Category Archives: Technologies

P7 Transition – CDT with Dr Cherry

Over the last 5 weeks P7 have been working with Dr Cherry, a CDT teacher from West Calder high school. On the first week he taught us how to draw straight lines without using a ruler, on the second week we learned how to draw geometric shapes. On the third and final week of Dr Cherry coming to our class we drew  3D cubes also we did some shading with help from a colour scale.  On the fourth week we went up to the high school, when we first arrived we had to pick a template of a spatula either a cat or fish, we had aprons waiting for us on our desks so the first thing we did is put them on. Once we had put our aprons on Dr Cherry went through some safety procedures. Once we had gone through safety procedures Dr Cherry then showed us how to draw a line about half a centimetre far from the template then we drew an x on every part which would be the wood that we were going to cut off. We used a coping saw to cut the excess wood off. Today when we went to W.C.H.S  Dr Cherry had cleaned up our spatula then we had to sand it down to make it soft using 2 different types of sandpaper. We were also very lucky to see some of the big machines in action. Then Dr Cherry put olive oil on our hands and we had to  rub it on our spatula to make sure none of the wood came off in our food. At first it was very sticky and not very nice on our hands. When we washed the oil off the spatula and off our hands they were very soft. He then showed us some models that he was working on and trust us they were amazing.

We all enjoyed this experience very much  and cant wait to go to  High School,  we all hope that you enjoyed reading about or transition up to the high school.

written by Olivia, Laura and Caitlin. 044047

Glow Meet with Williamston PS

On Thursday some of our Pupil Council and Technical Troopers took part in a Glow Meet with some pupils from Williamston Primary School. Some classes at Williamston Primary already use Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), so we decided we would ask them some questions about their journey, including the benefits of BYOD and how they resolved any issues they came across. A big thank you to the P6s who gave gave some of their lunch time to meet with us, we have lots to think about.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Today at our Pupil Council meeting we discussed the concerns we had about bring our own device and came up with some solutions.

  1. Lost, stolen, damaged devices: We recognised that we would have to trust each other. We think it’s important that your device has a protective cover. Some of us discussed that if you brought you own devic e it is just for you to use. We would have to learn to take responsibility for our own devices and respect other children’s property.
  2. Taking photos & videos: Some of us had the idea that if you were using your own device you could only take photos of yourself and your work and you could use school devices to take photos of other pupils in your class. We discussed how you had to ask someone before you took a photo and then delete the photo from the device when you are finished. We recognised that we would have to be responsible when taking photos and videos to ensure they were appropriate.
  3. What if I don’t have a device?: ‘So what?’ -We have lots of devices and eq uipment in school that you can use. We discussed how you might want to take an old device to school with you to use.
  4. Responsible use: We thought it would be a good idea to create a contract so children remember how to use the devices responsibily. We don’t think we should use social media or texting  at school, we want to use our devices to help us learn.

On Thursday some of the Pupil Council and Technical Troopers are having a Glow Meet with the Pupil Council at Williamston Primary. They are using BYOD and we think we could learn lots of them.

Our new school devices are almost ready to use on our Anytime Anywhere Learning network … We are very excited abut the possibilities this will have for us and our teachers!

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Anytime Anywhere Learning is coming to Mid Calder!

This week the Pupil Council and Technical Troopers took part in some very exciting discussions about Anytime Anywhere Learning (AAL). AAL is when we have a wifi network where we can connect handheld devices to the internet. The first stage of AAL is when we connect our in school devices such as iPads to the network, the second stage is bring your own device (BYOD) that is when we have the opportunity to bring our own devices into school.

We are currently at stage one.

The Pupil Council and Technical Troopers have a lot of research to do before we are allowed to bring our own device to school, this will begin will a consultation with pupils and parents … so watch this space!

This week during our Junior Leadership Team meeting we discussed the benefits and issues of bring your own device. Next time we will look at the issues and see if we can think of solutions. If you have any thoughts on bring your own device please leave a comment below.

 

P7 High School Transition Visit

P7 group 1’s have had a fantastic time attending the high school CDT department with Dr Cherry. The children were able to use sawing equipment,  vices and sanding equipment to make a wooden spatula. They used olive oil to treat the wood before use. It was a great opportunity to explore the school and get a feel for the various departments and learn more about the knowledge and skills  they will experience. The children listened well, followed instructions, worked hard to reach their full potential and paid attention to safety rules. They were a credit to themselves and the school. Well done P7, I was very proud of you.

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Transition: P7 CDT lesson

This week Primary 7 group 1’s had a visit from the high school CDT teacher, Dr Cherry. He was here to help us with the transition to High School and show us some of the skills we would be learning when we get there.

We learned to draw straight lines without using a ruler, for example vertical, horizontal and diagonal. He also taught us a technique on how to draw squares, using only horizontal lines and then turning your paper to a different angle. He gave us a top tip – to use all the joints in our arm when drawing free hand straight lines. This will help us control our lines.

We all look forward to his future visits to primary school and we are especially excited about visiting his workshop at West Calder high school in 3 weeks time. We will keep on practicing our techniques until then!

“I liked drawing the lines free hand!” – Chiaro

“I liked it when he taught us the proper names for light lines and heavy lines” – Michael

“It helped us feel more comfortable and confident about moving up to high school” – Holly

“Dr Cherry made us feel comfortable about the lesson and trying new skills. He also told very funny jokes! – ‘Have you ever heard of the magic tractor? It turned in to a field!’

 

Homework: Using Purple Mash at home to support literacy and numeracy

All pupils will soon have a Purple Mash login in their reading records or homework diary. Purple Mash helps develop literacy and numeracy skills in relevant and engaging ways whilst promoting ICT skills.

You can find out more about Purple Mash by clicking here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxDWPUZVSNc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahKiZpM_H_0

Pupils can log into Purple Mash using their logon through the following link: https://www.purplemash.com/sch/midcalder-EH53