To celebrate Roald Dahl Day Rooms 12 and 13 have been learning all about Roald Dahl and the reasons why he is such a significant figure in the world of children’s literature.

We have been: –

• discussing the features of his novels and comparing the characters and style with those of David Walliams
• engaging with an interactive BBC Teach lesson
• thinking about a time when we were brave
• planning our own brave characters and an obstacle for them to face for future writing
• learning to draw in the style of Quentin Blake
• Designing and describing a new interesting character to join Matilda and her classmates in their quest to defeat the horrendous Miss Trunchbull.

A busy Roald Dahl Day all round!

Please encourage your children to further explore the imaginative world of these and many other fantastic novelists by reading for pleasure at home.

A Digital Leader is a pupil who is part of a Digital Leaders Team within a school, whose role it is to support the use and to further the development of digital technologies in school.

Please note that this first round of applications for Digital Leaders is open to P5 & P6 pupils only.

These are some of the responsibilities that our pupils will have as part of the Digital Leaders team. These responsibilities will be shared out amongst all of the Digital Leaders.

• Support the use of iPads and computers in school to support learning
• Share your skills and expertise with other pupils, classes and teachers.
• Assist teachers, staff and other pupils in understanding coding applications.
• Set up equipment in classrooms for teachers.
• Update and monitor areas of the school / class blogs.
• Test and review new digital resources (websites, computer software, hardware or apps).
• Give ideas to teachers about future development of technology.
• Lead lunchtime or after school computing / iPad clubs.
• Support teachers in using technology in the classroom.
• Have a good understanding of how to stay safe with technology and share that knowledge with others.
• Provide some technical support in school.
• Attend occasional staff meetings to train staff.
• Create how-to video help guides.
• Attend occasional training sessions when they are arranged both in and out of school.

In order that they can perform the above roles, we will ensure that you have the relevant training and support to perform the role.

Are you interested?  Are you in P5 or P6?

Complete the application form, and return it to Mrs Dandie by Friday 29^th March on paper or via the school email address wlsimpson-ps@westlothian.org.uk 

A digital copy of the form can be downloaded here:

SPS P5 & P6 Digital Leaders Application Form

Visit the video link below for more information:

Digital Leader Introduction

Over the past two weeks in P7/6 we have engaged in a wide variety of learning activities.  Some of our learning is detailed below along with suggestions as to how to promote and support further learning at home.

Numeracy

P7 have been focusing on multiplication strategies – with a particular emphasis on decoding word problems and applying the strategy that suits them best.

P6 have been learning and applying a variety of different addition strategies.

Asking your child to demonstrate and explain the differnt strategies and which one they find most useful is a simple activity to deepen understanding.

Literacy

We continue to enjoy our class novel “My Story:The Road to War” and have been using this as a stimulus to explore a variety of comprehension skills.  Children have been demonstrating their understanding of the novel to make predicitions, visualise particular scenes and characters and create adverts to promote something within the novel.  We have also been developing the skills of deduction and inference based on both the novel and a selection of interesting images.

In writing we have been exploring the features of a balanced argument and have been applying our understanding to act out some examples.

Try asking you child to explain the meaning of the underlined terms and apply these skills using a photo or text at home.  Can they also describe the difference between an argument and a balanced argument?

Peace and Conflict

As we continue to explore our whole school focus on Peace and Conflict, children have been learning about the experiences of World War One soldiers in the trenches and creating timelines of the key events for the duration of the war.

This week we have began to carry out group research projects, working with our peers in the other P7 classes, to deliver presentations on key inspirational figures from the war.

Who has your child chosen to research?  Why do they feel that person is inspirational? Are you able to help them gather useful information? 

Health and Wellbeing

We have begun to explore Internet Safety as a class, with children considering the difference between appearance and personality and discussing which they think is the more important of the two.

Our initial focus has been on builidng confidence and self-esteem, with all children selecting at lease one thing about their own personality that they really like.  Which feature did your child choose?

Technology

All children have now been added to Teams which can be accessed via their Microsoft Glow accounts.  I will be demonstrating this to children in class next week and adding useful resources under headings of the different curricular areas to support the children’s learning at home.  Home Learning activities will also be added for reference.

Try exploring this feature at home with your child by logging on to Glow.  Children can add a message to the conversation to let me know they’ve successfully logged on.