspider

Primary 1-3 ICT club

Over the past four weeks the children at the P1-3 ICT club have been learning from each other to:

– Program Beebot to travel along paths and mazes

– Use the paint tool in Purple Mash

– Access Sumdog

– Explore apps on our new IPads.

We have all learned new ICT skills as well as develop our communication and problem-solving skills whilst having great fun.

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House Meeting: BYOD and Internet Safety

Last week we had our first House meeting of 2016 and the House and Vice Captains decided the focus should be on Anytime Anywhere Learning (AAL), Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and internet safety, as these are currently hot topics of conversations in our school.

As usual we started the meeting going over the plan for the meeting and expectations. Then the house members took part in a community builder. The House and Vice Captains showed us a video about internet safety as it is Internet Safety Day soon.

This led on to telling us about Bring Your Own Device, this is something the Technical Troopers and Pupil Council are leading. We had to create a post-it pledge to show how we would follow our school values of responsible and respectful if we became a BYOD school. The House and Vice Captains have taken these post-its and created a school crest.

Thank you to the House and Vice Captains, and P7s for organising such an interesting house meeting.

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Morning Blether: Profiling

This morning the Pupil Council held a Morning Blether to explain to parents what profiling is, how we are profiling at Mid Calder Primary School and how was can improve our approaches to profiling.
We also shared a new profiling tool that our staff have created in order for parents to understand what a level looks like in Maths and Language. This will be launched at the Curriculum evening on February 25th at 6pm and will be made available to all parents at this event and on the blog.

Thank you to the Pupil Council for organising this event and to the parents who attended, you can find a copy of the PowerPoint below.

Odd or Even?

LI

We are learning to recognise odd and even numbers

SC

I can show an odd or an even number in a variety of ways.

I can explain why a number is odd or even

 

In Maths and Numeracy this week P1a began by sorting out a big  pile of socks!

We soon noticed that each sock had a partner, so we matched them up and laid them out  in a long line. Next, we  counted  them by  counting in twos. We learnt that these numbers are called EVEN numbers.

Later, we used this game to sort shoes.

Sorting Shoes

Very quickly, we discovered that the shoes didn’t always have a partner when we put them on the shelf. This helped us to understand what  ODD numbers are.

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Do we have an odd or an even number of socks? We worked together to solve the problem.

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We can show odd and even numbers in different ways.

Why don’t you try this activity at home?

Ladybirds

P1b 2D Shape Space Pictures

LI: We are learning about 2D shapes.

SC: I can identify and name some 2D shapes.

SC: I can describe some 2D shapes using relevant vocabulary.

Last week, we identified 3D shapes as something which we would like to learn more about. We agreed that we would need to learn about 2D shapes first, and so we have been learning to identify and describe lots of 2D shapes. After analysing and comparing different 2D shapes, we applied what we learned to create 2D shape space pictures. Once our pictures were complete we had fun was counting, naming and describing all of the different shapes within our picture. here are some examples:

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We have also really enjoyed playing ‘Guess the Shape’. We take turns to choose a 2D shape from a feely bag. Without looking at the shape we have to describe it effectively so that the rest of the class can identify it.

 

 

 

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Today at our Pupil Council meeting we discussed the concerns we had about bring our own device and came up with some solutions.

  1. Lost, stolen, damaged devices: We recognised that we would have to trust each other. We think it’s important that your device has a protective cover. Some of us discussed that if you brought you own devic e it is just for you to use. We would have to learn to take responsibility for our own devices and respect other children’s property.
  2. Taking photos & videos: Some of us had the idea that if you were using your own device you could only take photos of yourself and your work and you could use school devices to take photos of other pupils in your class. We discussed how you had to ask someone before you took a photo and then delete the photo from the device when you are finished. We recognised that we would have to be responsible when taking photos and videos to ensure they were appropriate.
  3. What if I don’t have a device?: ‘So what?’ -We have lots of devices and eq uipment in school that you can use. We discussed how you might want to take an old device to school with you to use.
  4. Responsible use: We thought it would be a good idea to create a contract so children remember how to use the devices responsibily. We don’t think we should use social media or texting  at school, we want to use our devices to help us learn.

On Thursday some of the Pupil Council and Technical Troopers are having a Glow Meet with the Pupil Council at Williamston Primary. They are using BYOD and we think we could learn lots of them.

Our new school devices are almost ready to use on our Anytime Anywhere Learning network … We are very excited abut the possibilities this will have for us and our teachers!

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Mid Calder celebrate Burns in braw style!

On Friday 22nd January, Mid Calder Primary participated in their annual Burns/Scots poetry celebration.

Pupils from Nursery, right through to Primary Seven, we asked to develop their knowledge and understanding of Scots language by learning a selection of poems.  Each class selected two representatives who then recited their chosen poems to the whole school community.

Mr MacFarlane, Mrs Bokhari and Mrs Ross were asked to judge the participants- the winners of each stage from P4-7 will represent the school at the West Lothian recital competition.  Thank-you to Mr MacFarlane and Mrs Bokhari for their excellent judging skills.

Many thanks to the Vice Captains for compering the morning and welcoming our visitors into school.

A huge thank-you to the parents and carers who came along to show their support during the morning.  Also a huge thank-you to all of the parents and carers from the school community who helped prepare poems with all of our learners at home.  The level of commitment and effort when learning these difficult pieces of text, was phenomenal.

Well done to the girls from Primary 5 and Primary 7 who were keen to share their skills and talents in Highland dancing.  What a fantastic performance!

All of the pupils and staff members participated in preparations for the assembly with enthusiasm and dedication – another example of successful learning in Mid Calder Primary School!IMG_0999 IMG_1001 IMG_1023IMG_1065 IMG_1066IMG_1056 IMG_1057IMG_1052 IMG_1053 IMG_1054 IMG_1064IMG_1058 IMG_1059 IMG_1060 IMG_1063IMG_1061 IMG_1062 IMG_1073 IMG_1074 IMG_1075 IMG_1076IMG_1077 IMG_1078 IMG_1079 IMG_1080IMG_1070 IMG_1072 IMG_1082