Since starting P7 we have been working on a mini democracy topic. This week the topic will finish with an election to decide who will be crowned house captains for each house. Before the vote on Friday afternoon (1st Sept) pupils will be spending time meeting pupils and trying to win their votes.

The pupils held a campaign event in the gym hall to talk to voters and will be showing their campaign videos at special screenings. They have created manifestos and produced posters to tell pupils their promises. All staff members have been really impressed with the maturity of the P7s and their ideas to help better the school.

This week P7  started learning how to be safe when cycling on the roads. Both classes will take part in this every Monday morning in the playground or on the road. Each week we will focus on different skills and follow this up in class with theory lessons.

Today we checked that our bikes were in good working order and helped to double check a friends. We then practised braking in different scenarios and had to keep balance/control when manoeuvring our bikes round a course.

What you can help with at home for next week:

• using both brakes to emergency stop.
• controlling the bike round set courses.
• looking behind when travelling in a straight line.

This term P7 is studying The Roaring 20s.  We have looked at the theme of Art Deco and artists such as Charles Rennie Macintosh, George Seurat and Dali.   The pupils enjoyed drawing the famous Macintosh Rose and then tried their hand at pointillism as in the style of Seurat.

In March Newhill Primary School took part in World Book Day.  The P7s decided it would be a nice idea if they read the P1s’ library books to them.  After they read the library books the P7s asked the P1s questions about them and the P1s offered their answers to the class.  The P7s then read part of their library book to their P1 partner and told them a little bit about the story.  Everyone really enjoyed their morning together.

On Friday 10^th March, the P7s visited the Education Centre at the Forth Road Crossings to learn more about bridges as part of their topic.  The morning was spent making tetrahedrons from wooden dowels and elastic bands which were then made into sandtimer shapes using longer wooden dowels.  These were then attached together to make a bridge 7m long and 2.4m high which the pupils then sat under while posing for a photograph.  They were obviously very good engineers because the bridge didn’t collapse!   Following lunch, the P7s walked along the Forth Road Bridge while relating their class learning to the structures of the Forth Rail Bridge and the Queensferry Crossing. 

The P7s’ current topic is Bridges.    They have studied bridges in terms of the materials used, the types of bridges used and the reasons for choosing a specific type of bridge, the forces of tension and compression, what makes the strongest shape and all the new vocabulary that goes along with the topic.    Here are some of their own bridges which have been constructed in co-operative groups.

On Thursday 1st December,  some P7s, along with the High School pupils, took part in an amazing fashion show complete with catwalk.  The pupils had to make outfits from recycled materials and along with their imaginative and very creative ideas, the results were superb.  They thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience including the rehearsals and the hair and make-up  artists  from the High School.  The audience swelled to over 300 who cheered on the P7s along with the sounds of Justin Timberlake’s  Can’t Stop the Feeling!   A great night that will be remembered for a long time.

Prior to the event, the models presented their outfits to the rest of the school at assembly.  A production team from P7C organised the show including the lights, music, sound and backdrops.    Finally, because it was St Andrew’s Day, James Henderson played the school back to their classes on his bagpipes.

Catwalk rehearsal

P7s enjoyed the local surroundings, namely Bluebell Woods, while they built dens as they would have in the Mesolithic Times.  They had to think of where the best site would be for it and what natural resources they would use.

As part of our outdoor learning topic based on the novel Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver, the children, in their clan groups, had to sell their tree and say why it was the best in the forest.  They had to describe their tree in a fun and engaging way,  say why there tree was so special and use voices full of expression along with gestures.

All the P7s were successful in passing their Bikeability 2 practical test.  The weather wasn’t always kind to us!