Over the last week P6 students have been working on a topic called Goolwa.  Goolwa is a town in Australia and our primary school in Cockenzie has a connection with the town because of Captain Francis Cadell.   Captain  Cadell was born in Cockenzie House and travelled to Australia on a ship called ‘Minerva’ at the age of fourteen.  In  Australia he mapped and opened the Murray River for trade.

Pupils from the  S4 Prince’s Trust XL Club at PLHS organised a Scootathon for P6 and P7 pupils at Cockenzie Primary.  The PLHS pupils set up a series of stations  to take their scooters to.  It was a lovely morning and the children enjoyed being out in the sunshine having fun.   They did a slalom,  they checked to see how far they could glide, they threw  a beanbag into a bucket and even got dressed up.  The final event was a team relay which involved scooting with a cup of water to a bucket .  Thanks to Ms Balsillie and the PLHS pupils who organised this  event.  Well done to everyone who took part  or gave a donation to this worthy cause.     (some photos to follow)

P6  have been working very hard to organise their Burns Supper.  It takes place on Tuesday afternoon, when there will be haggis, neeps and tatties for just over 200 people,  Scots songs and dances and of course the poetry of Robert Burns.

As a school we are working towards our Rights Respecting School award and today there was a whole school assembly about this.  In each class the children will have worked on their charter for their class and each class has a rep to be on the committee too.   Miss O’Neill and Mrs Sutherland are working with the children on the committee to ensure that we do everything to go for our level 1 award.  Today all the children will have come home with stickers showing the 3 rights that were being shared at assembly today. Ask your child about them.  Look out for more stickers as the weeks  goes on.   Classes will work on  Rights of the Child during the session  in class, too, as we have matched them up with our studies.  Childern are learning not only about their rights but also their responsibilities.   If you’d like to know more  about the Rights of the Child you’ll find information  on the UNICEF website. www.unicef.org.uk

On Friday morning P6 pupils held an Remembrance assembly  to commemorate  Armistice day.  Everyone was in the hall  in time to hold the 2 minutes silence along with the rest of the country.  The silence began with Big Ben chiming 11 o’clock  and ended with a gun firing.  Then Aaron read,

‘They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old.   

Age shall not weary them or the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun,

We will remember them.’

The children then shared with the pupils and guests some of the things they had learned about the Second World War.  They did dramas to tell us about evacuees, Clydebank being bombed, something that happened at Montecassino and  the blitz.  They also sang some war songs, some that were funny  and some that made you sad.  The children also sold poppies for Poppy Scotland and raised around £71 to go to the poppy appeal.

Today all pupils fromP1 to P7 marched in the playground  with their ant-bullying messages.   Each  class had made a banner or flag  and some classes chanted or sang songs they had made.  Each child was given a wrist band  saying I have a right to be safe.  When they got back to class they all had a drink of juice to  refresh them .  The banners and flags will form part of a display in school and P5 will hold an anti-bullying assembly next Friday.  P 4 will follow that up in two weeks time.

All classes in school this week are doing  activities  on anti-bullying issues. On Friday morning they are going  to hold a march at 11.00am  with banners  displaying and chanting  anti-bullying messages .

Today the whole school gathered to give thanks for having enough to food to eat.  Over the past year children in school have been sowing, planting and looking after different crops and in the last few weeks have been cooking and making food  with these crops.  P1 last session looked after tomatoes  and this session in P2 they have been making bruschetta with their lovely tomatoes.  They had so many that P6 made pizza with the tomatoes  and also the most delicious chutney.  The nursery too have been making jams and pickles with their crops.  P5 have been working with Roots and fruits,  they have a clip on youtube.  p4/5 made apple charlotte with Mrs Morrison’s apples from her garden and P1 made their own bread.  P2 made their own butter.  We found out that children around the world have to grow and make their own food to live not just for fun like us.  Every week in school children are involved in making food in some way. P4 showed us their Sukkah and told us how Jewish people gice thanks for their food too.  P7 told us about the Rights of the child, that all people should have the means to buy, make or grow their own food and that every child has the right to nutritious food and clean water.  The Rev Herbold Ross spoke to us too and we gave thanks for our food.   We far exceeded our collection of 10p per child and raised almost twice that. We have about £80.   This money will be sent to Christian Aid, to their East Africa Appeal.  The children sang beautifully and finished with gusto,  singing I can make a difference, by Fischy music. 

Jack Henderson was also congratulated for his efforts in helping other people too by raising money for ‘sick kids’ through his drawings

We hope you all have a very happy holiday and we look forward to seeing you when you come back on the 25th October.

The P6 classes are studying World War 2 at present and will bring their studies to close with  an assembly on November 11th.  They will then find out about electricity before beginning their next topic which is a Burns celebration.  P7M are studying  Rainforests and had a visit to the Botanics and today P7 V are at the Scottish Parliament  as part of their Government topic.  All of P6 are going to a rugby festival on the 11th of October at Meadowmill.