John Muir Outdoor learning day 4

Today we started off at South Queensferry just under the forth rail bridge to walk part of the John Muir way. It was a foggy morning but thankfully the weather didn’t take a turn for the worse.  The John Muir way spans from the west coast to the east coast and can be found here: http://johnmuirway.org/route. We walked some of section 7: South Queensferry to Edinburgh. We stopped just short of Bambougle castle to head down onto the beach to explore some of the local eco systems. We hunted for limpets, cockles, welks and various other sea creatures in and amongst the rock pools. After lunch we had a chance to dip our toes in the water and discovered it was slightly colder than expected. Walking home seemed to take slightly longer which might have had something to do with some wet feet and muddy clothing weighing us down.

Fun Fives day 4 – Throwing Thursday

The week is nearly at an end and some boys and girls (and staff) are up to 20 laps of the playground area, with their fun five activity every 4th lap.
Today was the emphasis was on throwing skills – starting by throwing beanbags at the target of a hoop on the ground. Some pupils set themselves the challenge of throwing to the furthest away hoop. When they came to their second activity they had to choose which size of box they were going to throw their ball into – not many people tried the smallest box – it was very tricky!
Back to beanbags for activity three, and how far could you throw a beanbag? Activity four was throwing the javelin and we were all glad that the wind had died down today.
The final throwing activity was by far the most popular – SOAK THE TEACHER!
Miss McLuckie, Mr Reid and Miss Carson took turns on the wet seats and had pupils aiming to throw a wet sponge at them. To say they all got pretty wet by the end was no exaggeration – especially as there was the chance to soak each other with water pistols! The most successful at hitting the teachers seemed to be the younger pupils who didn’t throw the sponge with all their strength – this helped their aim.

Then pupils helped to tidy everything up – in their own way!See our photos.

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John Muir Outdoor learning day 3

Today we went to Beecraigs country park and tested out our orienteering skills. We split into groups and each one took a turn at navigating using our maps. Along the way we stopped and explored various parts of the forest. We found a tree that we all thought fairies must live in because it was so old and the sun was shining on it in an interesting way. We all split up at this point and found our own tree to sit beside and stayed quiet for five minutes so that we could hear the forest around us. After lunch we came back to the school to make bat boxes. Some of use learned the importance of not hitting our thumbs with the hammer. The bat boxes will eventually be put up onto the school and we hope that this will attract loads of bats to help keep the midgie population down.

 

Up, over, under and through! Fun Fives Day 3

Everyone is beginning to look forward to these fun activities in the playground – some had even started running their laps before we officially started off our Wednesday fun. The theme today was up, over, under and through and those pupils who could, were doing 15 laps of the concrete area as well as their jumping, crawling tasks.

The first task (after 3 laps) was to jump over the hurdles, next time around it was to try to get under the canes without knocking them down – but nobody wanted to get too dirty by crawling! The third task was to go through the tunnel – our photo shows the longest pupil in Blackburn!
Task 4 was to either walk along the snake or try to jump from side to side along it – this was a new activity for a lot of pupils.
Everyone had great fun finishing the course (on the 15th lap) by going over all the obstacles on out trim trail.
Look at all our photos!
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John Muir Outdoor learning day 2

Today we started off at Polkemmet again. We used our maps to locate where we were and Kenny gave us more fact files to help us identify certain trees. We stopped for a snack and then ventured further into the forest where we were given the chance to cross the river almond. The first location we tried proved to be far too slippy and was abandoned in favour of a place where the stones were drier. Even this was quite a challenge but we all really enjoyed ourselves even if some of us did get a little wet. Before lunch we were given a whole group challenge to make a shelter. We had to collect large sticks and lots and lots of leaves to help build it. Kenny showed us the best way to construct it to make sure we would have shelter from the wind and rain. It took a long time to make and some children really showed great resilience in never giving up. We got to eat our lunch in the shelter before having a nice wee cup of hot chocolate. After lunch we moved locations to Redmill forest to litter pick. It really was shocking at how much we found. 20 bags that were nearly all completely full! To finish the day off we came back to the school to fill in our diaries so that we could have loads of extra time tomorrow

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John Muir Outdoor learning week day 1

Today we started off at Polkemmet country park. To start off with we gathered together and Kenny (our guide) gave everyone maps. We were asked to locate ourselves and then we set off on our way. At regular points Kenny stopped us so we could have the opportunity to use our maps.  During the walk Kenny stopped us to discuss various things that we could use to start a fire. We learned that bark from a silver birch tree was excellent kindling. If we collected sap from an evergreen then this would help the bark burn longer. Once into the forest we were given fact file sheets relating to various trees and we split into groups to try and identify them. At this point it was time for snack so we settled down onto the moss and grass and had a well deserved break. Our next activity was a group challenge where Kenny asked us to make rafts out of twigs and whatever else we could find. We sailed them down the river Almond. Just after lunch Kenny showed us how to light fires using flint and steel and we all had a shot at making our own. We then went for a walk further into the woods and had a challenge at making a den. After evaluating our dens with green for growth and being tickled pink we all agreed that working together was the best way to make a den. Straight after this we had a toasted marshmallow from a fire that Kenny had made. He told us about fire safety in the woods and how to help put a fire out. After this it was time to head home to fill in our diaries and have a good rest for tomorrows fun activities.

Fun Fives – Day 2. Ball Skills Tuesday

It was a cold morning when we started our second Fun Fives Event.
In response to comments from the pupils, we made the laps shorter, but everyone had to do 10 laps today.
Our focus today was ball skills and every second lap pupils tried to develop a ball skill.
After lap 2 pupils had to dribble a football between some cones. At lap 4, it was bounce along the lane with a ball between your knees. After lap 6 everyone did very well keeping their tennis ball balanced on their tennis racquet. The last two special laps involved scoring a basket or shooting at goal.
All the pupils, from P1 – P4 (including our ASD classes) had great fun!
Check out some photos!IMG_0302

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Fun Fives – Day 1. Movement Monday

It was a misty Monday morning when pupils from P1 – P4 started their fundraising efforts for Sport Relief with our first Fun Five event.
Today was Movement Monday and every time they came to the movement lane on their laps around the playground, pupils had to do a different movement.

On lap 1 it was all about moving fast, lap 2 was a go slow lane. On lap 3 pupils hopped on one foot, by lap 4 it was hop or jump with two feet. Our last lap was all about travelling as low as possible – for most this meant bunny hops as it was a bit wet underfoot.

It was tiring but lots of fun – REMEMBER sponsor money back to school as soon as possible.

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Practical Maths

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Pupils from ASD2 have been investigating 2D shape and 3D objects. As well as work on the whiteboard, from our text books and work sheets we have been sorting and creating shapes.
Some pupils used straws to create 2D shapes and then label them. Others made their 2D shapes into 3D objects – in this case all pyramids. these link to our IDL topic – can you guess what that is?
We’ll be having a sharing the learning event all about Ancient Egypt with the pupils from P2/3/4 early in term 4.

Fun Fives Week beginning the 14th of March 2016

The children of Blackburn are raising money for Sport’s Relief and are taking part in 5 sporting activities every day leading up to Sport’s Relief Friday.  You will have received a sponsor form to raise money for this event and we kindly request that the children only ask for sponsors from friends and family.  It is going to be a lot of fun and a healthy way to raise money.  Please ensure that the children have suitable clothing to take part in each event and look out for the photographs to follow.

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