Author: Miss Miller

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Art Gallery Visit

Some of our P5 and P6 pupils visited the National Gallery of Scotland today in Edinburgh as part of an end of term group celebration. They were a credit to our school and families.

Our tour guide, Tarka, gave us our own little sketchbooks to use throughout the visit and we were shown different ways to view and appreciate art. We had to look for special clues in the gallery and showed great curiosity by asking lots of interesting questions. Many of us learned that the gallery is free to visit and were keen to bring our families back during the summer holidays.

Afterwards, we had a picnic in Princes Street Gardens and we were lucky enough to have a wee look in the Lego shop before coming back to school. A beautiful, wholesome day for all.

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The Magical Christmas Jigsaw

Huge congratulations to all our P1-7 children who took part in our whole school Christmas musical on Wednesday 20th December. They were a credit to the school and their families, and got us to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. We are very blessed at St. John’s to have an abundance of talented pupils and they made us all very proud.

“In the busy jigsaw of our lives, let us never forget the true meaning of Christmas.”

Please enjoy a selection of photos from our performance

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Music in October 2023

The P3-7s have been learning about rhythms and keeping a steady beat in different ways; drumming, tuned percussion, body percussion, dancing and games. We are enjoying our music lessons and always come with lots of enthusiasm. Here is a little snippet our lessons in October

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Learning Council – 2023/24: You talk, we listen!

Our new Learning Council for 2023/34 are supporting St. John’s to become a listening school. This week, we received our very own school council badge to remind others they can talk to us and share their ideas.

We have come up with our ‘Gimmie 4’ to support good listening:

Good listening is… looking at the person who is talking.

Good listening is… sitting still.

Good listening is… staying quiet.

Good listening is… listening to ALL the words.

Our councillors have been decorating posters for their classrooms and we are looking forward to developing these skills in the classroom after the October holidays.

Parents we need you!

You can help by reminding your child about these rules during the everyday things you do together that need them to listen. This will really help them to use their new skills in real life. You can try:

» Reminding them of the rule before you need them to listen:

‘I’ve got a surprise for you. When you’re quiet, I’ll tell you what it is.’

» Praising them when you can see them using the skills:

‘Well done, you kept really quiet and that helped you to do good listening.’

» Being specific about what they’re doing wrong when they’re not listening:

‘You’re talking at the same time as me – that makes it very hard for you to do good listening.’

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Music at St. John’s

We are delighted to be having music lessons in St. John’s once more. On Thursdays and Fridays, P3-7 have whole class music with Miss Miller.

In the music classroom, we play, sing and dance and having fun is at the heart of all our lessons. We are already hearing echoes of songs and rhymes from the children as they go round the school, and it is a joy to hear them sound so positive and happy.

In music, we use language and speech as a stimulus for rhythm and exploring songs and dances from across the globe.

By learning games and dances, we are learning about musical structure, developing our coordination, and improving those all important social skills too!

We have lots of opportunities to perform and listen to music and play instruments in creative ways.

Studies have shown that participation in the arts (music, drama, dance) can have a positive impact on academic progress in other areas of the curriculum. We are so pleased that we are able to offer such an invaluable experience for our learners and look forward to providing lots of creative opportunities this session.

A little taster of our music lessons from September