Today 29 pupils in 6W, 30 from 7H, 23 from 6/7M and parent helpers walked through Sanquhar Community Woods to meet two Civil Engineers at the flood alleviation scheme.
It was very interesting to hear how the topography and the ecology of the area was considered before building the scheme. The algae, the wetlands and landscaping have all enhanced the area for otters, bird life, frogs, etc. In addition the area is designed for walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders.
It is good to know that Forres is well protected from flooding in the future. The pupils asked many interesting questions that were answered by Kenna and Stewart. The work of a civil engineer involves a love of problem solving, design and sustainability.

On Wednesday 7th September a group of children from Belarus came to visit us at Applegrove and join in some activities. The children are staying with families in Moray as part of the ‘Friends of Chernobyl Moray’ charity. The children live in an area which is still affected by the after effects of a nuclear accident which happened there almost 30 years ago. The children visit Forres for one month each year for five years and stay with the same family each year. They are given dental and health checks and lots of opportunities to enjoy the fresh Moray air. They also visit lots of local places and we were delighted that they came to visit us at Applegrove. They joined us in assembly where we sang one of our favourite songs ‘welcome everybody’ We  sang the welcome part in Russian ‘Dubro Pozhalovat’. The children visited P4FL who had made a card for each of the 19 children with greetings in Russian. They shook hands and introduced themselves in Russian too . Finally the pupils went outside to enjoy some outdoor learning experiences with 6W, play some games and have a snack inside our school tepee . It was a great experience for both Belorussian and Scottish pupils. 

P6/7M have been learning about Natural Disasters this term and were set a number of challenges as homework tasks. It has been interesting to see the different ways they have completed these tasks. Lots of thinking and creativity going on here as well as an understanding of disasters shown. There has also been pictures of extreme weather, drawing of survival kits and houses that will withstand floods. Well done to all 🙂

After meeting everyone in a ‘Welcome’ assembly and visiting classes, the children from Belarus came and joined us on the field for some fun activities. We played ‘Capture the Flag’, Aunt Sally, tree coin challenge and had juice and a biscuit in the school shelter. 6W then showed them our Daily Mile track. We were all amazed at the speed our visitors ran one lap.

Today pupils in 6W had a go at showing their understanding of continents, oceans, climate zones and natural disasters. They donned waterproof over trousers and got to work at representing the world using natural materials. Everyone took a turn at teaching their work to others.
The learning conversations were very good and I think these children will remember how the world looks and where the different climate zones are.

Emily and her survival bag.

Maps, volcanoes, hurricanes, moonbows, cost reports, tsunami waves and flood proof homes.

Diarmuid explained that the lift up windows allow large amounts of water through the home and it could survive a tsunami.

Cameron’s home was set in a desert landscape and can withstand very strong winds.

Ellis and her survival bag.

Faye and Kelsey make their volcano erupt red lava!

Josh presents ‘Its Raining Fish in Sri Lanka’.

Pupils from P6W, P6/7M and P7H have been given nine possible lines of development for homework projects.
The first deadline was met by everyone in 6W (big well done!)and we had a super morning showing our work and telling others about it.
A news report was delivered by Milly Hepple live from Kansas, interviewing hurricane victim Chloe Anderson. We had survival bags ready to go from Caitlin Dustan, Emily Thomas, Erin McIntosh, Ellis Greenshields and Jack Steele. Leigh Morrison worked out how much it would cost to replace her home and contents if it was flattened by a tornado. Paige Forrester told us about ‘Moonbows’, Harry Thomas and Grace Mackie mapped out where in the world natural disasters had occurred and there were many super drawings and paintings of severe weather. Here are some photographs of the many ways pupils chose to do their projects.

Mrs Wright and 6W were very happy to welcome Ebony’s Mum, Grace’s Mum, Caitlin’s Mum and little sister and Emily’s grandparents and little brother who joined us for the ‘Daily Mile’. We walked, jogged, ran and sprinted along our cut grass wiggly path and chatted for fifteen minutes in warm sunshine. Each week a different day and time for joining us for the daily mile will be announced on the homework sheet. It’s good to work together to get fitter!

Ebony showing her Mum how it’s done!

Dylan, Grace and her mum stride out along the Daily Mile path.

Group photo after the Daily Mile 06.09.16

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Here are the new class of children making up 6W. They all appear to be very happy to be back at school.