To see how we created a felt picture with artist Christina Sargent follow this link.
Wednesday 12 May 2010
Saturday 24 April 2010
Lyness visit
Both p7 classes took a ferry ride to Lyness this week. Our mission was to explore and find out about Lyness and Orkney during the wars - World War II in particular.
We started with a walk to the cemetery where we studied the information on many war graves. We were very impressed with how well kept and tidy the cemetery is. It was sad to see how many people had died and surprising to see how many different nationalities there were. The young ages of the casualties gave us plenty to think about. Reading the inscriptions makes everything more real and meaningful to us.
We've never seen James move as fast as when his papers blew away! He caught them but oh dear he didn't watch where he was going! Hope you got you shoes cleaned James!
Inside the museum there are many boards, displays and interactive exhibits to study. Some people's favourite part was trying on the clothes and uniforms.
Outside the museum we spent some trying trying to identify pieces of equipment from parts of photographs. It was a bit like a treasure hunt. Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't manage to see the air raid shelter.
See more images in the slide show below.
We started with a walk to the cemetery where we studied the information on many war graves. We were very impressed with how well kept and tidy the cemetery is. It was sad to see how many people had died and surprising to see how many different nationalities there were. The young ages of the casualties gave us plenty to think about. Reading the inscriptions makes everything more real and meaningful to us.
There is a film show and many interesting exhibits inside the giant oil tank. It was fascinating to hear our voices echo in there too.
Inside the museum there are many boards, displays and interactive exhibits to study. Some people's favourite part was trying on the clothes and uniforms.
Outside the museum we spent some trying trying to identify pieces of equipment from parts of photographs. It was a bit like a treasure hunt. Unfortunately we ran out of time and didn't manage to see the air raid shelter.
See more images in the slide show below. Gas masks
As part of our study of World War II we made some models of gas masks. Using sound effects from the BBC website we were able to simulate what it would have been like to go through an air raid and gas alert. We used our tables as air raid shelters. It was very cramped but thankfully our air raids didn't last very long
See some more masks.
Thursday 25 March 2010
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Wednesday 17 March 2010
Wise Choices
On Monday 15th March the p7 classes had a chance to make new friends from other primary schools in Orkney. We took part in a drama workshop called Wise Choices, along with pupils from Evie, Flotta, Westray and Papa Westray. The workshop was run by the Youth Theatre company.
We had a relay game that was a group task and led to discussions about the importance of rules. We decided that there are good reasons for some rules and laws and learned who we should look to for help and advice if we need it. 
The activity that most of us really enjoyed was when we had to be the arms for someone else and perform an operation on a patient. Each group acted a scenario with hilarious results! There are some very active imaginations in p7!
We played games that required lots of cooperation and action. It was interesting to work with pupils we didn't know and as the day went on we relaxed more and everyone became a bit less self conscious. The games all led to a focus on the dangers and effects of alcohol.
We had a relay game that was a group task and led to discussions about the importance of rules. We decided that there are good reasons for some rules and laws and learned who we should look to for help and advice if we need it. The activity that most of us really enjoyed was when we had to be the arms for someone else and perform an operation on a patient. Each group acted a scenario with hilarious results! There are some very active imaginations in p7!All in all the day was informative and a great, interactive way to learn about alcohol abuse.
Young Leader award
Over the next two terms both p7 classes are taking part in the Young Leader award. Catherine Johnston from Active Schools is helping us through the scheme. We are learning what it means to be a leader and what skills we need to improve to be successful.
We started off with taking turns at leading in follow the leader and Simon Says. We discovered that one of the most important skills is good communication. It's also important to be really sure of the rules!
Over the course of the award we will learn how to organise groups for games and how to prepare for a games session with younger pupils. By the end of the project we will be expected to take groups from the younger classes and teach them games, doing all the organising, preparation and supervision ourselves.
It will be quite a challenge and hopefully will make the playground a more exciting and inclusive place to play.
We started off with taking turns at leading in follow the leader and Simon Says. We discovered that one of the most important skills is good communication. It's also important to be really sure of the rules!Over the course of the award we will learn how to organise groups for games and how to prepare for a games session with younger pupils. By the end of the project we will be expected to take groups from the younger classes and teach them games, doing all the organising, preparation and supervision ourselves.
It will be quite a challenge and hopefully will make the playground a more exciting and inclusive place to play.
Sunday 21 February 2010
More visitors!
This week we had visits from our MSP, Liam McArthur and our MP, Alistair Carmichael.Both of them talked to us about their jobs and how they represent Orkney in different ways. We also asked them questions about international, national and local issues in preparation for our BBC School report. 
