Springfield Primary School and Bonnytoun Nursery School

November 8, 2019

P7b Class

Hello all,

We have had a busy week here in P7B here are some of the things we have done!

On Monday we started our F1 topic. We got into groups by deciding what our strengths and weaknesses are. We then decided on our team name and logo.

After our lunch we went into our leadership groups, we were busy sorting things out with lessons and we have started to type up the school newspaper. We then went into our enterprise groups and did our pricing of what we needed to buy for our the Christmas Fayre stalls.

On Tuesday we had science first thing. We were finishing off our classification keys using sweets. We got to eat the sweets after we finished!!! We planned our creative stories. We could write whatever we wanted to.

On Wednesday the parents came in to see how we do number talks. we stared writing our creative stories it was very fun because our class has a very good imagination.

On Thursday we done Futsal tournament. Then we finished our work on algebra.

We hope you have a good weekend everyone!

Written by NG and MC

P.S.

Next week we will be learning to write an information text.

November 7, 2019

P2A’s Fantastic Firework Fun

It was a very busy week in our class with fireworks, new sounds and more. We can’t believe that is us in November already! Please take a look at what we have been doing.

Fireworks was a big theme in our classroom this week as it was Bonfire Night on Tuesday. We liked talking about what we were doing for this and where we were going to watch the fireworks. In class we read a firework story and created our own firework poems (you can read about this further on in the blog). We were able to make our own fireworks in the tuff tray using different coloured chalk. We also watched a Disneyland fireworks show to give us inspiration of drawing our own fireworks picture. We discussed the shapes, colours, sounds and sizes of them. We used oil pastels to create our works of art.

In Literacy we have been learning the sounds: ‘fl’, ‘gl’, ‘br’ and ‘cr’ this week. We did well in creating our own sentences with our new sounds and finding all the ‘br’ pictures. We were able to spot ‘fl’ words in a postcard that was sent to the class and write ‘fl’ words in the fluffy foam. The fluffy foam was so soft and smooth to write our words in. Since it was Bonfire Night we created a piece of writing that was firework themed. We wrote our own acrostic poems. Miss Muir even read out a firework poem to us. We closed our eyes and imagined the fireworks which helped us to discover how important it is to use describing words in our writing. We were then able to describe the sounds and colours fireworks make and write these in our own poems. Miss Muir was impressed with the different words we were able to come up with and how hard we tried to include describing words.

In Numeracy and Mathematics we have been continuing with our learning of 2D shapes and learned some new ones: pentagons, hexagons and octagons. We discovered how many sides and corners they had. Some of us even learned what a nonagon was! We had fun trying to draw these. Miss Muir even had a go at drawing one. During free play we have enjoyed making our own shape pictures and posters to show our learning. We have also used shapes to complete and create our own patterns. Our class mind map of 2D shapes is looking very full now on our wall this means we have had to start a new mind map for our 3D shape learning. Thank you to those who came to our Number Talks event, we enjoyed having visitors in our classroom and we hoped you enjoyed coming along too.

In Science with Mrs Bergarnie we learned about pitch. We made our own instruments using tubs and elastic bands. We had to figure out which bands made a higher or lower sound. We had so much fun making these and doing our own performances in front of the class after. Some of us had even decided on names for our instruments: ‘tubguitar’, ‘bitar’, ‘harp’, ‘child designed guitar’ and ‘tubar’. We couldn’t choose as a class what our favourite name was. Do you have one?

Thank you for reading our blog. We hope you have a lovely weekend!

P2A and Miss Muir 🙂

November 7, 2019

Photographs, fireworks and hoglets in P1B!

Lots of smart children and beautiful hairstyles in P1B this week, we can’t wait to see our school photos! On Thursday we had some visitors from Norway who came to see what we get up to at Springfield Primary – they loved seeing how kind and respectful we are towards each other and we enjoyed showing them how we learn.

In Phonics we have been learning the sounds u and b:

u – down and under the umbrella, up to the top then draw the puddle

b – down the laces to the heel, around the toes

Some of us are forgetting to go back up and around the toes when we make b, this is important or else it looks like the number 6.

We also learned some more common words – the, to. Common words are words that we can’t sound out, we just need to learn them by sight (sometimes they are called sight words for this reason).

In Numeracy we learned about addition using the add sign and the equals sign. We also learned how to add 1 more. We loved sharing our learning with you at our Number Talks open morning!

On Wednesday we did some fantastic writing about what fireworks look and sound like. We are getting very good at having a go at writing words by sounding them out. MS wrote the words red, blue and peach all by herself, well done!

In Art we used clay and sticks to make our own hoglets (baby hedgehogs), we’re all desperate to bring these home to show you, we just need to glue on the eyes and they will be ready!

During Free play (and at home it seems!) we are enjoying writing our own books and reading them to the class. BP wrote a super book about a hedgehog!

Next week we are focusing on vowels as we have learned them all now, so there won’t be new sounds in the homework bags, just a couple of new common words.

Have a great weekend!

Love P1B and Mrs Bell x

November 6, 2019

Number Talks Open Morning

Dear Parents, Carers and Families

Thank you to those of you who attended our Number Talks Open Morning earlier today, we hope you found it beneficial and enjoyed seeing the children in action!

For those of you who couldn’t attend, here is a copy of the presentation:

Springfield Number Talks

Kind regards
Mr Logan

November 4, 2019November 4, 2019

P4A Blog Week Ending 1.11.19

P4A Blog Week Ending 1.11.19

Literacy and English

In literacy we have been learning how to use the ‘discussion’ writing genre. We used a story about a lion and a snail from our book study, Aesop’s Fables to discuss arguments for and against the lion winning the race. We also had morning starter discussions on whether we should wear school uniform, if it was better to be an adult or a child, should we be allowed to bring mobile phones to school and should sweets be allowed in school.

In handwriting we were practising forming the letter ‘s’ correctly. We learned to use a different ‘s’ so that we could use it in joined up writing. We also learned how to make words plural using ‘s’, ‘es’ or changing the’ y’ to an ‘I’ and adding ‘es’.

For spelling this week, we were learning to spell words that have a double letter in the middle and words that start with ‘al’. We learned that the ‘al’ can sound different depending on whether there is a vowel or a consonant after it.

We had some ERIC time (Everyone Reading in Class) to enjoy reading of our choice.

Numeracy and Mathematics

In Numeracy and Mathematics we have been focusing on addition and subtraction, using number talks and addition games including snakes and ladders, bingo, and addition dice. We have also been practising mental maths. This week we learned that the Commutative Law means we can add in any order. In subtraction the first number stays same order but we can add the others in any order. We learned that there are lots of words that mean add e.g. sum, altogether, total and plus.

Learning across the Curriculum

In P.E. we continued to develop our skills in Short Tennis. We had an assembly on Monday about our new behaviour policy. We now have no traffic lights showing in the class but Ms McAlpine will still record. Instead of golden time we will be having play learning. Our focus this term is construction and we used our construction activities in class to create models and drawings together. In health and wellbeing we talked about friendships and shared our experiences and lots of strategies to help each other. We continued our focus on healthy eating. Zara made her own powerpoint at home about healthy eating and presented it to the class! Well done Zara!

P4A and Ms McAlpine

November 3, 2019

So this week we began our book study of the above book. We discussed what it maybe about and where it maybe set. Our first piece of work was to imagine what the described fireworks might look like – so for example – little crackle dragons, leaping monkeys, golden sneezes and Java lights. We used pastels on black paper and they were very effective. So we will continue with our book study next week.
In Literacy we have continued to learn how to use speech marks and we did a short read on the above book. We worked in pairs and used a Blankety blank format where we had to think of relevant words to put in the missing places. We really enjoyed doing this and thought of some great vocabulary. We started to learn about discussion text and this week got to choose a subject to discuss the fors and againsts. There was some brilliant discursive writing and S.P did a great one on whether animals should be kept in the zoo?
In Numeracy we have continued with addition with numbers up 1000, as well as having fun with Number Talks and understanding the properties of 2D shapes.
We are really enjoying Short tennis in PE and learning about electrical circuits in Science.
Hope you’re having a good weekend. Love from P4B and Mrs.Burton

November 1, 2019

P1a Halloween, hedgehogs and hot marshmallows…

We had a great week in Primary 1. We enjoyed our Halloween activities. In class we read some Halloween stories and even did some Halloween maths. We had a lovely Halloween party on Thursday with some stories, dancing and games. We especially loved wrapping up the mummies…Today we played a pumpkin drive game with our P3 friends, we had to work as a team to draw a pumpkin when we rolled the dice, eg a 2 was the eyes.

In numeracy we started our new topic… addition. We learnt that addition is how many altogether. We had lots of opportunities to add things together and share strategies…including adding real people and teddies…Maybe we could practice at home with some objects around the house. In time we learnt the months of the year. It was really fun jumping up when Mrs Gordon said our birthday month. We are now trying hard to remember the order of the months.

In literacy we learnt the sounds g and f and the tricky word I. Tricky or common words are words that we can’t sound out, we just need to learn them. For each word we have an action.

This week some of us were lucky enough to go to the nursery garden and learn about using the firepit. We had yummy marshmallows…The others will go next week.

We started talking about hedgehogs and hibernation. Mrs Gordon was very impressed with how much we already know. We also made some amazing hedgehogs with the leaves we gathered last week.

Happy weekend, Mrs Gordon and P1a

November 1, 2019November 1, 2019

P5 Weekly Blog

Literacy and English

This week we finished reading our shared class text, War Horse. What an incredibly heartbreaking and powerful story with an emotional and uplifting ending. The air was thick whilst we read Chapter 21 on Thursday afternoon!

We have been working on our comprehension and trying to analyse the text at a deeper level. During Chapter 18 and 20, we took notes on key events before using this information to help us tackle some initial literal questions. Having done this, we then used inference to think more deeply about what had been read before answering some evaluative questions by offering our own opinions and viewpoint. We must remember to read each question carefully and use the wording to form our responses whilst drawing upon evidence and examples from the text to build detail.

Additionally, we studied how Morpurgo used tension, atmosphere and expectation to create a sense of foreboding. The main examples we found were when the reader knew something the characters weren’t aware of, revealing details gradually and using dialogue as the characters uncovered the truth. There were some really impressive observations, ideas and suggestions from everyone.

Numeracy and Mathematics

In Numeracy and Mathematics this week we have continued to tackle some Etsi Mysteries. These related closely to our work on multiplication, and more specifically, multiples and factors as our clues were revealed.

We are now aware of the difference between multiples (e.g. multiples of 10 – 10, 20, 30, 40, 50…) and factors (e.g. factors of 10 – 1, 2, 5, 10) and can explain this clearly. We learned that prime numbers can only be divided by itself and 1, for example 13 or 17, and any other number is called a composite number, for example, 4 or 12.

Having mastered this, we moved on to identifying highest common factors, highest common multiples, lowest common factors and lowest common multiples. This was easy to do so when we created lists for each number given, and we were able to establish the answer required quickly.

Next week we will be extending our learning to look at the inverse operation of multiplication, division.

P.E

We have now started our block of handball in preparation for our cluster festival in January. This week we focused on preventing progressive fouls and passing the ball effectively between our team. Attacking teams in basketball must be seen to be progressing up the court and showing a willingness to score goals. We ensured that our passes were forward at all times and that we were using space effectively. We were quick to realise that passing is quicker than running with the ball and more inclusive of those within our team. Next week our focus will be on shooting technique and accuracy.

Science

Our volcanoes we constructed must be active, as this week they erupted without warning! We placed a test tube inside the vent of our volcanoes before adding orange paint, bicarbonate soda and vinegar to create an ‘eruption’. Have a look at our Twitter feed for photos and videos of this (@SpringfieldP5).

Alongside this, we have been writing science reports. We began by stating our aim and hypothesis. A hypothesis is “what we think is going to happen” as Isla correctly told us. We then listed our materials, applied our instructional writing from last week to write the method, noted the results and discussion points before ending with a conclusion. Our learning points were to use more than 100ml of vinegar, ensure the vent is big enough to hold a test tube, use a squeezy, plastic bottle rather than glass and use less viscous food colouring rather than paint to stop a paste being created. Have a look on Twitter to find out who our Star Writer is this week…

Our News and Achievements

It was Eva’s birthday last weekend, a big Happy Birthday to her from P5! She was excited about her new Fitbit.
Jude was pleased to have had some of his family visit from Hull last weekend.
Freya told us what she’d been up to celebrating Mum’s birthday.
Mairi D, Eighlin, Cori and Ella sold raffle tickets at a Hallowe’en party and made a total of £25.
Christoper has been working hard at Cubs and has earned 3 new badges.
Sarah was super excited about attending a Little Mix concert at the Hydro.
Jack S has also recently started Cubs and we look forward to hearing about it.

Coming Up

4.11.19 – Homework grids for Term 2 to be sent home, due for 13.12.19
4.11.19 – Rugby taster session (2), sports gear to be worn to school
5.11.19 – Golf session (1) with Stephen Gallagher Foundation at Kingsfield
6.11.19 – Open Morning (Number Talks) at 09.00
8.11.19 – Remembrance Day Assembly
11.11.19 – Rugby taster session (3), sports gear to be worn to school
12.11.19 – Golf session (2) with Stephen Gallagher Foundation at Kingsfield
18.11.19 – Rugby taster session (4), sports gear to be worn to school
19.11.19 – Golf session (3) with Stephen Gallagher Foundation at Kingsfield
19.11.19 – Learning Showcase event at 14.00 – 15.00
26.11.19 – Golf session (4) with Stephen Gallagher Foundation at Kingsfield
6.12.19 – Christmas Fayre event at 09.30 – 12.00
17.12.19 – Christmas Church Service at St Michael’s
20.12.19 – Christmas Carol singalong event
21.12.19 – 6.1.20 – Christmas Holidays

We’ll finish with a wee story this week. Mr Logan delivered Team Ceem’s letter and £300 cheque from the Dress Down Day they organised to St Michael’s Hospital on Thursday. The nurses at the ward were absolutely staggered by the generosity and said it “gave them faith in the future generations”. One of the nurses was crying and incredibly touched by the gesture. The charge nurse asked if the girls would like a small sweetie to say thank you, and obviously, the reply was yes. She returned from the office with a full box of Celebrations for each of Team Ceem!

It does pay to be kind, but don’t eat them all over the weekend…

P5 and Mr Logan

November 1, 2019

Hawaiian Volcanoes and Halloween in P3A

The October holidays are now a distant memory and we have had a busy couple of weeks in P3A.

Last week we learned about the volcanoes on the Hawaiian islands. At the beginning of our geography topic the children planned what they would like to learn about and volcanoes was high on the list. Actually, without volcanoes Hawaii wouldn’t exist – the islands emerged from the sea millions of years ago forged by volcanic power. We studied Kilauea more in depth – it is a volcano on the ‘Big Island’ and has been constantly erupting since 1983. To help us to understand of how volcanoes work we got some really good information from the Reachout Reporter website – we use this in class each Friday to watch the latest weekly science news from around the world, the website address is www.reachoutreporter.com it is really worth a look.

Although we couldn’t recreate an actual volcano we did some chemistry and experimented with the reaction between vinegar and baking soda – creating carbon dioxide and making explosions of our own! As part of this lesson we learned how to carry out a proper science experiment and we wrote a science report, writing about the equipment, method, possible hazards, prediction, what actually happened and what we learned from it. It was messy but great fun!

To finish off our Hawaiian topic we researched and produced a final piece of writing. Our job was to write a tourism leaflet to tell people about the best tourist attractions in Hawaii and to encourage people to go there. Everyone worked really hard and they are all fantastic – eye-catching front covers, lots of good information, laid out really neatly – well done P3. They made me really want to visit Hawaii!

One of jobs P3 do each year is to organise the Shoe Box Appeal, we launched this last week and worked in groups to make posters to let the rest of the school know about the appeal. This week, we visited classrooms and told them about the appeal too. We were all very confident speaking to other classes and lots of teachers have commented on how well we did 🙂 We have quite a few boxes already, please hand any others in on Monday, 4th November.

In numeracy, we are continuing to learn different methods of adding 2 digit numbers. We have looked at adding multiples of 10, using this knowledge to add near multiples of 10 (9, 11, 19, 21…) and how to add teen numbers to a 2 digit number, by adding the 10 then the unit. We often use 100 squares to help us, Splat Square is a good online one. In outer maths we are now learning about information handling. Next week in homework jotters there will be a numeracy homework sheet for term 2 with suggested activities.

In reading we have been working on becoming ‘reflective readers.’ At the moment we are working on understanding what we are reading and increasing our vocabulary. Last week we did an activity called ‘Blankety Blank’ where we read an extract from James and Giant Peach – there were some words missing and we had to fill in the blanks with the correct word and then think of other words that would also make sense. This week we did a ‘Spot the Silly Word’ activity. This was based on the book Funnybones. Mrs Kennedy typed some of the book but she changed some of the words to silly words and we had to spot them, we then had to suggest a sensible word. These are paired activities and as well as reading there is lots of good discussion about words and their meanings.

The highlight of this week was the Halloween party, we all looked really scary in our costumes. The party began with a spooky story read by Mr Wells – who really got into character! We played a team game where we had to make the best mummy using toilet roll and played a spooky corners game. We then had a snack with our friends. A big thank you to the PTA for organising the food and drinks and helping on the day.

On Friday, we did some French – learning how to say the names of some fruits. We do a little French each day, including counting, ordering our lunch, classroom instructions and lots of French songs. We really do pick up the words quickly!

Also on Friday, P1 came to visit to play a pumpkin game. We worked in teams, rolling a dice and drawing part of a pumpkin according to the number on the dice. The winners were the ones who drew all the parts first! It was a fast and furious game and I was really please with how well P3 showed P1 how to play and they took turns really well. We had lots of sibling teams too 🙂

Have a great weekend everyone – enjoy any bonfires and fireworks. Stay safe.

P3A and Mrs Kennedy

November 1, 2019

P7b

We’ve had a very productive week in P7b.

For literacy, we wrote various types of creative texts about Halloween. We also learnt to spell words ending in -cial and – tial. Then we reviewed our knowledge of homophones .

Expressive art- we made origami bookmarks and practiced our songs for the Scottish Opera and FAME the musical.

For numeracy, we looked at number patterns, revisited the four operations and we created illusions using our knowledge of symmetry, fractions and decimals. We also worked together to solve Daily Rigour Problems.

This week, we also met with our enterprise groups. We planned our activities and listed the required materials. Next week, we will hopefully find the cost of each item.

On Monday, we will start our imaginative writing exercise.

See you nest week everyone!