Looking back to 2014...

Well what a busy and exciting second term it was!  We were incredibly lucky last term, having had the chance to go on a number of educational visits in our local community and wider area. We were also very lucky to have had visits from some very special people indeed, who came to Kirklandneuk to share their expert knowledge about some of the topics we were exploring.  We were also very grateful to be given an extra block of swimming lessons at the Renfrew Victory Baths, allowing us to further develop and build our confidence in the pool.


One of our main topics last term was based on World War I, also known as The Great War. We soon realised how significant and unique it was, to be learning about World War I in 2014, 100 years since the war began. We started our exploration of this significant time in our history, by investigating how and why this war began in the first place. We learned all about how the growing tension between countries in Europe eventually reached boiling point, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, sparking what would become one of the biggest global conflicts in history, lasting from 28 July 1914 until 11 November 1918. We discovered that some countries had made alliances, or agreements, with other countries, to defend each other and their interests. This was quite a tricky subject at first but we were lucky to be able to use the iPads, to explore the internet and find old maps which really helped explain and show which countries were in each alliance. We were also really fortunate to have a visit from Mr O'Malley, a teacher from Renfrew High School who is a subject specialist in History. He delivered a fascinating presentation which told the story of the war and what life would have been like for people who lived at the time. We all really enjoyed Mr O'Malley's visit and we would warmly welcome him back, to help us with our History topics in the future!


As well as Mr O'Malley, we were very pleased to welcome another very important visitor to Kirklandneuk – Dr. Quentin Fogg, an anatomist and expert from the University of Glasgow, who specialises in the workings of the muscles and the human body. Dr. Fogg is very well known in his field, being responsible for training medical students at the University's medical school and having recently appeared in several BBC documentaries – so we were very privileged to learn from him, at our very own Masterclass, here at Kirklandneuk. Dr. Fogg told us all about the important roles muscles have in our everyday movements and in the activities we take part in during sport, exercise and physical activity. We all had the chance to take part in some really interesting activities which demonstrated to us how our muscles work. We loved the tug o' war activity and the scientific 'jump board', which measured how high we could jump. It was so much fun!


Apart from all the visitors we had last term, we were also able to make a few visits of our own! Firstly, we went to the Brick Wonders Lego exhibition at Paisley Museum, where we built upon our skills in technology. We all really enjoyed seeing how materials such as Lego could be used to make wonderful models of things in our everyday life. There was even a Lego model of the International Space Station! To build upon what we had been learning about Christianity in R.M.E, we had the chance to visit two different local churches: the Albert Hall Evangelical Church and Renfrew North Parish Church. We were warmly welcomed at both churches, where we learned more about some of the traditions, beliefs and stories of Christianity.

The lead up to the annual Christmas Fayre was very busy indeed, as we used the skills we had been developing in Numeracy and Technology, to create our lovely “Candle in a Box” Christmas gifts. We were delighted that we managed to sell almost every one! It really was a flurry of activity here in Room 13! Then it was time to relax and enjoy a well-earned Festive holiday!