Fruit and Vegi-Pals

Friday 19th April 

Primary 7 have been working very hard over the last few months to develop their own business, Fruit and Vegi-pals. Our products are soft toys which deliver a positive message and hopefully help bring a calming atmosphere to their owner suitable for children aged 5 and above. All items are hand made from sustainable materials. We have four characters for sale. Say hello to Carrie The Caring Carrot, Annie the Amazing Apple, Lenny the Legendary Lemon and Peter the Positive Pickle.

We are delighted to announce that our products will be available to purchase for one week only! Items can be purchased on SchoolMoney and are priced at £2 each or all 4 can be bought for £7. Numbers are limited and will be delivered next week.

Fruit and Vegi-pals! Come and get one of your five and play!

Easter Activities 

Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th March 

Power projects!

Monday 25th March 

To celebrate Science week and to launch our new topic of 'Ireland', our P7s completed a fantastic array of Power Projects! With the Power Projects, they had the power to choose and complete a range of STEAM activities, relating to their ‘World Around Us’ topic. Have a look at just some of the work below!

Coding Club Final- ‘Judges’ Special Award’ winners!

Thursday 21st March

Our P7 Coding club travelled to W5 Life on Thursday, to participate in the prestigious 2024 TechKnow Club coding final. After many months of hard work in order to learn and develop HTML, CSS and JavaScript code, Sophia, Poppy, Tristan and Thomas had to rebuild their website from scratch: under time pressure and under the watchful eye of the judges!

Our Coding Club performed remarkably well under such pressure and were able to fully rebuild their website in full working order, using HTML, CSS and JavaScript code. Our group then presented their website and code to the industry-expert judges, who were very impressed.

During the award ceremony, our group were ecstatic to hear ‘St. Colmcille’s Primary School’ being called out as the winners of the ‘Judges’ Special Award’! This award was presented to their group for the overall impression they made with the judges: with regards to their coding-skills, problem-solving, resilience, teamwork and enthusiasm towards the project. An amazing and richly deserved reward for Sophia, Poppy, Tristan and Thomas, who represented their school with distinction. Well done!

Testing out our flood resistant buildings 

Friday 1st March 

As part of our recent learning of 'Natural Disasters', P7 have been linking their learning to the local context; in particular, focusing on the 2023 floods in Downpatrick.

Using their STEAM skills, pupils worked in groups to develop a flood-resistant version of ASDA. These were then tested, using hosed water, to see how they stand up against a flood. 

Have a look below to see some of their work in action!

Develop Natural Disaster Art

Tuesday 27th February

Over the past few weeks, P7 have been working on recreating art based on their topic of 'Natural Disasters' through a range of forms. This has included watercolour painting, as well as collages using recycled materials. See the photos below to see some of their work!

Making buildings earthquake-proof!

Thursday 1st February

As part of their learning of 'Natural Disasters' in WAU, P7 have been learning about the role of 'Tune Mass Damper' engineering to make buildings earthquake resistant. 

From this, they were challenged to use a series of materials to create a structure that could withstand a natural disaster (table shake test and the hairdryer test!). The children had great fun engaging with their learning through STEAM and it was a valuable learning exercise. 

Art- Looking at contrasting colour within images

Wednesday 31st January

As part of their learning of 'Natural Disasters' in WAU, P7 have explored artwork and images relating to natural disasters, as well as discuss the various art forms present. From this, they explored shade and contrast of black/ white, then recreated images from this discussion.

Clay Creations!

Wednesday 12th January

Primary 7 worked hard this week to create some clay models, based on their recent learning relating to the Titanic. Next, these will be painted up in the theme of the Titanic ship. the class are looking forward to moving on to the next stage! 

Business Beginnings

Tuesday 9th January

Primary 7 took part in a fantastic online workshop today, led by the 'Young Enterprise' programme. This was focused on the importance of business and effective business practices. Furthermore, the boys and girls worked in groups to take part in several problem-solving challenges. It was a fantastic session and sets the class up nicely for beginning to explore setting up their own P7 business later in the year. 

Minecraft- Habitat for HuMOONity 

Thursday 11th January

Primary 7A have been working very hard in recent weeks to participate in the W5 Minecraft competition, where they have been tasked with creating a habitat on the moon, using Minecraft Education technology. As well as developing skills in STEAM, the project has required pupils to research and include sustainable housing, food sources, transport and energy sources, for life on the moon. Working in groups of 6, the project has been a great learning experience. Fingers will be crossed over the coming weeks in the hope that some groups can make it to the Minecraft final later in the year!

Christmas Art Workshop!

Thursday 15th December

As part of our Christmas celebrations, Primary 7 took part in a fantastic art workshop, led by Ms. Henderson! In the workshop, P7 used a range of materials to create their own Christmas trees as well as decorations for their tress and other Christmas art. It was a fantastic day's workshop and one that the boys and girls highly enjoyed!

Exploring credit and loans

Monday12th December

As part of our 'Money Wise' topic, Primary 7 explored the various types of credit options, as well as loan types. As part of this exploration, the girls and boys tried to match types of credit and loans with various groups of people, depending on their situation. the discussion and conversation through these tasks was very helpful in helping the class grow their understanding of credit and loan formats, as well as the dangers of irresponsible borrowing/spending. 

Caring for our local environment

Tuesday 5th December

In Primary 7, we care deeply about taking care of our wonderful school environment. As leaders within the school, today we took part in a clean up and litter pick around our school environment. 

Titanic Belfast 

Tuesday 28th November

Primary 7 had a wonderful day at Titanic Belfast on Tuesday, where they explored the exhibition through a guided tour of the Titanic Belfast exhibition centre, to consolidate their World Around Us learning in the theme of ‘Titanic’.

The pupils highly enjoyed the experience, which included the opportunity to explore the famous Titanic slipways and the SS Nomadic. The tour first focused on the industrial/ shipbuilding era of Belfast, before exploring the construction, launch and aftermath of the Titanic. It was a great day out for the class and an excellent experience to conclude their Titanic learning.

As Gaeilge!

14th November 2023

Rang 7 have been working so hard in recent weeks to improve their skills in using the Irish Language. With the help of Muinteoir Gormley, pupils have explored key phrases about themselves and their local environment. They have already started to use these phrases in the classroom, which has been great to see!

Recycling workshop!

Thursday 9th November

Today in Primary 7, we welcomed Noel from Ark 21, who led a fantastic recycling workshop. In this workshop, we explored the critical importance of recycling for our planet and how poor recycling efforts impact negatively on household rates bills. 
 

We then got hands on with recycling- creating a recycled pencil case from cereal boxes, a recycling badge and a recycled bookmark from scrap paper. 
 

It was a wonderful learning experience- many thanks to Noel for his guidance and support, as well as the wonderful session! 

Micro-Bits!

Monday 16th October

Our Primary 7s were put hard at work today, to test out the school's new set of Micro-bit devices. Our p7s unpacked these, set them up by linking to our school laptops and then got to work on making some code for them. It was a very enjoyable experience and P7 are very excited to begin their micro-bit journey!

European day of languages

Tuesday 26th September 

Today in Primary 7, we celebrated European day of languages 2023. We did this through using atlases to research countries within europe, as well as their recognises official language. We also took part in our weekly Irish lesson with Ms Gormley, which was an excellent way to further develop our excellent progress in developing discussion in the irish language. 

Titanic Minecraft Creations!

Thursday 25th September 

Primary 7 have spent recent weeks using Minecraft Education and today, they put their skills to the test: by creating their own exterior and interior designs of the Titanic ship. Have a look at some of their creations below. 

September Gardening 

Thursday 14th September 

Primary 7 have been busy at work already this year, with regards to getting the P7 planter box arranged for the new year. 
 

The class:

- Weeeded, trimmed and raked the flower bed.

- Tidied around the area.

- Designing and creating Titanic themed props for the planter box. 
- Decorating the planter box in the Titanic theme. 
 

The class have worked hard to get the planter box in good shape- just in time before the cooler weather kicks in! 

Titanic Artefacts 

Monday 4th September

Today in primary 7, we explored a series of artefacts and secondary sources, related to the Titanic. In particular, pupils enjoyed exploring newspapers from that era which outlined the global reaction to the Titanic's sinking, as well as the structure of newspapers in the early 20th century as the primary news source.