Primary 7 2011-2012

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Primary 7 2011-2012

Welcome to the P7 blog pages!

As we "blog" about our work in class, the articles will appear below; along with any photos we have uploaded to our class gallery, which you can view here.

P7 - Scottish Parliament Design Tasks

	Following their visit to the Scottish Parliament Primary Seven pupils were given the task of designing new merchandise for the gift shop.
Their design brief requested that they use shapes and patterns observed in the architecture of the building to design a new abstract image to feature on a range of souvenirs including mugs, t-shirts, keyrings and bookmarks.
	In teams of two the pupils had to make a series of sketches then pull their ideas together and agree on a final design. The design brief also stated that the colour scheme had to tie in with the natural environment surrounding Holyrood.This limited the choice of colours the pupils could work with but encouraged them to consider tonal ranges. Again the pupils tried out several ideas before agreeing on a final design.
Following the planning stages the pupils produced several items of merchandise. These were presented on 'storyboards' along with annotated sketches mapping their progress through the task.

The pupils were delighted with their final results and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to spend several weeks on a project . They commented upon the feeling of success they felt moving from hesitant first sketches to polished finished products.

Excellent teamwork and confident decision-making Primary Seven! I think we have some future designers in our midst!

Mrs Denvir

January 2012

It was lovely to see P7 come back rested and enthusiastic about the new term after the Christmas holidays.

Our World War II project will continue until mid-term as we have found so many interesting aspects of the the War to cover. I have been delighted to see how these events have been reflected in the imaginative diaries the pupils wrote over the last term where they imagined they were living through the War. Not only are the diaries really interesting and fun to read but they are also beautifully presented with all sorts of clever illustrations and additions. We are now in the final stages of the War studies and it has certainly been one of our most enjoyable topics.

We have started our next topic too on the Scottish Parliament and have already had a very interesting trip to visit Holyrood where we were given a tour of the buildings, including the Debating Chamber. It is an opportune time to study this this topic with Scottish Devolution high on the agenda and, of course, we will be having our own debates as we explore the issues.

In Language we will be exploring poetry, including Scottish poetry. We have been learning a Scots poem of our choice and have had some wonderful recitations of "To a Louse" and "A Man's a Man for a' that" to name but two. Looking at the poetry of others gives us the opportunity to explore the richness of our Scottish heritage and to have a go at writing our own appreciations of our lives. Continuing the Scottish Parliament theme we will also be looking at discursive writing to help us in preparing and writing our speeches for our debates and to explore pertinent contemporary issues in the news.

Our JASS (Junior Award Scheme Scotland) challenge this term is 'My interests' where pupils are being encouraged to try a new interest or to take an existing interest to a new level. I am delighted that a number of pupils propose to learn to cook (I'm looking forward to tasting the results) however there are a number of other exciting interests including Pokemon challenge, darts, building model cars and art.

For the most part the primary 7 pupils have been exemplary in their responsibilities and are a real credit to their class and school, helping out other children, members of staff and the office. These duties along with Pupil Council, Eco-group and Road Safety officers help them to become more aware of others and the sometimes 'inconvenient and less welcome' option of helping others when they would rather be out in the playground with their friends. It is a good lesson for life and I am proud of their cheerful and responsible attitude.

We are almost half way through Primary 7, the final year of school. The class has worked very hard yet are fun to be with since they are full of ideas, enthusiasm and humour. It has been a great year so far and it seems to be flying by too fast!!

Lindsey Birrell

p7 December 2011

Primary 7 have had a great term learning about World War 2 and I'm told it has been one of their favourite topics so far. We began with a very interesting and moving trip to the Poppy Factory which inspired us to write wonderful poetry and paint stunning poppy pictures.


Robbie L p7	Duncan p7

Lewis p7	Mubin p7

We were so impressed by the amazing bravery of soldiers who had fought in the Wars. We have immersed ourselves in World War 2, reading novels set in World War 2, writing an imaginary diary as a homework exercise over the course of the term to reflect the events of the War from the eyes of an evacuated child, writing poetry, letters and newspaper reports on aspects of War events. Our classroom has built up a wonderful War museum reflecting the experiences of our relations who lived through the War and, of course, some terrific artwork.


Matthew p7	Rachel p7

Alistair p7	Robbie L p7

Three of our pupils took part in an inter-schools Mathematics challenge where they performed very well and enjoyed meeting other mathematicians from other schools.

We also took part in rugby, football, Gaelic football and basketball tournaments where we showed great enthusiasm and sportsmanship as well as skill. P7 are top of the School's Basketball League and also won a recent rugby tournament.

The first two terms of P7 have flown by but we have had a lot of fun and have a great deal of excellent work to show for it.

August 2011

Primary 7 have arrived back full of enthusiasm for the new term and their last year of primary. They have all been given added responsibilities whether it be helping the office, helping with younger pupils, helping with resources or general class and school duties and are showing that they are confident, responsible citizens. We have chosen Ross and Jemma to be our Head Boy and Head Girl this year and know that they will take their duties very seriously, doing credit to our school as our ambassadors and helping us in the smooth running of the school.

Our first project is “Around the World” where we will learn about the different continents, climates, physical landscapes, vegetation, lifestyles, problems and areas of particular interest in the world. We hope to take a trip to Dynamic Earth to learn more from their interactive displays.

We have two other trips planned to the Book Festival to see Joan Lingard and to Newhailes where we will work with other schools on environmental issues affecting our lives from both the past and the present.

In writing we will be looking at the more formal writing of reports, business letters, note taking and summarising.

Our focuses this year are making sure that our class is ready for high school by becoming more independent in our own learning, working to a high standard, consolidating and making secure areas of individual “challenge” and learning to use more initiative and become independent individuals.