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P6/7 Trip To Stirling Castle

On Wednesday the 14th of September, P6/7 from all the schools on Islay and Jura went to Stirling Castle. We had to walk up a small hill just to get to the castle. When we got up to the castle we had to go into the middle of the courtyard. Then we got told by a tour guide just to go up to the main hall and wait until the woman came and told us to follow her and then we went into the grand hall. We were told that the grand hall was used for when the king was having his dinner. It was also used for dancing and it was used for the servants to sleep in. Then the woman took us over to the palace. The palace had two rooms in it. One room held all the people that the king had requested to meet. But the king only picked some of the people to meet in the other room. If you were very special you got to meet in his bedroom. The queen had the same thing two rooms and a bedroom. Then we got to go into a room when we got to dress up as characters from Mary queen of Scots times and Robert the Bruce. Then we went back to the bus and we drove of to the Bannockburn centre

By Ruaraidh Macdonald

 

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Blair Drumming Safari Park

Most of P6/7 from Islay and Jura went on the Stirling trip on the 13th till the 16th of September.

One of my favourite parts was going to Blair Drummond Safari Park so that’s what I’m writing about today.

Me and my group  (Mrs Mactaggert, Anna, Lorne, Ewan, Toby, Daisy, Ryan and Sam) started of at at the Elephant (Mondy) and it was very interesting then we went into the Rhino section. Bruce the Rhino’s Mum Dot was pregnant with her fourth calf. We also looked at giraffes  but they were quite boring because they were just standing there.  After that we went to look at the lions and we saw a male lion eating a calf. Then we headed to the horses and the two tigers. After we got to go see penguins, meercats and sealions. Next we went to the park and played with the amazing, gigantic wooden castle. Soon after we drove through the all the animals in the car my favourite animal I saw in the car was the zebra. But sadly after we had to leave to get to the ferry.

By Eva Munro

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Bowling Fun At Stirling

After a long day on the bus we got to the youth hostel had our dinner and back on the bus,  but this time we went to go to the AMF bowling.

We got into our groups and set up the TV which tells us who goes next but sadly I had  had to go last. In my group from Port Ellen it was only me and Darren. I was the only one that got a strike in my group, I was so excited. We kept on going and when we finished the game it took me quite a while for me to realize that I had won!! Seconds later Anna from Bowmore came running over to me and said I had to write my name on the winners board. But then the time had come for us to get back on the bus to go back to the Youth Hostel.

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Stirling Castle

When P6/7 were in Stirling we went to go and see Stirling Castle and when we got there it was like wasp heaven, there were wasps everywhere. When we went into the castle we went to these wee rooms and we went in for about five minutes in the rooms. There was one that was very fun it was like a dressing up room I was dressed up like a queen. Then we went into the Kings room and it was all empty the reason that it was empty because the King did not get to live in the castle he died when it was just about finished. Then we went into the Queens room and then we met two men and one of the men were talking to us about the castle and the other one was playing a loot. After that we went into the outer room and people went in there to speak to the King after we went into the inner room only the important people got to go  in there. After we had been through all of the rooms we went to the learning room and we had to get changed into a dress and we had to tell if we were in Mary Queen of Scot’s times or her fathers times and I was in Mary Queen of Scot’s fathers times and then after that we had our lunch. Then, sadly we had to leave.  I really enjoyed Stirling Castle and I would really want to go back.

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jouring the week.

Once Primary 67 were away on the Stirling trip the P5s did some independent work.On the first day we had Mr Shaksphere for music.We  were creating music that the people that were making in Mesolithic Times without the instruments we have now. It was my first time ever using Garage Band and I was muddled. My first bit of music was stuff with a rock. I was tapping and scraping with them to make loads of music. Then I put all of the bits of music together and looped, then cut the bits with mistakes. After that I made another bit of music with wood. There was banging against other materials like leather. Then we got our work marked by Mr Shaksphere and mine was fine.

BY JACK

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P6/7 Stirling Trip Wallace Monument.

On Tuesday the 13th September, P6/7 of Port Ellen School went to the Wallace Monument to have a look at it. It was a very steep walk up to it. When we got up to it, we saw nearly the whole of Stirling because it was so high up! When we looked around we saw how massive it was. I thought that it would just be a statue of William Wallace. But it actually was a large tower with William Wallace near the top. I thought that was amazing that such a massive tower was created for the honor of William Wallace. I thought that the Wallace Monument was an amazing thing to go and see and I hope to go there again sometime with my family to go inside it to see what is in there.

By Kaya Middleton.

 

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Bannockburn

P6/7 of every school from Islay and Jura went on a stirling trip. On the first day of being in Stirling they went to Stirling castle and Bannockburn. We visited Bannockburn because a famous battle happened there. The battle was between King Edward the second of England and Robert the Bruce. Robert the Bruce defeated King Edward the second. We visited the site of the battle and stood in the same spot that Robert the Bruce had put his sword through a rock. We found out a lot about the battle like it took place on the 23rd june 1314, it was Robert the Bruce against King Edward the second of England. There was a 3D place where we had to wear 3D glasses, the glasses made the battle look realistic. It was actually just a screen with videos of what the battle would have looked like. I stood in front of an arrow as it was being shot and it went through my head. I also got shot in the arm and the leg. There was also famous people from the battle from the English side and the Scottish side. To work the people you would stand on a grey metal plate that was in front of them then they would start talking to you. Then you could wave your hand and find out more information like where they lived, what weapons they used and who they were. After that we played a battle game where we all got split into two teams and had to fight against each other. One team was the Scottish and one team was the English. We would take it in turns and if we were an archer we could shoot move or attack. The English were trying to reach Stirling castle and the Scottish had to stop them. I was in the Scottish team and the Scottish team won. We had a great time and hope to visit again.

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Port Ellen Primary School Bramble Picking

IMG_1030On Wednesday 7th September Mrs.Clark’s class and P1/2/3 went bramble picking at the croft road. There was 2 people in each pair and every pair was given 1  bag to put the brambles they find in. As we set off to get brambles a buildbase lorry went by and we all had to get on the grass and let the lorry pass. After the lorry was gone we started to pick the brambles and there was a lot of brambles found just at the start of the road. Matthew and his little brother William started to get further down the road. People were on left and right trying to get the biggest and most purple brambles so that they can make the best bramble jam. Ciaran was always at the front of all the people just because some people at the front said that they would get the most brambles because they were at the front. Closer to the end of the path there were more brambles but most of us decided to take out time because if we did that we could still find a lot of brambles which no one knows about.  We picked over 5Kg of brambles and made it into bramble jam.  Yum!

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Forth Road Bridge

Today Ellie, Kaitlyn and Sarah found out about the Forth Road Bridge because their class are going to Stirling for an annual school trip. They will be visiting Bannockburn, The Forth Road Bridge, Stirling castle and Stirling university. We found out that over 70,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day and over 24 million vehicles cross the bridge every year. It took around 6 years to build and seven people died building it. On the 5th December 2015 a small 2cm crack was found and the bridge had to be rebuilt. The bridge is 51 years old. It is owned and operated by Network Rail. It is the 4th longest bridge in the world. It is over the fifth of the forth. It cost about £19.5 million. It is Britians first all steel bridge. It used nearly 40,000 tonnes of steel and 125,000 cubic metres of concrete. The designers were Benjamin Baker and John Fowler. They will be visiting it next week, hope they have a great time. By Kaitlyn, Sarah and Ellie<img

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Stirling Castle

Mary queen of Scots lived in Stirling castle nearly all her life. Stirling castle was built on an excint volcano which was 250 feet deep underground. Stirling Castle is named the heart of Scotland.

Here are some  facts about Stirling Castle. It has an amazing view of its surroundings just  like Edinburgh Castle and it s one of the most famous castles that people like to visit. It was built in the 12th century and between the years 1490 and 1600. There are steep cliffs on three sides of the castle.

Here are some facts about Mary queen of Scots. She was born on the 7th of December 1542 and died on the 8th February 1587. Mary became queen when she was nine months old. She was crowned when he mother and father died. She got married at the age of 17 and she was married to Francis II.

 

 

 

By Abi, Rebecca and Kaya.

 

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P5/6/7s Maths Challange

P5/6/7 in Islay Primary School have entered the Mathematical challange for 2016-2017 the p5 have been finding it challing to do the maths for the challange this year and next year. Only some of the p5s have completed the first questions on the paper. P6/7 are a little bit more confident than p5s and most of them done it last year.

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Our Trip To Stirling University

As a student you get to choose your own subjects. You get set essays on a set time.You can also do courses. You also get to meet new people that will be you friends forever. They have a major sports program.

Advantages – You get a student discount. You get Christmas, Easter and the Summer off. You get a University flat. When you graduate you get to go to the grad ball and get pritty pictures. You are close to the cinama and yummy restrants and a very good swimming pool and gym.

My Aunty (Shona Isla) studeyed Animal Biology and very recently gratuated. Her friends still come to visit with  there parents.

By Eva Munro

 

Stirling University stands with rich and varied history. The estate was bought by John Hope in 1678 then it was passed over to Ralph Dundas whose son was John Dundas.

By Ruaraidh

A team from Stirling Universaty went to Rio 2016 they got to go on Tv.

Some people from Stirling Unaversaty is part of team Gb

The are four swimmers from team GB which was taught by Stirling University. They also do golf . They also do running, football, rugby and many more.

By Darren

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Stirling Trip to Bannockburn

On the 13th September p6/7 are gong to Stirling and we are going to Bannockburn for a visit. We have been researching Bannockburn and this is some questions and their answers.   Where is Bannockburn? Bannockburn is just out of Stirling. When was it? 24th June 1314. Who was the battle between? It was between Scotland and England. How did it happen? England crossed the border and that’s how it started the battle. What is the battle of Bannockburn? Bannockburn was a war in First war of Scottish independence and a landmark in Scottish history.

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Giant’s Grave Archaeological Dig

On the 25th of August, Port Ellen Primary along with their teacher Mrs Clark, Mr Gairns, Mrs Logan and Struan’s dad Mr Colthart, went to a fascinating archaeological trip to the Giant’s Grave. We were going there because we really wanted to learn about Islay History. As we got onto the bus, I was filling up with excitement. We were in the bus for quite a while until we got to Nerabus. As we got off the bus, I couldn’t wait to start walking to the Giant’s Grave. Also, Professor Steven Mithin walked with us.

On the trip, we walked one hour and ten minutes to the Giant’s Grave. Before we got there, my friend Abi fell into a big stream and got soaking wet. When we were all set we started walking again. On the way, we saw loads of blood red and white mushrooms. They looked really interesting. Finally we got to the Giant’s Grave. I thought it looked amazing and very inspiring. It was as peaceful as the sun crawling up a hill. As we were strolling to the heart of the dig I gazed at the awesome rocks forming the Giant’s grave.

 

After we had our break, we got up and circled around the Grave. We listened to the archaeologists from Reading University explain about the Giant’s Grave and what they think it used to be six thousand years ago. After they told us about the Grave, we split up and got into partners to work with the archaeologists to help with the Grave. Rebecca and me went to Tom who told us that he worked in the muddiest corner to dig out the peaty mud that could be burying important artifacts. We got a shovel and started to dig the icky sticky mud.

When we were told to move we really enjoyed helping Tom with the mud and digging. When we moved over we went to a lady named Sarah who helped us take pictures of the site with her. We learned that it was a hard job getting the right angles when you take the pictures. We also took stalk photos when we creep up to the others and take pictures of them. Then, with a heavy heart, we went back to the others and sat in the gazebo. We listened to a Dendrochronologist speak about his job as a person who looks at tree rings on the trunk to see how old it is. I thought that was fascinating that you could calculate how old a tree is by looking at the lines.

 

After we had our lunch, we said goodbye to the people there and we left the Giant’s grave. I really enjoyed myself and I really hope that I could meet them again soon on a different dig. I thought that the dig was phenomenal and I really hope to go again.

By Kaya Middleton P7

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Endeavour 2016 Final Thoughts

Lots of community interest

Lots of community interest

The purpose of this blog has been to share the Endeavour project at Port Ellen Primary, and over the past year we have detailed the challenge and enjoyment of this learning  journey.  It was also set up to highlight how Endeavour can help children make links and develop skills for future careers, as part of Education Scotland’s Developing the Young Workforce.

Upcycling

Upcycling

In their final evaluations all children were able to make successful links to how their projects would help them in future careers; with some of the projects like architecture, interior design or card making business the career links were obvious, but all were able to identify specific skills like time management, risk assessment or presenting to others.

Children could say what new learning they had achieved; learning how to use a sewing machine, working a jigsaw cutter to make a wood toy, reading a map, building a model plane, coding a game, creating a mood board, filming and editing a documentary.  They were also able to identify problems they had solved in the process of their project; how to read scales correctly when cooking, how to reinstate accidentally deleted video footage, understanding Shakepeare’s language, correct use of a knife for chopping and getting notes out on time for advertising a jewellery sale.

Sweet making

Sweet making

Sharing their learning during the Endeavour fair was the final stage of the process and the variety and depth of learning on show was excellent, with those who had truly pushed themselves in their learning able to talk in depth about their Endeavour projects.  There was jewellery, wooden toys, graphic design t-shirts and cards for sale; a video game to play; cakes, sweets and mexican food to try; videos on Shakepeare, horse riding, fitness, card making and diving to watch;  a book and magazine to buy and read and lots of models of farms, houses and planes.

And those who took part this year were already coming up with exciting new ideas for next year…

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Leavers Assembly and Prize Giving

We said goodbye to our current primary 7 pupils at Port Ellen yesterday in a very moving leavers assembly.  Their music video can be seen below.  We also had the prize giving, with lots of great achievements over the year celebrated; Junior Saltire award winners, Kaitlyn Clark getting a silver in the Maths challenge, Pocket picnic garden design winners, finalist in the national swimming chmpionships and Jasmine coming second in a writing contest.  Texa won the house cup, and Bronagh in P7 did the double winning both the citizenship trophy and the Endeavour Award.  Good luck for the future P7!

https://vimeo.com/171300028

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