All about Volcanoes. This week our ‘Big Question’ has been learning all about volcanoes and how an eruption happens. Pupils worked independently to create a poster / booklet / PowerPoint about Volcanoes and then in groups created models about famous volcanoes. We then all had a go at making our own volcanic eruptions. A couple of pupils wanted to use up the last of the materials and created a bigger version of the experiment we did. I think everyone had a lot of fun!

Electric Explorers. On Thursday afternoon, Primary 4 – 6 went to the village club to take part in a workshop by Edinburgh Science Festival. They all came back full of news and excitement about the event.

Earthquake Challenge. On Friday afternoon, we had a group task to build a structure of at least 30cm in height that could withstand an earthquake. The pupils could use anything they wanted to build their structures and there were points for creativity and structural integrity. Amazing creativity and team work on show from all teams and some very original designs. Both P7 girl groups won 1st place for creative design and P6 girls were runners up. One of the P7 girl groups also won for their structure as it hardly moved when hit by a powerful earthquake. Well done to everyone!

For the past few weeks in music, P.6-7 have been completing their Heroes of Troy topic which related to the Ancient Greece class project from last term.

Heroes of Troy is a BBC Schools Radio programme, and each week the pupils have learnt a song which are in various contrasting styles, they have listen to recorded music in the different styles and watched an episode which tells the story of the Trojan War.

Here is a recording of one of the songs: ‘Is it Love?’ The recording doesn’t do their singing in parts and harmony justice but hopefully it will give an idea of what they have been doing.

P6/7 have been learning how to draw circular shapes and making studies from life using line drawing and making poster paint act like watercolour.  Everyone has made their own beautiful drawing/painting and all in their own unique style of mark making as it should be.

All about kites. For our writing this week, we were focused on creating posters about kites. The class all had their own creative spin on these, with some using Canva and some hand-drawing / writing them. As an extension to this, the class had the opportunity to create or make their own kites. There was lots of testing and experimenting with designs to see if any of them would fly.

Trip to the Burn. With such a sunny day, Primary 4 – 7 walked to the Tow burn. A great time was had by all.

We have had great fun trying some simple orienteering tasks in PE.  Orienteering is an activity that requires you to follow a map to navigate your way around a course in the shortest possible time.  We have learnt how to follow a map, what a key is and how to use it, keep the map orientated to the group, what a control is and how we use them, work with others and many other useful things that help us to navigate around an orienteering course.

Rocking Reading. This term we are working on reading stamina and trying to increase the amount of time we can read independently. Everyone is doing really well with the challenge and it has been lovely to see people choosing more challenging novels or books that they normally wouldn’t read.

Big Question – Tsunamis. This week our big question has been learning all about tsunamis. We made tsunami chatterboxes and posters about the stages in a tsunami and we will be doing a design challenged linked to these and another natural disaster next week.

This or That. For our challenges this week we were learning about Earth Day and we made posters or presentations around the theme ‘Plastic vs the Planet’ (the theme for Earth day 2024). The pupils did an amazing job and were able to experiment with different features with PowerPoint and Canva. Our ‘Be our Quest’ tasks were a choice between birds, Australia and boats/fishing. The pupils demonstrated amazing collaboration, creativity and focusing to complete their quest.

It has been lovely to have everyone back and we’ve had a very busy and productive week.

Big Question – Shetland’s Landscape. We watched a tour video all about the different features of Shetland’s landscape. We made our own notes and then used these to create our own tour guides for Shetland. There was excellent creativity on show and we had leaflets, posters, fortune tellers, and bookmarks.

This or That. This week we had to choose between cats, gladiators and Ancient Rome for ‘Be our Quest’ and Japan was the focus for ‘A Whole New World’. Once again, lots of creativity and out of the box thinking from the class. Have a look at some of our learning below.

This week has been very busy with lots of creativity in our ‘This or That’ tasks, some Easter activities and creating science report posters. A big highlight has been the Amazingly Wonderful presentations.

Amazingly Wonderful. This week the pupils all shared their home learning about different neurodiversities. Everyone presented their poster or PowerPoint with confidence and it was great to see the range of neurodiversities spoken about. Well done P6/7!

Big Questions this term. This is our finished ‘Big Question’ wall for the term. I just love the range of learning and how the pupils chose to share it.

Music Festival. The pupils performed their percussion piece ‘Island’ at the Music festival on Monday. They did a fantastic job and it was lovely to see the team spirit between the class.  Well done P6/7!

Holi. Our Big Question this week has been around the Hindu festival of Holi. We watched a short video about why people celebrate Holi and then we learned about ways it is celebrated in Scotland. The pupils then made very colourful posters about the festival.

Floating Wind Turbines. We’ve been doing more experiments this week in connection with the Climate Smarter project. We learned about floating wind turbines and then pupils worked in groups to create their own. There was a lot of trial and improvement until they could get the turbines to float upright, but great to see group problem solving and communication skills to work it out.

‘Embrace’. This week, along with P4-5, we watched the film ‘Embrace’ all about young people in Shetland living with different neurodiversities. There was a lot of great discussion about the film and our own experiences. We would definitely recommend a watch if you can.