Our P3s had a fantastic time today performing their scripts on the Gaiety stage, exploring the theatre and finding out about the different jobs and skills needed to put on a show. A huge thank you goes to Gordon and Robbie for developing this project. We have really enjoyed taking part.
We have had a great week finding out about the STEM subjects including experiments and challenges in the classroom; visits to Culzean and workshops with the rangers; workshops in school from engineers and Belmont teachers and visiting Ayr college. We finished off our week with our STEM Fayre. Here are a selection of photos further photos can be found on the twitter feed.
Yesterday, our Primary 6 visited Dumfries House. They found out all about satellites and then worked in teams to design and create their very own. Each group tested how far their satellite flew. There was even time for a play in the snow!
Earlier this week our P7s went to visit the Sky Academy to find out how a news report is put together. They had the opportunity of putting their creative and collaborative skills into action to produce an information report about the damage plastics are doing to our oceans and what we can do to help this.
Well done to our Digital Leaders for taking part in the Lego Mindstorm competition at Kilmarnock College. The team built and programmed their Lego robot to perform challenges related to the theme of ‘Space’. The also delivered a presentation on the effects of isolation on astronauts. The judges were impressed with their teamwork.
Earlier this week, Holmston hosted the final of the Primary Engineer competition. Schools from all over Ayrshire participated in partnership with GE Caledonia and we had two successful teams. Our P5 team achieved Best Communicators at the Engineer Level and our P3 team were runners up in the Apprentice Level. The cars they made had to go through a series of challenges. The engineers also arranged a visit from a jet engine for us to look at.
Casting the Net is an oral history project developed by Clyde Fishermen’s Association and the Scottish Fisheries Museum and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which over the last year has been capturing the memories and experiences of the Ring-Net herring fishermen and their families from around the Firth of Clyde and West Coast of Scotland.
Next Wednesday and Thursday the ‘Casting the Net’ Bus will be visiting Holmston and the P4, 5 and 6 will have the opportunity of visiting the bus and taking part in workshops. The organisers will be keeping the bus open for members of the community to drop in to find out more about the project from 3.00pm until 4.30pm on Wednesday 14th November.
The project website can be accessed at www.castingthenet.scot.
We all had great fun at Dumfries House. We took part in a range of workshops and worked with the rangers to find out about trees and plants. We also got to explore the play area too!
Today we met Vicki from the National Mining Museum. She taught us all about how mines have changed of the years and about mining in Ayrshire. We found out how important it is to have our rights as in the Victorian period children did not have these and had to work in dangerous conditions in the mines.
Primary 5 and Primary 6 also visited Belleisle where the rangers taught us about the woodland habitats and the different plants and trees that grow in the park
We also had a visit from Miss Young to tell us all about a day in the life of a farmer.
Article 24
All children and young people have the right to the best health care possible, safe water to drink, nutritious food, a clean and safe environment, and information to help them stay alive, healthy and safe.
We had lots of exciting experiences today. Every class had the opportunity of being mammal detectives with the Scottish Wildlife Trust.
Some of the classes had a visit from Mr Robertson, the Climate Challenge Officer, from South Ayrshire Council. He told us all about climate change in the local area and the skills you need for his job. He also gave use ideas about how we could make a difference to the climate.
A lecturer from the SRUC, Mrs Gray, taught us all about different plants and trees and how to identify them – this will be useful when we go for a walk along the river!
Mr McLeish, an operations manager from QTS, came to tell us all about his job of overseeing the de-vegetation of the railway lines across Ayrshire and Scotland.
Article 29
Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.
Today we visited a dairy farm – Strandhead Farm in Tarbolton. We found out all about the skills needed to be a farmer and work with animals. It was great fun getting to see the cows up close and see where our milk comes from.
Article 29
Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.
We had a lot of visitors today including Owl Magic, the Dairy Council and the RSPB. We found out all about the wildlife in our countryside and why milk and dairy products are an important part of our diet. We learned about the various jobs and skills people need to carry out these jobs too.
Article 29
Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.
Today we had a visit from Rheeta the cow. We learned how cows produce milk and even had a go at trying to milk Rheeta! We also got to see a vintage plough and a modern tractor. We found out that you need good ICT skills to be a farmer as many of the tractors can be controlled by satellite.
Article 29
Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.
Day 1 of our Forest, Farms and Mines themed fortnight kicked off with a visit from the bee keepers. They told us all about their jobs and the importance of bees in pollinating flowers. We got to see how the bees live and also got to taste some of the honey. Yum!
Article 17
You have the right to get information that is important to your well-being, from radio, newspaper, books, computers and other sources. Adults should make sure that the information you are getting is not harmful, and help you find and understand the information you need.
Our Winter Wonderland has been a highlight of December. All the pupils were involved in planning and organising this event. The focus was on developing creativity skills including: asking good questions; researching information; listening to others; thinking differently about ideas: inventing; solving problems; persistence and co-operation. All the classes visited the event and tried out all the games and experiences. They also had the opportunity of purchasing Christmas ornaments that had been designed and made from re-cycled items.
Thank-you to all parents who came along on Monday to see the pupils work and learning from ‘The Big Splash!‘ fortnight. All the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the learning experiences and had insights into the different careers and jobs available in the local area connected with the sea. Pupils were given the opportunity to consider the skills they would need for the many different jobs. A selection of photos from the different experiences is in the gallery below and please look at the class blogs for further information about the event. Please leave any comments by clicking on the link above.
Well done to our two P7 teams that made it through to the final challenge at the town hall earlier this week. They showed off their drone-inspired aircraft and then had a live challenge to design a winch to transport people to and from the aircraft. The pupils had to utilise a range of creativity and employability skills to identify a workable solution to this problem. Both teams were presented with certificates by Mr Hutchinson, the Head of the Education Service.
Well done also goes to Arnar. His design for the ‘I’m an Engineer’ logo was chosen to go on the certificates.
Holmston’s ‘Big Splash’ launched today with the P6 visiting Millport and the P1 and 2s going to Culzean. We also had visitors from Ayr Port to teach us all about the jobs that are needed to ensure that the ships dock and can be loaded or unloaded. We also had representatives from BAE systems to show us how naval ships are designed and built. They told us about the many different jobs from designers and builders to bakers and doctors that all contribute to getting a ship to sail.
Earlier in the year we had a visit from ScotlandTranServ. Mr Stewart visited the school with a gritter and taught the pupils about winter services and how the gritters keep motorists on the move during the winter months as well as learning about the affect of salt on the ice. He set a competition to name two of the new gritters – well done to Megan and Piper for their winning ideas!
Glow Blogs uses cookies to enhance your experience on our service. By using this service or closing this message you consent to our use of those cookies. Please read our Cookie Policy.