This term both P5 classes have been learning all about the Scottish Wars of Independence. To finish off the topic, we worked in small groups to create a stop motion animation using lego. This was really enjoyed by everyone. Here are just a couple of examples.
Primary 5 have been learning all about Space this term. As part of this, we looked at the Moon Landing by Apollo 11. They were set the challenge to work in pairs in order to create their own lunar landing module using only the materials provided.
They had to think carefully about their design to make sure their astronauts (big marshmallows!) didn’t fall out of the module when dropped from a height of 30cm. Some managed to drop their module successfully from a height of 2m!!
It was excellent to see such brilliant problem solving and a range of other maths skills from all of the pupils.
Primary 5 have been working hard creating this bottle top mural which we are hoping will eventually find a home in the P5-7 playground. Lots of hard work has gone into this and congratulations to Kyja and Abigail who won the competition for the design.
This has really opened our eyes to the plastic issues our environment is facing – just look at how many bottle tops we used and we still have lots left over! A big thank you to everyone who collected bottle tops for us.
Both Primary 5 classes had an excellent visit down to the Clickimin Broch today. We all enjoyed our walk there and had lots of fun exploring the historical site. So much fun that we forgot to take photos!
We then enjoyed a peerie picnic before heading back to school. As an end of term treat we stopped along Hayfield Park on our way.
Primary 5s have created their own ‘alternative’ fairy tales. We spent some time exploring a variety of picture books which had alternative endings to the traditional stories we all know. The children then had to write their own version and turn it into a picture book which they then shared with P1n.
The boys and girls in P1 loved this and said that they recognised the stories but they were much more interesting and really liked the illustrations! P5 really enjoyed being able to share their work with some of our younger children and P1n were excellent listeners!
On Thursday, P5s went to visit the Shetland Times. We had a fantastic trip and really enjoyed being shown all the steps in publishing the local newspaper. 
Not only did we watch how they loaded the machines full of newspaper ready for printing we also got to have a look at all the other machines they have in the building. We learned all about the other types of products that they can produce including our very own recipe book.
A big thank you to the staff at the Shetland Times for making time for our visit and also for providing all the children with a mock up front page of the paper to take home.
The recipe book is currently in production and should be ready before the summer holidays. There will be some extra copies available to buy from the school office at a cost of £6 each.
As part of our ICT lessons over the last few weeks, some of the P5 pupils kindly agreed to share their knowledge on coding using a programme Scratch with both Primary 5 classes.
They started each session by doing some direct teaching using the interactive whiteboards in the classroom. The pupils then used the ICT suite where they have been responsible for their own group of pupils to help them learn how to code their own computer programme.
All the pupils have been really engaged and love using Scratch and it has been excellent to see the children sharing their own knowledge and skills with their peers and taking ownership over their learning.
For the last six weeks some pupils from both Primary 5 classes have been gathering on a Friday lunchtime to learn how to play carpet bowls.
Volunteers from the local bowls club have been coming into the school to teach the children how to play. As part of this, the children were split into 6 teams and had a mini tournament against each other.
Here is a picture of the winning team with their trophies.
The winning team along with 4 other pupils have been selected to go and take part in the top bowls competition against other schools next week. The volunteers said it had been really difficult to choose as everyone had put in so much effort over the last 6 weeks! Well done!
More information about the competition will follow next week.
Both Primary 5 classes have been enjoying learning all about Space as our topic this term.
As part of this, pupils had to design and then create model rockets using junk that they had collected and brought in from home. Some excellent rockets were created, have a look at the pictures below.
Primary 5 classes have also really enjoyed their weekly visits from Mr Harry Rose where he has been able to share his wealth of knowledge on Space with us all. Thank you to him for coming in this term and thank you to everyone who collected junk for our rocket project.
On Thursday 31st of August both Primary 5 classes went to Mareel to watch Dhanak (Rainbow) which was being shown as part of the Screenplay festival.
Before going we watched the trailer and then worked in groups to predict what we thought was going to happen in the film.
Everyone really enjoyed the film which was in Hindi with subtitles. This was a new experience for all. We then attended a workshop with other schools to discuss and retell the story of the film.
Since watching Dhanak both classes have been researching facts about India and using these to create fact files. We have also begun writing our own adventure story.
Both classes would like to thank the parent helpers who accompanied us on the trip.
