P4 2024 – 2025

This term we have enjoyed getting outside every week to take part in outdoor learning. We started the term with a senses/spring walk through the school grounds. We listened carefully to hear the sound of the trees moving in the wind as well as the lovely sound of the birds. We enjoyed smelling all the different flowers and plants and we were surprised that some of the leaves that looked soft turned out to be quite rough when we touched them.

Later in the term, we used the wildlife area to help us with our writing tasks. We made potions and then wrote instructions on how to make a potion. We also used our imagination to come up with some great ideas of what the potion could do!

We also used the wildlife area to help us write nature poems, we focussed on finding adjectives to describe what we could see. Our outside space was not just used for literacy tasks we also used it to create wonderful nature art. Everyone enjoyed finding leaves, twigs and flowers to create wonderful masterpieces.

We even managed to get some of our maths completed outside when we were measuring in metres and centimetres.

On our last visit to the wildlife area, we used the area to help us set a scene for our last piece of writing. We took Lego figures with us and found all sorts of different adventures for them. This was a great activity, which we all enjoyed.

During our outdoor activities, we have been learning the skills of focusing, adapting, creativity, curiosity and collaborating.

Pupil comments:

Focusing – ‘We had to think about what we needed for what we were doing.’

Adapting – ‘We had to adapt to the wildlife area to find the right spot for our Lego characters.’

Creativity – ‘We were all working hard and being creative, making potions and making Lego scenes.’

Curiosity – ‘We had to check if the place would work for our Lego character.’ ‘We had to go and find things for our nature picture.’

Collaborating – ‘We had to find exactly the right pieces to make our nature art.’

‘It was fun doing the Lego scenes.’

‘It’s exciting going outside ’cause you can learn loads of stuff.’

‘Doing activities outside is calm.’

‘Being outside is probably the best.’

Our Topic this term has been ‘Our Healthy Bodies’ and we have enjoyed finding out about the human body.

We have found out lots about the human skeleton and its purpose. We looked at the different bones that make up our skeleton and labelled skeleton diagrams. We realised that some bones have more than one name so we used the internet to research the different names used for the bones in the human body.

We have also been learning about the major organs in the human body. We enjoyed using our collaborative meta-skills working in pairs and small groups to research the job of the major organs.

Everyone worked hard to make model lungs, it was quite tricky but everyone showed great determination and teamwork to ensure everyone completed the task successfully and it really helped to show how lungs work.

We think our big picture displays look great and really help to reinforce what we are learning.                             

As part of this topic, we have also been learning about our 5 senses. We have learnt about the fascinating story of Helen Keller who was born in 1880 in America. Helen became deaf and blind when she was just 2 years old after a serious illness. It was interesting to learn about the importance of braille and we even tried writing our names in braille. Helen went on to become a famous writer and won many awards for her studies – a true inspiration.

This term, we have been learning about common diseases – their symptoms, prevention and treatment along with the safe use of medicines.

During Health and Wellbeing Week, we looked at the many different ways to keep ourselves healthy in both body and mind. We learned about the importance of sleep and created eye-catching posters promoting good sleep habits. We enjoyed learning about meditation techniques to help us relax. We also had a visit from the Childsmile Team, who reinforced the importance of looking after your teeth and gums. It was great to get fresh fruit delivered to class as part of HWB Week and it was great to get the opportunity to try different types of fruit – this seemed to be the highlight of the week! To end HWB Week everyone enjoyed a yoga session with P3B and Mrs Teale. A great end to a super week!

Pupil comments:

‘It has been fun learning about the skeleton.’

‘I didn’t know that the femur is the longest and strongest bone in the body.’

‘It was very interesting learning about lungs.’

‘The lungs are the only organ that can float in water.’

‘I didn’t know that one lung is smaller than the other.’

‘It is cool that the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body.’

‘Helen Keller lost 2 senses – sight and hearing.’

‘I researched Helen Keller at home.’

‘Helen Keller was determined to keep going.’

‘I enjoyed doing braille.’

Our first transition session in music involved working in mixed groups across both classes, to play different untuned percussion instruments. We learned a little bit about the Italian composer, Antonio Vivaldi and his most famous composition ‘The Four Seasons’. In the clip below, you can see the first rotation of instruments for the first movement called ‘Spring’ Gp 1 – triangles, Gp 2 – tambourines, Gp 3 – shakers. Each group had to follow the visual play along and they could only play when their instrument was highlighted. There were sections in the music where two groups had to play together and at the end, all three groups played their instruments to create a loud crescendo by shaking or striking their instruments continuously. At the end of the piece, each group then moved to another section and a new untuned percussion instrument. Everyone had the chance to play all three instruments during our session.

Here is a clip of rotation one:

P3A – Curriculum Information – Term 4 2024

This term we have been learning all about The Vikings. The main questions that we focused on were:

Who were the Vikings and where did they come from?

How are our lives different from Viking life?

How are the Vikings remembered?

We worked together to make a map of the Viking Homelands and Viking Settlements. We have enjoyed researching Viking facts about long ships as well as what food and drink they had. We made shields, torches and helmets. We also learnt lots about what clothes they wore and enjoyed looking at the clothes that were worn by the Up-Helly- Aa Squads.

We made our own Viking Longships and think they look brilliant!

Pupil comments about project work:

I liked learning where the Vikings came from.

It was fun making the galley.

It was interesting learning what food they had that was different to us.

I enjoyed writing facts about Vikings.

It was interesting learning that the Vikings had different jobs.

It was fun learning what the Vikings ate.

We were very lucky to get to go on a trip to watch the Lerwick Up-Helly-Aa Jarl Squad march into the town on Up-Helly-Aa day.

It was great to get a close up look at the Up-Helly-Aa suits and weapons.

It was exciting to have visits from the Lerwick Up-Helly-Aa Jarl Squad, the Junior Squad, the Bressay Up-Helly-Aa Squad and the South Mainland Up-Helly-Aa Squad. It was interesting to look at all their different weapons and suits.

We ended our work on Vikings with our very own P3 Up-Helly-Aa, which everyone really enjoyed. The pupils worked well together to make suits, torches and a very impressive galley. They learnt songs and took part in a procession in the gym hall.

This week in music we have been learning about the importance of music during Chinese New Year. As part of our learning we watched a Musical Storyland episode called ‘The Great Race’ by BBC Teach, where members of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra play a range of instruments and tell the story.  We saw a new Chinese instrument called a guzheng which is played by plucking the strings.  You can see all the instruments in the picture below.

Photo courtesy of BBC Teach

We also learned that this year is the year of the dragon and in the clip below, you can see us using scarves to move like the dragon dancers that perform at Chinese New Year celebrations.

Tuesday 30^th January 2024 was a special day at Sound Primary School as we were visited by both the Junior and Senior Jarl Squads of 2024.

The Junior Jarl Squad, led by Guizer Jarl Skeppare Nokkvesson (aka Oran McCulloch), were in fine voice during their time with us, supported by a group of young local musicians who did a brilliant job. ‘Yes Sir, I can Boogie’ was definitely a highlight! The clip below shows all the pupils from p1 to p7 joining in with the Up Helly Aa song.

The Senior Jarl Squad, led by Guizer Jarl King Harald Olafsson (aka Richard Moar) were also pretty spectacular both in sight and sound. A fantastic line up of local musicians provided the music for the Up Helly Aa song and also their squad song which made us all want to get up and dance! Here is a clip of all the pupils from p1 to p7 joining in with the Up Helly Aa song. The Jarl commented how loud and enthusiastic our singing was. High praise indeed from a ‘King’!