Yesterday Mr White, a maths teacher from Ross High, came to get to know us and to give us a challenge. He challenged us to construct a cube out of Jelly Babies and dry spaghetti. Our cubes had to be strong enough to withstand throwing and catching and they were supposed to measure 10 cm. We worked in teams and individually to create some excellent cubes and most of them did pass the test! Have a look at some of our photos below:
On Thursday, May 3rd an SSPCA officer called Jenny came in to class to talk to us about how to keep pets healthy and happy. We really enjoyed her talk and the game we played afterward. We learned a lot from her, including what to do if we see an animal in danger or in distress in the community.
Yesterday Mrs Pearce happened to be in such a situation. Whilst walking along the River Esk in Musselburgh she spotted a very young cygnet all alone being attacked by a crow and a seagull. Thinking about what we had learned from Jenny, Mrs Pearce dialled 03000 999999 (the SSPCA number) and asked for help. She then went into the river as it was a shallow, safe area and rescued the little cygnet. The SSPCA officer who happened to turn up to collect it was Jenny! She said that we could call and find out how he/she is doing in a few weeks time!
Jenny, thanks for coming to our school and for doing such a special job!
Our ship was based on the infamous slaveship, The Zong.
Alex and Jordan worked with Mrs Totten to create our fabulous ship, which was based on the Zong. (The Zong became infamous because its captain threw overboard living people in order to try to claim insurance on its “lost cargo”. The story of the Zong helped the Abolitionist cause.) Thank you to Alex, Jordan and Mrs Totten for their hard work!
On Monday Primary 7 put on “The Sad Story of Slavery” for Primary 2/3-6/7. It was the culmination of many weeks of learning and lots of practice too! Here are some photos of our performance:
This is how we thought it went: (pink is for tickled pink and green is an area for growth!)
“The narrators were very clear and loud.” -Aimee
“The quality of acting was good. When Ross was going to be hit, he got frightened and moved away from Jordan.” -Ryan
“Everyone came on at the right moment and said their lines at the right time.” -Ross
“Most people spoke loudly and you could hear them.”- Charlie
“We had fun, but we took it seriously.” -Lauren K
“All actors kept serious faces and spoke well when talking to the audience.” -Taryn
“Everyone behind the screens remained quiet during the performance.” -Billy
“The actors used the props well to support the play.” -Kloe
“Jordan fell down at the right moment when Charlie pretended to hit him.”- Lauren C.
“Everyone worked well as a team. Everyone supported me when I forgot one of my lines.” -Kalib (Kalib had a lot of lines to remember and did really well to learn them all.)
“We actually did well. It was a big step forward for us!” Kyle
“Some people without a mic couldn’t be heard so well. Next time we need more mics or to speak louder.” -Alex
“Everyone could have used more expression in their voices.” -Kalib
“People should learn their lines better.” -Chloe
“We could have had more speaking parts.” – Charlie
“We should do more performances in order to become more confident at speaking in front of large crowds.” -Mrs Pearce
Ian Hunter visited P7, P6/7, P6 and P5w on Thursday to share some excerpts of his books with us and to help us create some characters of our own! He read to us from Lipstick Lass and The Dark Knight’s Blade. P7 and P6 spent the afternoon with Mr Hunter creating our own superheros, writing a dabble (a short story of exactly 100 words) with them and writing our own poems. Hopefully we’ll find out soon from Mr Hunter the winners from our character, dabble and poem competitions.
Last Wednesday six members of P7p represented Sanderson’s Wynd in a football match against Wallyford Primary. We didn’t win the match, but we are really proud of our boys for doing their best and representing our school! Here we are looking smart in our football kit!
Ready for the match
We really love our PE sessions with Mr Johnstone! Today we began a four week block of gymnastics and really enjoyed our first lesson! We explored some of the equipment including vaults, beams and springboard. We also worked together as a team to form a human pyramid within each group. Have a look at how we did it below:
Today marks the end of our Slavery topic. We are writing a whole class post to summarise what we have learned.
Over three hundred years 12 million Africans were enslaved. -Ross
A coffle is a group of slaves that have been chained together to be marched to the barracoon. -Devlan
Slaves got dragged onto a slave ship and put under the deck where the conditions were disgusting and vile. -Chloe, Kalib, Lewis
For twenty years William Wilberforce tried to end slavery by passing a law in the House of Commons and the Abolition Act was finally passed in 1807. -Kalib and Ross
Inside a barracoon slaves were chained up and branded. Charlie and Ross
On the slave ships, many slaves got ill and died, so the captain decided to throw them over into the sea. Sometimes the captain would throw live enslaved Africans because there was not enough food. -Taryn and Ross
Sometimes sharks followed the slave ships because that many bodies were thrown overboard. -Jak
Wilberforce wasn’t the only one trying to stop slavery. Granville Sharp, Olaudah Equiano, Thomas Clarkson were some of the people trying to abolish slavery. -Lewis and Ryan
Scottish merchants traded guns and gunpowder to Africans who gave them other Africans as slaves. -Kate
Mothers and children were separated and sold to different plantations at slave auctions. -Kloe
Scotsmen, including Jacobites, sold slaves and grew sugar cane, cotton and cocoa and became rich. They came back to Scotland and built large houses here. -Lewis, Devlan and Ryan
Slaves were whipped violently and brutally if they didn’t work fast enough to please their ‘masters’. -Declan, Devlan, Megan, Kloe and Ryan
On the plantations slaves had to work very long days, with little break in between. -Taryn
On the plantations if slaves tried to escape they were sometimes burnt over an open fire, had an ear cut off or were whipped to death. -Charlie and Lewis
Our January Quiz winners are:
Most posts:
1st Chloe McGhie
2nd Ross Clark
3rd Aimee Smith
Most correct answers:
1st Chloe McGhie
2nd Aimee Smith
3rd Ross Clark
Well done to everyone who took part!
What is Mrs. Pearce’s favourite band?
a. One Direction
b. Cold Play
c. The Beach Boys
d. The Killers