We have had to drag ourselves away from the camp fire tonight, where we sang songs, told jokes, played games and toasted marshmallows, to head up for supper. Roll on more hot chocolate. What a fantastic day two at camp. We can’t seem to wipe the smiles of our faces. Sun is shining, which made our raft building and catwalk activities even more enjoyable. All before we filled our bellies with sausage rolls, bean, and more. Not an empty stomach in sight. Then more activities. Night line, bushcraft and leap of faith finished off our day. Good, fantastic, teamwork, great, fun, enjoyable, creative are some words we have used to summarise our day.
Category Archives: Whole School Events
Primary 2
Primary 2 had a very exciting week last week…here’s a wee snippet of some of the things we got up to!
Structure of the Earth
As we have recently began our new volcanoes topic, we began with looking at the structure of the earth and tectonic plates in order to discuss how volcanoes are formed. We tied this lesson in with STEM and used our collaboration skills to create our own playdoh; discussing how the ingredients mix to form a new solid. We formed our playdoh earths by layering each part with each colour representing the inner core, outer core, mantel and the earth’s crust.
Volcano Texture Artwork
As part of our volcano topic, we looked at the different textures of a volcano. We used adjective to describe textures; we thought the lava might be smooth and soft but the volcano would be rocky and rough. We explored a range of textures and chose which ones we though would best suit our volcanoes. Using our creativity and fine motor skills, we created amazing masterpieces!
Eatwell Buffet
We developed our knowledge of the wellbeing ‘healthy’ by learning about the Eatwell Plate. We discussed each category and why it is important to have a healthy diet. Using our new found knowledge, we explored the buffet and filled our plates with the aim to have a food from each of the food groups shown on the Eatwell Plate!
P7 have arrived at camp!
What a great start to our primary 7 camp. A fun filled day of archery, problem solving, leap of faith and crate climbing. The sun has been shining and so has our smiles. Fantastic start to our week. Looking forward to another day of action tomorrow. Check out our photos! 
Rannoch News
We have enjoyed a lovely sunny week in Rannoch class.
We worked hard on our understanding of the initial sound ‘f’ in our Literacy studies and also revised our awareness of our daily routines. We looked at our morning routines at home, our daily routines at school and also our evening routines at home after the school day.
We have also played with our friends on the field and enjoyed time in the sensory room.
We have had a lovely term and learned so much!
We are looking forward to a hopefully sunny break and then to rejoining our friends.
P4 art
Over the past weeks we have studied our local community and learned about the different ways in which the surrounding land is used. We have learned that the land is used for recreation such as parks, football fields and the 5 sisters zoo, agriculture which we learned is farming and it is also used for Community Development, which is new houses, the new West Calder High School and the community garden. One very significant landscape we have in our local community
is The 5 Sisters Bings. We looked at how they were formed and we know that they are man made through the Shale industry. We went outside and photographed the hills. We then used those photographs to make our own sketches. We used pencils to create our own drawings.
Tay Class Update
Prior to the February holiday Tay Class made bird feeders using apple slices. peanut butter and bird seed. They’re super quick and easy to make – why don’t you have a try? We hung ours around the Trim Trail so we could observe them and see how quickly the birds eat them.
As a treat and to end our ‘Hot and Cold’ science topic we had some ice cream cones. They were delicious! We chose from either vanilla, strawberry or chocolate. We are planning to do a pictogram to show our favourite flavours across the class, however some of the class were absent which means we will need to have more ice-cream another day. Will our choices will be the same next time?
It was great to have everyone back in class last week after the break. We quickly settled back into our routines.
We met some friends and adults from other classes in our Sensory Committee, out at the Trim Trail. There were balloons, ice, paint blocks, brushes, spray bottles with watery paint and paper. Many of us enjoyed exploring these resources.
There was a huge cardboard box in the outdoor classroom. One of our favourite activities ‘What’s in the box?’ changed to ‘who’s in the box?’ Everyone had a turn in the box. Some of us had lots of turns. It was great fun!- We did so well to take turns and share (a very small) space.
Welcome Back Ness Class
It was great for everyone to be back in Ness Class this week. We all had great breaks: some of us had a birthday, some of us went to London, some went to Oban, some had day trips but we all enjoyed a good rest. This was why we were ready to get back to learning and having fun in class this week. Our new Topic is Under the Ocean and in Science we are learning about Hot and Cold. In number, we are looking at division and fractions and in literacy our big focus is learning how to write to persuade! Routines were re-established very quickly and we are already excited about the remainder of this term. Enjoy some of the highlights of our week below!
Numeracy Mini-Champions
Well done to our Numeracy Mini Champions who met on Teams with Mini Champions from schools across West Lothian. We were able to chat to each school and learn about what other schools do to improve Maths learning in their schools. We also shared the things we do in our school to make Maths fun and easier for all. Here are some of the things we shared:
Well done to Keira (P6R), Hope (P5) and Katie (P5) who represented our school very well. Keep your eyes peeled for our next initiative.
The Numeracy Mini Champions
Literacy Mini Champs
Today our literacy Mini Champs joined lots of other primary schools in West Lothian at our termly meeting. They very proudly represented St Mary’s in sharing what we do for writing in our school. Dominic, Olivia, Amelia and Jackson listened well and took notes of interesting ideas we could use in our school. I was very proud of you all.
Primary 5’s blithe Scots Showcase and Burns Supper
Primary 5 have been working hard all term on their Scots language topic and got to share it with parents and carers at our Scots Showcase and Burns Supper this week!
We began the week with the Scots poetry competition. Katie, Hope and Amelia were our class finalists, with Amelia lifting the trophy with her rendition of Tae a Thistle.
We finished and displayed our Robert Burns profiles and portraits, and our Scots poems. We also designed and weaved our own tartan and learned Scots songs and recited our own Scots poem.
We brought all of this learning and hard work to the table to share at our Burns Supper with our adults. We enjoyed a feast of haggis, neeps, tatties, Irn Bru, shortbread and tea cakes!
Many thanks to all the parents and carers who joined us! We hope you had fun at our event and enjoyed seeing all the hard work we put into it! Well done Primary 5! We’ll tak a cup o kindness yet!
