Primary 1 parents were invited along to their child's first lunch to find out how it all works and to sample some of the food on offer.

The pupils also get an opportunity to see how dinner time works to support them towards greater independence in the school. As always it was a great success and everyone responded positively to the experience.

A big welcome to our new Primary 1 pupils at the start of the new academic year. This year we have three Primary 1 classes, 1a, 1b and 1c. All pupils have settled in nicely and enjoying all the activities on offer.

We also have some new starts in some of our other classes as well and it's good to see new faces. We hope the new academic year is a prosperous one for all our pupils and look forward to seeing them all take full advantage of the opportunies available to them this year.

Scottish Government is carrying out, through Local Authorities, a Parental Involvement and Engagement (PIE) Census. They would like to invite all parents and carers of pupils in Dundee's schools to take part in the survey. This can be done by following the link below.

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/dccprimary/

The survey will be available until Friday, 5th July. More information can be found on Dundee City Council's website at:

https://www.dundeecity.gov.uk/news/article?article_ref=3434

Thanks in advance for your support.

In Blackness Primary today we ran our first outdoor learning day. Every class had a number of timetabled opportunities to explore their learning outside with activities including maths, language and art amongst others.

Pupils were asked to come in appropriate clothing to allow them to go out whatever the weather conditions. Fortunately the weather was kind and we had glorious sunshine all day long.

We used different parts of the playground including the garden beside the carpark. Everyone really enjoyed the experience.

Outdoor play is fun! You learn new games like Jungle’s on Fire and Steal the Treasure. You get free play time. You can skip and play football and choose. You can play with ribbons, pink, green and orange. You can play ‘try and get the hoop on the water bottle’, you can go to the bars and go to the climbing frame. Bethany shared, “I enjoyed playing hide and seek with the whole class, including Mrs Nivison!” Darach said, “I enjoyed taking part in lots of sports and games.”

By Ellie, P3

Primary 1 performed their nativity called “A Miracle in Town.” They entertained  parents and friends at performances, on Friday morning and Monday after school. The children have been rehearsing their parts and their moves and have enjoyed learning the very catchy, upbeat songs and actions. Two narrators from Primary 2 joined them to tell the story. We hope everyone enjoyed the show.

Jane Webb has hung up her chalk for the final time. Jane has retired from her role as a primary teacher at Blackness where she has spent 24 happy years. Before the School’s performance of the Christmas show, Jane thanked the children and staff for the many happy memories that would stay with her as she embarks on a new chapter in her life. Jane has taught at all stages in the school and has supported hundreds of children with their learning. Jane is looking forward to spending time with her family and helping others in her local community.

Everyone at Blackness wishes Jane a long and happy retirement.

Well done to our Code Clubbers!

The P7 pupils involved in Code Club this year have just returned with respectable silverware after taking part in the first ever regional VEX Robotics competition for the Dundee and Angus area.

The pupils built and designed a robot that could negotiate (both controlled and autonomously) an arena, picking up cones on the way and delivering them to point scoring areas. Although they did not pick up the most points and therefore go through to the next round, they were awarded the judges award for best original design of robot and design portfolio. The judges were particularly impressed by the inclussion of the the programming in their portfolio allowing others to carry on their work.

Primary 5 have been working hard to design and build scale models of the eiffel tower. This was linked to their topic where they are comparing France and Scotland. They had to complete a design first looking at the type of materials they would use and how they would join the peices together.

Then they gathered the materials they would have to use and started construction. The pieces of wood and other materials had to be measured carefully and they used saws and scissors to cut the peices to the size they had planned. They used the scale of 1:1000 to ensure the models were acurate.

Some of the groups decided to use the drill to help their structure be put together.

They were very proud of the finished products!

As part of the transition to secondary school, Primary 7 pupils are spending the next few weeks visiting the Harris Academy building and taking part in PE session delivered by the Harris Sports Leaders.

Activities have so far included basketball, swimming, rugby, Zoomba and football with many more to come.