Category Archives: Primary 3
P2/3 Prepare for Spring Assembly.
P2/3 Easter Assembly
Rhuairidh – Easter is a very nice time because there are lots of new flowers and new animals. All the flowers are bright.
James – We love seeing new things being born and growing up. We like seeing calves and especially lambs.
Cara – We have been learning how to draw and paint Easter-time flowers and we love seeing loads of flowers coming out.
Annalise – We like planting flowers at spring because we really like the petals when they bloom and the colours.
Daisy D – We love to celebrate the new life at spring-time.
We loved learning about the artist Elizabeth Blackadder and the Easter story. Some girls loved learning new words for yellow – pineapple, butterscotch and a lovely shade called daffodil! We did a lot of colour mixing to get the right shades for our terracotta pots of dwarf narcissi.
We hope you can come and see us at the church on Thursday afternoon. Daisy F says you can look up the yellow words on Google.
Building Site Safety
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/
Bike-tastic Skills Fun Afternoon for P2/3
P2/3 had a lot of fun and learned about bike safety on the 20th of March 2017. Ian from Lowport Activity Centre came to lead bike games, talk about his interest in bikes and cycling and check whether our bikes were roadworthy. He told us that we need to check our brakes regularly and that we need to have a well-fitted helmet to keep ourselves safe.
Some of us were skidding and were clearly very skilled already and for others we gained in confidence as we weaved in and out of the bike trails in the playground. There are lots of cycle tracks near Mid Calder so here is hoping we are now ready to cycle beyond the school gates!
P2/3 STEM challenge – to design a bike accessory
P2/3 for their STEM challenge at open day on Wednesday 15th March had to design a bike seat for Mr Tickles or Snuggles.
We learned to:
consider a design brief
take part in a group discussion in our bike teams
draw a design sketch
make a seat from cardboard that had fastenings and would be of an appropriate size
evaluate their designs
Alfie said it was quite hard to make the seat. He thought the cutting and shaping to make it fit was tricky.
Nathan thought it was fun and a little bit hard. It was hard to decide on who had the best design in his group.
Jessica thought it was fun to have the parents and grandparents come into the class to help. She thought her design was fun to make but was not so sure how practical it was.
STEM Sharing the Learning Afternoon
This afternoon we opened our doors to parents, carers and friends to come and explore our STEM interdisciplinary learning. In the different areas we had:
- Nursery: STEM activities
- P1 and P2/1: Building our Nursery
- P3/2: Bike Challenge
- P3: Baby Gym
- P4: Project Planetarium
- P5: Kidnapped: CSI
- P6-7: Cool Chemistry
Visitors had an opportunity to take part in a range of science, technologies, engineering and mathematical activities with their children including chemistry experiments, designing the front of our new nursery, making parts of a bike, trying out toys for our baby gyms, making star constellations, fingerprint analysis and showcasing how we use digital learning.
The Nursery used this opportunity to try out their Go Pro, and Scarlet and Archie recorded the STEM afternoon through their eyes.
Our Technical Troopers also tried out using Microsoft Forms to collect information about out visitors’ experiences. This was a fantastic and instant way to gain feedback. You can complete the form by clicking here if you did not have time to do so during your visit.
Some of our feedback so far has included:
The most popular Science, Technologies or Mathematical skills evident during your visit:
- Creativity
- Observation
- Problem Solving
- Scientific inquiry and investigation
- Discussion
We use a range of ways to involve parents/carers in their children’s learning. The methods you prefer are:
- Newsletter
- Parents Night
- Sending jotters home
- Sharing the Learning Afternoon
At Mid Calder we use digital technologies in a range of ways to enhance learning and teaching experiences. How do you feel the use of digital technologies enhances your child/ children’s learning?
- To enhance learning for the future and modern living. Knowing what is safe and secure online. Learning new things that I may not be able to help with or understand.
- Excellent , as technology is the future and will be used more and more as my child gets older and becomes an adult. I would encourage more use of technology in school and support the use of all types of digital technologies.
- The use of digital learning will enhance their learning experiences and translate to real life.
- I think they find it more engaging and interesting. Technology is everywhere, in leisure and the world of work and it helps to learn about it now. In the case of Sumdog, learning can be continued at home.
- I feel that the digital technology used in the nursery is a great way to help the children’s understanding of how the things in the real world work. Everything is digital now and learning to use these technologies at a young age is beneficial as these can be used in a range of ways. We have a range of different devices in the household and although used more as a treat, I feel that my child knows how things work and can’t believe how quickly things can be picked up.
Thank you to everyone who came along to support the event.
Dress Down Day Friday 31st March
There will be a PSA Dress Down Day on Friday 31st March, please see details below.
West Lothian SumDog Competition
P1-7 have been entered to take part in West Lothian’s latest Sumdog contest. This runs from 10-16th March and can be played at both home and at school using the SumDog website or app. All pupils should have their SumDog log in their homework diary/ book.
The children have to answer 1000 questions and their score is based on accuracy, not speed or winning games. There are also prizes to be won and certificates will be given out at Assembly for those children in the top 50 from across West Lothian.
Good luck everyone!
Leadership through Digital Technologies
Several of our classes have created a class Yammer page to share their learning journey throughout our STEM IDL contexts. Last week, Primary 5B supported Primary 3/2 and Primary 3 to help them to get logged on to and explore the features of Yammer. They helped them to access the tool through the Glow launchpad, join their class group, contribute to a poll, and to comment on pictures. Maya and Brooke also took the lead as administrators on each Yammer page, accepting new requests to join and keeping the teachers informed with progress.
To support the use of other Glow tools, P5B also shared their knowledge of Sway with Primary 4B to help them to create a fact file about the solar system. P5 gave them a tour of the key features of the Glow tool, then supported them when they began to explore it themselves while making their presentations. They also logged on to P4’s Project Planetarium Yammer page to view the completed Sways, giving them two stars and a wish feedback based on their success criteria.
This week, Primary 4B were then able to use this new knowledge and skills to support P4A when they were creating their Sways about the solar system. A fantastic example of our pupils becoming digital leaders!
P3’s Amazing school trip to Jupiter Art Land!
P3 went to Jupiter Art Land and saw lots of interesting and cool sculptures!
Euan: My favourite sculpture was the stones in the trees by Andy Goldsworth because they were really interesting!
Lewis A: My favourite part was having a wee seat on the stones in the secret house!
Jacob: I liked the statues of the weeping girls because they stayed really still like a statue.
Olivia: My favourite part was the crystal cave. It was really shiny and cool!
Ciara: My favourite part was the weeping girls because they have long hair that hides their faces. I remember it was by Laura Ford!
Amelia: My favourite part was the trees with the giant stones because it was stretching the tree out!
