In our Community group for P 1 2 3 and 4 we sorted where the new shed was going and what was going in the new shed.

The next week we worked on posters to share the rules.

The next week we made bug houses to put in the secret garden.

The next week we planted sunflowers and wild flowers and strawberry plants  .

On the 20th of March Lisa who works for smoking matters or Quit Your Way came into school and taught several classes about smoking and its dangers.

First we got a sheet and we had to work in a group and put why people smoke and why people don’t smoke.

Next we played a true or false game and we learned many things like there are 4000 chemicals in a cigarette and that it is as addictive as a class A illegal drug.

Next we got shown a bunch of chemicals that were in a cigarette and some of them were nicotine, arsenic, formaldehyde, rat poison and tar.

Then we got shown a powerpoint about the effects of smoking like hairy tongue , black lungs and black and dead teeth. These are all caused because the tar in the cigarette sticks to everything.

Then we got a straw each and we were told to pinch our nose and breath through the straw while running on the spot for twenty seconds and it was very difficult to maintain breathing while running and we were told this is what it feels like to be a heavy smoker.

After that we were asked for two volunteers to come up and take a photo. After they took the photo Lisa did a filter and it gave them a bunch of wrinkles and she said if you smoke it can give you more wrinkles. Overall it was a really interesting lesson.

In Term 3 P5/6 had their assembly about their big topic of WW2. They spoke about evacuees, air raids and they also preformed a drama piece. Have a look at the  photos!

P4 have been doing a presentation about a famous figure in Scottish history. P4 really had fun doing the project. There were powerpoints and posters of all lengths and sizes. We had to choose a famous person in Scottish history. Gabby chose Robert Burns . Evan chose John Logie Baird.  We all now know loads of facts about famous Scots. Everybody loved each others project!

P6/7 has been learning about HOTS (higher order thinking skills). In class they were creating posters to show that they can create questions and understand what section of HOTS it would come under.

Here are this weeks FAR winners! Well done all who won!

Pupil:

Teacher:

On the 14th of February Primary 4/5 had their amazing class assembly. They were doing their assembly to share all about what they learnt and their amazing experiences. The first thing they talked about was Robert the Bruce. Carrie and Macey were the ones who talked about it. They explained all about the Family Tree of Robert the Bruce. They talked  about what clothes they wore in the time of Robert the Bruce.

Next they talked about the art they did which were mountains and lochs. They also used water colours to paint colour wheels and turned them into eyes.

Then they talked about maths and how the class had been learning about fractions and money.

After that a group of people did a dance which was the Simons dance.

Then they moved onto  Christophe ‘s story which is a book about an African boy that moved to England.After Christophe’s story they did HOTS questions.  HOTS stand for higher order thinking skills. The book they were reading and talking about was called Friend or Foe.

It was a lot of fun doing this and they really enjoyed sharing what they learned.

P4/5 have been doing hockey for P.E . We have been learning how to tackle, pass, shoot and dribble. They got taught by Mr Alison and the High School pupils have been coming to help us develop our hockey skills. The pupils have been playing some little mini games with them.

We always get excited for Thursdays because the high school people are coming in . The high school pupils are very kind  to us  and they tell us if  we are  doing something that we need to work on. This means we are able to improve and develop the skills they tell us we need to work on!

On the 13th of February, Primary 7 and Primary 4/5 went to meet at the White Sands at the Visit Scotland Centre for a Solway Tour. They were met by Mark and Lesley the tour instructors. The classes were also accompanied by parent helpers and Bruce the Beltie their toy cow. Mark and Lesley were there to take the classes on a tour of Dumfries to show them it’s History and help them learn more about The Scottish Wars of Independence, Robert the Bruce, William Wallace and others along the way.

The River Nith-

The first place the classes went was The River Nith. At the River Nith Mark told us about how no one knew what William Wallace looked like and how Robert the Bruce crossed the Devorgilla bridge many times and how he was born in a town in Dumfries and Galloway. He also told us how Robert the Bruce was trained by the English to be a knight. Wallace unlike Bruce was not trained ,instead Wallace learned how to fight and taught himself.

The Suspension Bridge-

Soon afterwards we went across the Suspension Bridge. Mark and Lesley was telling us about Bonnie Prince Charlie and how he got drunk and had got kicked out a couple of times at Waterstones in the Centre of Dumfries and how he had to go to one of the oldest  brick buildings in Dumfries! The Dumfries Suspension Bridge was made for only woman back in the 1700s because there were too many woman working at the mill (over 2800) and only 700+ men. Also they separated Men from women, so they couldn’t collaborate with each other.

The Devorgilla Bridge-

The bridge was made twice. It was longer because there were no cars. When it was longer the Bridge had 9 arches now it only has 6. Arches looked gigantic and there is only one original arch left. The river is actually four miles smaller than it was originally as it used to got to the Greyfriars church.

The Vennel

We then crossed the Devorgilla bridge and went to the vennel and we were told how they didn’t have sewage systems back then and people dumped their waste into a big open drain which runs down the streets and some lazy people dumped their waste out of their window. We were also told how brewery street was named after the many breweries in that street and how in the late 19th century Dumfries made lots of money from beer.

The Burns Statue-

Afterwards exhaustedly  we walked up  to the Burns Statue which is right in the middle of the town centre, Mark was talking to us about all the different events which occurred a very long time ago and the different castles which Robert The Bruce owned and he had one right here in Dumfries at Castle Dykes park! He also talked about the poet Robert Burns who made amazing poems which everybody loved! Next we went to Lesley who talked about the stabbing between Robert and Comyn and how no one  knows what happened as John Comyn was found dead.

The Market-

Then we went to the market area and we stopped at the Santander bank. Mark told us how this bank in the late 19th century was a farmers market building and the windows used to be like big open archways into the building so horse drawn wagons could get inside. He also told us how you also got cattle and farming supplies from that building.

St Marys Church-

Back in the late 13th century and early 14th century the area now known as St Marys church used to be called hangman’s hill because if you committed a crime in Dumfries you were hanged but if you were a child and you had committed a crime you were nailed to a cross by the ear. Robert the Bruce’s sister later built the church because her husband was killed.

Then we walked back to school and everyone was tired because of the walk and overall it was great day. We really enjoyed the experience of it all and hope to take part in something like it again soon ! We learned lots!

In P7 we had a homework task about Scottish Landscapes. We all made a poster or model of a landscape in Scotland.

We have information on such places as Loch Ness, The Cuillins, Criffel, Ben Nevis and Arran. We had two weeks to do this. We learned a lot about how landscapes are formed and all the different famous landscapes in Scotland.

Everyone produced a super presentation!