WOW! What excitement yesterday when we were able to link up with Law Primary pupils and teachers using East Coast FM, courtesy of Mrs Baillie…part time DJ being just one of her talents! We were able to listen to what you are doing there at the moment in school and also hear some of your funny jokes. fourth grade were very very excited when their request was played. They even missed the first ten minutes of P.E due to all the excitement  but Miss Belk, their specialist teacher (who comes to school on her Harley Davidson!.) was very understanding about it all.

What a great experience. Thank you to all pupils and teachers who took part and of course Mrs Baillie.

Christmas is fast approaching. Students at Sandy Ridge finish school next Wednesday 19th December and return on the 2nd January. Mr and Mrs Macniven will be flying home to catch up with family and friends for the holidays.

We are having our class party in our classrooms next Tuesday morning. The class are merging Sottish and American party traditions. Parents are also invited , so it is lucky that they have a large classroom. Our home room parent and her little elf helpers are setting everything up whilst we are out at recess and they are also involved in many of the activities on the day.

We will be eating festive fayre, playing musical arms, demonstrating our skills at the Dashing White Sergeant which we are very good at now, playing pass the parcel…with a twist which we will tell you about later and doing Christmas crafts. We will also be having a photo booth with a Scottish Twist. Photos will be shared later. We are also having a pyjama day on the last day of school.

How are you celebrating in Scotland?

There has been a buzz of excitement and a lot of nervous energy around the school here this week as the classes prepare for the annual Spelling Bee. Each class has to follow very strict rules to take part in rounds  of spelling and the school finals are in the gym hall on Monday next week in order to determine who will be the champion!

My class will tell you more about it in their comments.

Mrs Macniven and her class have been learning about the colonisation of North America and the early Native American Indian people. All their hard work is being shared with the class through group presentations. Have a look……They will also share their learning in their comments.

The festive season is upon us and in fourth grade we are learning about Christmas all around the world. Join us in this cultural quest by clicking on the image below. Thank you to Woodlands Junior School for the fabulous calendar.

In fourth grade we have been looking at how the pupils and Mrs Macniven are connected.

Part of their curriculum in social studies is learning about the colonisation of North America and the early native American Indian tribes and ways of life. We have explored the different explorers and settlers from Europe and the children have been investigating their cultures and ancestry connected with this.

Their presentations and work have been fabulous and this week we are sharing our findings and learning with and from each other.

Fourth grade celebrated St Andrews day by learning all about what it means and how the flag was named, which they found really interesting. They got involved in a medley of Scottish themed activities including identifying lots of Scottish cities and marking where Mrs Macniven lives and works in East Lothian. They also practiced their Scots Language by playing Couthie pairs, matching Scottish words with pictures and reading Scottish stories including The Broons.

The afternoon celebrations culminated with a special visitor…Mr Macniven dressed in his full Bonnie Prince Charlie outfit which caused a lot of excitement amongst the pupils and staff.

Click on this link to find out more 

What a great day we had and it certainly helped to keep any homesickness at bay!