P5 – A Titanic Effort to Recreate 1912!

Mrs Campbell and Miss Anderson have been overwhelmed by the amazing reproductions of ‘Titanic’ cabins which were produced by Primary 5 this term.

Every one which was brought in to school seemed to contain even more detail than the last, from teeny-weeny bowler hats to clocks showing the exact time the ship went down to beautifully tiled Edwardian bathrooms. It was clear that the children loved learning about life aboard the iconic ship and they were fascinated (and a bit scared!) to learn about its sad end. The children also focused on the class system in place during this time and they learned about the impact this had on the unfortunate passengers of Titanic; the number of 3rd class passengers who lost their lives greatly outweighing those in 2nd or 1st class.

Hopefully you can see from our photographs the level of detail included in some of these amazing cabins, with some children choosing to recreate the stark austerity of steerage and others opting for the opulence of 1st class. We know that these creations sometimes need a bit of adult help, so thanks again to all the children (and their helpers) for their amazing creativity – well done!  

Fairtrade Fortnight 2018 at Mid Calder Primary School

Over the last two weeks we have been celebrating Fairtrade Fortnight by taking part in various activities, competitions and experiences. The children have embraced learning about Fairtrade and enjoyed sharing their learning.

Each class was assigned a Fairtrade product to find out about. Have a look at what each class got up to!

Nursery

We have included a picture of our floorbook, comic life and pictures of the children exploring the fairtrade items Mrs Murphy had brought in from the Fair Tradewind shop in Linlithgow. After seeing the worry dolls the children asked if they could make their own worry dolls.

Primary 1: Bananas

P1 learned about Pablo the Banana. He taught the P1’s about what Fairtrade means and also about the journey of the banana. We then designed our board games for the competition.

Primary 2 and 3: Coffee

P2 learned about coffee and other Fairtrade products. They were able to colour and label Fairtrade products from around the world and then draw a Fairtrade product that they have seen or tried.

Primary 3 learned about what Fairtrade is and why it important before researching their Fairtrade product, coffee. We used the netbooks to find out interesting facts and shared them with a partner. As we have been learning about fact and opinions in our reading lessons, we then using the Glow tool Forms to create a fact and opinion quiz about Fairtrade.

Primary 4 and 5: Brazil Nuts

P4 and P5 learned about the Brazil Nut. We found out about the story of the Brazil nuts by:

  • Finding out where and how Brazil nuts are grown and gathered
  • Looking at the rainforest and the factors needed to grow Brazil nuts
  • Talking about Fairtrade and how it can help Brazil nut gatherers to get a better deal

Primary 6: Tea

P6 had a great time  looking at a tea planting community in Malawi as part of Fairtrade Fortnight. We learned about how Fairtrade pays their workers fairly and also provides money to benefit the whole community. Pupils worked in groups to decide how money should be spent within a community (e.g. Food, water, healthcare, education etc). They had to decide which needs were most important- a difficult decision!

Primary 6/7: Footballs

Primary 6/7 took part in their own competition to ‘Design a Fairtrade football’. The Fairtrade Junior Leadership Team had a look at the fantastic designs and picked 1st, 2nd and 3rd place! Have a look at some of the designs:

 

There was lots of other fun things happening around the school too!

Nurture group: Baking with Fairtrade products

The nurture group worked with Mrs Kellner to make a Fairtrade banana loaf. They had lots of fun following the recipe, measuring the ingredients and mixing everything together! A delicious smell filled the corridors of the school and it tasted delicious!

 

Fairtrade breakfast: Bananas and Chocolate!

This week during breakfast club the children had the opportunity to taste Fairtrade bananas and chocolate. The boys and girls enjoyed dipping their bananas in the rich dark chocolate and it was smiles all round!

 

Fairtrade competition

The Fairtrade Junior Leadership Team launched a competition to design a Fairtrade board game. Lots of children across the school entered the competition and the JLT had a difficult decision trying to pick a P1-3 and P4-7 winner. They played some of the games to help make their decision. Winners will be announced next week! Have a look at some of the fantastic competition entries!

Visit from Lush Livingston

Lush in Livingston kindly offered to hold an assembly for the school to talk about their fresh handmade cosmetic products and give pupils the opportunity to purchase some of their fantastic range! However, due to the untimely Spring snow the visit has been re-scheduled. We will update you with this visit soon!

P7/6 Europe Challenge

This term we have been learning about the European Union. We were given a challenge for a travel show. We were in groups of three and two. we had to choose a country in the European Union and make a travel show about it. The countries included Greece, Finland, Spain, Italy, and Denmark. The Success Criteria included :

  • A successful travel show  will include:
  •        Pictures
  •        Relevant information
  •        Recommendations
  •        Appropriate tone and expression
  • Information about:
  •          Flags
  •          Landmarks
  •          Geography
  •          Language
  •          Dance
  •          Food
  •          Currency

We had great fun presenting our travel shows as well as being informed about the different aspects of culture. We are going to make up a Euroquiz to share our knowledge at Parents’ evening. We look forward testing your knowledge of The Europe Union.

Tidy Toilets!!

Our House Captains and Vice Captains were keen to improve the school toilets for everyone and they’ve been working with other members of the school community to improve things and ensure they are a nicer place to be!  After discussions at House Meetings, they decided on rotas and rewards and put this in place a couple of weeks ago.  After counting up the scores today, they announced that the Upper Girls Toilets and the Infant Boys Toilets had the highest points.  They will have ‘fancy’ toilet paper and hand wash in their toilets next week.  A very big well done to everyone for trying hard and leaving the toilets as they would like to find them! 

P1P Get Squeaky Clean!

LI: We are learning about the importance of cleanliness.

SC: I can demonstrate how to wash my hands thoroughly.
I know that I have to wash my hands after touching an animal, and before preparing or eating food.
I can talk about key points in the day when I have to wash my hands.

This week in P1P, we have been getting prepared for our farm trip next week. We discussed the importance of washing our hands after touching animals and before eating or making food to prevent the spreading of germs.
We took part in germ experiment. Miss Prior squeezed glitter paint into our hands and we then had to shake hands, hi 5 and pass a pencil between us to show how easy it is to spread germs. We found that the group that washed their hands straight away didn’t spread any germs. We then made safety posters to let other people know how important it is to wash your hands.

Snow Day Antics and Building Ideas

Move over George Clark and your Amazing Spaces TV programme. I hope some of you took up the Igloo Challenge. Did you manage to make a roof? How did you build it? How could you make it better next time? I know some people made an igloo that could fit ten people inside. How big would that need to be? What questions would you ask an Innuit about their igloo-building skills? What other small shelters are there in warm countries? There are great design ideas on the Tiny House/Homes website and in Scotland some people build huts in woods that can be very inventive so look at the Reforesting Scotland 1000 Huts Movement. How would you design a great den/hut?

I hope you are working on using French every day. In class we are using French colours and in P5-7 Spanish too. Use Google translate or YouTube to find ways to practise these – rouge, orange, jaune, vert, bleu, rose, noir, blanc.

Finally, I hope some of you tried to help others that may have found it difficult to get to the shops for milk and bread. For some people who are HOUSEBOUND this is a problem that faces them every day and not just a Snow Day.

Primary 4 make Roman mosaics!

This week Primary 4 have been finding out about Roman mosaics. The children looked at mosaics and tiling found in Roman homes and architecture and observed the different colours, patterns and shapes they could see. Have a look at the boys and girls in action:

We are learning to make Roman mosaics.

  • I can observe and discuss the different colours, patterns and shapes found in Roman tiling/mosaics.
  • I can create my own tiling/mosaic design.

Station 1: Triangle mosaics.

Station 2: ICT – Make an online mosaic.

Station 3: 2D shape mosaics.

Station 4: Dot to dot mosaics.

Station 5: Cut paper mosaics.

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