Category Archives: News

Community, Community Crusaders, Health & Wellbeing, Junior Leadership Teams, Outside of School

Community Crusaders visit Cunigar House!

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During our last JLT session, the Community Crusaders went to Cunigar House in Mid Calder village to visit the tenants that live there. We went to Cunigar House to get to know our older community and to share our learning with them.

We brought along some games such as Kapla and Dominoes and some of our reading books and writing jotters.

Some of us enjoyed drawing pictures with the tenants.

“Cool Joe created a picture of Harry, Lucas and I.”- Naomi S, P1.

“At our table we enjoyed playing dominoes with Mrs. McCormack, Lewis and the ladies of Cunigar House.”- Ben S, P4.

“I enjoyed playing Castle Chase with Joy, and I think she enjoyed playing too.”- Erin C, P5.

“I shared my learning about Number Talks with Michael.”- Georgia S, P3.

“I drew Beth’s two budgies in a cage for her. One was green and one was blue. I also drew the school badge.”- Hana, P5/4.

At the end of our time there we joined together to sing ‘Caledonia’ and ‘Ye Canny Shove Yer Grannie’. The tenants seemed to really enjoy our singing. We all signed a card at the end to say thank you for having us and we hope to see you all again.

Have a look at some of our photos and videos of our time there! 🙂

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Achievements, Nursery, Primary 1, Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 5, Primary 7, Pupil Council

Pupil Council: Recognising Achievements

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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!

Achievements, English & Literacy, Events, Interdisciplinary Learning, Primary 7, Technologies, Uncategorized

Lights, Camera, Action

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Today we turned the upper area into a movie theatre, where only the best actors, directors and cameramen were invited. The children have been working hard to create their own blockbuster movies featuring either, Dizzy, Fluffy or Spike. Each group focused on the three C’s and S’s…….colour, character, camera and sound, story and setting and today was the day where they showcased their talents.  Showing in our cinema was, London Crisis, Spike Bond and Fluffy Dimension, to name but a few, however there could only be 3 winners. Each child voted for the movie they felt demonstrated the skills that we had been learning in class, portrayed a good storyline and also made us laugh.  And the winners were…….

Best movie:

P7:      Caitlin, Laura, Ellis and Charlie J

P7/6: Cameron, Chiaro and Ellis

P6:     Noah, Luca, Callum, Charlie, Grace, Logan F and Logan S

Best Actor :

P7:    Trystan

P7/6:  Jacob

P6:  Harry

Best Actress:

P7:     Neve

P7/6:  Natalia

P6: Keira

Special Effects:

P7:   Jamie K, Neve, Michael, Ben

P7/6: Rosie, Lauren, Jacob, Natalia, Kacper

P6:   Reno, Ayla, Holly, Charlie, Louis, Zach

Well done to everyone on completing their film. It was evident, from the movies, that the children has used a lot of what they had learned throughout their topic and that they thoroughly enjoyed making their own movies. I am sure that we have some budding actors and actresses in our midst.131143142141138139140136135134016130132133

 

 

 

Events, Internet Safety, Primary 5, Technologies

Safer Internet Day in P5

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Learning Intention: We are learning how to stay safe online

Success Criteria: I can discuss the positive aspects of the internet and how I use it to help me learn

I can discuss the problems/dangers I might face online and how I might overcome these

I can create a poster to give hints and tips about how to stay safe online

To celebrate Safer Internet Day 2016, Primary 5 have been exploring some of the positive and negative aspects of the internet. We shared how we use the internet to help us with our learning, as well as using it to play online games and to stay in touch with our friends. We then discussed the dangers we might face when using the internet, and some of the ways we might overcome those to keep ourselves safe. We watched a video that highlighted the importance of keeping personal details about ourselves private online, and making sure that we only share information and pictures with the people we know and trust.  We then used this to help us to create a poster about online safety. We entered these posters into a West Lothian competition with the hope of being chosen to have our poster used to promote internet safety across the authority.

We also looked at Safer Internet Day’s campaign, ‘Play your part and share a heart.’ We discussed the issue of cyber bullying and how this can affect people, then decided to go on our school blog and #shareaheart by saying nice things about the learning and achievements in our school. At home, we also decided to share gifts with our friends on Sumdog, help each other to advance in games on Xbox, and we posted positive comments on a variety of different websites to make people feel good.

How will you play your part and #shareaheart to make the internet a nicer place?

Community, Events, Health & Wellbeing, Internet Safety, Internet Safety, Technologies

Parental Information: Safer Internet Day

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Safer Internet Day 2016 – Friday 12th February at the new Bathgate Cinema
West Lothian Council is inviting parents and carers to meet industry experts on internet safety, at the end of a week in which information on keeping children safe online will be promoted through the Council’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, in support of Safer Internet Day 2016.

What is Safer Internet Day?
Globally, Safer Internet Day involves over a hundred countries, and is supported by the European Commission and national Safer Internet Centres across Europe. In West Lothian, an event is being hosted at the new Bathgate Cinema offering advice on setting parental controls on any kind of device, from technology industry experts.

What will be happening on the day?
Police Scotland’s School Link Officers will introduce and provide commentary on the CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) films, giving parents and carers first-hand experience of the internet safety lessons pupils receive in school.

The CEOP film screenings will take place at a free event at the new Bathgate Cinema (formerly St. David’s Church, George Street) on Friday 12 February from 10:00 to 12:00.

Not to be confused with the Regal Community Theatre, the new Bathgate Cinema is in St. David’s Church on the pedestrian precinct in Bathgate, opposite Boots.

The event is free and open to everyone.

Expert advice will then be offered at information stalls from 12 noon until 3pm, with representatives including staff from retailer Game, Vodafone, and Police Scotland.

 

 

What the Leader of the Council said:
Leader of West Lothian Council John McGinty, said: “Safer Internet Day provides the opportunity to highlight positive uses of technology and to explore the role we all play in helping to create a better and safer online community.

“The internet is integral to life today, and will play a crucial role in the future of our young people. It is vitally important that children, and the people who care for them, understand that what is posted online today can have a massive impact on their future, both positively and negatively, and the importance of staying safe online.”

For more information visit:

http://www.westlothian.gov.uk/saferinternet

Community, Events, Interdisciplinary Learning, Maths & Numeracy, Primary 5

Getting our business heads on in the Middle Area

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This afternoon, P4, P5/4 and P5 were lucky enough to have a second visitor to come and help them with their IDL topic, Grand Designs. Mrs Deerness, the school’s Business Manager, spoke to the middle area about her job of helping Mid Calder Primary to make the most of our school budget from West Lothian Council. We learnt all about council tax and what this is used for, how much money our school is given to spend each financial year and what this might be spent on. Mrs Deerness even told us how much money is given to spend on each individual pupil in the school, which made us appreciate all of the resources we have even more! We asked lots of thoughtful questions to deepen our understanding about budgets and finance.

A big thank you to Mrs Deerness for coming in to speak to us. We know that this knowledge of budgeting will help us when we are making the tough decisions in our classroom designs.