This afternoon, both P7 classes took a trip back in time to a 1939 classroom with Miss James. They had to change into a traditional uniform then they were lined up in a strict fashion before being instructed to their seats.

They had to recite their 2-5 times tables and then individually had to answer a question which was very nerve racking! They used a slate and chalk to answer five mental arithmetic questions (which even involved questions about shillings)!

Next they had a spelling test with the words: ration, siren, shelter, evacuation and coupon. After that, came the messy part when they had to use a fountain pen and ink. They copied the words from the chalkboard using cursive handwriting and used blotting paper to soak up the excess ink. Finally they wrote a label with their name, address, school and date of birth in case they had to be evacuated.

During the lesson, the pupils had to sit with their spines against the back of the chair, feet flat on the floor and ‘faces forward’. Miss James was a force to be reckoned with, without even using her belt! When Miss James came out of character, she explained that this was how pupils would have been taught and felt in 1939. Schools and teaching methods have changed so much since then. Tell someone at home what you enjoyed about the school experience and something you appreciate about how your school experience is today.

This afternoon we were so impressed with the collaboration and creativity that went on! You worked in your own groups (Food and Drink, Entertainment, Administration or Decorations), to come up with ideas of how to plan and organise the Burns Supper. There were ideas and opinions shared while most people were listening and on task. There were very minimal squabbles while the sub-facilitators and facilitators worked hard to ensure everyone had a job and was on task. Your ‘to do’ lists are huge but we know if you work as well as you did this afternoon, it’s going to be an amazing afternoon! Have a look to see who was on task.

This morning we completed the first part of our Robert Burns topic. We had to work together to display Robert Burns’ name on the classroom floor. The only resources we had were ourselves! The time limit was 20 minutes.

Learning Outcome

By investigating a Scottish historical theme, I can discover how past events or the actions of individuals or groups have shaped Scottish society.  SOC 2-03a

The higher order thinking skill was synthesis: I can work successfully with others using organisational tools to complete a task in a given time.

After Lucy and Morgan took turns to read out the task sheet, you jumped up and started moving the tables to create a space on the floor.  It was so hard for me to stand back and watch you without answering questions or giving suggestions but there was a lesson to be learned! Here is what I saw and heard during the twenty minutes. Which ones are positives and which ones can you learn lessons from?

After 20 minutes, the task was over and we had a good debrief to discuss what went well (W.W.W) and what would could have been done better (E.B.I). Here is your self assessment:

We compared your own self-assessment with my assessment and highlighted what we could use to improve any future tasks. Here you are in action.

This afternoon, we took the role of farmers, traders and company employees in a fictional country of Centralia. We all started off with different amounts of equipment, resources and money and had to ‘grow and harvest’ maize and coffee. This was to highlight the difficulties people have in developing countries. During the growing seasons we were allowed to grow, harvest and trade our crops but we always had to have enough food at the end of the season to feed ourselves. The extra money we made was spent on health care and education for our families.

The seasons were often interrupted with news reports that affected each group in different ways. The farmers were devastated when they experienced land grabs in which land they had been using for growing food was sold over their heads to the companies. Price rises in food caused all of the groups problems but affected the poor farmers the most. The Global Market also reduced the buying price of bagged coffee and harvested corn. Drought caused by climate change meant that 50% of everyone’s corn crop was damaged and taken off them, which meant they couldn’t sell as much and sometimes left them with no food to eat. Everyone was frantically trying to grow, harvest and trade during the seasons which meant their was quite a buzz about the classroom!

However, news reports also brought good news for farmers. The Companies realised that farmers were vital to the world trade business so they made investment in them by giving them extra resources (scissors, pens, bags and labels for coffee). The farmers were over the moon! The final piece of good news for farmers was that the Government closed the loop tax holes which meant that the companies had to pay the correct tax and this allowed the Government to pay farmers back for their hard work.

Despite two groups of farmers joining together to form a co-operative, the group that had the most money were the company employees. We had a lot of fun, made a lot of noise (sometimes sounding like a real Stock Exchange) and hopefully learnt some important lessons about the world of farming, particularly in developing countries.

This afternoon, we held our debate on fracking.  Each of you had to take on the role of a member of a community where a company were proposing to start fracking. The roles were:

• the owner of a fracking company
• an unemployed person
• a member of the Green Party
• a member of the Conservative Party
• a member of the community whose garden would be disturbed
• the owner of a gas company
• the owner of a solar energy company
• the water company
• yourself.

Each group has to share their notes and research on fracking and decide if their character would be ‘for’ or ‘against’ the fracking company starting up in Bishopton. They had to decide on a list of arguments and counter-arguments to share during the debate.

Everyone had the opportunity to share their view (in character) and then they could call on specific people to question or put their point across further. I was pleased to see  that the majority took the debate seriously and showed a good understanding of fracking and its advantages and disadvantages. Poor Amy and Grace who were representing the Conservative Party took quite a verbal bashing from a lot of people but managed to stand their ground and argue their case. One member of the fracking company (no names) made a little error in judgement and let slip they were telling a white lie! Alex, another member of the fracking company did a good job of explaining his way out of that one!

See below for the positives and negatives mentioned and some photos of the passionate debate taking place.