On Thursday 3rd October, in the afternoon classes from P5 to P7 were celebrating International Older Person’s Day.  We invited older people in our community into school for an afternoon of songs, games, crafts and more!

P5/6 did chair aerobics, P6 sang some songs, P7R made bookmarks and P7B made shortbread and served the teas and coffees.

P5 did a ‘Beetle Drive’  We had to explain the game and then play it with our visitors.  It was lots of fun!

We used our collaborating skills when working as a team playing beetle drive.

We were using our focusing skills while we played the game – it was quite quick-paced.

We used our communicating skills, especially when explaining the game but also whilst we were playing.  We were chatting to the people in our group too.

We used our leading skills to lead the game in our group.

All of our visitors had a lovely afternoon and we hope we can invite them in again someday.

On Friday 4th of October, P5 took part in a webinar organised by DRAX.  We learned about DRAX and the work that they do, especially with hydropower.

First of all we thought about all the things we do that requires electricity.  We talked about renewable and non-renewable energy sources.  We played a game of Top Trumps with these energy sources.

We looked closely at hydropower and how a water turbine works to produce energy.

We heard about Tongland Hydro-electric power scheme near Kirkcudbright and what DRAX have done to help the wildlife and environment.   They have created ‘fish ladders’ for the fish to be able to travel upstream.

It was very interesting.

We were then asked to create a moving water turbine that would be tried and tested under the running tap.  We had the choice of all of the resources and STEM materials available in the classroom.  We even got to try out Miss Anderson’s new Strawbees kit, which was lots of fun!

We all tested our water turbines and were surprised that most of them worked.  Unfortunately a couple of group’s turbines did not work.

P5 – Term One

During the first few days of P5 we have been busy setting up and exploring our learning environment.  We have enjoyed the different activity baskets and resources on offer for some free play, and we’ve enjoyed getting to know the new pupils who have joined us in P5.

Whilst enjoying the baskets, we have been using lots of our META skills; especially creativity, curiosity, leading, collaborating and communicating.

Have a look at some of the activities we’ve enjoyed.

On Tuesday, 6th February, P5 had a visit from our Young Digital Leaders – Ellie and Evie.  Ellie and Evie came to share with us technology through time as well as share scenarios and how we should react or how we might feel in that situation.  It was very thought-provoking.

We then made a pledge of what to do to inspire change for a safer internet. Some of our pledgeds are …

* Tell an adult if someone says something rude online

* Do not be mean online

* Will not add strangers

* Don’t give out personal information

* Tell an adult if I see inappropriate content online

Primary 5 have been exploring Shape in Maths, using lots of concrete resources and practical learning.

We used the Polydron to create 3D shapes and wrote down their properties on a whiteboard.

We used mini marshmallows and cocktail sticks to create a variety of 3D shapes, and again listed their properties.

We used ‘Tinkercad’ to explore 3D shapes using Digital Technologies.

Primary 5 – Term Three Newsletter

Not only was it Outdoor Classroom Day today but it was also Day of the Dead.

After learning about the history of Day of the Dead, P5 were tasked with creating their own skull.  How colourful do they look?          

Today is ‘Outdoor Classroom Day’ and P5 had a day planned outdoors.  Thankfully the rain stayed off for most of the morning for our first activity – den building.

It was fun – Rocco

It was very windy but we managed to build it – Lauryn

We worked as a good team and it was really fun – Pippa

Have a look at some of our fabulous dens!

As part of our learning in Skills Academy about Body Systems we have been looking at the Digestive System.

First of all food enters the mouth and the process begins.  Our teeth and saliva break down our food into smaller chunks.

Our bowl was our mouth and the rolling pin/wooden spoon was our teeth.  We added water for saliva and a drink.

Next this travels down the oesophagus into the stomach.

We used a funnel for the oesophagus and a food bag as our stomach.

We then had to churn the food over in our stomach, this can happen for 6-12 hours in our body.

Then it went on to our intestines.  This is where all the vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and protein is absorbed into our bloodstream to travel around the body to where they are needed.

We used tights for the intestine and had to squeeze as much of the liquid out as wee could.  This is all the goodness our body absorbs from our food.

Finally, it was time to go to the toilet!!!!  Any waste products is excreted as faeces.

Primary 5 were quite surprised about how much our body absorbs back in from the food we eat, but thought this activity was pretty disgusting!!