Health and Wellbeing Week ~ 6th – 10th January 2020

Throughout this week, P7 have engaged in a variety of classroom activities linked to Health and Wellbeing.

We considered the importance of hydration and the effect of sugary drinks on hydration and nutrition. We discussed the sugar tax and how sugary drinks and foods are marketed. We tried to drink plenty of water this week (aiming for 6-8 glasses per day.)

We practised different forms of relaxation, using music, visualisation and guided meditation.

We finished the week by learning about the importance of sleep for our mental and physical health. We learned about what happens to the brain during the different phases of sleep, and what the potential effects of sleep deprivation are. We learned how much sleep we should get at different stages in life, and evaluated our own sleep hygiene.

Health and Wellbeing Week ~ 6th – 10th January 2020

On Thursday morning, P7 and Mrs James enjoyed a relaxing start to the day thanks to Gill Bimson. She led a yoga workshop for us. We had to concentrate on our breathing and balance.

Health and Wellbeing Week ~ 6th – 10th January 2020

On Wednesday morning we welcomed Rupert Wilson, Ambulance Technician from the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and Watch Commander Mark MacFarlane and Crew Commander Katrina Taylor from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS.)

They showed us how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and how to use an Automated External Defibrillator (AED.) They also went over how to respond in a medical emergency. Can your child recall what DRSABC stands for? Perhaps you could explain it by adding a comment to this post?

Mark and Katrina helped us to practise our CPR skills in pairs, using dummies lent to us from Glen Urquhart High School and Drumnadrochit Fire Station. They also showed us to put someone in the recovery position (if they are breathing.)

Rupert demonstrated several different training AEDs to us, then we got to have a go in small groups!

We learned that you must make sure that the emergency services been called before you begin CPR, as it’s really important to keep going until ambulance or fire service staff arrive.

In Glenurquhart, we have a team of First Responders who are trained in CPR and who carry an AED. There is also an AED outside Drumnadrochit Fire Station, and the Firefighters have an AED on their Fire Appliance too.

Health and Wellbeing Week ~ 6th – 10th January 2020

On Tuesday morning, P7 had great fun completing a special Escape Room themed challenge with Jennifer from “Live n Learn.” They had to apply their teamwork, map reading and problem solving skills to solve a series of puzzles. This allowed them to open a mystery box.

The P7s spent time reflecting on their achievements and identifying habits they’d like to change in 2020. We’ll look back at these at the end of P7 to evaluate how we got on changing them! We also had a think about our longer term goals and aspirations.

Can your child remember what was in the final box? And what was in the jar at the end?

Health and Wellbeing Week ~ 6th – 10th January 2020

On Monday afternoon, P7 enjoyed a taster session of tennis with a local tennis coach, Siobhan. We enjoyed playing warm up games and improving our racquet skills.

Happy New Year to you all!

We started off this week by celebrating “La fête des rois,” (Epiphany) a festival which celebrates the arrival of the 3 wise men to visit baby Jesus. This is a very important and popular festival in France. Families often eat a special “Twelfth Night Cake” (Une galette des rois) which contains one or two figurines. Whoever gets the figurine gets to be king or queen for the day!

We enjoyed apple and plum tarts and picked our queen, “La reine.”

Raymond Blanc (Famous French Chef) has his own views on the festival and a recipe for une galette des rois here: https://www.raymondblanc.com/recipes/galette-des-rois-recipe/

Merry Christmas to you all from Mrs James and I.

Thank you for all the lovely Christmas cards – it is very kind of you all.

We look forward to welcoming P7 back in 2020! 🙂

Mrs Laird would be very grateful for some help from the prefects with breakfast club during Health and Wellbeing Week. Any prefects that are able to help, please report to the school front door at 8:15am on any morning that you can, 6th – 10th January.

Our Christmas service takes place in the Church of Scotland tomorrow, starting at 10am. All parents, families and community members are warmly invited to attend. Please could P3-7 children wear school uniform for this performance as we realise this would normally be a dress down day. We look forward to seeing you there.

Christmas Service — 2019/20 ~ News

P7 were very busy with Mrs Laird today. Firstly we used watercolours to create a wet on wet background for our winter scenes. Then we completed some work towards Health and Well-being week. We looked at the Pirates of the Curry Bean performance for next term, discussed the characters and who would like to audition in the first week for roles.

After break, we made origami Santas. They look super and everyone followed the instructions really well!

This afternoon we had carol practice then finished our art work which look very effective before hearing some of the DYW presentations.

As part of our mini-topic on jobs involving history and heritage, P7 have been conducting research interviews over the last 9 days. I have been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response from individuals and employers. So far 15 people have taken part. Many of them have come into school to be interviewed face-to-face and others have given up their time for telephone interviews. We have 3 interviews scheduled for next week too.

This has been a valuable and inspiring experience for all the P7s. It has been a great way to combine listening, talking, research, and note-taking under pressure. It has helped the P7s to make links between the skills they learn and practise at school and jobs and careers (that they might not have even been aware of) in the outside world!

Thank you to everyone who has taken part so far:

Calum Johnstone, Stonemason
Nicky MacLennan, Assistant Community Development Officer ~ Soirbheas
Alison Tanner, Historic Building Conservation Officer ~ Inverness Townscape Heritage Project
Liz English, Curator (Large object collections) ~ Highland Folk Museum
Tom Nelson, Drystone dyker & stonemason ~ Self employed
Shona MacDonald, Company Secretary & Office Manager ~ Jon Hearach Memorials Ltd
George McBurnie, Project Manager ~ Scottish Canals
Gill Bird, Education & Outreach Officer ~ The Highlanders Museum
David Christison, Works Manager ~ Historic Environment Scotland
Katie McGaan, Planning Resources Manager ~ Historic Environment Scotland
Andrew Bowman, Apprentice Stonemason ~ Historic Environment Scotland
Jade More, Apprentice Joiner ~ Historic Environment Scotland
Jennifer Johnstone, Archivist ~ Highland Archive Centre
Lorna Steele, Community Engagement Officer ~ Highland Archive Centre
Ian McWhirr, Building Services Officer (Urquhart Castle) ~ Historic Environment Scotland

Special thanks to Nicky MacLennan for linking us with so many different organisations. 🙂

Pupil presentations will follow in a week or so…