Thursday 17 February 2011

We made animal models using clay. We used different skills such as moulding, shaping, and observing. When they were dry we painted them. We are very pleased with our results!












































Melting food.

We put chocolate, cheese, pasta, a cracker and bread into the microwave for one minute and tried to predict what would happen. We looked to see which one had melted.





















Making bird feeders.

We make bird feeders using pine cones, lard and bird seed. We had lots of fun making them. Thank you for all the bird food donations.















Friday 11 February 2011

Moodle

Dear parent(s),

We have been developing our ICT capabilities over the last few weeks with the introduction of a brand new Moodle. Moodle is known as a VLE or Virtual Learning Environment. RCT are investing heavily in the project and over 70 schools (out of 143) are developing Models . Each child in years 2, 3,4, 5 and 6, has been allocated a user name and they have all devised their own passwords. We have stressed the importance of keeping passwords safe and personal, however, we would encourage them to share passwords with parents so that you can see the merits of the VLE, and view the work that they are doing in the Moodle. The Moodle can be easily accessed from our class blogs.
Advantages of using Moodle include;

• Online learning environment as a means of communication with pupils, parents and the wider community.

• Teachers can use the environment to support and enhance their classroom activities, allowing pupils to interact with learning materials and activities outside of school.

• With 14 of the 19 secondary schools being part of the RCT Moodle (including Y Pant), there has never been a better time to explore ways that Moodle can support and improve curriculum continuity from primary to secondary school.

• The Moodle is a safe environment for children which can only be accessed by invitation.

• Work can be set by teachers, uploaded by pupils, shared by pupils and even marked online whilst giving the pupil instant feedback.

• Moodle has a chat facility that can only be accessed by members of the VLE, thus providing a safe environment for your children to communicate with each other.

Since the introduction of blogs, we at Pontyclun Primary have had a direct and effective method of communicating with parents. In time we will hope to integrate our blog and Moodle but for the moment they will both run concurrently.