Profile Week has been a little bit different for us in P7 this week as we have been focusing on writing very important profiles of ourselves which will be passed up to our high school. These profiles will help our new teachers get to know us and how we prefer to learn. It will also give them an insight into our achievements and awards and what we feel are our next steps.

It has been very interesting reflecting on ourselves and our time at Balbardie and we’ve had to be very honest about everything. Here are some examples of the comments in our profiles…

Eve: “I think I’m a good team member but sometimes it depends who is in my group with me.”

Amber: “I prefer learning by interacting in activities because I sometimes get bored and forget what we are learning when we just talk about it.”

Rhona: “When I work in a team I try to help and I’d like to improve my skills even more so I can give my team-mates better ideas.”

Murray: “I prefer learning by seeing things because it helps it stick in my mind. I also work well in a group because when you work together you have more chance of getting the task done.”

Aisha: “I sometimes find mental maths hard and I prefer to see the sum. I know most of my times tables though.”

John: “I’m proud of getting into the school football team and my time at Balbardie has been fun and a laugh.”

Abbie Ma.: “Sometimes I work best on my own but other times with a partner or group. It depends what I am doing. I’m a little chatty at times but most of the time I focus on the task.”

Sian: “My time at Balbardie has been great and when I’ve needed help the teachers have always been there for me.”

Dylan: “I prefer learning by doing things and hearing things but sometimes I get distracted. I never give up trying to get better though.”

On Monday evening, a team of primary 7 pupils represented the school at the annual Potted Sports competition at Bathgate Sports Centre.

They took part in a range of different challenges such as dribbling, shooting, and passing across twelve different events.

The girls team was: Aisha Adam, Amber Jackson, Abbie Megaughin, Abbie Madden, Shannon Butler and Sophie McMichael.

The boys team was: Cameron Arnott, Cameron Bowsfield. Craig Cherry, Adam Cherry, Henry Forehand and Kyle Morrison.

Mr Welsh, Miss McDougall and I all attended the event and were very proud of the excellent teamwork, effort and behaviour shown by all of our team members. Well done!

Congratulations go to Windyknowe Primary who were the winning school.

Our learning this week:

Ramie: I enjoyed learning about and drawing Aztec gods this week.

Kyle: I enjoyed my week in school learning with Mr Stewart.

Murray:  I enjoyed P.E. this week playing football and netball with Mr Jeffries.

Sian: I enjoyed reading my book in class called “Diary of a wimpy Kid”.

Henry: I enjoyed P.E. this week because it was outdoors and it was fun!

Connor:  I enjoyed P.E. this week because I was good at netball.

Shannon:  I enjoyed drawing an Aztec god this week.

Ross:  Ramie has impressed me this week because he got his highest ever score on Big Maths Beat That.

Mr Berginis: Lyndsay has impressed me this week with her work on decimal fractions and keeping the team score correct on the board.

Katie: Sian has impressed me this week because she achieved her highest ever score in Big Maths Beat That.

Connor: Murray impresed me because he was the only person to score a goal in football this week.

Lyndsay: Shannon impressed me this week getting her highest ever score in Big Maths Beat That. 

What a busy day!

We went shopping this morning before heading off to Passchendaele to visit the Tyne Cot cemetery. It is the biggest Commonwealth cemetery in central Europe and contains the names of 30,000 fallen soldiers and almost 2000 graves.

Next we visited the memorial museum and learned about the battles of Ypres and ventured through a reconstruction of an underground trench system.

Out next stop was the German Langemark cemetery followed by our visit to the Bayernwald trenches. We had an hour to run around here and explore the various trench systems and bunkers. We had a massive game of tig which even Mr Welsh joined in!

Our final stop of the day was at the Menin Gate where we took part in the daily Last Post ceremony. Kirstie and Ross represented the school as head boy and girl and laid our school wreath amongst the others.

It has been a very interesting and moving day.

One more sleep left then it is time for Plopsaland and the journey back home…

Hello everyone!

We’ve just arrived back at the hotel after spending the day in Holland. The weather has been fantastic once again today.

In the morning we journeyed to see a clogmaker named Boyd who gave us a demonstration of the different techniques that have been used over the years to make clogs and the different uses. We got a chance to have a look around his workshop and even the chance to buy some mini clogs which Boyd was kind enough to engrave for us. Here’s Boyd doing the demonstration…

This afternoon we went to De Haan and enjoyed a couple of hours in the water park. Everyone had a ball and took advantage of the flumes, jacuzzis, waves, rapids and outdoor pool. Here are some of us enjoying a relaxing jacuzzi…

It’s nearly time for dinner and then we’ll be heading back up to the beach for some more fun before rounding off the day with waffles or frites!

Greetings from a very sunny and warm Blankenberge.

Another jam-packed (or should I say chocolate-packed day!)

We begun the day with a continental breakfast and then headed off to the Chocolate Factory. We learned how chocolate was made and watched a demonstration by the chocolatier before getting to taste some freshly made samples. Then we headed over for a try of the chocolate fountain and then we went shopping in the gift shop. There was lots of chocolates bought so hopefully some make their way home to the rest of the family to enjoy! Check out our picture below…

The rest of the day we spent exploring the ancient city of Bruges. Highlights included the Beguinage monastery, the Belfry Tower, Market Square and Canal Boat Ride. Mr Welsh treated everyone to frites as a mid-afternoon snack and they were delicious. The sun has been shining all day so we spent some time in the park and then finished off tonight with an hour up at the beach.

Looking forward to tomorrow already and our trip to the clogmaker and the water park. 🙂

It’s been a very busy Monday here in Belgium. We arrived at Calais around 9am this morning and then we made a special stop off at Dunkirk to take in the scene of the famous rescue in June 1940. We learned about how the events of Dunkirk fitted in with the rest of World War 2 during our studies earlier this year so it was fantastic to see the beaches with our own eyes. Check out our picture at the monument below…

We have been very fortunate with the weather today, the sun has been shining and it’s been pretty warm. We spent the afternoon at the beach enjoying the sunshine, playing football and having lots of fun. We explored Blankenberge and made ourselves  comfortable in our rooms. The hotel has been renovated since last year and is looking absolutely fantastic.

Tonight we’ve enjoyed a delicious dinner in the hotel and then headed back to the beach for some more sandy fun. Our final call tonight was the waffle stand while a few of us decided to go for frites. A wonderful first day! 🙂

WHAT HAVE WE BEEN LEARNING ABOUT?

Sian – I enjoyed learning about Aztec glyphs. I enjoyed making my own version of the glyphs. Aztecs used glyphs instead of words.

Aisha – I enjoyed learning about all the different animals which are looked after by the SSPCA such as exotic animals and foxes and hedgehogs.

Kyle – I enjoyed the SSPCA workshop because it was interesting to see how they catch animals when they are loose. We got told a story about a snake on the loose which she had to catch!”

Eve – I enjoyed learning about deforestation this week. A piece of the rainforest the size of the UK is being destroyed every year.”

Amber – I enjoyed watching the Stars in their Eyes competition. It was funny watching Mr Welsh and Mr Berginis doing PJ and Duncan.

Jack – I learned how to work with decimal fractions in money and in lengths. After the decimal point there is a tenths column, a hundredths column and then a thousandths column.

Ali – I enjoyed learning about the Aztec glyphs, it was interesting that they used pictures instead of words.

Murray – In drama we were learning how to create different accents for different characters. It was fun.

WHO HAS IMPRESSED?

Connor – the whole class has impressed me by making Mr Stewart feel welcome in our classroom.

Lyndsay, Abbie Meg, Katie – Mr Stewart has impressed us by doing well to remember all of our names so quickly.

Murray – Ramie impressed me by beating his best score on Big Maths Beat That.

Ramie – Sian has really impressed by trying really hard at our drama elective.

Adam – Aidan Erskine from 7m impressed me by improving enough to get out on the golf course.

Abbie Madden – Alfie from P1 impressed me by doing so well at Stars in their Eyes and by winning it!

Kyle – Mr Welsh and Mr Berginis impressed with their version of Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble at Stars in their Eyes!

Sian – Abbie Madden has impressed by doing really well in the role of Dodger in drama.

Mr Stewart – P7b have impressed me with how welcoming they have been and with how confident and knowledgable they have been when speaking to me.

What have we been learning this week?

Kyle – I enjoyed learning to sketch. I had to make my animal as realistic as possible and go step by step. My animal was a red eyed tree frog.

Ramie -In our elective the drama group were learning how to put our own make-up on. It’s really difficult to do on your own so get someone to help.

Sian – I was in the drama group as well and we learned how to put face paint on and my tip would be to really concentrate when doing it.

Aisha – In the Masterchef elective I learned how to make banoffee pie. We put banana on top of ours but you could actually put any fruit on top.

Murray – I learned about the three different types of fraction which are proper, improper and mixed fraction.

Ross – I enjoyed learning how to convert from one type of fraction to another and how to add fractions this week.

Billie – During Keeping Myself Safe, I learned that if someone you don’t know does something to make you uncomfortable you should try and make sharp exit.

Who has impressed?

Lyndsay – Amber has impressed me by working hard and completing the Amazon Challenge.

Kirstie – Kyle and Ramie have done really well to reach the final of Stars in their Eyes.

Connor – John has impressed me with his animal sketching. He created a sketch of a wolf spider.

John – Craig C has impressed me by  working hard to catch up on the fractions work he had missed.

Ramie – Abbie Madden has impressed by trying really hard with her audition  and getting the part of the Artful Dodger.

Kyle – John has impressed me by beating everybody else at the Fractions Table Toppers game.

Murray – Amber impressed at swimming by being the only person to get moved up a group.

Mr Berginis – A special well done to Amber on being the second person to complete the Amazon Challenge. Well done! 🙂

A couple of weeks ago we made these fantastic Chinese kites with Mr Chen and we took them out for a test flight. Check out the video below…

or Click here for video…

It wasn’t a very windy day so we had to run with them but we’re looking forward to the next really windy (but not snowy!) day so we can give them a proper test!

Our week:

Amber: “It was cool when we did the smoke machine during our tobacco workshop. You could see how dirty the water got and the bottle because of the smoke. I didn’t realise that happened when people smoked.”

John: “I was in a group with Craig and Craig and we researched insects. The three we focused on were the driver ant, Hercules beetle and praying mantis.”

Abbie Meg.: “I enjoyed doing the group research task. My group researched reptiles and it was interesting finding out the different facts. We discovered that chameleons actually change colour because of their temperature.”

Sian: “I was also in Abbie’s group and I discovered Caiman crocodiles can grow up to four metres and that there is a reptile called a dragon lizard.”

Nathan: “I enjoyed watching the p6 show Alice in Wonderland. My favourite part was the White Rabbit. The pupil who played him did really well.”

Aqsa: “Connor and I researched types of frogs and we discovered that the poison arrow frog changes its colour depending on its mood!”

Kyle: “Jack, Adrian and I researched types of birds. We focused on the toucan, scarlet macaw and harpy eagle. Scarlet macaws can fly at 30mph!”

Kirstie: “I enjoyed doing the sports elective again this week. I played football and we practised our shooting and then in the games I scored eight goals.”

Ramie: “I enjoyed the Thursday afternnon too. My group are doing drama and we were given out our scripts for Grease, Wizard of Oz and Oliver. I’m nervous!”

Who has impressed?

Adam: “Nathan has impressed me because during our group research he worked hard and managed to keep everything going.”

Craig C: “John has impressed me by bringing in his homework on time and earning us table points.”

Shannon: “Sophie has impressed because during our football session she tried her best and scored a good goal. It was a right foot curler!”

Abbie Ma.: “Ramie impressed me at drama because he was working really hard to get the dances right.”

Lyndsay: “Kirstie has impressed me by being the first person to complete our Amazon Challenge.”

Billie: “Sian has impressed me by working hard all week.”

Connor: “Aqsa has impressed me because during our research task she worked hard on the power point and made a great job of it.”

Mr Berginis: “Well done to everybody for showing good perseverance to understand the aspects of fractions we’ve been working on.”

Congratulations to Kirstie McIntosh who has successfully completed all ten parts of the Amazon Challenge.

She opened the mysterious chest and was rewarded with the prizes inside.

The chest has the power to regenerate more prizes so we wonder who will be next to complete the challenge…

Our week:

Murray: “We took part in World Maths Day and it was amazing playing people from different countries.”

Aisha: “We made kites with Mr Chen and enjoyed flying our kites but we kept crashing into each other!”

Nathan: “I enjoyed having a go at the World Science Day challenge.”

Ali: “I enjoyed researching the creatures of the Amazon River. Jack and I did the giant river otter and found out it is endangered.”

Sian: “Flying the kites was good fun because my group managed to get ours flying quite a lot.”

Kyle: “The tobacco workshop was interesting and I found out there are over 4000 chemicals in a cigarette!”

Amber: “We watched the Human Calculator, he was really brainy and showed us different ways to work things out.”

Abbie Ma.: “I enjoyed writing our Journey of a Raindrop as it showed all the different layers and animals of the rainforest.”

Who has impressed?

Lyndsay: “Kirstie has impressed me as she is doing superbly with her Amazon Challenge.”

Henry: “Aqsa has impressed me because she was the first person to ever get the Manatee Maths Challenge 100% accurate on the first attempt.”

John: “Craig C impressed me by scoring five goals at the football afternoon yestrerday.”

Jack: “Ramie achieved his target on the Twinoo app and showed good perserverance to keep trying.”

Amber: “Nathan has impressed by catching up really quickly since he returned to class.”

Connor: “Nathan got the highest score in the class on World Maths Day. Very impressive.”

On Monday P7 visited the Botanic Gardens. On the bus there we spoke about old stories and when we got there we walked to a little jungle room and had our snack. Next we strolled to the aquarium where I bet Connor half his cookie that there wouldn’t be any piranhas. Let’s just say that was a very nice cookie! Next we visited an ancient tree, the oldest tree in the UK (over 320 million years old.) We trekked up to the Chinese Hillside and then proceeded to the gift shop. We then walked back to the den where we had some lunch.

          After lunch we strolled to a glasshouse and we all split up into groups and had to locate some plants. We had to find strangler figs, vanilla plants, leafs which had good driptips and also mini bananas. We also saw a ginger plant and tried some in a sugar coating. In the next greenhouse there was a giant emergent tree. Emergent trees are the tallest in the rainforest and can grow up to 60 metres! We also looked at some bamboo and heard how it is used in the rainforest as a torture device!

          Next we assailed to another part of the glasshouses which was really full of plants. There was a plant called Old Man’s Beard hanging from the vines and a deadly plant named Poison Arrow Bush which hunters use the poison from to kill monkeys. After that we shuffled to the big pond area and we saw cocoa pods, sugar cane, papaya and a little shop which showed all the foods found in the rainforest. Next we collected up our bags and it was time to go.

Some quotes:

“The best part was when Adrian used the blowpipe and blowdart to shoot the balloon monkey. It was so fun.” – Aisha

“It was really interesting.” – Murray

“It was good fun searching for all of the things like Old Man’s Beard and Vanilla pods. “ – Abbie

“We got to try some different foods and I discovered I like papaya!” – Ali

“I very much enjoyed the visit to the Botanic Gardens and I would happily go back!” –  Connor

Report by Rhona Donald p7b

This morning was our P7b assembly. We shared what we have been learning about in class with Mr Chen about Chinese culture. We focused on Mandarin vocabulary, the Chinese New Year and how to use chopsticks.

Ali – “I was quite nervous but once I had done the first one I felt fine.”

Ramie – “I enjoyed it and I felt more confident the second time.”

Katie – “It was really good and I enjoyed doing my part.”

Connor – “I was a bit nervous but my confidence grew after the first assembly.”

Adam – “Ramie and Dylan impressed me with how well they did during practice for and during our assembly.”

Amber – “My favourite part was my LEEETTT’S GET READY TO CHOPSTTIICCKK!”

Lyndsay – “My favourite part was when the teachers were taking each other on in the Chopstick Challenge.”

Mr Berginis – “Well done p7b, you did really well with your assembly this morning, especially considering we had five pupils absent and it was a short school week. I’m very proud of you all.”

A mysterious chest has appeared in p7b. It is believed to have been found in the deepest part of the Amazon River. Only the bravest, most hardworking and resillient pupil will be able to complete all ten challenges and open the chest…

Lyndsay: “I enjoyed the Twinoo challenge on the Ipad and I’m getting really good at it!”

Murray: “I’m enjoying writing the 250 word essay because it’s challenging.”

Connor: “Reward 8 was really tough at first but got easier as I practised.”

Ali: “I’m enjoying doing the task book from River Reward 5 because of all the different puzzles in it.”

Jack: “I’m having to work hard for the Twinoo challenge. It’s tough to keep going but if you give up then you’ll never get there!”

Billie: “I enjoyed writing the Lost story because I made it very exciting.”

Kyle: “I’m enjoying the writing task because it is challenging.”

Adam: “I like the whole idea of doing the Amazon Challenge because it’s cool and really challenges you.”

Aqsa: “The Amazon Challenge is really addictive because you don’t want to stop until you’ve completed every part!”

It’s been an exciting week in p7b and we’d like to share with you two of the things we’ve been up to:

SEAFOOD WORKSHOPS

We attended a Seafood workshop up at Bathgate Academy. Here we learned about how seafood makes its way from the sea to our plates, how fish can provide Omega 3 to make our bodies healthy and how fresh fish is prepared and filleted. We even got to sample some types of fish which for some of us was a bit of a challenge!

Abbie Meg.: “I enjoyed trying the smoked salmon. I’d never had it before and didn’t think I would like it but it was nice!”

Ali: “My dad is a fisherman so I had tried a lot of it before but it was good seeing my classmates getting to try it all.”

Adam: “It was delicious  to try the fish and I learned lots of new stuff about seafood. I learned how mussells are farmed in underwater ropes, interesting!”

Kyle: “The journey of fish from the sea to your plate was really interesting.”

CHOPSTICK CHALLENGE

On Thursday we held a chopstick challenge in class. We have been learning about Chinese culture with Mr Chen and one of the things he has taught us about is chopsticks. We did a mini challenge last week with Mr Chen and wanted to have another chance so we did our own class challenge. We had to pick up pasta, peas and beans which were all different sizes and shapes and we had to strategise which to go for as they were worth different point values.

Sophie: “It was really tough but it was good fun!”

Jack: “It was great fun and the butter beans were really hard to pick up!”

Rhona: “It was a really fun way of learning how to use chopsticks.”

Ross: “The peas were hard to pick up but we made sure we got the most because they were worth the most points.”

Balbardie Burns Supper 2013

The Burns Supper wis held on the 24^th of January 2013. We hud special guests who included Mr Mackie, PC Arnott and Miss Henderson. Oor host fur the day was Ben Sharkey and we were welcomed by Adrian Lee an then were treated tae a braw performance by our school choir who were singing Dignity by Deacon Blue and Caledonia by Dougie Mclean. It was brilliant.

We then were treated to a guid performance fae the strings assemble an a bonnie solo on the violin by Emilio Leith.

Afterwards was the piping ae the haggis by Ramie Graham. He marched it around the room with the haggis on a tray and laid it on the top table full of the guests. Miss Henderson cut the haggis.

Before we ate we listened to the Address to the Haggis by Andrew Harkins and Robyn Finlayson and Selkirk Grace by Sian Moffat. Mrs White and Mrs Murray prepared a gusty meal of haggis, tatties and neaps and they were braw. We also had Irn Bru with oor haggis.

Lucas Bryce performed Toast tae the Lassies and Kristie McIntosh performed  Reply tae the Laddies. Jessica Smilie then sung a stoatin version of Ae Fond Kiss and we finished aff oor Burns Supper with a Strip the Willow and Auld Langs Syne.

 By Kyle Morrison p7b

IPADS

Adrian: “I think it’s fun to have Ipads to help us learn. The spelling app has been helping me learn new words.”

Rhona: “It’s great that we are getting Ipads to help us learn, it makes learning more fun.”

Murray: “We used an app in maths called Conundrum where you had to make a total using different numbers and operations. It’s good practice at problem solving.”

Ali: “I was using an app to help me pracTise my 7 times table.”

Amber: “I enjoyed using SpellGame becaue it started off with easy words then got harder and harder. You need to spell words on a time limit to help the hero defeat the evil villains.”

Adam: “I used the Twinoo app. It gets two sides of your brain working at the same time. It was cool.”

Kyle: “During writing I used the thesaurus app to improve some of my words.”

Abbie Ma. : “I think Spelling City is great because you can practise your spelling words and you don’t even have to be in school!”

BATHGATE ACADEMY CEILIDH

Murray: “The haggis bonbons prepared by the Home Economics department were delicious!”

Lyndsay: “It was good because we got to mix with other schools.”

Henry: “I didn’t enjoy it too much because I don’t like Scottish dancing.”

Eve: “It was fun dancing with other schools.”

P7 BURNS SUPPER

Ross: “The haggis was amazing!”

Aisha: “My favourite part was the choir and I loved both the songs, they were awesome.”

Abbie Ma : “I loved the mashed potato but ate too much and was a wee bit sick!”

Katie: “The choir were amazing, both songs were stoatin!”

Connor: “I enjoyed the strings performance and I enjoyed making a face out of my mashed potato!”

Sophie: “I enjoyed Jessica singing. She was braw!”

Shannon: “Jessica was superb!”

Murray: “I thought the pupils reading the poems and hosting were great and had lots of expression.”

WHO HAS IMPRESSED?

Craig W: “Henry has impressed me because he has been trying hard to win table points.”

Aqsa: “Kirstie has tried really hard this week not to lose table points.”

Lyndsay: “Mrs White ands Mrs Murray impressed because the haggis was brilliant.”

Dylan: “Connor has impressed me by working hard.”

Billie: “Ross has impress by eating so much haggis and not being sick!”

Mr Berginis: “All of p7 impressed by representing the school brilliantly at the ceilidh and by hosting a fantastic Burns Supper.”