Tag Archives: P7

Expressive Arts, Outside of School, Primary 7, Second Level

P7s’ Eye and Mind-Opening Visit to the Gallery of Modern Art One and Two in Edinburgh on the 28th November

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Miracles at Mid Calder

A Leither who Left us all Thinking!

P7s went to the National Galleries of Scotland MOD2 on the 28th of November for a tour of Sir Eduardo Paolozzi’s studio and to explore a few of his sculptures in the gardens and cafe there. They went to explore further the work of this famous Scottish artist, born in Leith, who had great success not only in 3-D work but also in printmaking, collage and textiles.

In class we had discussed the Pop Art movement and worked on Pop Art posters with bright coloured backgrounds and collaged onto these with drawings of what they thought were the most popular cultural items of their times. Now it was time to find out from Duncan and Mo at the National Gallery more about his sculptures of man and machine such as the monumental Vulcan and The Master of the Universe.

So what did we think:

I was amazed by the fantastic responses of the children about the meaning of the artworks and what creative ideas they had. When we looked at the recreation of Paolozzi’s studio we discovered that maquettes were small models for sculptors to work from and we saw the explosion of interesting things he had around him.

Olivia enjoyed seeing the studio that Eduardo Paolozzi had and seeing all the finished and unfinished works that he made. She wants to learn more about him and how he fell in love with Art. Kiera thought it was interesting to see the artwork in his studio and there was lot to see.

Then we got the chance to “play with shapes” and were free to make our own 3-D artworks from card and tape and the pupils rose to this imaginative challenge and got the opportunity to evaluate their peers’ work. The parent helpers, Mrs Ramsay and Mrs Smith were invaluable in encouraging and supporting the frenzy of work.

Bethan enjoyed making the sculptures with her friend but wanted more time to finish them. Calum enjoyed making models and having fun with his friends.

Afterwards some of the children chose to look around some of the NOW exhibit at MOD1 and others chose to play in the sculpture garden. With a smaller group wandering through the sounds and sights of the Turner prize-winning Susan Philipsz’s work it was quite an eerie, melancholic experience with 7 turntables each playing single notes for 17 minutes and in the next room salt paintings of different kinds of tears that linked with the sad music. Really moving. Especially to see some of the least engaged pupils at the start of the day truly immersed in the experience. We had an opportunity to look into the mind and work of a great new artist and in doing so this allowed us to open our minds.

Cade liked the turntables because the men in the rooms told us about them and we got to listen to the sounds but he got bored quite quickly.

Well done to everyone! Great creative thinkers.

Primary 7

P7 Leaver’s Party

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Tonight the school was open after hours for some very excited P7 pupils. After many busy things over the last few weeks with transition to high school, M&Ds and their Leaver’s assembly they got to let their hair down at their Leaver’s Party. Everyone was dressed to impressed with beautiful dresses and smart shirts, they all looked so grown up! It may have been one of the wettest days we’ve had for months but they didn’t let that stop them having fun.

They enjoyed some chips and ice-cream, party games and entertainment from a fantastic DJ who used all their choices for the play list making it very specific to them.

Here are some pictures from their evening. A big thank you to all the staff who also came along to help make the evening such a great success.

Primary 7, Transition

P7 Transition

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The last few weeks have been very busy for P7s. We have been preparing to move onto our high schools through a variety of ways. We have had visits from staff at the high school as well as a Skype session with some S1 pupils at West Calder High School. We have all had our transition visits where we got to meet our new teachers, learn about the routines and expectations of high school and start some of our timetable. We really enjoyed getting to move around classes and teachers every new period and had some great S6 buddies who took us around. We have been doing some work on getting ourselves organised including how to make best use of our timetable to prepare what we need to bring each day. We also had some time to think back on our year in P7 through our transition challenge for the P6 pupils. We prepared a powerpoint by taking on responsibility for different aspects of P7 that we thought they should know and presented this to the new P7 class. They also had the chance to ask us some questions.

p7 transition challenge whole 2

Primary 7, Sciences

P7 trip to the botanics

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P7s went on an excursion to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. Their IDL topic has been ‘How does our garden grow?’ with a focus on plants. One of the outcomes they have been working towards is:

Through carrying out practical activities and investigations, I can show how plants have benefited society. SCN 2-02b.

At the Royal Botanics the groups each got a workshop with Ginger who worked on developing their understanding of how important plants are to the world and how almost everything we eat or use can be traced back to plants. We also got to explore the beautiful grounds. We may have had a very wet day, with some thunder too, but we didn’t let that spoil the experience.

Events, Primary 7

P7 Fair

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On Thursday 1st June the P7 pupils held a fair to raise money for their P7 Leaver’s Party. There were lots of stalls with things to do or buy. All pupils in the school had the chance to come along. Some of the stalls included:

  • Soak the House Captains/Vice Captains
  • Buy slime
  • Baking stall
  • Lucky Dip
  • Temporary Tattoos
  • Beat the Goalie

They raised over £500 which is fantastic! A huge thank you to all the boys and girls who came along and helped the event to be a great success. Also a thank you to the P7s for their hard work and to everyone who donated baking.

Anytime Anywhere Learning, Digital Learning Week 2017, Primary 7, Technologies

P7 Digital Learning Week

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National Digital Learning Week 2017 was taking place Monday 15 – Friday 19 May and was about celebrating how digital technology can make a positive difference to learning and teaching.

P7 have been learning about coding as part of their learning on for one of the technologies outcomes:

I can create, develop and evaluate computing solutions in response to a design challenge. TCH 2-15a

This started with learning about what coding is through a suitable platform. We chose Scratch as it is a child friendly and easy to use. We started with this as a reading task by reading the instructions to create a simple Scratch game. This gave us the understanding of using blocks of code and instructions to make things happen in a game. This included creating characters, making objects move and creating a way to win. We learnt that the computer will only do something if it has the right set of instructions so it is really important to check each stage is correct. We then started making and designing games to meet a challenge such as winning by getting 10 points, collecting items or beating an opponent.

Anytime Anywhere Learning, Digital Learning Week 2017, Primary 7, Technical Troopers, Technologies, Uncategorized

Digital Learning Week in P7/6

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It has been Digital Learning week across the country and we at MCPS have been celebrating by  sharing our learning across all levels. The technical troopers have many talents and Cailin and Olivia  shared their knowledge of Sway, a tool for producing presentations, where the children can either work independently or contribute to a group Sway. Cailin and Olivia were the teachers for the morning and gave a short presentation as to how to use Sway and the features that can be used. Some of the children had already used Sway and were just building upon their knowledge but others had not used it before and needed a little bit more guidance. By the end of the lesson all children were able to contribute to our class ‘How does your garden grow?’ Sway and had made their own, some added pictures and some added videos. It was good to see Amy continuing with her Sway during free time Friday this week and building on her knowledge. I hope that some children might just use Sway in the future when presenting.

I hope you all have a fantastic holiday weekend.

Miss Anderson

 

Maths & Numeracy, Primary 7

P7 using multiplication and division strategies

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LI: We are learning to choose the most effective multiplication or division strategy for a given calculation.

S.C: I can use a range of strategies

I can say why a strategy is best the calculation.

I can explain my working out.

In P7 we have been going over our strategies that we know in multiplication and division. We all knew a range of strategies and certainly had our favourites. We then looked at different types of questions and which strategy would be most suitable. We learnt that it is always best to try to solve it mentally first. The class favourite is the grid method but for simple calculations like 4 x 26 then it is not the most suitable. For this one we would use strategies like partitioning, doubling and halving or using number facts like 4 x 25 = 100 and then add one more 4.

Outside of School, Primary 7, Uncategorized

Upper area trip to the Scottish Parliament

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On Tuesday afternoon the upper area visited the Scottish Parliament. When we arrived we spent a short while looking at our spectacular surroundings of Arthur Seat and the amazing architecture of The Scottish Parliament, even the bike stands are arranged in a special way, which can only be seen if you are standing in a particular spot. On arrival, all of the children had to go through very strict security, it was a bit like going through security in the airport. Thankfully we were all ok and we were all able to proceed to the main part of the building. Walking through the main foyer we could see the spectacular architecture throughout and there were many fascinating sculptures that we were able to take the time to look at.

Firstly we went into a small room where we were put into small groups. There were certain objects scattered around the room, such as; a ballot box, a gavel and sounding block,  a crown and robe, the ceremonial mace, the act of union and a royal seal, we didn’t know that the bigger the seal you had, the more important you were, in our groups we had to discuss what we thought they might be and what relevance they had to The Scottish Parliament. As we have been learning about The Scottish Parliament we were very good at discussing the purpose of each object. We also learned a bit more about the history of the Scottish Parliament. In our groups we then had to decide the devolved matters and the decisions that were made in The Scottish Parliament.

Primary 6 were very lucky to be able to have a chat with our own local MSP Neil Findlay who spoke about his life as an MSP. He also gave us a few tips for when we are holding our own elections. Katie asked for some advice on how to become class president, Neil advised her to be confident when speaking, to know your questions and anticipate what your audience might want to ask, he also added that it is always good to put a bit of humour into your speech.

Finally we had the opportunity to visit the debating chamber. We were all very excited and the children were eager to see our First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. We had to be extremely quiet when entering the debating chamber  whilst the debate was on as there are cameras and microphones everywhere. When we entered there was a very lively debate going on and some of the politicians were even shouting and banging their tables, we later found out that this is their way of booing! We couldn’t always make out what the debate was about or who was talking but it was very entertaining. Our First Minister Nicola Sturgeon even made an appearance much to the delight of many of the children. It was a very interesting environment and gave us an insight as to what goes on at The Scottish Parliament.

 

I like it when the MSP’s were hitting their table during the debate as it was very funny – Natalia P7

The debating chamber was the best bit of the day, I particularly liked the way that all of the parties disagreed. – Keiran P7

I found the trip very interesting and learned a lot more about The Scottish Parliament – Matilda P6

I disliked when all the MSP’s were banging on their tables and interrupting each other because it seemed very disrespectful to the others that were talking – Cailin P6

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