Tilhill Forestry Walk to the Ochill hills.

On the 21st of April P3 were treated to a exploration up the Ochill Hills with a team from Tilhill Forestry. We set off with our parent helpers and our guide Rob, who safely led us up to meet the others. Our journey was steep and winding and the Children started to notice all the sights from the hilltop views. it was really exciting to be so high up and to see how far we had climb by seeing where the school was now. Once at the top we split into two different groups for different activities.

The first activity introduced us to the hills and the planting that has been done on the sight so far. In six months they said they had planted 1.3 million trees. We could see lots of the plots from the view we were standing at. We were told that the trees would be growing for 40 years before they will be used to make furniture or build houses as well as other thing. We worked out that all the P3 children will be 47 or 48 when that happens. Scary!

We also learned about the effects of precipitation. through an activity we learned that with heavy rainfall and nothing to collect it the ground below a hill can become flooded, this is something that happened in 2012 in Menstrie. Now with the planting of trees the precipitation can be slowed down because the trees can collect some of the water for themselves and bind the soil together better.

A well earned break was needed so we stopped at the top of the hill for a snack before switching activity.

 

The second activity was really hands on and we worked in pairs to plant some trees. We helped to plant some Birch and Oak. we safely used a spade to dig two lines into the patch. Once we did this we could pop the tree roots in between. We then secured it in place using the soil and out foot to press it in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was time to start heading back to school. This time the journey was a lot easier because we were going down hill.

We made one more stop off. We learned lots about the age of trees. We learned that you can tell by the rings inside but if you can not cut it down you can give it a hug. One hug roughly equals the same as 100 years old. We also learned that the oldest tree in the United Kingdom is 2,900 BC. WOW!

 

 

It was a fantastic adventure and we were very tired once we got back to class that day. Thank you to all our helpers on the day and to Tilhill Forestry for letting us take part in such an interesting and fun trip. We cannot wait to go again.

 

Health Week 2017 – Friendship

As part of health week one of our themes was friendship. We had lots of time set aside for circle time on friendship, we read stories and had classroom discussions. As part of this we created a friendship potion which we then turned into instructions for a friendship recipe. 

As a class we worked together to make a friendship bracelet  for someone in the class. We were really creative and enjoyed finding out who our random plum selector would pick for us. 

 

 

Health Week 2017 – Pancake Shack and Staying Healthy

YUMMMMM! Pancake shack was back! On the day the P7s helped us to get organised and go to the Shack. We had a variety of healthy topping choices. 

Logan M – I chose strawberries. I love them. 

Kirsty – I got banana for mine. 

 

 

 

Also we had a really interesting visitor in from our local pharmacy. We heard a lot about what medicines we might see and what we should do when we see it. We also learned about being careful if we need medicine, for example, Remember to always have an adult that we trust. 

We also learned about cleaning our hands. We do this any way but we thought it was really interesting to see the demonstration the lady used to show us how gems spread. 

Health Week 2017 – WHACKY RACES

As part of Health Week we designed and created a set of Whacky Races. It was important to use the things we have been learning about growth mindset. 

This helped us: 

To work as part of a team 

To be encouraging to others 

To be positive 

To have fun 

To try our very best 

 

  

Sustainability Showcase – March 2017

Sustainability showcase was lots of fun and thank you to all the pupils who helped out on the day. Here are a few snaps of the pupils work completed for our homework wall. Also here are some on the day shots taken by pupils at the stall. 

Congratulations to our Wildlife Certificate holders. It was really lovely to hear about and see the detail of the things you are doing to look after and see wildlife in our local area.