Category: Primary 7

Numeracy and Mathematics

We continued to carry out our baseline assessments in numeracy and mathematics and use this information along with the Second Level benchmarks to set our targets for term 1. These had to be realistic, achievable and focused specifically on the areas in which we to strengthen our work. Next week, we will begin consolidating our learning of written methods of addition and subtraction. We have already spoken about the importance of evidencing our strategies through written working and understand that we will gain credit for this, even if our final answer is incorrect.

Literacy and English

Our key focus in Literacy and English this week was to carry out our first piece of extended writing in our new jotters. We wrote a reflected on our summer holidays, describing and sharing our experiences. In doing so, we attempted to make the context and events clear through the use of detail whilst describing our thoughts and feelings about our experiences. Vocabulary and interesting word choice was also used to engage our readers. From Mr Logan’s feedback and our self-assessments, we were able to see what our targets should be in writing. Mr Logan has challenged all of us to pay particular attention to our layout and presentation in any written work throughout the year. Next week, we will start guided reading and studies of fictional texts along with planning and creating and imaginative piece of writing based on a picture stimulus.

Health and Wellbeing

This week we were introduced to the 5 point scale, a new system we are using across school to teach and track the mental, social and emotional wellbeing of all children on a daily basis. Each morning when we register and throughout the day in P7a, we will be asked to rate ourselves from 1-5 depending on how we are feeling. Rating ourselves as a 1 would suggest we are happy and calm, whereas a 5 would mean things have become out of control or we are angry. We are aware that our feelings and reactions can change quickly depending on what is happening around us, but we should be able to express our feelings and talk about them if need be. P7a completed their own 5 point scales to identify what each number may ‘feel like’ and ‘look like’ for them as well as ‘chill skills’ that can be used to better manage our emotions. This is something we will be speaking about in class throughout the year as we try to foster and strengthen mental wellbeing. It is not always possible to enjoy good mental health, but if this happens we know that there is support available. Next week we will identify key adults that form our support network.

In P.E, we took part in our first session of basketball to develop our ball handling and decision making skills. Mr Logan was incredibly impressed with our sequential thinking as we demonstrated the ability to memorise and perform varied movements whilst in control of the basketball. We recapped on the 3 ways in which we can pass the ball and refined these skills in some partnership working activities. At the end of our session, we played in some attack v defence scenarios to better our cue recognition and decision making skills. This means we were to be pro-active when making decisions, for example, anticipating where to move before the ball arrives. We have been entered into West Lothian’s basketball league this session, so hopefully some members of P7a will be given the opportunity to participate in competitive games.

Learning Across the Curriculum

We have continued to support our P1 Buddies this week and worked with them on Friday to complete their wellbeing questionnaires. We explained in child friendly language to them what is means to be safe, healthy, active, nurtured, achieving, respected, responsible and included.

Throughout P7 we will be given many opportunities to develop our leadership skills. We decided what roles we would like to take forward on Wednesday and completed application forms specific to these roles. Some of us even agreed to take on the additional responsibility of House Captain.  From sports leaders to digital leaders and newspaper writers to numeracy champions, we will all be finalising our remits next week before starting to develop these areas across school. Our House Captains have received their badges and are ready to begin carrying out their duties. Stay tuned for some news about exciting changes to our House Points system in school!

Finally, we made our way out to the Outdoor Classroom to bury our time capsule. This will remain untouched until Friday 28th June 2019 when we will dig it up and reflect on what is sure to be a fantastic final year at Springfield Primary School!

On Friday there was just enough time to do some pop art self-portraits before our ‘Safe’ assembly with Miss Baillie. Have a look at some examples of this below:

Have a great weekend everyone!

P7a and Mr Logan

” Learning and teaching is messy stuff. It doesn’t fit into bubbles.” Michele Forman.

Literacy: This week in Literacy we had discussed and identified the key elements of an autobiography. We discussed and compared the difference between an autobiography and a biography. We had an opportunity to use our knowledge and skills to write our very own autobiography, this was a good opportunity for us to remind ourselves of the importance of grammar and the use of using interesting vocabulary to keep our readers interested. It was also a chance for us to share a little about ourselves that maybe some of our class mates may not have known about us.

We had our first experience at the ‘Word Café’ where we had a three course book tasting. It was a fun filled experience, where we had took the time to discuss in our groups which reading novel would interest us. After discussing the front cover, title, reading the blurb and the first few pages of the different readers, as a group we chose our reading book for the next few weeks. It was important for us to make the choice, based on our interest and understanding, as this year we are really going to focus on reading for enjoyment. (Book tasting photos to follow)

Numeracy: During numeracy we used some prior knowledge to show our understanding of the four operations of number as well as completing some Maths concepts too.

HWB: PE with Mrs. Matos this week, we have been working on skills that will help to improve our basketball playing. We have also been learning this week the importance of our emotional wellbeing. We are now using the inspirational 5point scale in our classrooms, to help us to identify, discuss and manage our emotional well being. Mrs. Matos has been very pleased to see some of the children already using the scale this week, and seeing the benefits of talking about how we are feeling.

Class Charter: We have been focusing on our Rights as a child. We discussed the importance of knowing our rights, but also that we have certain responsibilities too. Together in groups and as a class, we created our very own class charter, and we linked them to the different children’s rights articles. For our class charter character theme, we chose animals. We used the netbooks to help us draw and create our animals for our class charter wall display. Please have a look out for it at your next visit to our classroom.

Leadership: Primary 7 is an important year for us, a year where there are some big expectations of us. One of these expectations are taking on a leadership role for the year. This week, we discussed the different leadership roles, and we spent some time completing a leadership application form. We needed to identify which role was of interest, but also which skills we can offer to that particular role. House Captains have received their badges this week, and will begin their duties next week. Next week we will begin to establish the remits for our leadership roles.

Buddy Time: We have received a lot of positive feedback regarding our buddy duties. We have enjoyed spending time with our buddies, and welcoming them into the Springfield Family. This week Mrs. Matos gave all of P7b the inclusive value certificate, for all our hard work, enthusiasm, and kindness towards our buddies. On Friday is our special time, where we get to spend some time with our buddies in their classrooms, this week, we assisted our buddies with completing their wellbeing questionnaire, we explained to our buddies what the different wellbeing indicators meant.

Time Capsule:One of the highlights this week, was burying our P7 Time Capsule. We have buried our capsule out by the outdoor classroom. We are looking forward to digging it up again at the end of P7!

Walk a mile: We have re-launched walk a mile this year. We have all set ourselves a target. We have 15 minutes, seat to seat, to complete a mile. Mrs. Matos was very impressed that this week, some children managed to complete the full mile and some more, within  those 15 minutes. Keep up the enthusiasm and persistence.

Learning Targets: We learnt  how to set S.M.A.R.T goals this week. (Ask us what SMART stands for). This week, we set ourselves learning targets for Literacy, Numeracy and Maths for term 1. We are all going to show our resilience and confidence this term, and really work hard to achieve our targets…watch this space.

Just a reminder that football starts again on Monday afternoon and Netball on Wednesday, everyone is welcome to come along and try out.

Mrs. Matos and P7b

A warm welcome back to all children and families, I hope everyone managed to enjoy some family time in the sunshine over the summer holidays. It seems that our Primary 7 children were more than ready, all looking smart in their shirts and ties and full of enthusiasm for the year ahead!

We have had a very busy first week, settling into our new classroom routines. We have been spending time this week, getting to learn more about each other and learning how we can work together to make sure that we all have a successful year. Through various activities we shared our thoughts about the year ahead, we discussed some of our fears, hopes and expectations, and something that everyone is looking forward to this year, is having fun….that there will be plenty of!

We spent time this week getting our Class of 2019 Time Capsule ready, we wrote letters to our future selves, reminding ourselves of what our interests are and also what we hope to achieve in the next year, we all looking forward to opening our letters on the last day of Primary 7. We have also been using string to measure our heights, I wonder how much we would have grown over the year? Next week we will be bury our time Capsule, along with some things we have gathered over the week.

Team work is so important, we have taken part in some team building activities to remind ourselves that patience, planning, communicating and persistence is key to successful team work. Only given sellotape, 20 strands of spaghetti and a marshmallow, we had to create the tallest, free standing tower. We worked together in  groups of three. Our winning team managed to build a 30cm tall tower.

Who knew getting to know each other could be such a ‘sweet’ treat? Using Skittles, a dice and a set of questions, we played a getting to know you game with our partners, it’s amazing how little we knew about each other.

Confidence, Resilience, Kindness, Respectful and Included are all the school values that each Primary 7 learner displayed this week. Our Primary 7’s have taken on the role of buddies this year, with the Primary 1’s and they are doing a fantastic job, welcoming and including the Primary 1’s to the Springfield family!

It looks like we are going to have a fantastic year together, where we are all going to grow and develop both together and individually, I am looking forward to enjoy this journey along with Mr. Logan and both P7a and P7b.

Mrs. Matos and P7b

A warm welcome to our newest Primary 7s who have been settling into life at the top end of Springfield Primary School this week! It’s been a hugely positive start to term, with the children returning refreshed and ready to go in what promises to be an incredible year for them.

We’ve been getting to know each other this week in various teamwork and problem solving activities, including the spaghetti and marshmallow challenge. P7 worked in groups of 5 with only Sellotape, 20 strands of spaghetti and one marshmallow to build the highest freestanding tower possible.

We’ve also been preparing items to place in our Class of 2019 time capsule. The children wrote letters to their futures selves, noting their hopes, dreams and aspirations for the year which will be opened on the final day of term. They also measured their height with string, recorded information about themselves and took an individual photo to include in their envelopes. The time capsule will be buried in the outdoor classroom next week. It’s safe to say P7a will grow both as learners and young people throughout the coming months and we’re excited for the journey ahead.

Staff across school have showered our P7s with compliments this week as they have undertaken their first P1 Buddying duties. The children have shown a great level of maturity and responsibility, behaving in a kind, nurturing and caring manner whilst accompanying their P1 Buddies to morning breaks and lunchtimes. On Friday, we also worked with the P1s to begin developing their knowledge of and ability to use ICT more confidently.

I’m greatly looking forward to the year ahead P7a and I’m incredibly proud of your efforts this week! Keep it up!

To all of P7a’s parents, carers and families, have a lovely weekend.

P7a and Mr. Logan

We had a very successful P7 information evening last night where we shared plans for our P7 curriculum for next year.

Please see attached presentation from the event for your reference.

We are planning a great year!

Primary 7 at SPS

Kind wishes,

Miss Baillie x