Author: Miss McLaughlin

This week, Primary 5 started their new topic – Life in a Burgh town! We built up a Burgh town on our classroom wall and used collage to create our own medieval characters.

“I enjoyed drawing and painting my character/the Burgh animals and learning the different parts of the Burgh town.” Boe

“I enjoyed learning about the Burgh town and making my character.” Oliwia

“I enjoyed making the Mercat Cross for our Burgh town.” Kristina

“My favourite part was using the different fabrics to make my character.” Lauren

“I enjoyed drawing and painting my market stall.” Cerys

We also found out about our new Technologies project from Miss McLaughlin and Sarah-Jane. We are going to build a medieval market! We worked in groups and began to plan each of our stalls (the blacksmith, the tanner/butcher, the potter/weaver, the baker and the grocer).

Keep checking in to see how we are getting on!

Until next time…

Primary 5 & Miss McLaughlin 🙂

 

 

 

We are steadily getting ourselves back into routine. Here are some of the things we enjoyed learning this week:

Lauren: I enjoyed making our characters for our class charter.

Cerys: Learning how to find 100 more or less. I’ve been practising at home too.

Lachlan: I enjoyed using rights to make our class charter.

Andrew: I enjoyed my Word Wizard job during group reading.

Oliwia: Making muffins using vegetables we grew in the garden.

Boe: Making predictions about my group reading book.

Rebecca: Learning how to use doubles to find near doubles.

 

Below is a photo of our new class charter. We have used our Class Dojo monsters to make up the display.

Until next time…

Primary 5 & Miss M 🙂

Welcome back to school!

Seven weeks have passed and P4 have transitioned into P5! We are very excited about what this year will bring and looking forward to learning lots of new things.

We have spent this week looking at rules and rights to help us make our new class charter! We have picked our new class representatives too (see below). We are settling into our new room and new stage well 🙂 Keep checking our blog posts throughout the year to see what we are learning.

Until next time…

Primary 5 & Miss M 🙂

On Wednesday, Team Pumphy (Miss McLaughlin, Miss Young & Sarah-Jane) set off for Glasgow to attend the Scottish Education Awards.

As you know, we had been shortlisted for the ‘Parents as Partners in Learning’ award for all of the fantastic work we have undertaken with Sarah-Jane. The award covers applicants from all schools in Scotland and the standard of entries this year was unbelievably high.

We had made it to the final with two other schools : Long Calderwood Primary School and St John Ogilive High School. We were awarded the runner-up position and given £200 to go towards future projects. Congratulations to St John Ogilvie High School, who won our category. We are extremely proud of our little school for being recognised on such a grand scale. We know the work we do is fantastic and we will carry this on in the upcoming school session.

Congratulations to the other finalists from Team West Lothian – Jonathan Payne from West Calder High School (Teacher of the Year runner-up) and the Polbeth Nursery Team (Raising Attainment in Literacy runner-up).

Thanks to all parents, pupils and members of Team Pumphy for their help and support.

Miss McLaughlin 🙂

As the end of the school year is approaching, our Roman amphitheatre is almost ready for unveiling!

We would like to invite parents and members of the local community to come to our Roman-themed open afternoon. It will take place on Wednesday 15th June at 1.30pm.

Stuart from the West Lothian Courier will be there to take photos and speak to the school staff/children. Please let Miss McLaughlin know if you do not wish your child to participate in this.

We hope to see you there! We will be spending the next few weeks planning for the afternoon’s events!

Until next time…

Primary 4 & Miss M 🙂

This week, Primary 4 started their new Weather-themed topic!

We are learning about how the weather affects our daily lives, how to measure/record weather and how to create our very own weather reports!

We looked at the different tools that make up a weather station – a barometer (pressure), a thermometer (temperature), a wind vane (wind direction), an anemometer (wind speed) and a rain gauge (precipitation). We made wind vanes on Wednesday afternoon and tested them in the playground. Using the orchard as North, we found that the wind was blowing in a Southwesterly direction. We were also able to apply our recent learning about compass points.

Have a look at how we got on!

 

Until next time…

Primary 4 & Miss M 🙂

This week, Primary 4 wrapped up their Food & Nutrition topic with the Vegetarian Food Challenge!

Three pairs had made it to the final with their meal designs (see last blog post). Miss McLaughlin decided that the most balanced meal came from Kristina and Kamila. Well done girls!

On Tuesday afternoon, we put design into action and made our own vegetarian meals. Below are some of the photos.

Another topic successfully completed!

Until next time…

Primary 4 & Miss M 🙂

Our topic for the first few weeks back has been about food and nutrition. We revisited our knowledge of food groups and began to look at seven different nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, protein, minerals, vitamins, water and fibre). We explored what each set of nutrients did and thought about different age groups that they would be suitable for.

We knew that people’s dietary needs could be based on any allergies/intolerances they might have, their religious beliefs or preferences. Miss McLaughlin gave us a challenge on Friday – to design a meal which would be suitable for a vegetarian. We had to think carefully about what they would/wouldn’t eat (however, we couldn’t make a decision about fish) while also considering the types of nutrients they would need. The winning meal will be decided by Miss McLaughlin and we will make it next week to round off our topic. Below, are the three finalists!

Miss McLaughlin was extremely proud of everyone’s work – this is not an easy thing to think about! Be sure to pop in for a ‘taste test’ on Tuesday.

Until then…

Primary 4 & Miss M 🙂

Some lovely news to share with you all after our first week back!

As a school, we submitted a nomination to the Scottish Education Awards for the ‘Parents as Partners in Learning’ category. The work carried out by Sarah-Jane Haston across the school is making such an impact, so we felt that this should be recognised on a much larger scale. Many thanks to Tom Ullathorne and Mr Eagleson who helped with the application process.

Judges are coming to the school tomorrow to talk to staff and pupils about the wonderful work undertaken here. Very few schools made the shortlist and we are so proud that Pumpherston and Uphall Station Community Primary School has been recognised. The winner won’t be announced until nearer the summer, so let’s keep our fingers crossed until then!

I will be sure to keep you all updated!

Miss McLaughlin 🙂

 

This week, Primary 4 have been learning a French Easter story. Lauren and Cerys show you the actions below – have a try yourself!

Have a wonderful Easter when it comes.

Primary 4 & Miss M 🙂