Primary 7

Next week will be Money and Finance week in school. We will be focussing on essential goods and services and discussing the different ways we can pay for them, considering the benefits and risks of each method.
We will also become ‘Entrepreneurs’ and set up our own businesses in class, explaining what our company does, the product or service we are offering and discussing marketing and advertising ideas.
For Monday, 24th February, can you please complete the activities below:

Advert Watch Look at different media (e.g. TV, internet, newspapers, magazines) and write down, record, print or cut out examples of adverts for credit cards, banks and building societies. Bring these to school where we will share with the rest of the class and create a display of information.

What makes it successful? Imagine you run a business. Think about some of the things which would be important to make this business successful. Be prepared to share your ideas in groups on Monday.

Today we went on a trip to the Scottish Parliament. We arrived at 9.30am and were taken into a classroom.
A lady, Elizabeth, showed us a slideshow about the history of Scottish Parliament. Then we got split into groups and were given a selection of objects. We had to guess what the objects were. There was a Ballot Box, a Seal, a Gavel and Mace.
We also played a game where we chose a number, clicked on it and a picture was revealed. We had to decide if the pictures shown were reserved or devolved matters.
Once we played the game we went on a tour of Parliament. We got to go into the Debating Chamber, where we saw the real Mace. We learned lots of different facts. (Rosie and Marta)

Iain Gray used to be a High School teacher. (Scott)
When in the Debating Chamber, you can only speak if the Presiding Officer invites/ accepts you. (Harry)
The Mace in Parliament is made from gold and silver. (Rory)
MSPs have to slot their ID cards into the speakers in the Debating Chamber. (Kieran)
The person who designed parliament was Spanish. (Murron)
In one of the rooms, the ceiling is shaped like boats because of shipbuilding and fishing in Scotland. (Catriona)
The bigger the seal given to someone, the more important you are. (Eve)
The building was finished in 2005. (Leonie)
1235 was the first written mention of a Scottish Parliament. (Paddy)
The Labour Party doesn’t support Independence. (Harris)
The Mace was given to Parliament by The Queen. (Millie)
In a debate, the Presiding Officer can cut your microphone off if you go over your time allocation. (Joe)
There are 129 MSP members in the Scottish Parliament. (Finn)
In the Debating Chamber, if a speaker needed to cough or sneeze, they can mute their microphone. (Jack)
The Parliament building is designed from different parts of Scotland. (Ellen)
Iain Gray didn’t join Parliament until he was 40. (Christopher)

Finally we went into the chat room and Iain Gray asked us and answered some questions. He’s the MSP of East Lothian.

Photo to follow!

Last week, Primary 7 had great fun when a Fencing instructor came into school and taught them the basics of Fencing.

This year, the Primary 7 poetry winner was selected by Mr Devereux.
After a tough decision, he decided that Ellen was the deserved winner.
She can be seen below, performing her poem ‘Oh Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny’ at our Burns Assembly.
Well done to all Primary 7 pupils for learning your poems and performing them to myself and Mr Devereux in class.

Hi Everyone! I do hope you’ve had an enjoyable Christmas Holiday and I ‘d like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a happy, healthy 2014.

This term, up until February 7th, our topic will be “Lights, Camera, Action.” We shall be looking at the earliest known moving images, the illusion of movement, the birth of cinema, photography, Hollywood, famous actors, actresses and film directors and investigating sound and how it’s made.

Our first Maths topic will be Measurement. We will begin by investigating how and why measurement is used in everyday life, estimate and measure items (length, weight, capacity and liquid volume), explore the perimeter of 2D shapes and the volume of 3D objects and interpret problems involving measures and find a solution.

Primary 7 continue to work very hard in all curricular areas.

Millie- I’ve really enjoyed learning about decimals in Maths. We’ve been ordering decimals, adding and subtracting them.
We also did some really cool Hallowe’en cat skeleton art using pastels and chalks. We had to make the cat look like the moon was shining off his bones. We’ve also been learning lots about Anne Frank and have been watching the film made about her diary, instead of reading a story, at the end of the day

Harry- I ‘ve enjoyed the spelling activities we’ve been doing. I particularly liked using Miss McNicoll’s board games and making our own rules up on how to use them. We had to make sure we used our spelling words somehow in the game. We’ve just finished reading The Demon Dentist as a class book and it was really good.

Finn- We did research about rationing during WWII. We looked at how little people used to get to live on. We used a ration book and collected a weeks ingredients. Then we made honey cakes in class which were yummy! In P.E. we’re doing Gymnastics. We’re using the apparatus to perform different rolls and jumps.

Well done to the class for their great assembly this morning. You all did a fantastic job- in a very short space of time. A well deserved weekend off now, for you all! Miss McNicoll

Primary 7 have had a busy time since returning to school in August. Our whole school topic ‘Inventors’ ended last week and we began our new class topic, WWII. The class are thoroughly enjoying this topic and have produced some fantastic pieces of work already.

Rory : We have been learning about ‘The Miracle ofDunkirk.’ We watched a film then created a newspaper article all about ‘The Little Ships’ and how they saved lots of British and French Soilders. Then we had to pretend that we were soilders waiting to get on to the ships. We also created a watercolour painting to convey the sad and gloomy atmosphere of Dunkirk. We have learned a lot about Hitler and how he rose to power between the end of WWI and WWII. We wrote diary entries as if we were the prison gaurds in charge of Hitler’s cell at Landsberg Prison when he was arrested in 1923 for trying to take control of Germany.

Harry: We watched the video of Dunkirk which was really interesting. We then did a newspaper article. We did a picture of the little ships at Dunkirk too. The pier at Dunkirk was given the name ‘The Mole.’ In my my picture it’s been destroyed by German Bombers. We also created lifesize paintings of well known WWII figures. My group did Winston Churchill who was the British Prime Minister during WWII.

Kieran: We spoke about ‘The Blitz’ which was when the Germans started to bomb major towns and cities in England from the air. We painted  paper different fire colours then cut out black buildings to create silhouettes. Some people put German planes in the air and used black charcoal pencils to create a smoke effect.

Primary 7 have also taken on board the many responsibilities that come with being the’oldies’ of the school! They are thoroughly enjoying working with their Primary 1 Buddies and are setting a great example to the younger children in school.

Ellen : We met our Primary 1 Buddies and helped them to make ‘key words’ books. We also had lunch with them and showed them what to do in the Dinner Hall.

Millie : I enjoyed having lunch with my Buddy. It’s great fun. I really liked showing her what to do on the Trim Trail.

Primary 7 and their Primary 1 Buddies on PhotoPeach

Welcome back to all Primary 7 pupils. I’m looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday and hope you’re ready for all of the exciting challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of you this year.

This term, our topic will be Famous Inventors. There will be an opportunity for you to become Inventors during this topic, so if you have any old junk at home, please bring it into school.

Our next topic will be World War 2.

Homework: In addition to their reading, I will give the children weekly literacy or maths homework, where appropriate. Occasional homework related to whole class reading or projects will be given out.

I welcome parental input and feedback on pupils’ learning. Should you wish to comment on your child’s learning, or ask any questions, please do not hesitate to communicate this via the homework diary, or to arrange a meeting.

Many thanks,

J. McNicoll

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