Christmas Together Dance

A few people were absent at the final filming and a couple of routines were not filmed but we had a great deal of fun making this video!

Arctic Ecosystem Dioramas

We made some dioramas to illustrate our knowledge of Arctic ecosystems. Most groups chose to do both sea and land as they are very interconnected. One group chose land only and could include the animals of the boreal forest - the Taiga. Sunsets were important as the low level of the sun in Autumn and Spring mean that the sky often has sunset and sunrise colours.

Reading with P2

The yellow reading group were the first of our class to go to P2 to help with their reading this week. Its a good reminder of how far everyone has come on their learning journey and what excellent helpers we can be.

Subtraction Videos - sharing our strategies and methods

Inuit bird prints and drawings, sculptures and the box from Igloolik

We have been finding out about the culture of some of the people who live in the Arctic.

Drawing birds in the style of Inuit artists

by Hermione and Leah

Making a model Inukshuk

Making a model InukShuk was fun but challenging because you had to get the layers of plasticine to stick together to make it look like layers of stones. You had to make the slabs flat otherwise the model collapsed and you had to start again. We had to try and make the pieces proportionate like the arms couldn’t be too big or the head to small. Eventually we managed to fix the model so it could stand up on its own.

By Archie & Kavan   

Making clay model sculptures by Maeson and Charlie

Inuit Picture Printing

First we got a very sharp pencil and started tracing around the pictures quite hard onto the circular polystyrene surface. Then we got some ink and put it on an ice cream lids, then we rolled the roller on it. Then we rolled it over the polystyrene but you can’t do it to hard or the picture would disappear. When we had done we put a big piece of paper over it and we used the palm of our hand to make the paper stick to it. We continued this for about 4 minutes. Then someone had to hold the polystyrene and the other had to peel the paper off. Then we had beautiful pictures.

By Jenna & Noah

 We also had a look at things that the children in Igloolik, Nunavut sent to Glaitness School. We discussed why they chose these things and had a look at their drawings and books in Inuktitut. You can read in the comments below what we would choose to send in a box to Igloolik, if we had the chance, and why we would send them. It was interesting to think about what we would like to see or look at or do if we could visit, and what we would show them if they were able to visit us in Orkney.

Into Film - The Eagle Huntress

The Eagle Huntress

In the Altai Mountains Aishlopan’s father is teaching her to eagle hunt because she is determined to become a hunter. In the past women have not been known to eagle hunt but she wants to change that. Her next step was to enter the annual eagle festival to prove herself and she won and all the men were very surprised. Her final step was to take her eagle hunting in winter and she caught a fox.

Ellen and Kirsty            

The Eagle Huntress

We went to watch a film called The Eagle Huntress.  It was about a girl who wanted to be an eagle hunter. But the elder men thought that it was not a very good idea. But she was very determined to become a skilled eagle hunter.  So she and her father rode a very long way on horses to go to the famous eagle hunter tournament and she won. Her eagle was a eaglet. She had to train very hard to win the tournament. They went to some snowy mountains and got her eaglet to kill a fox.   

Hermione and Noah

Human Planet - The Arctic

Kayak hunting

There was three brothers going hunting for narwhals, they had to stay for 3-4 weeks they found some narwhals but the narwhals dived before they could harpoon them. Then they found another pack of narwhals, they went for the slowest narwhal, they threw 5 harpoons and they killed it. They took it ashore then they cut it open ate some and took the rest of it home. The ice was cracking so they had to move fast but they made it home safely.    

By Alfie and Jenna

Reindeer Migration

 It was  tense when the reindeer were swimming and the baby reindeer turned back, but the reindeer keeper got it to go the right way again but if she didn’t get it sorted the whole pack of reindeer would of turned back. When the pack off reindeer got to the other side the reindeer keeper was very relieved that they made it over to the mainland. Archie, Abi

The John Rae Sea Chest and a visit to Stromness Museum and Library

Dressing up was fun because you could feel what it was like to have to wear the clothes and to be the people who wore them. Archie was wearing what John Rae would have worn on his expeditions. Ellen is wearing what the Inuit people would have traded for beaver skin. The hat was very itchy and furry all the clothes were very hot and heavy.

Ellen & Archie

I really enjoyed the trip to the Stromness museum it was big and it was amazing how much information about John Rae we found out in maybe an hour or 2. In my group we had Anna, Abi, Abi’s mum, Kavan and me we had a worksheet to complete it was very easy to finish because there was so much information. We also got to see a replica of his snow shoes there was so much cool stuff. We got to go upstairs and try to draw one of the stuffed animals mine looked very weird but it didn’t help right next me was Kavan and he drew a beaver and it was so good.

Dan

Trip to the Stromness Library

Our trip to the Stromness library was interesting to go because it linked in to our topic like there was a place called the John Rae room. In the John Rae room we had our lunch after we went outside and saw the John Rae statue so we all stood around on it and took a picture.

Noah and Leah

Model Kayak

This morning we got the chance to see a very old, very delicate model of a kayak and do annotated drawings on it. It has a little figure that paddles and a big harpoon to fish with. The model looked very nice and the attention to detail is amazing. It was probably made of seal skin and little bits of wood and it looked quite realistic. It must have been hard to make because it was all handmade, all sown together and very fragile and easy to break. We think it might have been used to model kayaks. It was probably valuable to the people how made it as well as the people who own it. Just take a look at it.

Kavan

Kirbuster and Corrigall

P6 in Hoy

The first activity that we did was gorge walking but before that we had to be sorted into groups 1, 2, and 3. Then we had to get our equipment, once we had got it we had to put it on before we could go gorge walking. Gorge walking was wet and very slippy! In Bushcraft we made fires using cotton wool and straw. At the end we cooked marshmallows and some people made theirs very burnt and some marshmallows fell into the fire. We also did archery and Mrs Johnstone got 5 bulls eyes. Orienteering was fun in some people’s opinions and some people found it boring. Lee had a great eye for spotting the tags. Raft building was fun because we learned new knots and luckily the rafts didn’t sink!  Archie and Hermione

Making oatcakes, bannocks and butter the old-fashioned way

Making old Orkney food

On Thursday morning us the p7’s were going to show the p6’s how to make bare bannock, Oatcakes and butter. First of all Kavan and Alfie showed them how to make oatcakes that took about 5 minutes to put everything together and cooking it took about 10 minutes. Next was the butter you had to pour some double cream into a jar then you had shake the double cream until it looked like scrambled eggs then when it looks like that you open the jar and pour out the buttermilk onto a plate then put a pinch of salt on it and then you have salted butter. Then last but no least was the bannock first you put dry ingredients in the bowl that takes about 5 to 10 minutes then to cook it takes about 10 to 15 minutes. 

Ellen and Alfie

Cycle training

Cycle training is underway and we started off with good weather this week!

Dance!

The Trading Game

We like trading games - they are always so unfair! The rich get richer at the expense of the countries that supply the raw materials. Is there a way around this? We are still trying to figure it out!

The richest countries even got to go and eat lunch before the poorest countries - its not FAIR!

Mission Muddisdale with the P4s

Today we revisited Muddisdale to let the P4s try some of the Mission Explore activities we had created. We had 4 types of activities - Nature; Experiential; Art, Craft and Technology and Shelter building.  At each activity the P6s helped the P4s and lead the activities. At lunchtime we had a group sing-a-long. Read the comments below to find out what we all thought about the day.

Tour Guiding at The Palaces - Group 1

 On the 6 of May P6 did an amazing tour of the Bishops palace we were doing it to Eday and Pappie it was really good but It was cold and we tried our best. We started by getting introduced by the junior tour guides. Then we went across to the Bishops palace. The schools enjoyed it at the end we made everyone say a fact. They all remembered there parts and what to say I thought it went very well it was an amazing experience for us and we all enjoyed it very very much. 

Angus, Robert.   

On Tuesday group 1 finally got to do their first tour guiding to Eday School. We were in group 2 and we were in charge of showing them the bottom half of the Earls palace along with the waiting room. In group 2 the characters were the Constable, maid, servant, Turnbrochie, Guard’s, and Cooks. Our costumes were really cool and it made us look the part and feel it as well. Our cue to start our part is a knock at the door and on Tuesday we were definitely nervous waiting in silence for the knock on the door but in the end it finally came. We all really enjoyed doing it and the end came all too quick. Eday School said they really enjoyed us and thought we were wonderful. We really hope we can do more tour guiding in the near future.

Daisy and Erin.K

We did tour guiding at the earls and bishops palaces for the 2^nd time. It was very rainy so the walk was horrible so we whore ponchos to cover the costumes. When we got there we went down to the cellar. Group 1 got ready while we entertained each over. After a while group 2 got ready and did their part they where right near the cellar we had to be quiet and sneaky. Then they went into the kitchen. group 3 then sneaked upstairs and then we got a peak at everyone there was lots. it was nervous waiting for the audience. After a while the Counstable came up and we got into positions. During the middle of our part we told the audience to come into the other room they must of not heard very well because they started to clap and turned to the exit we quickly told them to go to the other room. At the end we whore our ponchos again and made our way back to the school. It was great fun and we hope we do it a 3^rd time. 

Aiden,Jack

Primary Athletics

On Thursday Erlend, Brogan, Cameron, Erin, Aneisha and Lauren went to Picky to take part in the Primary Athletics. You had to run a race, a throw and a jump.  The events were 100m or 800 m race, high jump or long jump and cricket ball or shot put. There was a 9 - 10 age group  and 11 - 12 age group.

At the end whoever had the most medals could win the overall winner for  your age.Pupils from all over the  Mainland and the Isles came as well. Everyone who contributed tried their very hardest and showed great sportsmanship. 

American football

Today our class went to the dinner hall with our American students Camryn and David who taught us how to play American football. First they showed us how to throw and catch the ball. We got into groups of four and started to throw and catch the ball like they told us, next they told us how to run the ball that is when you catch the ball you protect it and then you put it between your hand and your shoulder, and then we did a relay. 

Then they told how to tackle and finally we did a huddle stand - before a game we clap.

Brogan and Erlend

Today we watched some of the best play from the Green Bay Packers, the home team of our visiting American students.

https://youtu.be/fwaIbmA9iuY

Spinning and flipping

Last week we debated whether the craze for fidget spinner toys was a good thing and whether it really helped people focus and concentrate at school or not. We found out about different opinions from the USA and UK, from teachers and parents, and decided there were alternatives which could do the job just as well or even better. We will be selling our alternatives at the School Fair.

We attempted to make our own homemade spinners with cardboard and coins, and lego. Some of them worked quite well. We designed some amazing fidget toys that combined lots of different sensory elements.

This week we used another craze - bottle flipping - to think about probability and chance, what makes a fair test and the variables you can adjust to try to make good comparisons. We predicted and hypothesised what we thought the outcomes would be and explained why we thought as we did. We will go on to work out the fraction of  the attempts that were successful under each set of variables, and convert this to decimals and percentages.

Rugby Skills Development

Class Rugby

Yesterday we went out to the front playground to play Rugby. Our coach was John. He taught us different technique, we did a few games and warm ups. It was fun some people did not do it so they had to sit on a bench and read a book. We got put into group’s 6 people in each group one of the games was octopus it’s were two catchers are in the middle and everyone else has to try to run. The catchers where Erin K and Erin R it was so fun hope we can do it again. Tyler and Paige      

More brucking!

Class 6 bagging the bruck at The Peedie Sea

On Tuesday class 6 went out litter picking. First we went around the back of Tesco and we were outraged to think that people could leave so much litter lying around .We found things such as glass bottles, poo bags with dog poo still in it, cigarette packets and soft drinks containers of all kinds.

Then we went across to the Peedie Sea and picked up more litter which had been blown across from the shops, because it is mostly plastic it is  are not going to decompose and will stay in the environment forever unless we pick them up. The swans and ducks were living in amongst all the litter. It did not look very nice but it was really unhealthy for the creatures that live there.

Over near the skate park we found lots of broken plastic tree protectors and the fences were catching all the crisp packets. The P1/2 M class did a great job picking all that up. We collected 15 bags altogether but could have got more if we had longer.

Jack and William

We are trying to stop a lot of the litter around the Peedie Sea from ending up in the ocean.

We think there should be another big bin behind Tesco and the bushes should be trimmed up off the ground.

Guided tour of Kirkwall

Today we were going on a trip down the town to meet a tour guide called Tina Smith. Our first stop was Peedie Sea then we walked towards the other side where we met Tina. She told us about how we were going to record what centuries we had talked about. We had a bit of paper and the numbers of centuries we were going to mention. Sometimes we would take pictures of the signs that told you about where you were and what you were looking at. 

  

 We had two other helpers called Mr. Manson and Mrs. Watt and our class teacher Ms. Mackay and helper Mrs. Thomson. We learnt interesting facts about our home town.  We learned why some streets are named what they are called. It was all very amazing and wonderful. We would like to thank all our helpers for coming and learning interesting facts with us.

By Paige and Sofia