Primary 7b have been learning about the Scottish Parliament.  The children were split into groups and randomly allocated a political party to work for.  It is important to remember that they were working ‘as’ that party for the purpose of learning about how politics works and that they may not have actually shared that party’s views.

Each party had a Leader and a Deputy Leader and these people, amongst others, spoke to Primary 6a to gain their votes! Leaflets, posters and other persuasive items had been hand-made for P6a to look at.  Lots of effort had been made by everyone, which we really appreciated.

Once each party had spoken to P6a and presented on their policies, we voted by placing a cross (X) next to the appropriate party and placing it in the Ballot Box.

“This made me more interested in looking at current politics!” Greta

“That was really fun!” Jamie K

Here are some pictures of our afternoon.  Thank you, P7b for your hard work, dedication and commitment.
P6a

As part of our Engineering Project, we had two engineers in to speak to us.  David Montgomery came in from TranServ Scotland and Ryan Maguire came in from Aggreko.  Both engineers were very engaging and we were inspired to be just like them – they stressed the importance of hard work and self-belief!

We are excited to continue our Engineering Project now that we have seen some real technical annotated drawings!  Pictures of our own annotated drawings will be uploaded soon.

Here are some pictures of us during the talks!

Today, we had the challenge of trying to make a hand water pump.  We had the following materials:

• water bottle
• sellotape
• coins (1p, 2p, 20p)

Using our hand-made pump, we had to transfer water from one cup to another.

“It was really fun and challenging.  I hope to do more engineering like this.” Rayyan

“It was challenging because sometimes it didn’t work but we tried different things to overcome it.” Lucie

“It showed us how an engineer’s work day is and what tools they use to do their job.” Greta

We also learned about the different types of engineers (mechanical, civil, electrical and chemical.)

Today, Primary 6a shared their learning with their peers at the Senior Assembly.

It was a lot of fun and we rehearsed prior to the performance.  We shared our learning about the Solar System Context for Learning, highlighting information on the constellations, planets, skills you would need to develop in order to be a successful astronaut and our trip to Sky Academy Studios.

The assembly was rounded off with a musical piece that we wrote in collaboration with Mr Watson!  It was a great success and we are very proud of ourselves.

Here are some pictures of us in action!

On 3rd October we visited Sky Studios in Livingston.

We had the task of creating and filming a breaking news report on a Mission to Mars.  We were split into 4 different studios and we had different roles to fulfil.

The roles were: editor, script writer, producer, director, eye witness, expert, camera operator and reporter.

We also got to take home a copy of our final report!

Primary 6a are busy today using papier-mâché to create the base for one of the planets in our Solar System!

After they are dry, each group will design their planet using glitter, tissue paper, paint and other materials.

We think that this will be an outstanding addition to our classroom ceiling!

Primary 6a participated in four ‘Mystery STEM Challenges’ during Think it Out Thursday as part of Maths Week Scotland. Each group was allocated a sealed box and an instruction card that stated the outcome that was to be achieved!

We applied our Problem Solving skills to a range of challenging situations.

Group 1 was allocated a ball of string and some plastic cups. Their challenge was to elevate all of the cups off of the ground at the same time using the string.  After much deliberation and a few trial and errors, the group designed a ‘cup washing line’.

The second group had the challenge of creating the tallest tower that they could out of jellybeans and cocktail sticks! The main issue was that the tower began twisting at certain points, so the group had to engineer a way to stop this from happening.

Group 3 managed to elevate a basketball off of the ground by creating a newspaper tower with a stable base and a strong internal column!

The tallest balloon tower challenge was completed by group four, who decided that creating a large stable base was the best starting point. The balloons became smaller as the tower grew in order to ensure that it didn’t tip over.

Overall, Think it Out Thursday was a success and we are looking forward to more STEM challenges this year!

Primary 6a have really been enjoying Maths Week!  Between fostering a Growth Mindset, solving problems and participating in workshops, there has been an adventure every day so far!

Here are some pictures from Challenge Tuesday where we created Thinking Caps for Miss Montgomery, applying our knowledge of circumference and measure, and built strong and stable rockets over 1.5m high out of K’NEX!

We are really excited to see where the rest of the week takes us and remember to keep thinking – I JUST CAN’T DO IT…YET!

Another year of learning and fun!

Today, we had a French breakfast (le petit dejuner).

We had:

un croissant (croissant)
un pan au chocolat (pan au chocolat)
un chocolat chaud (hot chocolate)
des fruits (strawberries, oranges and apples)
jus d’oranges et jus de pommes (orange and apple juice)
baguettes (French bread)
la confiture (jam)
la buerre (butter)

Everyone had to order in French, using the phrase “Je voudrais” for “I would like”.

It was really fun and we enjoyed the food!  It was a super real-life learning experience.

P5a and P5b