P7trip

Day 1 Photos

If you look down the list of photo albums down the left side of the window you will find the one for Day 1! Look for the typo!!  The album is called a209LochInshDay1. (Well...it is early in  in the morning!)

Day 1: What a great day!

Loch Insh 2009 Day 1

 

It is great being back at Loch Insh. I have taken school parties here 5 or 6 times before and it is a great venue for an outdoor activity week!

 

In a break with tradition Longside were picked up first by the bus and they arrived at Strichen just around8.45am. The pupils from Strichen were waiting eagerly with their parents and I am sure it would have been the same at Longside. The cases were packed on the bus and it set off just after 9am. I however was following by car and did not get left the school until 9.30am by which time the bus had a good head start on me. The bus headed for Banff and then Keith before making its way to Craigellachie and then Aberlour. The pupils got a short break in Aberlour and this gave me a little time to try and catch up. By the time the bus was leaving Aviemore I was just entering Aviemore and I thought that they were going to make it there before me. However, as they took a slightly different route to avoid the narrow bridge that crosses the Spey at the top end of the loch I managed to make it there a few minutes before them.

 

The cases were soon out of the bus and we were heading into the hall where we are staying. Some of the girls found it a struggle to manoeuvre their cases up the stairs to their room and we helped a few to get them up! Once in our rooms we took our lunch through to our lounge area where we were met by Andy Freshwater and a couple of the instructors. He told the children about what they would be doing through the week and went over the site rules so that everyone knew what was expected. The talk finished with a fire alarm to make sure everyone knew what to do in case of an emergency.

 

So then we were off for our first activity. We made our way down to the boathouse (down all 69 steps which we need to go up and down about 10 times every day!!) where the groups met their instructors for the first activity.

 

Mrs Stephen’s group were going mountain biking and we went to get kitted out. We all needed a helmet and a bike that was going to be the correct size for us. After what seemed ages getting everyone’s helmet adjusted so that it was secure we were off. Neil was our leader and he had a new instructor with him so that he could show him the ropes!

 

We set off and immediately were met by a gentle slope which resulted in half the group getting off their bikes and pushing them! It was going to be a long afternoon!

 

Once we were out on the road things were better and with a group of 11 children and four adults  we could spread out a little according to the speed of the cyclists. Soon we were off road and this is where the fun for the children really started. They could ride freely and push themselves or they could get off and push the bike depending on the incline!

 

However, everyone had a great session and Neil continually pushed and encouraged them to ride at their limits. They went up and down hills, through streams, mud and had great fun. On their return they were a little taken aback about having to clean the bikes before they were returned to the store for the next group to use!

 

The other groups had great fun also. Miss Ingram’s group were kayaking and Miss Ingram said she really enjoyed it once she was out on the water. Mrs Mitchell’s group were sailing and the group was split  into two so that they could go out on the bigger boats as the conditions were quite difficult for them to be in smaller boats by themselves.

 

After a short break we were back down to the boathouse for tea! The children were excited and tired! Tea was excellent and they had the choice of two different soups followed by either lasagne, macaroni cheese or baked tatties! This was followed by apple crumble and custard!

 

Our tea took longer than expected and we were no sooner up the hill again before we had to go back down for our evening activity! The activity was ‘Way finding’ and involved the pupils, and the three female teachers, orienteering (or sauntering) round the centre looking for the different markers to stamp their card. The pupils did well and some of them managed to find all the markers….. but they were a little disappointed to be beaten by Mrs Mitchell, Miss Ingram and Mrs Stephen! Well done to them!

 

After this it was back to the hall for juice, a biscuit and their diaries! (At last we had the chance for a cup of coffee and a seat!) Then they were dispatched to unpack and tidy their rooms before lights out at 10pm. I was soon to find out that the problem solving for the day was not over as one boy was sick….. but in their sink and not the toilet! When he told us that he could see his tea again my heart sank …. And off I went to find something to unblock the sink. Where is Mrs Mitchell when you need her!

 

Anyway, all is quiet now and I am almost ready for lights out myself but am looking forward to day 2!

 

 Click on the link below to hear the podcast!

 

Download Podcast day 1

Loch Insh Here We Come

Welcome to the blog for this year's Primary 7 trip to Loch Insh. Once again we have pupils from Strichen and Longside heading off on another great adventure. This time we are doing something completely new.....a whole week of outdoor activities. We hope that you will check out the site to see and hear what they have been up to!

Day 3

Day 3

Well, it is midnight on day three and we are getting ready to head home tomorrow. Today has been another fun day and we scored with the weather as the heavy rain fell during the night and we got round the zoo dry!

We arrived at the zoo just before 10am and we had to plan with our groups what we wanted to try and see – but this was difficult in just under two hours. My group and Mrs. Mitchell’s group decided to take the ‘Zoo Safari’ to the top of the hill so we could work our way down to the entrance instead of climbing the hill as we went. As it was early, had been wet and still ‘chilly’ a  lot of the animals had obviously decided to have a long lie and were in their shelters! We packed in as many of the sights as we could – zebras, polar bears, jaguars, leopards, pigmy hippos, monkeys, flamingos, penguins and eagles to name but nine! We were lucky enough to be able to visit the new state of the art facility for chimpanzees which was officially opened today – the second official opening according to one of the staff. It is a modern and well designed centre – but a little disappointing as they did not seem fully up and running and seemed a little low on chimpanzees. However, our pupils were running and jumping about looking at the animals!

And of course the most popular part of the trip – the shop! They did a roaring trade and we seem to have acquired a whole ‘ark’ of stuffed toys to transport north tomorrow.

We left the zoo at around midday and headed back into the city to go to Dynamic Earth. We were booked in for our lunch there and it was nice to get 20 minutes to sit there and have a nice cup of coffee from the café!

We split into two groups and visited the classroom areas where we had a presentation on the ‘Rainforest’. This was very interesting and the children listened well and answered the questions well. We were shown some examples of the wildlife – spiders, millipedes, stick insects and leaches but thankfully they were all dead and in display boxes!

We then went on to the tour where we travelled back 3 billion years to the time when the Earth was ‘created’. We went through different sections that showed us about the Earth and the solar system, volcanoes, the Polar Regions and the rainforest. One of the most popular exhibits was the huge ice piece of ice that was in the Polar section. The children spent some time just placing their hands on the ice trying to see if they could leave a mark on it. The visit was rounded off with a session in the ‘dome area’ where we went on a trip round the galaxy to bring us back to the present day.

This led us to the obligatory shop where again a wide range of items were snapped up despite the dwindling resources. I think a few are now penniless for the last day but they should easily survive!

After tea we were back on the bus once more to the Esplanade where we were to meet our tour guides for the Ghost Walk. Once again we split into two groups and were taken round a variety of spots up and down the Royal Mile by our dressed up hosts to be told about some of the more gory historical stories from Edinburgh’s past. Witches, executions and regular visits from the guides ‘sidekick’ dressed as a different character every time made this a real fun and entertaining 90 minutes that both pupils and staff really enjoyed.

We met the bus once again and returned to the hotel just in time for the extra time of the Rangers match. However, I was dispatched to the chip shop with Miss Ingram to collect 53 bags of chips as a last treat! The poor customer behind us just looking for a fish supper did not seem quite so happy as we waited and waited for the 53 trays to be filled! We took them back in two journeys so they did not go cold and by the time we had got them all the extra time was over. Well, at least I saw the penalty shoot out!

All is quiet now and tomorrow morning will be another job to wake them up as they are well and truly tired out.

Again we have included some comments from some of the children. We did not manage to get everyone and apologies for any that did not feature.

We hope that all goes well tomorrow at the Parliament and our journey home.

Today I enjoyed the Zoo because some of the animals were really interesting. Cameron.

i enjoyed the monkeys doing tricks. Dean

Today I enjoyed the zoo because it was good to see all the animals. Lindsay.

Today I enjoyed the zoo because I've never been before. Gemma

Today i enjoyed going to the zoo because i saw lots of cool animals. Hanna

Today i enjoyed the zoo because i saw HIPPOS. Vigo

Today i enjoyed playing tag outside Dynamic Earth. Scott

Today i enjoyed the time machine at Dynamic Earth. Max

Today i enjoyed looking at the animals at the zoo. Jack Daniel

I enjoyed the zoo because it was fun and interesting. Rory

I enjoyed the zoo because I liked all the animals. Andrew

I liked the zoo because the animals were cute. Emily

The zoo was good fun because it did not rain and we got to see lots of animals. Hazel

Dynamic earth was good because we travelled in time to the future. Natasha.

I liked the huge iceberg at Dynamic earth because it was fun to make handprints in it. Catherine

The tiger at the zoo were really cute and I bought a cuddly one. Antonia

I enjoyed sticking my hand on the iceberg at Dynamic Earth and my hand went numb. Kerri

I liked the monkeys at the zoo because they were funny. Cara

I liked the penguins swimming under the water because they glided through the water really fast. Sarah

I liked the monkeys at the zoo because they gave me 'high fives'. Nikole

The seals at the zoo were great because they did twirls through the water. Katie

Day 2

Day 2

Well…. we got up today and looked out at the pouring rain. Our hearts sank a little at the prospect of tackling the castle in the rain but we knew there was no alternative. At last some of the pupils thought it might be a good idea to put on a jacket!

Breakfast was in two sittings and group 1 went at 8.00am while we waited with the second group for ours at 8.30. The rooms on the whole were very tidy and parents should take note that they can tidy up when they put their mind to it …. or are told they wont get breakfast until it is acceptable!

We set off on the bus at around 9.15 with the packed lunches on board and headed for the castle. We were dropped at the Esplanade and made our way to the castle. Construction work is underway for this year’s Tattoo and you have to wonder why they don’t leave the stands up permanently!

The groups all set off in different directions to explore the castle. We visited the prison and dungeon area which was popular with everyone, the Scottish Crown Jewels, the War Memorial and the Great Hall. We went to see Mons Meg and the other assortment of canons along the ramparts. Of course we had to go to the shop where again you could see them thinking about presents for taking home and souvenirs for themselves.

When we were ready to go the pupils were perturbed to see that the bus was not there. We had arranged for it to meet us at the other end of the Royal Mile. We made our way down the mile and took note of the attractions enroute. St Giles, The Heart of Midlothian, the Christmas shop (yes…. Even in April!) and John Knox’s house. We took a slight detour to visit the statue of Grey Friar’s Bobby which proved popular. By chance we passed ‘The Elephant House’ café which is now famous due to the fact that J K Rowling used to go their for coffee and write sections of Harry Potter there.

We made it down the mile and went past the new parliament before heading round Holyrood Palace to the bus park where we waited for the bus to arrive in the pouring rain once again.

Lunch was fun as we tried to distribute sandwiches, juice, fruit, crisps, biscuits  and finally the highlight for many – Mrs Davidson’s toffee! The toffee is sitting in my room right now and resisting it is proving difficult but I cannot give in to temptation!

After lunch we took a bus trip round Arthur Seat which gave us a totally different view of Edinburgh. However, how much the children appreciated the view or actually looked at it as we went is up for debate! Children need to be ‘taught’ to appreciate good scenery but it is not helped when the bus comes equipped with curtains!

We then headed to Murrayfield which proved interesting as the driver forgot that he had the double decker and so ended up in one or two tight squeezes as he tried to make his way along some of the side streets to get there. We arrived for 2.30 and were greeted by one of our guides.

The tour was really great and I know that I really enjoyed it as did the children. We visited the ‘Bill McLaren Press Suite’, although that did not make much impact on the children, and the ‘TV studio’ where the pre match and half time round ups are broadcast from. The room was cold, poorly decorated and at the end of a long concrete corridor….. but by the magic of television it always appears to look like an executive box! How wrong we were to think that!

Our guide spoke to us about the stadium as we sat in the press seats in the stadium. We heard about the history of the ground and some facts about the new stadium which is really very impressive. The capacity is 65,000 and the seats are coloured to represent the Scottish Rugby Union tartan.

We then got to go right up to the top row at the back of the main stand and the view down across the stadium was awesome and you also got a wonderful view right across the city to the Castle and Arthur Seat where we had just been.

Then we headed down to trackside where we got to see the pitch. However, you are not allowed on the grass and the children in our group were delighted when they were able to run a 100m sprint along the track that runs down the side of the pitch by the main stand. We then headed inside to the ‘President’s Suite’ where we saw some rugby memorabilia. The highlight of the visit was when they went and took though two large cases which held The Calcutta Cup and its base. They don’t like hands on it as the acids in the skin can tarnish the silver and they put on special gloves to remove it from the boxes and to put it on the table for us to look at.

We were then presented with two commemorative certificates for each school to take back and some Scotland Rugby team photos for each person. The 1 ½ hours seemed to shoot past and before we knew it we were in the shop on the souvenir hunt once more.

We were soon back to the hotel and got ready for tea before our group headed out for the bowling and the others were going for their late visit to the cinema.

All in all a really good day and everyone seems happy. We celebrated our second birthday of the week also – but had to use toffee instead of cake!

Anyway that’s all for today apart from some comments from the pupils about their day in the city. We hope to get comments from the rest tomorrow night if we can.

Thoughts of our trip so far…..

It was good because the castle was very big but the rain was on and we all were soaking.  Gavin

It was good when we got a tour around Murrayfield and getting to sit on the players seats in the changing rooms. Connor

It was okay at the castle but the rain drenched every one and at Murrayfield you could smell the brewery. Jake

It was good because we stopped at Deep Sea World on the way and today we went to Murrayfield and saw people training. Ryan F

We had a great experience of the Edinburgh weather with rain and sun though the day was still great. RyanT

I liked seeing Murrayfield and the weather was a bit on and off.  Kieran

The rugby stadium was cool and I got to go into somewhere where nobody else did. Jacob

I liked going to he castle and gong to Murrayfield but it wasn’t nice weather. Stuart

I liked the castle and Murrayfield. Martin

Edinburgh castle was good fun .Hannah

We went to Murrayfield - it was ace! Liam

Today I liked going to visit the dungeon at Edinburgh Castle. Declan Addison.

We saw the time gun at Edinburgh Castle. Jack

I enjoyed looking at all the sights! Clair

I enjoyed Edinburgh Castle – especially the dungeon. Becky

I enjoyed having the race on the track at Murrayfield. Jasmin

Today I enjoyed going round Edinburgh and seeing Greyfriar Bobby's statue. Megan

It was great fun at Edinburgh Castle. The view from the top was good. Mary

I enjoyed walking the Royal Mile. Kevin

I enjoyed eating my lunch as I was hungry after all the walking! Kyle

I enjoyed going to Murrayfield. We saw in the Scotland changing room. Liam H

I liked seeing all the trophies at Murrayfield. Dylan

I liked Murrayfield Stadium because it was different. Jack

Day 1

Edinburgh Trip Day 1

11.19pm – Sitting on the hotel stairs waiting for everyone to go to sleep and trying not to go to sleep myself!

Day 1 is complete and we hope that we have 48 happy campers! We had great weather all the way down and it looked like the forecasters had got it wrong again …. But the skies finally opened as one half were walking to the bowling for their 7pm start while we waited to go to the cinema for our 8.20pm start. At least by the time our groups left for the cinema it was dry again!

The day got off to a disappointing start when one of the Strichen pupils had to call off because of illness at the last moment. We hope he will be better soon and hopefully he will enjoy looking at the thousands of photos that have been taken!

By 9.30 when we pulled out of Longside School we were on time but this was not to last long as we had several fresh air stops for one poor pupil who was feeling sick. We made it to Aberdeen and had a bit of a detour though the city until the driver finally said he did not really know Aberdeen that well and what was the best way to go!

Our fist stop was supposed to be Laurencekirk School for a toilet stop but even this proved difficult as the narrow main street was blocked by road works and some considerate parking by a van driver. Having sat for quite a while the road works lorry eventually decided to reverse back to allow us through. 

We were now chasing our tail and we did not make it down to Deep Sea World until about 1.45 and we were booked for a classroom talk for three of the groups at 2.00! So after a quick lunch we were off on our first real visit. The children really enjoyed looking in all the tanks, having a short classroom session about sharks and then down to the underwater tunnel to see the fish being fed by the divers as they kept a close watch on the circling sharks. Of course we had to visit the shop and some of them managed to expertly work out what they could get for their £5 while some headed right for the ……. sweeties!

By 3.50pm we were off again and we were soon heading across the Forth Road Bridge. The city was not overly busy and between the driver and myself we managed to find the hotel. We then had to unload all the cases – and I think some must have packed for a week by the weight of them. However, all was to be revealed when quite a lot of them changed for going out at night so at my reckoning some of them must have 8 different outfits with them!

The larger group went bowling and we do not really know how they got on as they were all in bed by the time we got back from the cinema at 10.20pm! The film we saw was called ‘Son of Rambo’ and was a pleasant surprise and the children all seemed to enjoy the comic capers of the two stars.

Tomorrow, or today if you are reading this, we are going to the Castle and Murrayfield with hopefully a walk down the Royal Mile in between. Hopefully we will get some comments from the children for tomorrow’s entry….. if we can get logged onto the network that is!

Anyway, enjoy the peace and quiet – you still have three days of it left.

Edinburgh 2008

Hello and welcome to the blog for this year's Primary 7 trip. Strichen School have once again joined up with Longside School for our annual trip - and this year we are off to Edinburgh!On Tuesday morning 49 pupils and 5 members of staff will all board our bus ready to start our adventure away. If you want to know how the trip is going then keep up to date by checking out the blog with our daily updates.

We hope that you will enjoy reading about what we have been doing and what the pupils think of what they have been doing.Click on the link below to go to the blog pages for the trip.

http://strichenschoolblog.typepad.co.uk/p7trip/

Glasgow Day 3

Well, day three I past and we are sitting down to have our tea yet again. The days certainly pass quickly but tonight they seem a little more “high” than the other evenings!

We were up early today and were down for breakfast at the back of 8am – but for some reason we did not make it away until after 9am.

We had to drive right into Glasgow to get to the Science Centre but the traffic was not too bad! We arrived quicker than we expected at around 9.30 and got taken right in.

The children went round the centre in their groups. There are three floors of “experiments” to play with and we spent half an hour with our group on each floor.

The children had great fun going round trying all the different experiments – and by the end some were realising that if they read the sign beside each one it would actually help them figure out what they were doing and what they were looking for.

At 11 o’clock we all went to the IMAX Theatre to see the 3D film “Bugs”. This was a film all about the life of insects in the rainforest and showed us what life for insects is like from their point of view. We were all provided with our special “3D” glasses and the children enjoyed laughing at how everyone looked with them on.

The film lasted for about 30-40 minutes and the large crowd of school pupils there really enjoyed it, especially some of the scenes showing some of the bugs being hunted and eaten by other bugs!

We had our lunch outside the science centre on the grass beside the River Clyde. The Waverley was moored just up from us and was obviously stocking up with provisions before heading off on a trip.

After lunch we went back to the shop and the children got the chance to spend some more of their money.

We set off once again in the bus but this time the children did not know where we were going to. We had said that we were going to the Transport Museum and no one had questioned that at all. Even after passing numerous signs that said “Hampden” or “Football Museum” no one still asked if we were going there!

We passed Ibrox on the way and this brought a few  boos! When we approached Hampden and they could all see it we told them that it was Celtic Park! It was quite a while before someone actually said, “Hang on, it says Hampden on the sign!”

There was quite a buzz about the place as a school’s football competition was being played at Lesser Hampden and so there were quite a few schools there.

Once in we split into two groups. One group gets the museum tour while the other gets to go and see the stadium. The museum is excellent and we see the “proper” Scottish Cup that is handed out to the winners after the cup final but is replaced by a replica for when the teams go touring round the streets of their town!

The stadium itself is amazing and although it only holds 52000 people it is amazingly compact and looked stunning in the sunshine. The pitch itself looked immaculate and was being watered as we were there and at the moment the grass is cut every day in preparation for the upcoming Scottish Cup Final and UEFA Cup Final.

We visited the shop once again and then we made the long journey back to the hotel for tea. We are heading out shortly to the pool so they can have a splash about in the water.

9.55 – Back from the pool and we are trying to get our diaries done before we hand out juice and a biscuit! We need some incentive to get them to do it at this time of night!

The pool was great! Kids had a whale of a time, even the ones who did not go in. Mrs Mitchell was brave and was in for quite a while. The rest of us “observed” and made sure everyone was ok!

So, what have we to look forward to? PACKING! Tonight and tomorrow morning is when the children, especially the girls I think, realise that they have to get all that stuff back into their bags! The boys to be fair have not been bad and their rooms have been quite tidy. Mind you they do not unpack in quite the same way as the girls and they just rummage about in their case to find what they need where as the girls have to make sure that the t-shirt to go with the jeans or the cropped trousers are not in the case in a dreadful mess! So, we will see how well they do at squeezing it all  back into the bags they came with along with all the goodies they have bought. We are aiming to be away early as we are due at the Falkirk Wheel for the 10.30 sailing! We will just have to keep our fingers crossed!

The children have been great and have really enjoyed themselves. It will  be interesting to see how the settle back to school work next week!

Photos

For some reason the photos are appearing on the main school blog page!

To see the photos of day 1 and 2 click on....

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Look for Glasgow Day 1and Day 2in the 'Photo Album' section down the side of the window.

Day 2

Everyone was up bright and early today – well, almost everyone! Some of the boys were fast asleep when we went in to waken them at 7.30am! Well, you do warn them that if they do not go to sleep early they will be tired when they are woken up!

Breakfast was at 8.15 and everyone tucked in to cereals, fruit and bacon or sausage rolls! Packed lunches were waiting for us as we left and by 9.15 we were on the bus heading for Edinburgh.

The morning was spent at the castle. They are in the midst of setting up the stands for the Tattoo so the bus had to drop us off and go. We had a group photo at the entrance and then the five groups set off to tour the castle and visit the SHOP!

Our group went right to the top of the castle first and worked our way down to the shop. We went to the dungeons, to see the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Scottish War Memorial.

The views from the castle were great and the children snapped away with their cameras.

Hannah thought the castle was “Cool” and Holly thought it was “Awesome – especially the views from the top. Zoe thought that the dungeons were a bit smelly – but prisoner comfort was not top of the list in those days!

Rosa thought the castle was “big” and was amazed at the colour of the rocks used to build it. It seemed to have an orangey tinge to it! Blair thought it was “Ace”

Miss Ingram said the castle was super and we had a great day for our visit. And to top it all off she managed to get some bargain chocolate in the shop! ( We will see how good she is at sharing later on!)

So, off to the bus in a few minutes to head to the zoo for lunch!

We decided to have lunch in the bus as there was no where in the car park where we could sit and eat. The packed lunch was great – sandwiches, water, crisps and biscuits. SO we all set off excitedly to the zoo. Each group was going to go of on their own and make their own way round the zoo depending on what they wanted to see.

Our group decided to take the “Zoo Safari” (a jeep pulling a trailer bus) to the top of the zoo and we would walk back down to the shop. (“Mr Jenkins, are we going to go to the shop before we leave?” someone asked. More than once!

The “safari” driver made his way slowly up to the top of the hill and gave a commentary as we went. Once at the top we all got off and admired the view that the animals at the top of the hill had over the city. I wonder if they appreciate the view?

The children had great fun looking at the animals as we went. We saw zebras, antelope, hunting dogs, lions, tigers, jaguars, monkeys, more monkeys, penguins, pygmy hippos, even more monkeys and a whole array of other animals. At last we made it to the shop and the children found so much stuff there they could not make up their mind what to get! However, quite a few soft toys will be making their way back up to the north east on Friday!

We made it back to the bus at about 4pm and made our way back to the hotel. We had another great tea (cheeseburgers or breaded fish) and then we were almost straight out again to go to the cinema. The cinema was located next door to the ten pin bowling from last night and so was easily found.

Excitement grew as they tried to figure out what they were going to see! However, there was not a lot of choice as most of the films on were 15’s or 12A’s! So that left us with….. Mr Bean’s Holiday! There were a few groans, as you would expect when trying to please 41 kids and 5 fussy adults, but we went in and disturbed the other 5 people there and took our seats. The trailers were highly amusing and I think some of the children will be keen to go and see some of them when they are released!

Anyway, we settled back and the film started. I think some of the adults thought they might get a quick 40 winks – but to our surprise the film was so bad that it was highly amusing and kept you enthralled all the way through. Who says British comedy is on the decline!

Some of the children roared out loud at times with laughter as Mr Bean stuttered from one disaster to the next and they shall remain nameless, but we know who they were!

We made it back to the hotle by about 9.15 and had our juice and a biscuit followed by a short time to do their diaries. I am sitting in the corridor at the moment finishing this off before we get the kids to put their lights out and go to SLEEP!