The huts on the Sanquhar Road side of the grounds have been a feature of our school for over 20 years. Most of the teachers have taught in them and a large majority of the children who have passed through the school have been taught in them at some point, but last week we said goodbye. As part of the school’s refurbishment they were demolished and the ground is now being prepared for new projects.

This week we continued with our studies of plant diversity in Sanquhar Woods. We worked in groups of four, looking at trees in particular and used leaf ID cards to try and identify the trees in our local environment. We photographed our findings and shared them with other groups.

P5N have finding out about the work that Christian Aid do in order to raise money to help those around the world in need. This year’s Christian Aid focus was about refugees and the journeys they have to make to escape war and find safety. The children presented a short assembly to the school last Friday afternoon. Today they did their fundraising activity. The children decided that they wanted to do a 5 mile sponsored walk. Although it was very much shorter than the journeys that refugees make, it gave the children time to reflect on their experiences.

As part of their John Muir work P5N went out on to the school field in pairs armed with a ruler and a trundle wheel and were tasked with measuring the height of the trees.

A cooler afternoon than group 1 had yesterday but still a great day for investigating plant diversity in Sanquhar Woods. We too had time to enjoy exploring then sitting and working in our ‘special place’.

We all agreed that ice cream is one of our favourite desserts. Most of us buy it from the supermarket. One or two of us have ice cream makers at home. None of us had made it using ice, salt, cream, milk, yoghurt and a bit of elbow grease. But now we have!

This week the children participated in a blind food tasting session: the aim was to investigate the link between our sense of taste and sense of smell. The children also thought about whether the foods were sweet, sour, bitter, salty, spicy, etc.

33 children from across P4 – 7 have chosen to spend their Thursday afternoons investigating food. In the first experiment session the children were finding out just how fatty some cheeses can be. Their conclusion? Steer clear of mature cheddar – go for the goat’s cheese!

Children in P5N were set a two week research task. They had to find some fun and historical facts about May Day and present their findings to the rest of the class.

Following in the foot steps of yesterday’s group, the other half of P5 and 6 enjoyed the beautiful weather at Sanquhar Community Woods. They also explored the area and each found a special place on their own to enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the surroundings. On their return to school the children commented that their afternoon had been “exciting” and “tiring”!