This week P1 have been taking their maths outdoors. They have been using sticks to count in ones and twos to a rhythm.
P3 have been adding using different methods.
Mrs Pirie's P3/2 have been using column addition, while the P3s have been partitioning. Mrs Glennie and Mrs Jordan have continued with their topic on Time and the children have been converting between digital and analogue time.
P7 have been learning about algebra and they have been balancing equations.
In P6, the children have been learning about fractions. They have been working out whether they'll get more pizza if they cut it into 6 slices or 8. Miss Dickson says she would have 6 slices as she couldn't manage 8!
Africa has been a focus for the upper school this week. A number of classes have created incredible artwork featuring an African sunset with the silhouette of animals in the foreground.
P6 have created African leaflets.
On Friday, lots of classes were treated to an African drumming masterclass. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, and some people were having a go at African dancing too.
P3 and P2 have continued to practise for their circus performance next week. They have been learning to juggle this week and it sounds like it’s going to an unmissable performance.
P5 and P3 have been creating stop motion animations. They have spent the past few weeks creating characters and designing sets and P3 have begun to take pictures using the laptops and  'I Can Animate' software.
‘Lights, Camera Action’ has caught the attention of the P1s. They have created their own cinema where they are performing, taking money, and handing out different sizes of popcorn. They have been applying lots of their learning from this year. 
The nursery have been very fortunate. They have had a visit from the P4s who came to read to them and build positive relationships with them.
We've had more descriptive language this week. P5 have been writing imaginative stories using 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' as a stimulus.
We've had a very sporty week! P4 took part in a heptathlon organised by the senior pupils in Grove. They all loved the opportunity to try different sports and competing against each other. 
Congratulations to the P6 netball team who won the Miss Ward Trophy on Thursday. Eastern have won this for the last 5 years in a row. Thank you to the efforts of Miss Paterson.
We also had our Continued Support Visit following our inspection. Education officers and a Head Teacher spent Wednesday in our school visiting classes, looking at children’s work, talking to children, parents, staff and the senior leafership team. More feedback on this will come out to parents soon.
Next week is the Dundee Arts Festival. P4-7 have the IMS live concert on a Thursday. P7 and our Brass players are performing in a Showcase on Tuesday and P3 are going to take part in The Big Wee Singalong on Monday. Please remember to send back permission slips as this is a great opportunity for the children.
We also have Parent- Teacher evenings. If you have not yet received your time please contact the office.
Have a wonderful weekend, see you all on Monday.

What a week we’ve had this week! 

The P7 and P6s performed fantastically both nights in the school show! The show was a sell out!  It was a brilliant success and all their handwork practising singing, dancing and acting over the past few weeks paid off. Staff parents and carers have all been commenting on how brilliant it was. Rockbottom certainly did rock! 

It was also world book day this week and we had lots of classes taking part in different reading activities. We had paired reading going on throughout the school when pupils from different classes were invited to share their favourite stories with each other. P5a were authors and illustrators of their own stories which they read to P1. Both class seemed to love this. The P1s and P2s were also fortunate to have a visit from a librarian from Broughty Ferry Library. They got to hear lots of stories about bedtime related to our pyjama theme. P3/4 and P4 had a visit from Shona Robison MSP who read to them.
On Thursday, P4 went to the Whitehall Theatre and met different authors.

The P4/3s were doing a cooperative learning art activity about Harry Potter during world book day. They each had a small section to colour in and the finished product made a giant picture of Harry Potter.

The P1s have been busy making links between addition and subtraction. They’ve also been on a shape hunt around the playground to see what natural shapes they could find in their environment.
The P2s have continued to work on telling the Time. Mrs Pirie and P3/2 have been using written strategies for addition - this is helping them to work with bigger numbers.

Mr Horne has revealed the short film for the P5as moving image arts project. They have been watching ‘Little Freak’ (a short film) and writing diary entries from his point of view. It’s made for some very creative writing with fantastic descriptions. 

We’ve had a number of classes learning about different countries from around the world. The P3/2s have travelled all the way to Spain and have been learning how to flamenco dance.

We have also had two very exciting things happen this week:

1. We have won the World Book Day hamper! This means that we have received a hamper worth £570 for our school library. Thank you to everyone who voted for us.
2. Glee Club have made it through to the regional finals! They will be heading to the Caird Hall at the end of April to compete against the best Glee Clubs from around Dundee, Angus and Perth. Congratulations to the girls and boys who took part and thank you to Mr Horne and Miss Bastianiello for being all singing, all dancing legends.

Next week we have the P3s class assembly and some very important visitors.

Have a super weekend! 
Mr Robinson

In the nursery this week there has been a lot of interest in rainbows. The children explored how to mix colours using a variety of different media including foam, water colours and tissue paper. There was a Book Big session on Wednesday morning held by Mrs Bruce. This was very well attended by parents and children. More dates will be released soon. As there has been a huge interest in shows and performing some children went to watch the P6/7 show rehearsals. They found this extremely interesting and were straight back to performing ‘The Greatest Showman’ on the nursery stage.

Our expressive arts theme for this term is in full swing. The P6s and P7s have been polishing the school show with a dress rehearsal in front of the rest of the school. The P5s have been learning to edit movies and had a go at creating their own ‘Rockbottom’ trailer. 
P3/2 and P4/3 have been exploring play scripts and doing drama related to these. 
The P2s have been looking at the circus and all that goes on there. They have been creating pictures of clowns and making big tops (circus tents). 
P5b have been learning to play a melody. They have used the tuned percussion to play ‘The Bear Necessities’. P5a are about to start a moving image art project where they will watch a short movie and learn about cinematography. Mr Horne said that the film was top secret to keep it a surprise.
P1s are creating their own dance - I’m sure there will be some interesting shapes thrown at the next school disco. 

With World Book Day round the corner we’ve had lots of creative writing on this week. P3 have been writing their own traditional tales using a mountain plan to help them build up to a problem and then solve it. 
P5 have also been working hard to write  stories to read to the P1s on World Book Day.

P1s have been planting seeds and learning about the life cycle of plants. I wonder what the seeds will grow into? Maybe a beanstalk and they could climb it and find a giant! ... or possibly cress. 

In maths, P3/2 have been learning written strategies for adding. P3 have been exploring symmetry using mirrors. 

Miss Porter has sadly had her last week at Eastern. She is a fantastic teacher and will be missed all! We wish her all the best as she starts her new school and hope she’ll come back to visit. 

Next week there is a parents evening at Grove for the P7 parents. 
On Wednesday and Thursday we have the school show - there are still a few tickets available for both nights. 
We also have a World Book Day event on Friday - we are having a pyjama day. If you do not wish to wear pyjamas you are asked to wear school uniform. 

Have a fantastic weekend!

It’s been a short week at Eastern but we’ve packed plenty in!

On Tuesday some of the teachers were looking at more ways to develop reading and writing in school. The other teachers visited another school for training on developing approaches to encourage positive relationships and behaviour in schools. We’ll continue to develop this. 

In nursery we have been busy exploring colour. We have used spray paints, shaving foam and gloop to investigate changing colours. In the playroom the children have been able to try out the new cars, trucks and lorries that we have bought.
Outside in the garden the children have experimented with rolling,  focussing on control, direction and safety. Some of us participated in mindfulness activities to support our ABC and Beyond story called Goodnight Everyone by Chris Haughton.

The P1-3 had special guests coming in to teach them about road safety through magic. Alan’s Magic Road Safety was very interesting and all the boys and girls learned lots. 

P5s paired up with the P1s this week and were sharing their fantastic comics they completed last week. The P2s were trying some things the teachers learned about on Tuesday.  This involved drawing for 10 minutes and then writing non stop for 10 minutes. It produced lots of super writing,  even though there were a few tired hands afterwards.

Some of the P3 and 4 classes have been learning about similes and metaphors and they will be putting this into a story that they are creating for World Book Day. 

P3/2 have been learning about tessellation and symmetry. They’ve been using mirrors to create symmetrical pictures using different shapes.

P5 have continued to learn about time durations. 

A few classes have been doing some Scottish work. P6/5 have been doing art in the the style of JoLoMo, P1 have been listening to Scottish music, P6 have been using Scottish music to inspire their creative writing.

Meanwhile P3/2 have been using their imagination to fly to India and tell stories through drama of what they see around them. P4 have also been learning about other parts of the world and creating Chinese Dragons. 

The school show practises are in full swing with Miss Paterson, Miss Gallacher, Miss Dickson, Miss Guthrie, and Mrs Merry D all working around the clock to make the show as amazing as it can be. 

P5a have started to prepare for their assembly and will be showing their learning to parents/carers on the 28th February.  

Next week we have the Glee competition to look forward to and P4/3 have parents evening with Miss Porter. 

Have a lovely weekend.

A number of P6 and P7 pupils took part in a mini triathlon competition at Grove.

P6s and 7s acted, danced and sang incredibly over the two show nights. It was fantastic to see such a talented group of children.  

The 'Beast from the East' caused all the schools to close in Dundee on Thursday and Friday. Here are a few photographs of what we got up to.      

Lots of classes have been taking their learning outside.

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Well done to the football team who won 4-2 in their match tonight.

We hope everyone had a great time dancing at our Burn's night celebration.