First day at the new Roslin Primary School

by The Editor | Aug 25, 2017

Coding Workshops for Schools

by The Editor | Aug 17, 2017

From September until November, XMA have offered Midlothian primary schools FREE coding workshops. During each workshop, a member of staff will work with pupils and staff in order to develop confidence in teaching coding. They also are offering free staff CPD with each session having a different focus.

As each workshop will last for a whole day, we only have a limited amount of days available. If this is something you are interested in or you would like CPD from an expert, please visit our Eventbrite page and reserve your place by getting a ticket.

Hawthornden Confucius Primary Hub Launch

by The Editor | Jun 29, 2017

We were entertained by P7s performing a Dragon Dance, A Fan Dance and Looking for a Friend.  P6s performed a lovely colours song in Mandarin.  P3 pupils who attend Mandarin classes at the Children’s University at Queen Margaret amazed us all by reading and translating a Mandarin story.  Chinese colleagues praised their accents and pronunciation!  S4 Lasswade High School pupils also performed a dance to show primary pupils how Mandarin can be continued in High School.

The launch was attended by members of the Chinese Consul, CISS, Lasswade HS, Midlothian Education Team and even colleagues from Fife who are about to have a launch of their own.  They left enthused and impressed!

A plaque was presented to Head Teacher, Scott Lavery, by  Mr. Zhang Limin, Deputy-Consul General.

Computational Thinking at Rosewell Primary

by The Editor | Jun 23, 2017

Over the past weeks pupils in Primary 5/6 at Rosewell Primary School and have been developing their computational thinking skills and have applied what they have learned to code Sphero bots, programmable robotic balls. The teacher and pupils were supported throughout this experience by Lauren Arkley from Midlothian’s Learning Technology Team.

The pupils developed their understanding of what an algorithm is (a precise sequence of instructions or a set of rules for performing a task ) and collaborated as a team to create their own algorithms using the Sphero Edu app.

The children were given weekly lessons which had follow up challenges and were asked to problem solve in order to create a successful algorithm for the Sphero. This included creating Sphero mazes, a Sphero toss and catch game as well as art work.

As the children created together, they tinkered with different controls by trying out a variety of sequences and experimented with a variety of functions, finding what worked well and what didn’t work. Following this, pupils then began to debug programs by identifying what was wrong in their algorithms and fixing it. When completed, the children were able to watch the physical output and evaluate the result.

The pupils shared that not only did they develop a wide range of computational thinking skills through each challenge but they also developed their social skills and used skills from across the curriculum, particularly in STEM. In many of the challenges the children had to consider angles, speed, distance and time.

Our final challenge involved the children creating art work by putting paint on the Sphero. Before they were allowed to use paint, each team had to prove that they had written a program which would make sure the Sphero would keep the paint on the paper and off the carpet. This was a tricky task but the outcome was great. Please see some of the Sphero art below.

Inspiring Midlothian Bike Festival 2017

by The Editor | Jun 22, 2017

13th June 2017 what a day!  250 pupils from 10 Midlothian Primary schools took part in the Midlothian Bike Festival 2017 at Beeslack High School.  Well done to all pupils at the event you really impressed with your skills.  Congratulation’s to Mauricewood Primary School who were the overall team winners. The results can be found here  –  Mid Bike Fest 2017 RESULTS

For more information, please visit here.