Please see below, the learning that is planned for the Draatsi class over the next two terms. As always, this is subject to change to allow for pupil interests and our learning taking new directions and paths as we go. 😊
All posts by Mrs Smith
Week 2
This week our new Investigators have been announced. They have been given their welcome packs and will be preparing to meet the children they will be working alongside on their first online call shortly. We wish them luck in this exciting opportunity.
We’ve started our class novel, “The Explorer,” which ties in with our Rainforest and Biodiversity topic.
We have learned about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and have used some of the most relevant Articles to help us form our Responsible Behaviours Agreement for our class. We plan to create a rainforest theme which we’ll share with you in time!
Any pupil wishing to represent their class in the Pupil Council had the opportunity to think about what would make them a suitable member and we’ll take a vote on this next week.
For writing this week, poems created in Week 1 were rewritten for display in class and there was a big effort with handwriting. Well done!
Maths this week was based around problem solving activities with pupils choosing from a wide range of tasks that involved them using strategies such as trial and error, act it out and look for a pattern. Lots of paired and cooperative group work was also needed to succeed!
Week One!
It’s been lovely to see all our pupils back this week! The Draatsi class have been kept busy.
Last year’s P5s helped our new pupils to get to know both of their teachers by introducing them to one of their favourite games on the laptop, Blooket. It was fast and furious fun!
They have also been looking carefully at their reflections and have drawn amazing self-portraits. These will be displayed beside a Bio Poem they have been creating to help us get to know them better too.
They have been introduced to our class topic, Rainforests and Biodiversity and have listened to the blurb on our class novel. The title yet has to be revealed but it’s a good one!
Time was spent thinking about our school rules – Ready, Respectful and Safe and the class worked on T Charts to help them record what this would look like and sound like in our class.
The good weather meant that we could spend time outside playing team building games together so we can get to know each other better and begin to work well, collectively, as a class.
Meet The Class of 23/24
Da Trowie Sang
Over the past few weeks, the upper stages pupils have been supporting Mrs Inkster in her Music classes when she teaches the younger pupils. She has been so grateful for their help and we’re sure that all the children, both young and old, have gained from this experience. To tie in with our local history topic, we have been learning ‘Da Trowie Sang’ which is sung in Shetland Dialect. Some of our pupils have taken to this so well, Mrs Inkster asked them to perform it for the Orca class today. They did an amazing job!
Final Children’s Parliament and AI Online Call
This week saw our final online call with the Children’s Parliament, Alan Turing Institute and our fellow pupils at Oakwood, Doune and St Mary’s. It was a very positive call where achievements were recognised and celebrated. The Investigators had to think about what they had got better at by being an Investigator, what surprised them about their time as an Investigator and what they were most proud of. They then had to be creative, showing their thoughts in drawing form. (See Self Portraits below)
The Investigators for 22/23 are now in discussions as to how they can support the new Investigators for the next school year. We are currently thinking about who this could be and how we can involve past, present and incoming pupils in our AI work in the future. There are some exciting plans afoot so please look out for more details in August!
If you have not had a chance already to view the final report for the year, please see below.
https://www.childrensparliament.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/A.I_Stage_1_Report_Final.pdf
AI Assembly ✅
Mrs Henderson and I would like to thank you all for the amazing support you showed us at our class Assembly today! It was so lovely to have our families in again to share, and celebrate, our learning. We are so proud of the Draatsi class for their hard work and continued enthusiasm throughout the year, on what has been an exciting opportunity. We hope that this came across in their presentations today. Please look out for the Children’s Parliament video that will be shared with you shortly. As well as footage from the AI Summit, there will be clips and interviews that our pupils took part in when our class was taken over by Gregory and his team.
If you have any feedback following today’s Assembly, we’d love it if you could leave us a comment.
Sorry for only a few photos. I was too taken up with enjoying the moment! P4/5/6 … you have done yourselves very proud!
Measurement in action
Part of our learning in Maths this term is focusing on Measurement. It’s a great topic to incorporate in every day tasks, outside of Maths time too.
During our RME work, we used our skills to measure Ayanda’s turban material that he wore at a recent wedding. We were shocked to find out that it measured around 4m 80cm!
The Daily Mile has also created an opportunity to think about distances in metres, kilometres and miles. We are counting up laps and adding these measurements together to get a class distance. To date we have walked, jogged and sprinted our way to 31, 4730m or 314.7 km or 196.7 miles.
This week, we measured out a rectangular shape that measured 50m in perimeter. We timed how long it took us to walk that distance twice and will use this information to help us work out how long it would take us to walk 1km.
Three cheers for SMUHA
What a really special day we’ve had! An excellent procession and galley burning this morning and a noisy Jarl Squad visit in the afternoon. It’s just a shame that the later celebrations have had to be postponed. Here are some photos from today … including Mascot Max! He’ll be returning to the Children’s Parliament with some amazing stories to tell!
Preparing for SMUHA! 🤞
The two snow closure days have stopped us doing some of our planned activities for our Viking themed SMUHA week. However, we managed to prepare torches and helmets on Monday and got our photo taken with our school galley today, before we burn it tomorrow. 🤞
Just in time for SMUHA, the Children’s Parliament mascot, Max, arrived in the post! We have to show him around our school and community so it’s perfect timing to bring him along tomorrow!
In the afternoon, we made Viking heads using clay. The class practised on Monday using plasticine and explored how to add to the base to make it look 3D and used the different clay tools to add texture and detail. This really helped them create Vikings with lots of character!