Author: Mrs Macaulay

We’ve been getting to grips with our Vex robotics topic in St. Mary’s. Today we synched the controllers with the brains and had a go at manually controlling the robots. On Friday we’ll be using the app on the iPad to code and have a go at programming them. One of our pupils, Arkash, has a lot of expertise and understanding and he has been training people who are not so sure- especially Mrs Macaulay! There’s a picture of him here doing a trouble shooting workshop, answering questions about the electronic parts of the kit, which turned into a great session of everybody sharing their learning and experiences.

 

Yesterday St. Mary’s was visited by a team from the Engineering Development Trust. They watched our films and powerpoints and then they were given a presentation by each ECO group. Our 4 groups focused on: 1. Reducing Litter in the playground  2. Reducing water waste in the school  3. Improving the playground environment for wildlife and  4. Saving energy by reducing heat loss through hot water pipes. Then we had great fun doing a Helideck challenge. Each group was given feedback by the assessors, then finally the Litter is Bitter group were awarded medals for their group’s work- the EDT team particularly liked their innovative models-a playground sweeper-cleaner and a drone litter-detector. We had a really exciting morning and we have learned a lot about Eco issues.

St.Mary’s had an inspection last week and P6 gave a presentation of our journey so far to the Lead Inspector. We made a Powerpoint and used the Video Channel and Blog Site on Glow to show her our films and Blogs. Then we took the inspector  round different stations which had our work displayed and we explained what the project is about.

Now that St. Mary’s has ordered its furniture, we did some scale drawings in pairs trying to decide on the best layout. We’ve not quite decided yet, but we have ordered a lot of movable and collapsible furniture so our space can be really flexible. We also chose pieces which are multi-functional to get the most use out of them. We’re excited to see it now……

St. Mary’s P6 have decided on the furniture we want and today we did last minute measurements to check it will all fit. We’re very excited, we can’t wait for it to arrive!

 

Today St.Mary’s pupils got to grips with what being Eco friendly really means. We played an Eco/Sustainability game which had some funny forfeits if you landed on the wrong square (like draw a plug from memory in under 1 minute, or spell Fair Trade backwards in 20 seconds) then we used ipads to research different Eco topics. Our  High School volunteer Rebecca helped us to to record our ideas on a smartboard mindmap which we used to make links between the topics. Our other High School volunteer Lexvi helped us to write our introductory pages and publish our photographs.

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Following the Vex Robotics Training for their teacher, P6 at St. Mary’s had a try-out with Dash, a programmable robot. The ipad controls were very easy to use and we loved the flashing lights and the sound effects.

school-innovation-designs-award

St. Mary’s P6 had a visit on Wednesday 14th from Mr Brolly, an architect from the firm Scott Brownrigg in Edinburgh. Mr Brolly’s firm has designed schools and he showed us some exciting buildings. He talked us through the process of planning and showed us how to draw plans, including elevations and using perspective. We discussed things like airflow and letting light into rooms. He set us a competition to design our ideal classrooms and he is taking them to his firm next week when they will judge the winner who will win a prize.