🗣️ Rights Respecting Schools 🗣️

We recently completed our second rights focus. Over a two week period the children explored how they felt the UK was upholding their rights. We completed a survey during which the children observed what had been done in relation to different rights. The children had to move to either the up or down arrow to show whether they believed progress had or had not been made. As a class we completed our own rights report. To complete this focus the children took home a rights report to complete with a family member. 

Article 42 Governments must actively work to ensure children and adults know about the CRC.

🏔️ Investigating Climate Zones! 🏜️

As part of our new weather topic the children looked at the difference between climate and weather. They then spent time locating different places on a world map. We discussed climate zones and thought about how they differed. The children enjoyed deciding which climate zone they would prefer to live in and decided what clothing they would need or how life might change if they lived in the more extreme hot or cold environments.

ICT: Creating Logos.

Today’s ICT lesson was all about getting creative with logos! We kicked off by introducing the concept of a logo and why it’s important for businesses. The class shared and discussed various logos, examining their colour schemes and styles, which sparked some lively conversations. It was fascinating to see how different designs can communicate different messages. After that, the pupils got to work with colouring pencils and markers, designing their very own logos on paper. There was great excitement in the classroom as the pupils explored their creativity! Once their designs were complete, we transitioned to the digital world. The pupils used Adobe to bring their logo ideas to life electronically, channeling their artistic flair into the software. Overall, it was a fun and interactive lesson that encouraged self-expression and teamwork while improving their ICT skills!

🥁🧸🪆 Old and New Toys  🧮 🧩🎳

Primary 3 had a great trip to the Down County Museum this week as part of their 'Toys and Forces' topic. The children enjoyed taking part in a workshop that taught them about a range of household objects and toys from the past. Great fun was had by all the children when they had the opportunity to play with lots of the old toys and games. During the trip the children also had a tour of the museum and they finished off by making a Christmas craft. 

Lost Toy Posters 🔍📋

Role Play: Choose Respect!

Recently, our class engaged in meaningful drama scenarios centred around the theme of Anti-Bullying Week "Choose Respect". This collaborative effort allowed pupils to explore various social situations through role play, highlighting both disrespectful and respectful behaviours.

In Scenario 1: The New Pupil, we demonstrated two approaches: in the disrespectful version, existing pupils ignored and excluded the newcomer, while in the respectful enactment, they welcomed her with open arms, introducing her to others and inviting her to join in activities.

Scenario 2: Sharing Materials highlighted the significance of teamwork. The disrespectful role play demonstrated a pupil hoarding supplies, while the respectful enactment showed students sharing their materials and collaborating harmoniously, fostering a spirit of cooperation.

Scenario 3: Teasing a Classmate powerfully illustrated the impact of words. The disrespectful role had pupils teasing a classmate, leading to visible hurt, whereas the respectful scenario emphasised kindness and support, encouraging empathy among peers.

Finally, Scenario 4, Disagreeing with a Friend about a Game during Playtime investigated how conflicts could arise. We contrasted dismissive arguments with constructive discussions, teaching pupils to resolve disagreements respectfully.

These scenarios encouraged powerful reflections on the importance of respect and empathy in our school community, fostering a supportive environment for all.

😋 Taste and Smell Exploration 😋

The children have been learning about how sense of smell and taste go hand in hand. They also explored how the different areas of the tongue allow us to detect different flavours. The children thoroughly enjoyed carrying out a taste and smell test. They had the opportunity to try lots of different foods and spent time grouping these into sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. We were so impressed with their willingness to try new foods and flavours. A favourite flavour amongst the children was most definitely sour but they were unimpressed with the bitterness of the dark chocolate! 

Halloween themed Art

In our recent art project, the pupils had a super time getting creative for Halloween! They started off by painting a spooky moon on black card, which set the eerie atmosphere. The pupils chose their paint colours, mixing shades of orange, yellow and white to give the moon a glowing effect. Once the paint had dried, the pupils transformed their works of art by adding mischievous bats flitting around the moon. They also had a fantastic time selecting various stickers to embellish their cards, making each piece unique and personal. To finish off their Halloween masterpieces, the pupils attached a bit of string, allowing them to hang these delightful decorations at home. 

🎼🪇 Charanga ‘Heart, Feet, Hands.’ 🪇🎼

As part of this weeks topic theme ‘Sense of Hearing’ we decided to explore sound creatively through our Charanga music programme. The lesson involved finding the pulse in a piece of African music. The children did this in a variety of ways such as feet tapping, hand clapping and moving their body in different ways to the rhythm of the song. The children also learnt the words of the song which was really catchy and the class picked up very quickly. We then used a variety of instruments as an accompaniment to the song.

🤲🏼 Exploring our sense of touch 🤲🏼

P3A had a brilliant time exploring their sense of touch in the Rainbow Garden. In class we had spent time learning about the work of Louis Braille and his excellent invention of the Braille alphabet that continues to help those who are blind and partially sighted. We created our names in Braille in the classroom and then worked on writing our spellings in Braille using the stones to represent the raised dots. All of the children had great fun taking part in a Halloween feely bag activity. They had to act bravely when their sense of sight was removed, describe what they felt and guess which items had been used to create the gruesome list of ingredients. Finally the children used the blackboard to stick up pictures of Autumn objects and think of adjectives to describe their textures. 

🧟 Halloween Mystery Bags 🧟‍♂️

📖 Braille 📖

🍂🍁 Autumn Textures 🍁🍂

Through Others Eyes 👁️ 

As part of our work investigating the sense of sight the children have been learning facts about how animal eyes have adapted in different ways to help give them a survival advantage over their prey! They had the opportunity to explore how different animals see the world using the ‘Through others Eyes’ lenses kit. They were amazed at just how obscure the world looked to many of them. The children then enjoyed using the Brushes Redux app to make some digital animal eye art. They were given a pencil sketch of an animal eye uploaded to the app and from there they used a stimulus piece to add their own colours and textures. We were really impressed with the level of enthusiasm shown during the task. 🎨🖌️ Some examples of the finished pieces are included below. 

Some examples of the wonderful digital animal eye art the children created using the Brushes Redux App.

The Important Role of a Guide Dog 🦮

The children spent time talking about the role of a guide dog. They learnt about their important job of guiding people who are blind or partially sighted around safely and independently. We watched a video by Guide Dogs NI which allowed us to follow the journey taken by owner Nicky and her guide dog Alma as they navigate their way around a busy town. The children were amazed at how well trained the dog was and that it knew when to avoid or stop for potential hazards. The children mapped out their own route on a map and discussed the obstacles a guide dog might face. They considered how intelligent and patient guide dogs must be. They then programmed their own Blue-Bots to act as guide dogs and navigate their way around a path. The children also spent time carrying out blindfolded walks led by their own guide so that they could appreciate how challenging our environment could be without our sense of sight. 

Make a Mark and See Where it Takes You!

P3A enjoyed listening to the story 'The Dot'. It is a story of a little girl whose art teacher helps her to develop a 'can do' attitude. Vashti is sure that she can't draw, but when the teacher puts Vashti's simple dot picture on display, Vashti begins to think of what else she might be able to draw too if she is only willing to give it a try. The boys and girls were so inspired by the story that they wanted to create their very own dot inspired artwork!

Green Fingers! 🌺🌱🌸🍄

The children worked hard with P3B to tidy up our planter box this week. They decided on an Autumn senses theme to link with our World Around Us Topic. We added lavender, thyme and a curry plant to appeal to our sense of smell. Some conkers, pine cones and heather that everyone can explore with their sense of touch. We also included some mini pumpkins and gourds to remind us of Autumnal flavours and there is lots of lovely colourful flowers/plants, a hedgehog family and mushrooms to add to the visual treat. The children were delighted to hear they had won the planter box competition. Great job boys and girls. ✨

Introduction to our new topic ‘Our Senses’. 

During our World Around Us lessons the children have started to explore our five senses. We all thoroughly enjoyed having a scavenger hunt in the Daily Mile area. Everyone hunted for natural items that might appeal to our sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste or touch. We discussed how very often more than one of our senses are working at the same time. Once we had collected enough items we then raced back to the outdoor classroom where it was great to be able to take shelter from the rain and continue our lesson. Some of the children spent time making Venn Diagrams devising their own way to sort the natural items. This was an excellent way for the children to explore this new maths concept. Another group generated adjectives to describe how the items looked, smelt, felt and sounded. Once we were back in the classroom for a well earned rest we made some popcorn. A great food to demonstrate all of our senses working together. We listened intently to the popping noises it made in the microwave, smelt the buttery aroma, observed its irregular shape, felt its bumpy texture and the best bit enjoyed tasting its sweetness. 😋