Celebrating Burns In Room 5

In class this week we celebrated Burns Night! We made our very own haggis from an old pair of stockings which we stuffed with leaves and twigs we found during our outdoor education session. We played a game of Scottish corners and some Scottish parachute games. This was so much fun and a bit competitive at times!
In the afternoon we had a Scottish drumming session with Keith and a Scottish ceilidh. We dressed up in our finest tartan and had danced our socks off. We finished our day with some shortbread! It was a fantastic day and we all had great fun!

Festive Fun In Room 5

Pupils in Room 5 have been having a great time getting ready for Christmas. They’ve enjoyed parties with lots of games to take part in as well as dressing up and even a visit from someone very special aka Santa!!!

Have a look at their video to see just some of the fun they’ve had.

Countdown To Christmas

Orchard Brae Advent Calendar: Day 1

Welcome to the Orchard Brae Advent Calendar. Everyone throughout the school has had great fun creating these videos and we hope that you enjoy them and they help to bring you some festive cheer in the countdown to Christmas!

For Day 1, come along and join the pupils and staff from Room 5 in some snowball fun.

Superheroes In Room 5

This term our book study has been based on the book ‘Traction man’ by Mini Grey. You can listen to the story on YouTube using the link below.

In class we have listened to the story and enjoy hearing about the ways in which Traction man saves the day.

AS part of the book study we designed our own super hero character. This was so much fun that even the staff got involved. After we designed our superheroes we named them –

Traction Man
Ash Attack
Quantum Conor
Cosmic H
Electric Jamie
Super Lulu 
OJ Man
TamaHawk
Wonder Granma
Scarlet Debz
Phantom Dede
Agent Lilla
Captain Robbie 

As well as designing our own superhero, we also set up and actively participated in a fun and lively science experiment. Traction Man needed a new suit to wear and so we investigated a range of materials to find out which ones would be best. Dressing Traction man in plastic, tinfoil and cotton wool we put him in water to see which material was water resistant and which material was not! We thought the plastic bag would win but actually tin foil was the best keeping Traction Man dry and absorbing the least water.

It has been so much fun learning with Traction Man in Room 5 he has inspired us all to be superheroes!!

Investigating Forces In Room 5

Room 5 are investigating how the forces of push, pull and twist affect the way in which objects move and change shape. A force is an action that makes something or someone move.

We are learning that a force makes things move and that pushes, pulls and twists are forces.

In Room 5 everyone has lots of fun pushing, pulling and twisting play doh to create interesting creations.

We have also enjoyed experiencing the feel of pushing and pulling using a large stretchy elastic band. This was so much fun for all the boys and staff.

LIVE PE: Wednesday 24th Feb at 2 pm

We have big news this week! Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will have a LIVE PE lesson. To join us all you need to do is to check the ‘PE at Home’ class on Wednesday at 2 pm and there will be a link for the ‘Meet’.

You will need: comfy clothes and a willingness to have fun!

Amanda and Salvi look forward to seeing you!

The PE at home classroom on Google is updated weekly and the team are doing a great job in providing a range of activities to suit pupils of all abilities. These include Dance, Boccia, Orienteering, Scavenger Hunts (this week’s is a lovely sensory, texture hunt) and our regular PE with Salvi and Amanda, ably supported by our own Young Leaders in school.

Please ask your child’s class teacher for a link if you are not in the PE at Home classroom.

Countdown To Christmas

Orchard Brae Advent Calendar: Days 17 and 18

Today we have two more festive treats for you as part of our Orchard Brae Advent Calendar.

For Day 17, Room 5 bring you a very special ‘Nutcracker March’.

For Day 18, Room 17 give you their version of ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ with lyrics they wrote themselves.

St Andrews Day Celebrations In Room 5

Today in Room 5 we celebrated St Andrews Day!

We played a traditional game of Toss the Wellington boot! All of the boys tried their best to toss the boot into the air and get it the furthest across the room. With a little bit of help Ollie won!! Well done Ollie.

Then this afternoon we took part in some traditional Scottish dancing. Everyone in class decided to get into the spirit of things dressing with a touch of tartan showing off their best moves on the classroom dance floor.

We then enjoyed a social snack with friends tasting some shortbread biscuits and a small drink.

Everyone in Room 5 had a great time and through these fun activities we explored some of the traditional aspects of life in Scotland.

A brief History of St Andrew

St Andrew has been the patron saint of Scotland for well over one thousands years with people celebrating him since 1000AD. He was only made patron saint in 1320 when Scotland declared independence with the Declaration of Arbroath. Since then St Andrew has been honoured in many ways in Scotland including on the Scottish flag with the St Andrew Cross and the town of St Andrews, thought to be where he was buried, being named after him The reason St Andrew became important for Scotland was because he sums up a lot of characteristics found in Scots. St Andrew, who was a fisherman, had a humble upbringing and was known though his entire life for being generous and strong. His philosophy was to share everything he had with those less fortunate.

St Andrew always took every opportunity he had to help others – and that’s why he was chosen as their patron saint. St Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, Romania, Russia and Barbados. He became one of Jesus’s disciples and one of the Twelve Apostles. He was also the brother of St Peter, who founded the Catholic church, so the Scots were able to petition the Pope in 1320 for protection against English kings’ attempts to take over Scotland. St Andrew died on an X-shaped cross in Greece, now known as the Saltire or the St Andrew’s Cross. It is believed that after his death his remains were moved to Constantinople hundreds of years later.

Like many early Christians, St Andrew was crucified by the Romans because they didn’t like Christians very much. St Andrew was the first bishop in Greece, and the Romans weren’t too happy about that. His remains were moved again in the 13th Century to Amalfi in Italy. Most of St Andrew is still there today but bits of him have been moved over the years to Scotland. These include his tooth, kneecap, arm and finger bones, which have been in Scotland now since the 16th Century. While his shoulder blade was gifted by the Archbishop of Amalfi in 1879 and Pope Paul VI gave Scotland more bits in 1969. Legend has it that St Andrew’s first bits ended up in Scotland thanks to St Rule or St Regulus, a Greek monk who had a vision in which he was told to take the bits to the ends of the earth for safekeeping. His journey took him to the shores of Fife, which is easy to mistake for the ends of the earth. The town where St Rule landed is now St Andrews.

Bonfire Night With Room 5

Remember, remember, the fifth of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason
Why Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot….

This week in school Room 5 have been learning about Guy Fawkes.

To mark this celebration we watched a short animated video about Guy Fawkes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGJ5G4UNFJI

We also created our own firework pictures. We think our night sky guy Fawkes picture are really effective.

Why do we learn about Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot?

In England, in 1605 during the reign of James I, an act of treason was planned that could have changed the course of our history. At the last moment, the Gunpowder Plot was foiled, and now we commemorate the traitors – and in particular, the scapegoat Guy Fawkes – every year with Bonfire Night!

Who was Guy Fawkes?

Guy Fawkes (1570 to 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes, was one of a group of Catholic plotters who planned, but failed, to blow up Parliament – now known as the Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

What was the Gunpowder Plot?

At the time, King James I was on the throne. England had broken away from the Catholic faith and the Church of Rome in Henry VIII’s reign (by 1536), but there were still many Catholics in the country. Guy Fawkes joined up with a group of thirteen Catholic plotters, led by Robert Catesby, who planned to overthrow the King and put a Catholic monarch back on the throne.

The plotters rented space in the cellars of the House of Lords and filled it with gunpowder. Guy Fawkes was put in charge. They planned to set off the gunpowder during the opening of Parliament, on 5th November 1605. One or more of the plotters, however, were worried that some of their fellow Catholics and friends would be at the opening and get caught in the explosion, and wrote to warn them not to be there that day. We know that a certain Lord Monteagle received a letter warning him to go to the country because Paliament would “receive a terrible blow”. Lord Monteagle showed the letter to the King, and the cellars were thoroughly searched and Guy Fawkes caught.

After several days of horrible torture, Guy Fawkes gave up the names of his fellow plotters and eight of them went to trial in January 1606. All were found guilty and executed in the terrible fashion of the times.

On 5th November 1605 Londoners were encouraged to celebrate the King’s escape from assassination by lighting bonfires, provided that “this testemonye of joy be carefull done without any danger or disorder” – and indeed an Act of Parliament soon followed, declaring 5th November as a day of thanksgiving throughout the country for “the joyful day of deliverance“.

Modern Celebrations

When we celebrate Bonfire Night now, it seems very far removed from the events of four hundred years ago! For centuries since then, communities have come together to build a big bonfire and make an effigy – a model – of Guy Fawkes using old clothes stuffed with newspaper, to burn on the bonfire (see Penny for the Guy).

Fun fact: When you use the word “guy” in your sentences, have you thought where it comes from? The “guy” tradition of Bonfire Night gradually found it’s way into our language, and by the 19th century the word “guy” was used to refer to a strangely dressed man. From there it was adopted into American English to refer to any man, and is of course still commonly used today!