What we enjoyed:

• touching the fake snow
• seeing all the shops
• hearing the shop lady talk about her bath-bombs at the stall
• analysing what all the art was about
• watching the video in the art gallery
• using the blocks in the creative area
• getting free food!

What we learned:

• what analyse means – trying to figure something out
• there are actually lots of artists
• some things in art didn’t actually happen – it was just the artist’s imagination
• you don’t have to paint to make art – you can use pictures or photos of real things instead and it can still be art
• we learned about some new artists
• to use our imagination
• there are still slaves in modern times, even in Scotland
• classical art is art that looks like the thing you are painting or drawing, modern art can look totally different
• Any Warhol did colourful art and one of his pieces was a soup can
• how to use the subway
• Shields Road subway is the closest one to our school
• you need to buy a return ticket to go somewhere and back

Why would we recommend going there to our friends or family?

• It’s fun to learn about artists
• It’s interesting
• It makes you think and you use your brain!

A group form P.6 visited the Necropolis. None of us had ever been before – and we will never forget it! We travelled by subway from Shields Road to Buchannan Street and then walked past lots of famous Glasgow buildings to get there.

We enjoyed:

• seeing new parts of Glasgow
• being on the subway
• scaring Mr McCormack
• the views from the graveyard of the city
• making movies
• writing the poems and sketching
• taking photos

What we learned:

• where lots of famous buildings are – the cathedral, Strathclyde University, Glasgow College and the oldest house in Glasgow
• the word “crypt” and how it was a fancy tomb like a stone hut
• the stones and graves were all designed differently
• we didn’t expect the Necropolis to be so big
• we researched Halloween poems – we didn’t know them before and also some of us didn’t realise poems didn’t always rhyme
• we practised reading our poems in public

  

Why would we recommend it to other people to go?

• it’s educational and fun!
• you can learn about the past
• you can practise using your maths by working out people’s ages on their gravestones
• you will see the best views of Glasgow!        

 

 

Some children from P6 and P6/7 visited a music studio in Glasgow city centre where we recorded songs that we chose ourselves.

Only one of us had ever been in a studio before.

Things we enjoyed:

• singing with our friends
• listening to our friends singing
• singing along with Jamie (the sound engineer) on his acoustic guitar
• the subway journey to the studio
• editing our songs
• getting the chance to try instruments like the guitar, drums and piano

Things we learned:

• new words like mixer, suspension bridge, acoustic and bass guitar
• how to mix music after recording it
• how to use a recording booth and what the headphones do
• how to use the mixing desk to see the volumes of voice against music
• about new technology
• how to get to St Enoch or the studio by subway and walking
• a return ticket costs £1.35

Things that we would do differently next time:

• sing a different song
• take the singing more seriously so we wouldn’t laugh in the booth
• practise more before we sing
• sing a solo

Why should people go there?

• we felt inspired to do something musical for a job
• we became more confident
• we learned new words
• we got to choose our own songs
• our parents enjoyed hearing about our day there
• we know how to get a music career as a performer or behind the scenes

 

Only three out of twelve of us had been to Balloch before so this was going to be a new experience for most of us. The journey is also quite long so we were going to have to leave school a bit earlier than usual.

We looked up timetables online for trains – some of us managed to work it out ourselves and others needed a bit of help.

First we had to walk to the subway station on Shields Road and take the subway to Partick in the west end of Glasgow. From there, we had to wait for the train to Balloch. We wrote about our journey in notepads and planned to take photos with an iPad for this blog.

Things that we did and learned:

• Mr McCormack and Mr Orr taught us about drinking water from streams – always make sure the water is moving. We could see the difference between the clean water in the stream (burn) and the stagnant water which was dirty.
• We learned the words “stagnant” which means not moving and the Scottish word “burn” which is a little steam.
• We wanted to feed the ducks and swans bread so had to buy some from the shop. Lots of us had never fed ducks before. We learnt about the type of ducks (mallards) and that the male is green and the female is brown. We also learned that baby swans are called signets.
• We learned how to be safe around water, never to lean too close or carry anything too heavy.
• Some of us expected Balloch to look different.
• We enjoyed playing in the park.
• If we were going back we would go for longer so that we could fit in more activities like fishing. We thought the journey was quite long so it would be worth staying longer at Balloch next time.
• Some of us didn’t enjoy walking so much!
• We can now explain to people how to get to Balloch if they don’t want to drive.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

  

Departed from school we walked to shields road underground and we had fun. we learned how to use a ticket machine and go through the barrier. half of us took the inner line and half of us took the outer line. one of groups came first and arrived before the other because there were less stops. We discovered that the subway goes under the River Clyde.

 

ARRIVING AT THE WEST END

      

On our way to Botanic Gardens we walked along the Great Western Road, one of the longest roads in Glasgow. We looked at the windows of some shops along the way : a fishmonger’s, a fruit and veg shop, a cake shop and a charity shop. We talked about the sort of jobs in these places like a podiatrist (a foot doctor) and a physiotherapist (someone who helps treat muscle injuries).

BOTANIC GARDENS

We had our lunch and we fed some pigeons. We went into the massive greenhouse and saw some tropical fish and killer plants (carnivorous) like Venus Flytraps. We found out that the plants in the house need heat so the glass keeps it in. They need heat because they come from different places with hot climates. We walked around the park and saw some of the dinosaur models and exhibits.

JOURNEY HOME

We took the subway from Hillhead station which is on Byres Road. We could get back because we had a return ticket which costs £1.35 for a child. You can use it for two journeys. Children can’t get an all day ticket. We walked back to school from Shields Road station. We were tired but we had a great day!

 

 Before the trip.

We checked if everyone had packed lunches and jackets in case the weather was bad. We made sure that we had something to eat for lunch with us, or money to buy lunch because we knew that there was a café at the studio.

Then Mr McCormack gave us money for the subway tickets. We had to divide this money between us so that everyone had enough to buy a return ticket, which means you can go and come back on one ticket. We each needed £1.35.

We talked about why we were going to the studio and what we could learn about. For example, who would work there and how they got their job there. We also chose three songs that we wanted to record.

Getting there.

We all left the school and walked to the subway at Shields Road. We each paid for our tickets at the desk. Some of us had problems scanning our ticket to get through the barrier!

We got off at St. Enoch centre. We had to make sure all day that we had our own ticket safe so that we could get home. We walked to the studio from the subway and had to cross the River Clyde.

At the studio

We met the team who worked at the studio. We  recorded our three songs and saw how the songs were  edited and produced. We saw many new things like the mixing desk, we sang in the vocal booth, we tried the drums and microphones in the rehearsal studio. We also made sure to have a lunch break outside to get some fresh air.

We also learned the names of different types of guitar: electric, acoustic and bass and what the differences are. We spoke about people who recorded there and how you can go to college to get a job as a music producer.

You can listen to the songs we recorded at the top of this post.

Getting home was much easier as we knew how to use the subway and which stop to get off at. We had a great day!