Busy until the end, P3 had a splash of time spare on the last full day of term to show off what they knew about living in space.

We have been following British astronaut Tim Peake’s recent return to earth, and enjoying the photos he has shared from his amazing journey.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36532518

P3 were set the task of making a machine you would use in space – and chose from space ship, lunar rovers, or space stations.

It has been a great pleasure to work with P3 this year – such a wonderfully inventive, polite  and eager class. I’m sure you will all keep up the excellent hard work in P3-4 and P4-5!

P3’s Highland Games last week were a good deal drier than our later attempt at sports day.

Ably assisted and instructed by Primary 7, P3 greatly enjoyed some traditional sports. The photos below give a flavour of a session that was really rewarding for all.

Tossing the Caber

Power and technique required to turn the caber.

Golf

Poise and a steady eye to hit the tiny target in golf.

Shot Put

Lift and push required for putting the shot.

Highland Dancing

Lightness and grace, only.

Welly Wanging

Harder than it looks!

Haggis hurling

Surely destined to be an Olympic sport, one day.

The rain almost held off for P3’s trip to the tennis courts this afternoon – and the sun was in any case shining inside! P3 really enjoyed the tennis activities, run by Mrs Matheson and P7.

We buddied up with the afternoon nursery for the first few activities. These were based around the idea that, in tennis or other sports,  whether you win or lose, you need to be ready for whatever is next to come. As the photos show – the same can be said of the weather!

It’s Monday, it’s orienteering!

P3 made a super start to sports week with very energetic commitment to our playground quest.

P7 are organising sports week this year, took wonderful care in leading our session – explaining the activity and support the children in their group quests.

We even had time for a warm down and some quick games before heading inside to taste the snacks and smoothies that the 7s had also produced.

Thank you for a super start to sports week, P7.

Tomorrow – swimming.

During our mini-topic on space, P3 have shown a talent for paper engineering where we have been making models to a design specification.

We are using air pressure to launch our rockets, and following a fairly successful low-pressure test indoors (only one minor mishap)…

… we took them outside and turned it up.

The benchmark was set at an impressive 49 metres by Elizabeth and Cameron. We’ll have a think about our rocket designs if we get a moment next week, and see if we can improve on them for a second test.

Although the end of year is looming, there certainly doesn’t seem to be any let up in P3’s energy levels!

No-power day on Monday saw P3 take on some high-octane smoothie making, based around our Africa topic. Having put heads together to come up with team recipes, P3 chopped and diced their ingredients before applying a bit of muscle power to blend smoothies using the Co-operative’s smoothie bike.

P2, our partners in learning, came through to help out with the legwork, and enjoy the pureed fruits of our labour.

After lunch, Aberlour received a visit from Strider, mascot of Living Street’s Walk to School campaign. The visit was in recognition of Aberlour’s ‘most improved’ status during the campaign. With energy-levels undimmed by our morning of smoothie making, P3 had great fun in our whole school celebratory dance.

Thank you all for the great effort and ingenuity in constructing costumes for superhero day on Friday. The world is surely safe in these hands!

Superhero day tied in with some thinking we have been around the school this term.

P3 have been thinking about how our lives in Aberlour compare with those of children in other parts of the world this term, through our topic on Africa. The whole school has also been learning about the lives of others, as part of our journey to become a Rights Respecting School.

Your generosity on Friday raised nearly £200, which will be doubled by the UK Government and be used to help to support refugees.

We have a few printer problems at the moment, but we’re not going to stop this in our quest for ever greater learning! This week’s language task is here, online!

For maths, please can you practise mental maths questions with your child – 2, 4, 5 and 10 times table, and addition and subtraction sums would be appropriate. We enjoy using “Hit the Button” in class – no log on required!

Of course, Sumdog is also available – log in details were supplied in homework jotters at the beginning on Spring Term. Enjoy!

Among P3’s varied diet of activities recently, last week we enjoyed a ballet taster lesson.

We enjoyed some energetic warm up activities, and practised our balance and poise. (Can you spot the pompoms?)

We heard how it is important to control and our movements – as in any sport – and how strength and power are vital.

We also learned how to keep safe – by building up to tricky moves with proper teaching and using the right equipment.

Well done to everyone in P3 for taking part so enthusiastically and politely.