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.  đ¤
There was a production line going for torch making!The Draatsis with the galley thatâs been waiting to be burned since 2020!And a silly one!
Just in time for SMUHA, the Childrenâs Parliament mascot, Max, arrived in the post! Â We have to show him around our school and community so itâs perfect timing to bring him along tomorrow!
Our Investigators with Max in the snow!Alec made him his own helmet for tomorrow!
In the afternoon, we made Viking heads using clay. Â 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. Â This really helped them create Vikings with lots of character!
Itâs been a very busy week in the Draatsi class! Â Weâve even managed a photo and interview with the local media so keep your eyes peeled in the Shetland Times for news of our AI work with the Childrenâs Parliament!
Here are some of the activities weâve been involved inâŚ
Language
We have moved on to Target 2 in our Writing Challenge. Â With Mrs Henderson the pupils started a longer story which they will build on over the coming weeks. Â They need to try to include carefully punctuated sentences with interesting openers. Â Today saw us looking in more detail at openers that begin with -ing words. Â The pupils were given a sentence ending for them to decide on suitable beginnings. Â We also looked again at using speech marks. Â Thereâs so much to remember!
Maths
Various Maths topics have been worked on this week. Â These include addition and subtraction methods, multiplication, fractions and work on area. Â They have been working hard and developing the skill of explaining their answers in words.
HealthandWell–being
Class PE is always really popular so we took advantage of the fine weather on Thursday to go outside and play some of our class favourites! Â We love Capture The Flag and Rock, Paper, Scissors!
Last week, we watched the Oscar nominated animation, âThe Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse.â  This week we created our own charcoal drawings in the style of Charlie Mackesy and wrote quotes that mean something to us.  Some examples are belowâŚ
Work by Scott, Jasmin, Rory, Scarlett and Alec.
Wednesday saw our class taken over by the Childrenâs Parliament. Â We were joined by Gregory and Sophia who have visited before but were also joined by Cathy who is the founder of the Childrenâs Parliament in Scotland and Rona who is Head of Projects. Â They were so impressed by the knowledge of the pupils and how they can articulate themselves. Â đ
They helped us with our next Mission. Â Each group was given a case study which used a different aspect of AI. Â The children had to read these through and decide on how the AI was being used in a positive or negative way.
This groupâs case study was about the use of online video games. They found more cons than pros in their story.
The next task was to illustrate how these pros and cons could be shown using plasticine!  This was a hard task but we were all amazed  at the imagination each group showed.  Each plasticine model had a detailed story behind it.
This groupâs story was about how AI can be used when diagnosing illnesses and injury.Models were created to show how people left out of facial recognition would feel.We had to explain what our models showed.
The culmination of the day was creating a news report with each person taking on a different roleâŚPresenters, Interviewers and Editors.  The pupils had to write a report about their case study and ask questions about the type of AI used in their story.  Joining us live, online, was Mhairi from The Alan Turing Institute.  She was able to answer all our questions while the editors quickly noted down her responses.  The children ALL rose spectacularly to the challenge and were not put off by the bright lights or Gregoryâs dictaphone!
Our presenters were not fazed by the bright lights!A career in the makingâŚInterviewers patiently waiting for their cueâŚDelighted to be asking The Alan Turing Institute the cutting edge questions!Presenters Fruit Cake, Sponge Cake and Chocolate Cake!
It was a fantastic day of learning and team work. Â Thursday saw each pupil being interviewed by Gregory to tell him what they understand of AI and how they are finding being involved in this two year project.
Mrs Henderson and I have been given the chance to take part in an Improving Writing Course run by CYPIC – The Children’s and Young People Improvement Collaborative. We gathered views on writing from the class at the start of the project and used a piece of written work to help us assess where our writers need most support initially. We aim to write three times a week and our focus just now is on improving our understanding and use of punctuation.  The class write for just a short 15-20 minute slot before having time to edit and improve their work. The pupils also help each other in this process too. đ Their writing jotters are filling up fast with a variety of writing topics across the curriculum! Most recently, we have linked our writing to work going on throughout the class and school. Some examples are…
Write your top tips to cope with bullying during Anti-bullying Week
How do you use AI in your daily life?
Describe the ‘den’ in our class novel
Persuade Santa to put you back on the good list OR employ you as his elf for this Christmas season OR keep his beard…don’t shave it off!
We contine to share the success of the class with the pupils and they are keen to see the progress they are making. We hope to reach our target set in the new year before moving on to the next element of ‘Tools for Writing’ to be improved.
This week P4/5/6 have been finding out about the history of our school and they have been looking at all the amazing artefacts that have been kept following the Queenâs visit to our school in 1969, when she opened it.  Some pupils were surprised to hear that there were once 5 small village schools in the South Mainland and that these schools were all closed to make the school that we have todayâŚ.although itâs grown over the years too!
We invited Mary Andreas in to talk to us and prepared questions to ask her about her memories of the Bigton school and how she felt about moving to a much bigger school, out with her community. Â She also recalled how the children and teachers prepared for the Queenâs visit and talked to us about her feelings on the day. Â We looked at photographs and enjoyed spotting some relations.
Our discussions this week ahead of the Queenâs Platinum Jubilee celebrations, have definitely sparked an interest in the pupils to go home and ask their older family members about their experiences of school. Â Well done everyone!
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The outside brick work of the original school was kept when the new office area extension was built. The commemorative plaque that the Queen unveiled is still displayed and we still have the curtain she used to unveil it!
Here you can see the bunting that was used to decorate the school. There is a photo of the Queen with the plaque and two signed photos of the Queen and Prince Philip that were gifted to the school. We have also enjoyed looking at the photo of all the pupils who started at the new school!
This piece of writing explains some of the history of our school and how it quickly grew in the coming years. It also gives a little more information about the Queenâs visit.
Any former pupil will remember the excitement of the annual magazine coming home! This one is from 1971 and we found pieces of writing by lots of our relations. Leahâs Grandad and Uncles had lots of entries!
When the school was up and running, there was another official ceremony in November and this programme details what the new school looked like at the time.
The school was opened officially on Wednesday 12th November, 1969. The hall was full of pupils, parents, photographers and members of the Zetland Education Committee.
These photos are an amazing reminder of the past.
A big thank you to Mary for giving us her time and sharing her memories. Thanks also to Carolyn Smith for sharing her recollections of the day too.
In P4/5/6 this week, we have signed up to the Shetland Sumdog Competition so we made a start at climbing up the leader board on Friday. Â We are hoping to build on our success in the National Competition last time so it would be wonderful if the pupils could log in at home too and play along. Â It runs until Thursday 17th. Â Good luck!
These past few weeks, the class have been learning about 2D Shapes. Â We have found out about polygons, regular and irregular 2D Shapes, parallel and perpendicular lines, how to find the number of diagonals a many sided shape has and naming quadrilaterals.
All of this helped lead up to this weekâs Maths lesson where pairs of children were given either a description of a 2D shape or a specific shape for them to describe using the correct Mathematical terms. Â They had to use different materials to make them as accurately as they could. Â I was really impressed with the team work shown and their ability to keep working when shapes did not quite come together and when clues had to be puzzled out. Â (Sorry for out of focus photos!)
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The pupils were given a choice of materials to make their shapes.
Kirsty and Andrew worked so well together that they whizzed through their clues!
Eilidh and Innes used a lot of tape to secure their shapes.
Always great to see a busy class, just getting on with a task!
Straws were used to make some shapes and we found we could make the more basic shapes easily, by bending and fitting the ends inside.
Sometimes we had to rethink our ideas!
Kate happy at her work, writing her description.
An organised and clever way to display shapes made.
Our class is beginning is get ready for Christmas. Â Each morning, we open the light bulb advent calendar we made and we also learn a new âsignâ each day when we open a door on our Signalong calendar. Â We are taking part in the reverse advent calendar again this year and want to thank you all for your kind donations to the Shetland Food Bank too.
We started our day with a reading session. Â Lots of quizzes were taken with some great scores being recorded! Â Weâve had a new delivery of books from the Sandwick School Library so lots of pupils had a look through them and chose stories that they think they will enjoy. Â We have some very keen readers in P4/5/6.
We are working hard on handwriting in the class. Â Some pupils worked alone on joined sentences while others copied my examples from the board. Â Getting to grips with joining can be tricky but all pupils worked hard and did not give up! Â It was great to see their confidence grow in just one short session.
Maths time was spent exploring 3D shapes and their nets. Â We built up various shapes using construction, then folded it flat so that we could see how we needed to draw our own nets on squared paper. Â There was a lot of learning in this activity! Â It didnât always work out but we spoke about how weâd improve on what we did next time!
After lunch we looked at two Christmas cards and spoke about the different themes that appear on them. Â The class have been asked to look out for this over the coming weeks at home. Â Do the cards link to the Christian faith and festival of Christmas or are they more winter themed with images of Santa, snowmen, robins and things we associate with this time of year?
Then we started to think about creating a Christmas card to take home. Â We painted the background ready to start decorating next week.
We took advantage of the calm day to go outside for a longer Class PE session while Ruben and Ryan grabbed the chance to rehearse their guitar pieces for our Christmas Play in peace and quiet. Â Two of our violin players also celebrated success in their individual lessons. Â See the photos below!
Have a lovely weekend all!
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Innes is hoping to find a treat in his advent bulb!
We used nets to create our 3D light bulbs.
Beautiful joined handwriting!
Last week we explored 3D shapes using tooth picks to create the edges and play doh to hold it together. It made it easy to count vertices.
It was tricky to get the shapes to stand up. We needed patience and sometimes, a friend to help hold our structures up!
Rachel was pleased with her triangular prism. Weâve talked a lot this week about the difference between pyramids and prisms.
Itâs good to work alongside friends on your Maths!
More complicated 3D shapes were easily made using the Geomags.
Our recent measuring topic came in handy as we had to draw lines of the right size, using the squared paper as a guide. We had to work accurately.
Ruben quickly realised he needed to use a protractor to measure the angles so he could draw his net accurately.
Gluing the tabs and sticking them down was tricky!
Eilidhâs construction cube and her completed net.
These two budding musicians have now moved on to playing first finger! They are very proud of themselves.
Look for the different types of Christmas cards coming into your homes over the next few weeks.
We have had a super last day of term! Â Hereâs what P4/5/6 have been kept busy with!
First thing, we all did a Double Doodle Soft Start activity. Â Double Doodling is a great way to be creative, relax and stay in the present moment, only concentrating on where you want to guide your two pens. Â You draw with a pen in each hand and use them simultaneously. Â What one pen draws, the other mirrors. Â This activity is a fantastic way to engage both sides of the brain so is particularly useful before written or reading tasks. Â Why not watch the clip in the link and try this at home too!
Once our brains were active, we continued to write our National Poetry Day poems. Â We are still typing these up but hope to share them with you soon. Â Here are some starting lines to whet your appetite!
If music had the power to heal the world I would … play the piano and the piano should give the world hope. Â (Scott)
If music had the power to heal the world I would play every note, sing every song.
Think of the words to natureâs tune. (Georgia)
Every time a note is struck on an acoustic guitar,
A bit of litter is replaced with sand, so fine and smooth. Â (Ruben)
We were in for a musical treat after break when Joy came to do drumming with us. Â We even managed a dance outside as we moved and drummed to a Swahili song.
The afternoon saw us reflecting on what weâd enjoyed about Term 1 and what we need to keep working on next term.
Then we got the oil pastels out and created a moonlit sky background ready for a Halloween picture first week back.
Itâs been a pleasure spending this term with you all! Â Have a wonderful holiday!
Well done Jade!
Free patterns and detailed drawings.
Lots of concentration!
Fantastic drawings!
Well done all!
Everyone drumming together! Itâs been a long time!
Robbie keeps the beat with the dun dun drums.
Watching Joy closely!
We all had fun!
Oh Ella!!
Quick Scott, say your name and think of an action!
What have we done today? Â Itâs been a busy day with lots going on!
First the class went to see Mrs Inkster for their Music class. Â They have been working on, âWonderland Tea Party Rhythms.â Â This has involved them using different phrases to help them clap out the rhythms. Â Then they saw how these rhythms looked in musical notation.
Grammar was waiting for them on their return! Â Different groups were looking at different aspects of grammar… speech marks, homophones using dictionary work and proper adjectives.
We took advantage of the nice weather to go outside to measure larger areas in metres and centimetres. Â We found keeping count of the whole metres the hardest part when measuring the length of the multi court! Â Tomorrow, we will try using the trundle wheel some more and weâll look at the different ways these measurements can be recorded.
The afternoon saw us quietly reading…always a relaxing, enjoyable time! Â Then we wrote out our, âDiamond 9 Skills for Teamwork,âideas. Â We worked on these last week, deciding in small groups, which skills we thought were most important when working together. Â See the photos below.
Lastly, some pupils went through to Mrs Inkster to let her hear their voices ahead of choir starting up again. Â She was very impressed!
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Freya and Kate made a good team, helping each other to measure accurately.
Some serious measuring here!
Innes and Andrew shared out all the jobs equally.
Leah counted how many metres it was back to the class using the trundle wheel.
Ella, Kirsty, Innes and Jadeâs ideas. đ
Rachel, Lily, Eilidh, Archie and Jessicaâs ideas.
Andrew, Peter, Inara, Jessie and Robbieâs ideas.
Freya, Kate, Georgia, Scott and Scarlettâs ideas.
We are very happy to share with you our P5/6 dance that we created in our class PE time. It’s got a joyful, summertime feel to it…perfect for the start of our holidays. Enjoy… and happy holidays when they come!
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