Our week:

Lauren C – Our first week in p7b has been really fun because of Mr B’s bad jokes!

Adam – On the first day Mr B taught us an important life skill…how to open a door! (just in case we forgot over the summer!)

Callum – We’ve learned how to play table toppers this week, it’s awesome!

Kendal – We visited the Autism base and learned how the pupils don’t like loud noises.

Jay – The first week has been difficult as we’ve had to put up with Mr B’s terrible jokes!

Emily – We designed month posters to put up on the wall to form our p7b journey through the year.

Lauren K – We went out to the playground and surveyed the different traffic on Torphichen Street. We looked at different colours and type of vehicle.

Declan – We’ve learned how to play the game Outburst. It helps us develop team skills like supporting each other and taking turns.

Paul – I’m looking forward to p7 because Mr B makes games to help us learn, they’re majestic.

Finlay – I’m looking forward to doing more games to help us learn this year.

Flyn – I’m looking forward to learning about the rainforest this year because it’s all about animals and I’m interested in animals.

Lauren U – I’m looking forward to going to Belgium because one of my ancestors is on the memorial wall at Tyne Cot cemetery.

Who has impressed?

Chloe – Ava Campbell has impressed because she has moved onto her new class and has settled well.

Kieran – I’m proud of myself for I’ve behaved well this week.

Lauren K – I was impressed by the new p1s because they settled in really well into the big school and none of them have cried.

Adam – I’ve been impressed by Nathan because he’s been really mature and sensible this week.

Taylor – Antonia has impressed me because she has acted maturely in a p7 manner this week.

Antonia – I’m impressed with how hard Taylor has worked this week.

Mr Berginis – I’m proud of the whole class for how hard they have worked this week and they have made a brilliant start to p7. Keep it up!

Rabeea – this week we had our first academy visit and my favourite part was science because we had to make a container to pour water into using only paper and paperclips then cook an egg inside it. Our first was a disaster but the second worked well.

Sophie M – this week I enjoyed football elective becuase I improved my shooting skills and managed to score ten goals in one game!

Rebecca – I enjoyed sports day because I improved my running skills and didn’t come last in the races! 🙂

Dean – My favourite thing this week was the school football game this week but unfortunately we lost.

Sophie L – This week I enjoyed our day at the academy because when we were doing drama we were introducing ourselves and we were learning how to make up example issues to act out.

Christopher S – I enjoyed the high school visit because in science we made a ball which was supposed to bounce and at one point in drama we all had to say our names and rhyme something with it and some people did  some really funny things!

Alexander – I improved my maths this week by geting better at measuring. I got better at estimating how long something was before measuring it.

Christopher A – I enjoyed Musical Theatre this week because we were getting feedback on our performances and it has helped us to improve due to the appraisal.

Freya – In internet safety this week I improved my awareness of cyberbullying and how to keep safe on social media sites.

Who has impressed?

Rabeea – Sophie M impressed me by scoring ten goals at football!

Tom – Declan S impressed me by scoring two goals in the match versus Windyknowe and helping us make a comeback.

Rebecca – Sophie M impressed me because she came first in the sprint race at sports day. Also, Isla has impressed me by coming second with me in the three-legged race.

Jane – Hannah has impressed me by doing so well in the three legged race (she was my partner)

Callum – Dean has impressed me because he was a great three-legged partner and we finished third.

Eve – Amber impressed me by coming first in the 2 lap race at the sports day.

Nicky – Sophie M  impressed me as well by winning the sprint.

Freya – Mrs Waddell has impressed me with how long she has worked at Balbardie!

Christopher A – I’m also impressed with Mrs Waddell because she has seen us grow up from p1 to p7 and it’s going to be really sad to see her go.

Tom – Mr Berginis impressed me with how well he has done with the football team this year.

Dean – the school football team impressed me because even when we were getting beaten we still kept trying and showed perseverance.

Christopher S – I’m impressed with the school swimming team for winning the Procession swimming competition. We won the relay cup and the shield trophy.

Mr Berginis – I have been really impressed with everybody who represented the school this week at the Potted Sports, football match and Procession Swimming. They gave their all and done the school proud.

Our learning

 Rabeea – This week I improved my leadership skills in drama because we were setting out the stage for our plays and I took charge and got the props and costumes organised and stage setting.

 Abbie – This week I’ve learned how to write a report. We wrote a report about smoking and the arguments for and against it becoming illegal.

 Fraser – I found our tobacco workshop interesting. I learned more things such as that there are between 4000 and 5000 chemicals in one cigarette!

 Luke – In handball this week I learned the rules of the game and how to pass properly and about the three second rule.

 Sophie L – In my athletics elective we did a running schedule to improve my speed and I was getting faster by the minute!

 Louise – This week we learned about the dangers of smoking and how it affects your health. We learned that if you stop smoking you can start to become healthier after just two months.

 Dean – In internet safety we learned that if something pops up on our laptop or computer screens we don’t click on it because it could be a virus or phishing.

 Tom – I’ve learned how to multiply and divide decimals this week. If you were dividing by ten all the numbers jump one column to the right. If you’re multiplying by 10 they all jump one column to the left.

 Alexander – This week we learned about mood and atmosphere. Some of the moods that authors create are scary, exciting, creepy, sad, happy and anticipation.

 Who has impressed?

 Sam – Alistair impressed me by getting onto step 6 this week. All of the other people who got step 6 impressed me too.

 Tom – Fraser impressed me by being able to beat me at Ten Up at badminton this week.

 Taylor – Eve impressed me this week in Musical Theatre when we were singing My Immortal and she sung very well.

 Louise – My table (les heros) impressed me by winning for the second week in a row. We showed teamwork, concentration and worked hard.

 Zenaib – Lauren Cameron in p6a impressed me with her beautiful singing in Musical Elective.

 Jane – Rachel in p6 really impressed me because she stepped in for Rebecca’s part at singing Mamma, I’m a Big Girl Now at Musical Theatre.

 Mr Berginis – The class impressed me with how hard they worked in maths this week. They have impressed me with their knowledge of decimals and how they relate to percentages and fractions.

Our fantasy football season has now finished with the following winners:

Top pupil – Tom White

Top teacher – Mr Berginis

Top family member – Paul White (Tom’s brother)

Overall winner – Mr Berginis

Well done to everyone who took part and if you are outside of the top ten and want to see where you finished then check out the wall display next to the p5,6,7 exit door.

What have we been learning about?

Rebecca – I enjoyed drama this week because we got given our parts and I got the one I wanted which was Marian Doll.

Callum – I enjoyed drama this week because I got given the main part of Tam in Tam O’Shanter’s Big Night Oot and I feel awesome about it!

Taylor – I also enjoyed drama this week. I’m doing Rab C Hood and I won the part of Brittany Broon. I feel excited about getting the part I wanted.

Alexander – I really enjoyed doing French this week because I learned what the French word for spider was. It is une araignee!

Sophie L – I enjoyed sports elective this week. In athletics we got to use the real javelins and I felt a bit scared when it passed my face when I was throwing it!

Zenaib – I enjoyed French this week because we learned new words and we leared what animals were in French and also colours. For example, horse is un cheval.

Emma – I enjoyed doing swimming this week at sports elective because I got moved up a level and I managed five lengths.

Fraser – I enjoyed French this week and I found out how to say cat in French which is un chat.

Christopher S – I enjoyed our football game against Boghall because we showed lots of teamwork and won 8-0. I was unlucky because my shot hit the post.

Sam – I enjoyed doing health this week. We finished off our board games which was called One Way Trip To Uranus and it was all about the digestive system.

Rabeea – I enjoyed the maths Glow meet with Bathgate Academy as it was about fractions which we had already covered which made us the fraction masters!

Dean – I enjoyed sports elective this week, we were learning how to dive properly and as a result I feel supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Louise – I enjoyed doing SRA this week, I moved up to Rose and I’m getting better at finding out the meaning of different words.

Tom – In Internet Safety this week we were learning about the dangers of Phishing which is people trying to trick you and get your money or details using websites, phone calls, letters, text messages or emails.

Freya – In maths we’ve been learning about percentages. We’ve been learning that fractions and percentages can be equal and we’ve been learning how to work out a percentage of a number with and without a calculator.

Who has impressed?

Tom – Christopher S impressed me by playing really well in the football match and was unlucky not to score.

Rabeea – Christopher S impressed by getting into the Golden Club!

Christopher A – My table (les heros) impressed me because for the first time in a while we won table of the week. We managed to win by showing teamwork and using our friendship to help each concentrate.

Fraser – I’m impressed with Tom for making great saves at the football match and keeping a clean sheet.

Louise – I’m impressed with those who auditioned for and successfully got their parts in drama.

Eve – I’m impressed by Taylor because when we were doing the auditions she done them in front of the class and she had a great Scottish accent.

Callum – I’m impressed with Taylor for doing her chair dance in Musical Theatre and it was really funny.

Mr Berginis –I’m 100% impressed with how hard everybody worked to understand percentages this week!

Fraser – I really liked Belgium and my favourite part was when we went to Plopsaland because the best ride was the Anubis which was really fast.

Rabeea – My favourite part of Belgium was sharing a room with Sophie and Zenaib because it was fun trying to wake them up in the morning by tickling them!

Hannah – I really enjoyed Belgium because it was fun and it was great sharing a room with Isla and Louise. My funniest part was when Louise was pretending to be Bob Marley.

Luke – I really enjoyed Belgium because it was great fun and I was sharing with Sam, Fraser and Alistair and one day in our room Fraser and Sam got squashed between the beds.

Eve – My favourite part was World War Day because it was interesting looking at all the graves and it was exciting to go to all the different museums and cemeteries.

Sophie L – My favourite part was the water park. I really enjoyed it and I thought the chutes were really good and the whole thing was excellent.

Louise – On World War Day, the atmosphere was really still and I found it breathtaking how all these people had to die for our freedom.

Sophie M – I really liked the waffles, especially the nutella on them!

Alexander – I enjoyed the Brugge trip and seeing all the old buildings like the church tower on the canal boat and the swans and ducks.

Rebecca – I really enjoyed the clogmaking demonstration because it was cool how he made the different patterns on the clogs and it took him 200 hours to do the patterns on one particular clog!

Alexander – “I’m really looking forward to Belgium because of all the exciting places we are going to visit such as Plopsaland and Sun Park De Haan.”

Rebecca – “I’m looking forward to going to the Risk Factory because it sounds exciting.”

Sam – “” I’m looking forward to the Risk Factory and I’m also looking forward to visiting places such as Tyne Cot cemetery.”

Dean – “I’m looking forward to Belgium because I want to stuff my face with chocolate! I want to see what the trenches are like too.”

Rabeea – “I’m looking forward to Belgium because we get to spend lots of time with our friends and also going to the clogmaker’s. I’m also excited about the Oscars.”

Christopher A – “I’m really excited to go to Belgium because I want to experience what life is like in Belgium compared to Scotland.”

Declan W – “I’m excited to see the look on everybody’s face when they go to Risk Factory because I went before with my old school.”

Alistair – “I’m excited about Belgium and the Risk Factory but even more excited about the High School visits later this term.”

Abbie – “I’m really excited about Belgium because I can spend time with my friends and I’m looking forward to Plopsaland.”

Louise – “I’m excited about Belgium and leaving my family behind for a week! 🙂 “

Fraser – “I’m really excited to go to Belgium, it will be a great experience and I’m nervous about who my roommates are.”

7b -“Thank you very much to Mr Welsh and Miss Henderson for our fantastic Balbardie hoodies. They are amazingly funky!”

Congratulations to Freya for being the only person to successfully complete our Amazon Challenge. She showed great determination to finish all ten River Reward challenges including Lizard Language, Manatee Maths, iPad challenge and the Riddles of the River. Freya opened the mysterious chest and was rewarded with the prizes inside…

Today is Autism Awareness Day and p7b have been learning all about autism. We also dressed in blue to show our support for our fellow pupils who have autism.

What is Autism?

Callum: “Autism is a disorder which affects people with things like concentration, their senses, their eating habits and their communication.”

Isla: “It also affects their emotions and they sometimes can’t show their feelings. They don’t like change because they like to have a routine because it stops the world feeling out of sync.”

What have we learned about autism?

Nicky: “I’ve learned that there’s different types of autism and some are severe and some not.”

Taylor: “It mostly affects boys, boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism.”

Abbie: “I’ve learned that some autistic children like to be on their own and play rather than be in a group.”

Christopher A: “I’ve learned that every person with autism deals with it differently and has different ways of improving their confidence.”

Rebecca: “67 million people across the world are affected by autism.”

Sam: “I was interested to learn that everybody has a little bit of autism in them, just some are affected more than other.”

Fraser: “Scripting is when someone with autism repeats a phrase or word over and over to make them feel better.”

Sophie L: “Stimming is when someone with autism taps or fidgets repeatedly to make them feel more comfortable or in control.”

It is believed that all of us have a little bit of autism in us. We thought about this and would like to share:

Rabeea: “I need to have routines like having the same pencil with me and I take it everywhere I go.”

Sophie M: “My little bit of autism is OCD where I need certain things in certain places and if they aren’t there then it feels weird.”

Luke: “I don’t like anyone cutting up my food for me, it makes me feel like the food is bad and won’t taste nice.”

Callum: “My bit of autism is if anyone eats with the same fork or spoon as me I won’t use that fork or spoon again.”

Louise: “My bit of autism is getting distracted and losing concentration other very weird little things.”

Zenaib: “My little bit is that I need to have everything organised otherwise it feels weird and I feel worried.”

Alexander: “My little bit is repetitive behaviour. I like to repeatedly drum on the table or tap my foot otherwise I feel strange.”

Dean: “Mine is if food is touching other foods on a plate then I won’t eat them, they all need to be separate.”

Isla: “Mine is I have certain times when I do certain things in the morning otherwise it feels weird.”

Declan W: “I fiddle a lot and find it hard to sit still without listening to something otherwise I get grumpy and crabbit.”

Alistair: “Mine is personification of objects. If I choose something to eat (like with lunch trays) I feel the other choice will be sad for not getting picked.”

Jane: “My bit of autism is when I need to have everything super organised such as my room must be tidy and everything in its own place with my clothes set out for the next day.”

WINDYKNOWE 1 BALBARDIE 5

On Wednesday 25^th of March Balbardie PS played Windyknowe PS. The squad line up was:Tom in goals,  Daniel D and Daniel M in defence, Dean as sweeper, Sophie and Declan out wide and Logan as striker. Starting on the bench were Ewan ,Ben and Luke. 

About 5 minutes into the game Balbardie took the lead with Sophie scoring a fantastic goal making it 1-0. Then Windyknowe scored their first goal making it 1-1. Just after that we all worked as a team passing the ball about and not giving up and that led to Declan scoring our second goal making it 2-1. At half time we were so happy that we were winning 2-1 so that gave us a boost for the second half. It was our kick off and we scored just seconds after it by Logan making the score3-1. Twenty minutes left to full time Balbardie won a corner, Declan took the corner it was a fantastic ball into the box and then Logan headed the ball into the back of the net and so it was 4-1. Logan went for a dribble in the last 5 minutes making it an amazing 5-1 to Balbardie. It was the first time we have beaten Windyknowe for  four years.

Player quotes:

Declan: “I am so proud of the team for working as a team sticking together and passing the ball around and that led to us winning.”

Captain’scomment:

Sophie M: “I’m so happy that everyone worked as a team and not giving up when it was 1-1 and everyone was motivating each other (I’m sure the new strips gave us luck as well!).

Match report by Sophie McMillan and Declan Sneddon.

Christopher A: “Deforestation is when companies cut down rainforest trees. One reason they do this is to get the timber from the trees and they sell it for other companies to make furniture and paper products.”

Sam: “This week we wrote discursive essays on deforestation and a discursive essay is when you first of all explain what it is you are talking about and then you go on to give the arguments for and against and then you finish off with your own opinion. I think deforestation shouldn’t be allowed because we are making animals which haven’t even been discovered extinct. Also, people that are cutting down trees which may have a plant on it which cures cancer or another disease””

Alistair: “I think deforestation should stop but it is important to note that the local people are being paid to do it and will lose their jobs if the deforestation stops.”

Alexander: “I sort of enjoyed the video we watched about deforestation. It was about a person who needed a Kitkat and he opened up the packet and it was orang-utan fingers instead. The purpose of the video was to persuade people to stop buying Nestle products because they were using palm oil which involves cutting down lots of rainforest trees.”

Jane: “I am against deforestation because they are killing animals we haven’t even discovered yet. “

Louise: I enjoyed sports elective this week, musical theatre. I enjoyed auditioning for the parts and also seeing other people do their auditions for the other parts.”

Rebecca: “I also enjoyed musical theatre. I enjoyed doing the auditions and watching Christopher and Callum performing their Har-De-Har Hut scene.”

Rabeea: “This week I enjoyed learning about the cardiovascualr system with Mr Jeffries. It was fun and we made up our own movies about the heart. We could make it any genre of movie we wanted, for example action, romance or comedy.”

Tom: “I enjoyed going to sports elective.I enjoyed watching Sam get revenge on Ewan at badminton when playing King/Queen of the Court.”

Who has impressed?

Luke: “The ten members of this week’s football team impressed me by beating Windyknowe 5-1!”

Isla: “P5d impressed with their Victorian assembly. I thought the idea was excellent and the dialogue was well acted. Christopher Allan’s American woman accent impressed me at musical theatre too.”

Fraser: “Sam has impressed by doing epicly at badminton when he was playing King/Queen of the Court. His fourhand grip was great.”

Amber: “The football team have impressed me by winning against Windyknowe for the first time in four years!”

Christopher A: “Callum has impressed me this week because when we were doing musical theatre he managed to learn most of his lines off by heart!”

 Tom: “Fraser impressed me by playing excellently at badminton by keeping the shuttle going and he earned the new nickname PRINCESS FRASER!”

Rebecca: “Everyone at musical theatre impressed me by doing so well in the auditions.”

Louise: “In musical theatre, the whole group has impressed me with their auditions and Christopher and Callum really impressed with their acting and learning the script.”

Rabeea: “Abbie has impressed me during swimming sports elective as she was the only one who managed to do the float challenge without falling off.”

This week in class we’ve been learning about technology used by tribes in the Rainforest. First of all we discussed what technology means…

Isla: “Technology is the solution to a need or a want. For example, humans wanted to communicate over long distances so invented mobile phones.”

Dean: “Another example is the hoover. We wanted to be able to keep our houses clean so someone invented a hoover.”

Declan W: “We wanted to be able to play our games on the move so mobile devices like tablets were invented.”

Alistair: “The Egyptians wanted massive pyramids and needed to move the huge blocks so invented a system of using logs to roll the blocks.”

The tribes in the Rainforest have three main sets of needs:

Alexander: “One of their main needs is food and water.”

Luke: “The others are shelter, warmth and health.”

Here are some examples of tribal technology:

Sophie M: “They need to communicate quietly so they use hand signals and bird whistles.”

Dean: “To meet their need for food they go hunting and use blowpipes because they are quiet so don’t startle the animals.”

Declan S: “To meet their need for food they use a drug from a plant called Barbasco which makes fish dizzy and easier to catch.”

Rabeea: “To meet their need to clean or drink water they use bromeliads because they are huge and collect lots of rainwater.”

Zenaib: “To meet their need for fire to keep warm and cook they use a fire drill. They make holes in a log and rub a stick to create friction which creates fire.”

Hannah: “To enable them to stay away from the floods, some tribes build treehouses. Some of these are as tall as 35 metres tall!”

Jane: “They use coca leafs and chew them to get rid of headaches and this meets their need for health.”

Taylor: “They use hammocks so they can stay off the forest floor to avoid being eaten in their sleep by driver ants.”

Sophie L: “They put poison from frogs on their arrows because it makes the monkeys slower and easier to catch.”

Who has impressed this week?

Dean: “Sam impressed me by overtaking Mr Berginis for a few seconds during the Sports Relief Mile.”

Rabeea: “PC Arnott impressed me with being able to cope with keeping all of us safe!”

Zenaib: “PC Arnott has impressed me by keeping us safe over the years and talking to us about internet safety and road safety.”

Sam: “Jason Bonnar in p1 impressed me by winning the dance competition we held at wet lunch!”

Christopher S: “Declan S impressed me at sports elective by saving all of the penalties in the Penalty King competition.”

Amber: “Rebecca impressed me by finally finding her pulse during the Sports Relief mile!”

Hannah: “Taylor impressed me because she done well at sports elective by keeping in time with the music.”

Sophie M: “Both the Laurens impressed me by doing excellently as Dorothy during the Wizard of Oz.”

Mr Berginis: “I loved attending the p6 show on Wednesday night and everybody did fantastically, I was very impressed!”