Today Mr Harpe came into Primary 6/7 to teach us Spanish. He taught us how to introduce ourselves and say where we live. We also leant about some of the traditions. There was flamingo dancing and bull fighting. I enjoyed it and can’t wait for the next lesson!
By Molly
On Thursday 27th September, Neil Cruickshank came to talk to P6/7 about the development of Sumburgh Airport and the surrounding area during WWII. It was an excellent presentation by Neil, full of interesting and surprising information, supported by a fascinating collection of wartime photographs. The children were surprised to learn that Sumburgh Airport began life as Sumburgh Links and that the first planes landed straight onto the grass.
We learnt that Shetland was of great strategic importance during WWII and that in November 1939 3 Gloster Gladiator fighters (Faith, Hope and Charity) were sent to Sumburgh to defend Shetland and the Fair Isle Channel. Sumburgh became a R.A.F. station and work began on building tarmac runways. There were many interesting visitors to the aerodrome including Beaufort fighters, Spitfires and a De Havilland Mosquito which landed here on its way back from a raid on the Gestapo Headquarters in Oslo.
Neil told us many sad accounts of wartime crashes in and around Shetland including three Canadians who lost their lives when their damaged Bristol Blenheim reconnaissance plane crashed-landed at Grunay in the Out Skerries (20th March 1944).
After morning break we all set off by bus, accompanied by Mrs Leslie, to see some of the wartime remains still visible today on and around Scholland.
We saw remains of the huge line of ‘tank traps’ which were part of the first line of defence.
Above right is all that remains of an anti-aircraft gun post.
The Virkie school (above left) was used a a hospital during the war and local children had to use the previous school which was built in 1800s.
The Virkie school in WWII is now used as a store. We tried to imagine what it was like back in the 1940s and the children who went there.
We walked up the old army road alongside what was Goat Camp which housed soldiers and airmen during the war- there was even a barber, chemist and post office there.
We had a super time seeing lots of interesting things left behind from WWII, including the floor tiles in Dr Aitchison’s house-all that is left of his house which was demolished because it was in the flight path of the newly built runway.
A highlight for many was seeing one of the last machine-gun turrets remaining in Britain, which used to rotate 360 degrees, and now lies rusting in a field.
All of us in P6/7 would like to say a huge thank you to Mr Cruickskank and Mrs Leslie for an excellent morning. We all learnt a great deal about World War II in the Sumburgh area.
We spent an excellent morning at the Shetland Museum learning more about the strategic importance of Shetland during WWII and how it was affected by the war.
We spent time looking at the WWII display case and learnt a lot of interesting information about the items within.
We were also shown some WWII artefacts and the Shetland Roll of Honour where we found the names of those who died during the war.
Having discussed shortages, the need for rationing and how people had to ‘make do and mend’, we were each given a wooden peg and scraps of material to make a toy figure to play with- just like children in WWII would have to do to make their own toys.
Here are some of the toys we made.
We had a super time and would like to thank Yvonne and Kirsty for sharing their knowledge of WWII with us.
After lunch we went to a Bible exhibition at Sound Gospel Hall. There were four different workshops to go round and we had to complete a quiz at the end of each one. There was a lot of information to take in and we had to listen really carefully to answer the questions.
We were made very welcome and they kindly gave us a drink, biscuit and crisps to take back with us.
Today all of Primary 6 and 7 went by bus up to Mareel to see a Screenplay film called ‘Secrets of War’. It was set in Holland during WWII when Holland was under occupation by the Nazis. It was about three children and how the war affected their friendship.
After watching the film we took part in a workshop to do with emotions and how the characters would have felt at different times throughout the film.
We will be writing our own film reviews for Secrets of War at school.
Niamh said, “I thought it was a good film because the actors showed the emotions very well.”
“I thought it was a very educational film,” remarked Ayla.
Eve really enjoyed the film and although it was sad, the elderly lady in it made her laugh sometimes.
The sun was shining, the sea was calm, which all helped to make Primary 7’s first John Muir Day a huge success. Everyone returned to school full of exciting recounts about their canoeing adventure. There was a great sense of achievement within the class at over-coming fears and pushing their own boundaries. A huge thank you to all who enabled this trip to take place; John and Jill who lead the day, Mrs Leslie, John and Vaila who accompanied the pupils (even the grown-ups had a super time).
As Molly said on her return, “Can we just go back to the start of the day and do it all again?”
Bertie ready to go.
People were taking photographs of us as we paddled
alongside the cruise ship Hebridean Sky.
A highlight was exploring inside a cave.
We really enjoyed being able to jump into the sea.
We had to stand up and balance on the canoe.
Everyone agreed that it was the best day ever.
Lauryn said, “It was a new experience and I’d definitely do it again. It made me realise I can do things even when I think I can’t.”
Carys thought it was great fun and particularly enjoyed going in the cave.
“It was really great fun. It made me think positively,” said Zara.
Niamh was fascinated to see jellyfish in the cave.
Bertie commented, “Even though I was a bit stressed to begin with, overall it was a fun experience.”
Ciaran thought the whole day was great fun.
Michael said, “It was an amazing day and I hope to do it again.”
On the way back- everyone tired but extremely happy!
We had a visit from Community Champion Maureen Stevenson today. All the class had written lettters as part of the Fairtrade topic and Ayla had written to ask them about their Fairtrade products. Maureen brought in a whole range of food and products to taste 😋. We all enjoyed it very much 😆
The video from Loch Insh has arrived. I hope you enjoy it.
If you don’t recognise all the bairns, it’s because some of them are from Brae school and some from a school in Glasgow, who were at Loch Insh at the same time as we were.
Enjoy!
Yesterday we were kayaking, canoeing, archery, problem solving and had a disco in the evening. What a fantastic end to the trip.
Logan has most enjoyed everything!
Reece especially enjoyed the canoeing
Luke loved the archery , problem solving and everything else.
Calum has enjoyed all of it too.
Kyle loved mountain biking and kayaking.
Ben loved the archery
Ms Scanlan loved the way that all the P7s were up for everything and put 100% into the week.
Another fantastic day at Loch Insh. Today we have been sailing, mountain biking, raft building doing archery and problem solving. The weather has been great and everyone has had a lot of fun…and got very wet!
We have had an action packed second day at Loch Insh. We’ve enjoyed windsurfing, sailing, canoeing, kayaking and skiing. It’s nonstop action and we’re so proud of how well the bairns are working together, making new friends and throwing themselves into new challenges.
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