On Tuesday afternoon, the Primary 7’s visited the Mitchell Library. We listened to the author, M.G. Leonard, tell us all about her new book ‘Beetle Queen’, following on from the majorly successful ‘Beetle Boy’. It was a really enjoyable experience, and allowed us to understand her process of becoming a writer…which all began whilst wikapedia-ing beetles!?

Here is a link to her website if you wish to listen to some of her podcasts about writing, editing and the idea process;

http://www.mgleonard.com/podcasts/

Also, for those who have borrowed an M.G. Leonard library book, you have until the 24.05.17 to return it to your local library.

Thanks,

Miss Cohen

As a group, discuss these questions and type your answers in the boxes provided.

Many of the characters in Divided City have back stories. How many can you recall?

Spelling words: outrageous, stationary, awful, development, guard, parallel, straight, beautiful, dialogue, guess, participation, strategy, becoming, diamond, happened

On March 30th I had the pleasure of attending the ‘Bridging the Gap’ Ceremony, celebrating the wonderful partnership work between Holyrood Secondary, Shawlands Academy and their associated primary schools.  Bridging the Gap brings together P7 and S4 pupils to facilitate the transition to secondary school, teaching skills, forging friendships and increasing independence.  Two of our P7 pupils attended the ceremony having been part of the Bridging the Gap programme: Yusuf and Jamil.  They were looking sharp and feeling proud!

Friday 24^th March – Sunday 26^th March

On Friday 24^th when we arrived at Lockerbie Manor, we saw a big pond, rolling hills and a very, very huge mansion nearly like a castle but it was a hotel too! We also saw so many trees, woods and a bit of the HIGH ROPES – DUN, DUN DUUUUN. It looked really scary, even though in the end, we didn’t do them. When we arrived, I told all my friends that “this Manor Mansion looks TREMENDOUSLY GIGANTIC!”

Our first activity was the low ropes. When we went through a few trees, we saw the obstacle course. Zara and I went on first and screamed. It wasn’t high but Zara and I were laughing sooo much that we lost the challenge, but it was ok. On Saturday, we got extremely wet and muddy. We did kayaking, canoeing and paddle boarding. I was so scared. All of the water activities were really, really terrifying…but fun. On Sunday, we went for an evening walk and we all got much more muddy than in all of the other activities. We also saw the BIG DIPPER, ORION’S BELT and THE NORTH STAR. When we went on the walk, we saw so many sheep and lots of sheep poo, yukkkk!! But we enjoyed it a lot. IT WAS THE BEST TRIP EVER, IN THE WOOOORRRRLLLDDD!!

Friday 24^th March – Sunday 26^th March

On Friday 24^th when we arrived at Lockerbie Manor, we saw a big pond, rolling hills and a very, very huge mansion nearly like a castle but it was a hotel too! We also saw so many trees, woods and a bit of the HIGH ROPES – DUN, DUN DUUUUN. It looked really scary, even though in the end, we didn’t do them. When we arrived, I told all my friends that “this Manor Mansion looks TREMENDOUSLY GIGANTIC!”

Our first activity was the low ropes. When we went through a few trees, we saw the obstacle course. Zara and I went on first and screamed. It wasn’t high but Zara and I were laughing sooo much that we lost the challenge, but it was ok. On Saturday, we got extremely wet and muddy. We did kayaking, canoeing and paddle boarding. I was so scared. All of the water activities were really, really terrifying…but fun. On Sunday, we went for an evening walk and we all got much more muddy than in all of the other activities. We also saw the BIG DIPPER, ORION’S BELT and THE NORTH STAR. When we went on the walk, we saw so many sheep and lots of sheep poo, yukkkk!! But we enjoyed it a lot. IT WAS THE BEST TRIP EVER, IN THE WOOOORRRRLLLDDD!!

Lockerbie was fun, and if I had the opportunity I would go back with my friends and family and stay there – at least for a few months or even a year!

Lockerbie was fun, and if I had the opportunity I would go back with my friends and family and stay there – at least for a few months or even a year!

I am going to write about my trip to Lockerbie.

It was a long trip, about one hour and a half. Me and Yahya looked out of the window…we were driving into the grounds. We stopped with a halt. Yahya and I ran out of the bus and saw the view and the manor. It was massive!! We got a school tour around the manor, with green hills as high as flats.

What me and Yahya said as we walked in, simultaneously, was, “I’m on top bunk!” Ms Newall walked in and announced, “Next activity is paddle boarding!!!!!!” Oh no L

In this activity, you stand on a board with a paddle. Ms Newall had gone into the freezing cold water when we had finished. She pushed the instructor into the water, haha!

This is what happened. So, I’ve told you about paddle boarding…Ms Newall and what I did when I walked in. If I had the chance to go again, I would!!

Good morning/Good afternoon all,

As most of you know, we went on a trip to Lockerbie Manor. We went on Friday 24^th March 2017. It was a fabulous trip! On the way to Lockerbie, Amna had sweets in her bag and some fell out. Mr Stewart looked at us really suspiciously, LOL!

When we got there, they were not ready for us so we played on the grass and walked about. Finally we got to our rooms and we had to swap room because there were 8 beds and 5 girls and 7 boys.

We had our first activity which was low ropes and I was pretty nervous but when you did it, it was so scary and it got you thinking (a lot!).

Then we had our second session; climbing. I was so terrified and frightened. I said to Amna, “I’m never going to do this ever again in my life, like ever!”

Like you would think “Oh my God, I’m going to fall!” and things like that.

I shared a room with Shubbe, Amna, Salwa and Nashra (Please note, Nashra is a sleep talker!!).

My trip to Lockerbie Manor was amazing. I had such a good experience and a really fun time. My favourite activity was kayaking because it was so much funner that you would expect and it made me feel soooo happy because of all of the good memories! I hated climbing because it was so annoying with tight harnesses and erghhhh…

The dead thing about kayaking was the dead, dull, smelly water. It smelt like dead frogs. So weird, right!?

If I had the opportunity to go back to Lockerbie Manor, I would go because I have never laughed so much in my life, crying at some points!

Thank you for reading about my Lockerbie Manor adventure!!

FRIDAY

Me and most of my class went to Lockerbie Manor. We went with Ibrox Primary and has been working with them for our topic: Sense over sectarianism.

The day had finally come: Friday 24^th March 2017. We were finally in the bus and had started our journey. I was sitting next to Zara Malik and Miss Newall was sitting in front of us and the seat next to her was Mr Stewart’s. It was a one and a half hour journey. The whole way through we just thought about what we are going to do first and how it looks.

WE HAD ARRIVED!

We reached a huge mansion/villa…A BIG LUXURIOUS BROWN HOUSE! It was amazing!! The first activity we did was get into our rooms and groups. I was with Miss Newall and Hamza, Callum, Mubeen, Yahya, Nasheen, Morgan, Aiden, Charlie, Caris, Arman and Miss Kennedy – 13 of us. Our first activity was paddle boarding in the freezing, icy cold lake. I was so nervous! And scared! I got on standing and slowly kneeled down. It was not so scary but then I heard a scream – Morgan had fallen into the water! Then I slowly, slowly started to paddle pretending like I never heard it.

We then went to our rooms and had to move rooms because there was an extra boy in one room. So we swapped rooms. We had a bit of free time, then it was dinner, and more free time. We went outside and the land was enormous with seriously bright green grass. So we played some football. I scored a goal and so did Zara J

Break/free time was over so we got into our groups for our last activity of the day. We went rock climbing and all of us went. I climbed about half way or a bit more. When I got down it was pretty dark so we got our torches out and Mr Stewart started talking about a ghost.

SATURDAY

The next morning we woke up and the sun was shining on our faces. We had a Scottish breakfast. I had potato scones and some beans on toast!

Our first activities were kayaking and canoeing. I wasn’t so excited, as you could tell. But then I heard that the groups were to be mixed up a bit and I cheered up. I got into the lake and it was freezing!! I was in a group with Zara. I got into the kayak first. We played a few games, people fell in, and I tried to stay calm. Then we had a break and went canoeing.

I must say, canoeing is much harder than kayaking! It was just me and Zara and it was freezing. We repeated the same thing we did on Friday.

SUNDAY

We went abseiling. Yes, I went jumping down. Scared, but was fun.

We were on our way back from an amazing trip and we reached at our school and our parents had arrived to collect us. I loved Lockerbie Manor and would love to go back one day.

Well…today I’m going to talk about Lockerbie Manor and my experience there. It was an annoying start but I slowly calmed down.

The first day wasn’t that bad. The only thing I hated was we were changing rooms like half the time. We were doing rock climbing and low ropes. The dinner was SO good! The first night was awesome. Me, Zara, Amna, Shubbe and Nashra had a party. I will never forget that night. Well…it was hard to sleep with some noisy radiators on!!

Well, the second day was EXHAUSTING! Why did we have to do so many water activities first!? (The first activity was canoeing). Me, Shubbe and Nashra were on a canoe and then, suddenly, me and Nashra started arguing until Shubbe screamed, “SHUT UP, OR I’LL CAP-SIZE BOTH OF YOUS!”. We obediently shut our mouths for the rest of that time. Oh no, not that game! First things first, WHY DID WE HAVE TO JUMP ON THE CANOE!? Ugh, I hated that game. Half of the time, I had to shout “I’M A SAUSAGE ROLL!”. Three times, so embarrassing!! Moving on…I loved kayaking! I hated how I got so wet. I liked cowboys and aliens, the game. I was an alien though, but a friendly one. I didn’t catch anyone. I was happy when I turned into a cowboy. Paddle boarding…one of the wettest ones. The only three moves we could do were standing, kneeling or lying down on our stomachs. You need one thing – balance. Next, was shooting. It felt like the guns hated me. In total, I only got one point. I suggested to myself – you’re never doing that again! The last session…an evening walk. That was scary AND muddy. Even though we saw some stars but still. I HAD NO TORCH. My torch didn’t work, it was broken so I was left in the dark. Once we got changed, we went to the “games room”. I don’t know how they can call that a games room – it was really boring!!

The third day was pretty good. We did archery and abseiling. In archery, I got 30 points in total. I didn’t like abseiling though. When we were leaving, we did a quick photo. The bus ride was terrible! I couldn’t even close my eyes but the view was nice. Also, our last lunch was roast HEAVEN!

When the bus reached its destination, I saw my Mum and I gave her a big, big hug. Then I said, “Next time, I’m going to drag you on the bus and you’re going to come!” Also, if we had another chance to go, I DEFINITELY WOULD!

On the 24^th – 26^th, March 2017 I went to a residential trip with my class called Lockerbie Manor. We also went with Ibrox Primary. This is what went on while I was there…….

When we first arrived, we were a bit too early so we got our luggage from the coach and we played out in the garden for about 15-20 minutes. Then, one of the instructors told us where to go to get to our rooms. We didn’t do much in our rooms we just put our luggage in and we had to go straight back out so they could tell us the rules and put us in our groups. I was in group 2. After that, we had to go get ready for our group’s first activity, climbing. I was the only person in my group to get to the top of the rock climbing wall which I was very proud of. Next, it was dinner time. The menu was on a whiteboard in colourful writing. The breakfast menu doesn’t change, but the lunch and dinner menus did. For dinner I had tomato and basil pasta, which had some glorious melted cheese on it. Dessert, was EVEN better. It was donuts with chocolate on them, and a custard/vanilla filling. They were ABSOLUTELY scrumptious!! Then it was free time; we could choose to go outside and play or stay in our rooms and play. We chose to go outside and play in the garden. We played football, tag, but we also just ran around enjoying the unusual but beautiful sunny weather. Nobody was allowed to wear outdoor shoes in the manor, so we didn’t get the floors dirty! I didn’t bring 2 pairs of shoes so I just wore my slippers inside. Our room number was A12, but we had to switch rooms to A08 because in that room there were 7 boys and 6 beds and there were only 5 girls. I thought it was an upgrade but it took a while for the others to warm up to the idea…..

This is just a bit of what happened during my stay at Lockerbie Manor. I thought it was an amazing life-changing trip. I would definitely go back again if I had the chance.