My Joinery Endeavour By William Allan Campbell

This is my Endeavor and it Endeavor is a challenging  project that you know nothing about but at the end of endeavor you’ll know every thing about it.

I chose joinery for my E ndeavor because  I have always wanted to be a joiner because you always are working with wood and that is one of my favorite things to do.

The people that helped me was Mr. Pollock  for the ladybird book and the wood that he sent me. My dad and brother have also helped by showing me how to use the tool and  how to identify the type of wood and how old it is.

So far in my Endeavor I have made a butt joint, lap joint and a miter butt joint. My favorite thing I had built was a copping board but I’m going to build a bird table for my mane project. I have been doing some designs for my bird table and chopping board and hopefully I will get  my bird table soon.

Here is my sway on joints and quiz.

wood work (Edit) Microsoft Forms (office.com)

Robotics- Learning New Digital Skills In Context

This year we received an Education Scotland CLPL grant to train staff in digital skills; for part of the project we have been learning computer science and technology to do with robotics.  A grant from the DigitalXtra fund has also  allowed us to purchase robotics equipment from early years up for the cluster, and has enabled the children to learn computer science outcomes in a meaningful way though programming their own robots.  This has been a really engaging way for pupils and teachers to engage with what can be quite tricky computer science concepts.

In Early years we used coda-pillars, Dash and Dot, Rugged Robot, Beebot and Spheros to show our understanding of computational thinking by coding the robots to follow an algorithm.

We learned all our computational thinking concepts using Barefoot Computing online, a fabulous and flexible resource.

We found there were lots of online resources that worked well even down to Early years and we made good use of them- lots of tinkering going on!

We made maps for the robots to move around and made them flash and play music as well as they followed the algorithms.

We then came up with our own designs for robots using engineering design principles and built them out of junk.

 

We think the robots looked fantastic!

Primary 3/4/5 have also been learning about robots and designing their own.  They learned about computational thinking and applied their skills making jam sandwiches and in Scratch.  They experimented with different robots like Spheros and Dash and dot.  With help from P67 they learned how to program Microbits to record temperatures and used this as a data handling high quality maths assessment.

First they designed their robots using engineering and iteration.

They then chose to program their microbits as part of their final robot design.  The builds were very imaginative.

With more experience of coding through Scratch and hour of code, P67 were able to take on more challenge.  They learned to use blocks rather than tracks to code the Spheros and were able to use them in maths to learn about angles in polygons by programming them to draw shapes using conditionals and loops, also programming games.  They then learned how to program Microbits.

Their final challenge was to look at Robotics holistically and design a robot to solve one of the world’s/Islay’s problems by using the sustainable development goals as a framework.  I adapted a Sway I found to structure their learning and used the great new tools on the new Microbit website which include programming based around the SDGs.

The children then used a design sheet to plan their robots.

For the elderly of Islay we had robots that were pedometers designed to help them keep fit and robots that made an alarm if the temperature got too cold to warn you it was icy out.  For children we had a robot that timed you washing your hands to prevent Coronavirus by playing Happy Birthday and one that timed you brushing your teeth.  For Farmers a child programmed a microbit to light up when dark, that could be fixed onto black Cows so they were easy to spot if on the road at night (cows are often free range on Islay!).  Another light sensitive device was to warn dolphins of underwater turbines at night.

The schools designs were then all shared with parents at an open afternoon in Science week, where children had to explain, demonstrate and discuss their new found digital skills.  It was clear lots of new digital skills were learned by everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Robotics in P3/4/5

We have been doing robotics in school recently.  The children have been learning to think like a computer and develop their digital language and skills.  They have learnt how to code a robot using block code using microbits, spheros and dash.

They then had to design and build their own junk model model robot with a microbot to solve a problem in our classroom.  One was a ‘ghost tracker’ which identified if there was a ghost in the room by changing symbols on the microbit when the model was shaked.

Follow the link below to hear how it works.

https://app.seesaw.me/pages/shared_item?item_id=item.323fab30-2ed1-4fef-b73a-13dddf5658f9&share_token=KnZxKAKSQlqvSOBvsk1kFA&mode=share

Beach Clean 2019

On Thursday 21st March the whole of Port Ellen Primary School went down to the co-op beach for a beach clean.  There was also people from high school to help, they where the John Muir group, and also ReJIG.  Before everyone went we got put into groups of 5. There was 10 groups. I got paired with Chloe, Katy, Christopher and Phoenix.  P67 had created a survey so we could find out what the different types of plastic were that we foundon the beach.  There were lots of small bits of plastic between 2.5 and 50cm long, but the biggest plastic pollutant was ropes and nets from fishing boats.  You can see the results in the graph below.  We collected 2 bags full of rubbish, lots of it was plastic. Altogether the school got 900 bits of plastic rubbish off the shore. When we left all the beach had was sand and seaweed.

 

 

 

Holes Book Review

Holes by Louis Sachar.This book was about a child called Stanley Yelnats. Stanley was sent to a camp for something he didn’t do which was unfair.The Book was great because the author made good tension,such near the end of the book they found a case but there were yellow spotted lizards all over them and you didn’t know if they were going to be bit or not.The yellow spotted lizards are poisonous.The genre of this book was Adventure Fiction.The weird thing is the warden wore poisonous nail varnish.

The main theme of holes was Friendship and Justice.Stanley also made friends at the camp and they all had nicknames such as Zero,Squid,Zigzag,Xray,Magnet,Armpit and Twitch. There was also a weird repeating poem which there were different versions of every where in the book such as

If only, If only, the moon speaks no reply;

Reflecting the sun and all that’s gone by.

 be strong my weary wolf,turn around boldly

Fly high,my baby bird,

My angel,my only

Image result for holes cover

 

By Aidan

Party Animals

Our Party is called Party Animals. We are trying to make animals have better homes and ask people to take care of animals. If we win the election we will adopt a dolphin through the WWF.

Our Four policys are:

School: Adopt a dolphin

Islay: Mobile petting zoo

Scotland: All schools adopt an animal

World: stop using palm oil -find  alternative

In school we will adopt a dolphin because we will try to save a dolphin from extinction

In a mobile petting zoo we will make sure it is educational so people can learn to be responsible with animals before they get there own pet.

Scotland: Every school should adopt a pet that means no animals could be left extinct. Which brings us to our slogan “No animals left behind.”

To stop usng palm oil that means stop deforestion because the reason why they cut down trees is for palm oil. Palm oil is in Doritios, pringles and some soap and shampoo so if we stop using/ eating these things then we wouldnt have the problem of deforestion.

Remember adopting an animal only cost £3 a month so its not expensive so it is afordable for everybody here is the link:https://www.wwf-adopt-a-animal.co.uk/charities/wwf-animal-adoptions/?keyword=wwf%20adopt%20an%20animal&device=c&vm=brand

No Animals left behind

 

Sandwiches anyone?

  

We have been learning about healthy eating and all the different food groups.  We have designed our own sandwiches and got to make them!  We also learned about hygiene in the kitchen, how to use sharp knives safely and Mrs Holyoake explained all about the different chopping boards and how to store food correctly.

P1/2/3 Renewables Trip

  

On 23rd May P1/2/3 went on a trip to see the different renewables being used in Islay.  First we went to Dunlossit Estate where David Gillies showed us the biomass boiler and we saw that the store where all the wood chips were stored was like a giant slushy machine.  Then we went to Ballygrant to see the hydro power station…it fitted inside a shed!  Finally George Dean took us to the wind turbine and we got to go inside it.  All were very intrigued by the upside down computer.  Thanks to David and George for a great day.

  

Solar Ovens

 

There was great excitement in P1/2/3…and a bit of envy from P4/5….as the solar ovens were used to cook marshmallows and melt chocolate digestives.  Even although it was not particularly warn, we were amazed how quickly the ovens melted the chocolate and marshmallow.  William is keen to cook pizza next!

African huts….using solar power

P1/2/3 have read the story of Handa’s Surprise and been learning about life in Africa.  They have found out that it is very different in rural Africa from the city.  They build these huts from straw, clay and wooden sticks….then added solar panels and LED lights.  They were a great addition to the sand tray with all the African animals. The children learned how useful solar panels can be in helping children in rural Africa to do their homework.  Evie’s mum showed the children a kerosene lamp that would be used – costly to run, dangerous and giving off nasty fumes.  We researched case studies and made these Explain Everything to show what we had learned.

Nicola Davies Visit

Yesterday Nicola Davies came in to talk with us about her books as part of the Scottish Book Trust 20th Anniversary Tour.  She has mostly based her stories with animals in them because before she was an author she was a zoologist and there was a book that she was telling us about and it was about a boy that got his arm pulled of  by a lion, it’s name was The Lion Who Stole My Arm. The  real story that it was based on was about a 5 year old boy who got attacked by a lion and even though his arm didn’t come off he had to get it amputated because the attack was so bad. She was also telling us about animals that she was looking at such as: lionesses, humpback whales etc. When she was talking to us about the humpback whales she noticed when she was studying them that mostly every day and hour of the day the whales would eat then eat then eat again. Also to have a little fun we learned how to sing like a whale.  Nicola Davies also wrote a climate change book called Gaiya and because we are doing climate change as one of out topics that was very interesting. We also wrote climate change poems. We have been researching a lot of different facts and effects that climate change has on the world. We could either write a kenning, a haiku or a free verse poem.  We thought that the visit as very exciting learning about lots of different animals.

By Rebecca and Rowan

All about life in Tanzania

P1/2/3 really enjoyed Evie’s mum coming to visit the class to tell them all about life in rural Tanzania where she lived.  She explained all about the Masai, showing them some lovely fabrics.  She also told them how resourceful Tanzanian people are reusing and recycling things – making bags out of bottle tops and sandals out of car tyres.  Thanks you Mrs Wood!

Parachutes in P1/2/3

P1/2/3 have been learning about parachutes (air resistance) and they used Explain Everything to record their experiments inserting video clips of their tests, how they made their tests fair and the results.  They were then able to use this information in the design of their own parachutes to protect an egg from smashing when dropped from the top of the stairs.

Scottish Math Challenge Success

The Scottish Math Challenge is something that P6/7 have the chance to do every year.   You get a set of three questions one in November, one in December and the final one in January. If you get up to 29 points that is a bronze 30 points that is a silver and if you get 33 points that is a gold. I got 32 points and that means that I got a silver which means that I get to go away to get an award and I was really pleased to get this and I want to keep on pushing myself further in STEM. Everyone else who took part in our class got a bronze.  It is really important to know how to do some equations because it could help in a well paid job like being an engineer.

By Matthew Campell

Paper Bridge Engineering

As part of our Engineering project this year we wanted to show we could get better at engineering.  At the start of the project we had to build bridges, and ours were made from straws and did not work well or hold a lot of weight.  We did the bridge building test again to see if we had improved, but this time we were only allowed to use paper to build our bridges. The point of it was to try and engineer a bridge that could hold a calculator, at first it was quite hard to make a bridge that could hold one. Me and Rowan decided to apply what we had learned in maths about 3D shapes and  put cylinders under our bridge so that it could support the weight of a calculator, a lot of the bridges ended up being able to support a lot more than a calculator. Our bridge managed to hold 6kg in weight!  I was surprised that it could hold that much because it was just paper and tape, eventually we over tested it and wrecked the cylinders on the bridge. Everyones bridge could hold at least a calculator and some bridges could hold more, our bridge could hold the most in the class which I was surprised about. We applied our engineering knowledge to building the bridge and this showed how much we improved!

By Holly

 

Mission Adoption Accomplished

After Katie suggested to the class that we adopt a polar bear, P1/2/3 have not raised the £50 required from selling popcorn and adopted a Svalbard polar bear.  We’ve named him Snowball.  We have learned that polar bears are becoming endangered due to global warming.  Less ice means that there is less of an area for them to hunt, they have to swim longer distances between ice and they are coming into conflict with humans when they approach towns in Alaska and can get shot.  We found out that they have polar bear jails where they can catch them and then release them back where it is safer and not near where people live.

Trip to Murrayfield

One day after rugby club we where pulled in and I was chosen to be the mascot for the Scotland Rugby Team through the Islay Minis Rugby club, which is a club for people who want to play rugby till there in s2 and then they have to go to the one in high school.  On February 24th me, my dad and my grandad headed to Murrayfield to see the Scotland vs England rugby match as I was the mascot. When we got the stadium we had to meet up with the rest of the mascots to go and sit in a room and wait for some other people as they were late. When every one was in the room our parents went to there seats and we were taken into the tunnel where we waited for the game to start.  When the game was just about to start the players came out and lined up. I was partnered with Stuart Hogg who was my favourite player. When we ran out we had walk forward and kneel as Princess Anne walked behind us and shook the players hand. After that we went off and went to our seat and watched the game. Where we were sitting we had the subs right behind us. After half time we back to our seats and the game started up and it started up. When England were progressing through our defence, Jamie Bhatti, another one of my favourite players, he was injured and carried off and when he came up the steps to his seat he almost fell as he had torn something in his leg. After the game we went down and had to wait till the players got ready and got changed then they came out to sign our t-shirts and other stuff.  I was really thrilled that Scotland won!

By Taylor

Trip to the Museum

P1/2/3 had a wonderful trip to the Museum of Islay Life in Port Charlotte to find out what life was like 100 years ago.  They were fascinated by the chamber pot and the fact that people had to go outside to the toilet! P1/2/3 have been learning about school long ago.  They have discovered that there used to be many more schools in Islay and that teachers were much stricter! We saw the old teachers high desk and the wooden child’s desk at the museum together with the ink pots and slates that children would have used a century ago.  This is part of island-wide history learning associated with the WW1 commemorations.  We also found out about a schoolgirl from Port Ellen that gave an her account of what happened in the village following the sinking of the Tuscania.  Old log books have given a poignant insight into that time. Thanks to Jenny Minto for a great visit.

How we get electricity

P1/2/3 have been learning where electricity comes from.  We watched video clips of how power is generated  in a power station by burning coal and oil to make steam which then turns the huge turbines.  We built models to show that we understood how power gets from the power stations to our homes and why we should never play near electricity pylons.  It also struck home that this is what causes emissions that cause global warming, linked to our Who will Save us? topic.

WW100 Visitors

 

On Thursday 25th January Jenni and Stuart from the Islay Museum came to Port Ellen Primary school to talk about WW100 on Islay.  This is so we can get information about WW1 on Islay and what happened here during the war. They told us about the Tuscania, which was torpedoed by a submarine in 1918 and it sank off the coast of Islay, but some the survivors came ashore in lifeboats or were wrecked in the rocks and people on Islay helped to save them and also to bury the dead.  Two brothers came down from their farm house and saved some people and gave them their home, and some poeple baked scones.  It is amazing to think this all happened 100 years ago on February 5th.  I am looking forward to finding out more about Islay at this time.

Dolphin’s Swimming Championships

On Saturday 27th  January Dolphins were having a championship event. They did lots of different types of strokes. They did butterfly,  breaststroke, front crawl and backstroke. Some of the swimmers also did tumble turns and dives for starting. All of the children that attended had an amazing time. From the people that attended seven of them were from Port Ellen primary and two more from Port Ellen Primary helped at the pool side.  Everyone got a medal at the award ceremony, we also got loads and loads of food after swimming as well.  All of the people that went and also the people watching were very proud that there are such good swimmers on this tiny island.

by Ellen and Sophie

10th Anniversary Burn’s Ceilidh

On  Friday 26th of January Port Ellen primary school had our 10th anniversary Burns Celidh.  We had loads of people from the community coming to join us and we all had great fun.  We had all learned different Scots poems for the poetry competition and the judges came in to hear us read them before we all went to lunch.  At lunch the Primary 7s said their poem,  Address to the Haggis over the haggis and Lauren got to cut the haggis open.  After lunch we went to the hall to celebrate with our family and friends.  We did lots of Scottish Country dancing;  my favourite was the Virginia reel.  We also heard people play their musical instruments; Rowan and Rebecca did a duet on the accordian and tin whistle.    All the winners of the poems read them out:  P1 was Rachael, P2 was Chloe, P3 was Mya, P4 was Kayla, P5 was Dearbhla, P6 was Aidan and P7 was Rowan.  We all had a great time and enjoyed tea and shortbread made by Mrs Holyoke afterwards.  Thanks to everyone who came along.

Listen to two of our poems below:

 

PEPS school swimming

Each Thursday for 6 weeks we go to Bowmore and we go in the swimming pool.  P5/6/7 go to the pool and we go up and down the lanes and do different this like backstroke or front stroke.  When we go in the pool we play a warm up game at the end we do some different things like the mushroom float or the pencil float. After we have done everything we get a 5 minute time play around in the water. After the 6 weeks, we have a swimming gala.  We really enjoy getting to do swimming for PE.

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