Tag Archives: Ethos and Life of the School

Tree Planting in the School Grounds

We had a super time helping to plant new trees and cuttings in and around the school.

The weather was brilliant and we even had Sid, the cat, helping us in our work.

We were split into two groups, with one group planting willow cuttings in a wet corner of the nature garden. Luckily, because of the wet soil, it was quite easy to push the willows down into the ground, although we did have a spade and fork if needed.

The other group worked with John to plant a variety of trees outside the Primary 1/2 classroom and Music Room.

As this was a much drier area we had to use a hose to soak the ground and give the newly planted trees a drink.

We will have to put in temporary shelter fencing to protect the new trees over the autumn and winter.

We really hope the new trees and cuttings take hold and grow as well as those we planted in previous years.

A fun time was had by all. We even had time, later on, to sketch some of the established trees and enjoy reading our books surrounded by our growing ‘forest’.

 

SMUHA 2018- A brilliant day!

Primary 7 Jarl Squad- ready for the big day!

Michaela- The Jarl……enjoying every minute of the celebrations.

Michaela commented, “SMUHA is one of the best days of the year and having the honour of being the Jarl makes it even better.”

Today is SMUHA and I was part of our school Jarl Squad. First of all we came into school and got into costume, and got our helmets and cloaks. Then we headed outside and it was very cold but I soon warmed up. As we were walking to the football pitch everyone started singing the Up Helly Aa song and The Galley Song, over and over again, until we got there. (My throat was very sore!) After that everyone threw their torches into the galley. We watched it burn for a little while and then went over to the Boddam Hall for snack and to do our acts.

Our act was called The Axe Factor. After all the practising it turned out really good! It was a brilliant day but it was hard keeping it a secret.  Written by Emily

Today was SMUHA 2018. I was in the P7 Jarl Squad. It was a very good experience. At 09:15 we left to go to the Boddam football pitch  where we burned the galley, which was named Lia after Lena, lsaiah and Alex. Then we went into Boddam Hall to do the acts and to wait for the real 2018 Jarl Squad to come. The Squad acts were very good. I especially liked the one about the teacher disco. For our Squad act it was The Axe Factor. After the act a lot of people (mainly P5/6 boys) said, “The cringe crew should have won!” But it doesn’t really matter.

When the real Jarl Squad came it was really good and they could sing so loud! After all that we went out to see the big galley. Then we went back to school. All in all it was an amazing day; the  costumes, act and everything else in between. I also enjoyed all the support, from, what they called themselves, ‘No 1 Cringe Crew fans’.  SMUHA was amazing and I would love to do it again. By Ciaran

Carys said, “ It was a great day, I loved it. I really liked seeing the big Jarl Squad and I’ve got a sore throat from all the singing!”

”It was really great fun. I would do it all again. Michaela was a really good Jarl.” (Niamh)

Emmy commented, “I really enjoyed the Squad acts and it was worth the wait.”

”It was amazing and I would love to do it all again,” said Ayla.

”I really enjoyed walking down to the pitch. Everyone was singing and cheering as loud as they could,” said Lauryn.

”It was amazing. I really enjoyed seeing the big a Jarl Squad and their galley.” (Lily-Jane)

Primary 6/7 WWII Assembly

After several weeks of preparing and rehearsing, Wednesday the 14th finally came. We all loved the assembly and from what they said afterwards we think the audience thought it was AMAZING! We all went into different groups and we made all our own PowerPoints and props, and although we did most of it ourselves we had a little help from Mrs Hay and Mrs Wells.  After all our presentations were finished, we did a play about evacuees which was  really fun, we also got a few laughs from the audience! To finish our assembly the accordions (Fearghas, Michaela, Jacob),  fiddles (Emily,Cerys,Jemima) and flute (Lauryn) played  ‘The White Cliffs of Doverwith the rest of the class singing We even got a couple of tears. We all loved it!

The ‘Evacuees’ play

Written by Niamh and Carys

WW II Veteran Visits Primary 6/7

 

Geordie and his grandson Michael with their appreciative audience.

Primary 6/7  spent a fascinating afternoon in the company of WW II veteran Geordie Mainland as he recounted many of his wartime experiences, including the vital role he played in helping to survey the Normandy beaches in the lead up to the D-Day Landings on 6th June 1944.

Geordie was accompanied by his grandson Michael who gave a presentation of photographs taken during their recent visit to Normandy. It was the first time Geordie had returned to Normandy since the conflict and it had been a moving experience for them both as they visited the beaches, monuments, museums and war cemeteries- all reminders of the true cost of War.

As we have been studying WWII the children were thrilled to have the opportunity to hear a first-hand account of preparations in the lead-up to  D-Day and what it was really like to be part of it.

Eve, Ally, Bertie and Cerys all said how enjoyable and interesting the visit had been.

Carys thought it was really fascinating and moving that he had actually been involved in the Normandy Landings.

We would like to say a huge thank you to both Geordie and Michael for taking the time to share their fascinating memories, knowledge and experiences with us.

Jacob and Fearghas drew an excellent detailed drawing of the D-Day Landings to present to Geordie in thanks for his visit.

1 Star (2 votes, average: 1.00 out of 1)
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Primary 6 Play Leader Assessment

Today Primary 6 pupils have been at play leader training where they put their new skills to the test. They have been working with Primary 2/3 to help them play a lot of new games .

Emmy, Christie, Ruby, Ryan, Lilly-Jane, Ronan, Holly, Jake, Jessica, Shane, Tia and Archie have really enjoyed working with the class to develop their skills in playleader training.

Tia- I really enjoyed playing with the little ones and had fun learning the games we played.

Ruby- Itwas fun but some of them didn’t listen well and I enjoyed learning the games.

Archie- It was fun but they were very energetic.

Emmy- I enjoyed it but sometimes it could get a bit over the top.

Lilly Jane-It was good working with the little ones.

Jake- it was so much fun and I enjoyed it a lot.

Posted by Ayla and Molly

1 Star (2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 1)
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Scottish Opera performance

On Monday 5th June, Dunrossness, Sandwick and Cunningsburgh P6&7s came together for the big day that we have been practising for. We had a practice during the morning and then our dress rehearsal in the afternoon and then the performance at 2pm.

The children performed really well and Ms Scanlan was very proud of everyone. Victoria gets a special mention for her part as the devil!

NSPCC visit

Heather White came to visit us today to explain what the NSPCC does and why it is so important.

Their motto is ‘speak out and stay safe’

Ms White told us about three important children’s rights:

  • to speak to be heard
  • to be safe
  • to get help when you need it

She showed us the bag of worries and explained how it can get filled and how we can find ways to empty it.

Ms White explained that there are 5 different forms of abuse:

  • Neglect
  • physical abuse
  • emotional abuse
  • sexual abuse
  • bullying

and why abuse is not okay, or a child’s fault.

We shared ideas about who are trusted adults who could help us.

After she spoke to the P4-6s at assembly, all the P6s had a further workshop to discuss and think about lots of safety issues.

Tree Identification

Following on from the Terrific Scientific project, Primary 6/7 made the most of the good weather, to go and make identification sketches of the trees. The trees that we planted a few years ago are growing well. There were lots of birds feeding in the area and bumblebees flying around. We also caught a big ground beetle.

Terrific