STRICHEN SCHOOL BLOG

Buchan Area Sports

Our school entered a team in the Buchan Area Sports in September. They were held at Longside School and our team was made up of P5,6 and 7 pupils. We took part in 5 events-the 80 metres, the 200 metres, the 600 metres, the long jump and the shot putt. Mintlaw came 1^st, Stuartfield came 2^nd and Longside came 3^rd. Sadly we didn’t get in the top 3 but we did our best – but it’s the taking part that counts. Overall we had lots of fun and were glad to get a rest on the bus on the way home.

By Jason Addison

Term 1

Hi .. and welcome back to our blog site. We are hoping to have a number of entries going up really soon to tell you about some of the things we have been up to over this term. Here are two new entries about the 'Buchan Area Sports' and the Class 3's visit to the Loch of Strathbeg. We hope you enjoy them.

Welcome Back - New session 2007-2008

Well, summer is over, not that we had much of a summer, and we are back to school and back to hard work in all the classes. We are delighted to be back and welcome our new pupils in P1 and the nursery and also two new members of staff, Miss West and Miss Clark.

Two weeks have disappeared already and we can not believe how quickly they have gone. The first two weeks have been eventful and included a visit by two fire brigades to put out a fire in our shed in the 'Secret Garden'. The shed has had to be removed and we are very disappointed that the vandals have struck once again. Even since the shed has gone we have had another incident of vandalism in the garden area. Some of the trees have had branches broken by people climbing or swinging on them or just deliberately breaking them. We would like to try and develop this artea but are worried that anything we do will be vandalised out of school times. (Pictures of the shed are available on the school website: http://www.strichen.aberdeenshire.sch.uk/news.html )

Anyway, we are looking forward to another busy year and I hope that the pupils will soon be adding some new articles to the blog to keep you up to date with all the latest news.If you have any ideas for what you would like to see on the blog then please get in touch with us by clicking on the 'Comment' button at the end of the article.

Mr Jenkins

Class 4 Visit Loch of Strathbeg

On Thursday we went to the loch of Strathbeg.  It was 20 miles away from school. One team caught a Diving Beetle. It was big and it even ate one of it’s babies heads off because it was hungry. Then we switched teams so we started rolling over logs to see if there were any earthworms, spiders, slugs, snails, maggots, beetles millipedes, centipedes, mites, etc. We saw a book full of pictures of moths and butterflies.  Then we saw a tunnel made of a special kind of twig and then we shook a tree and saw if any minibeasts fell off the tree.

By Cameron

Class 3 Day at the Beach

Class 3’s Trip to Scotstown Beach

On Friday 25^th May, Class 3 went on a trip to Scotstown Beach because their project is The Sea and Seashore. When we got off the bus we met up with Ms. Kath Hamper from The Buchan Countryside Group. First of all she told us about the safety rules on the beach. Then she told us to look at the sand through a magnifying glass and she asked us questions about what it was made of. We found out that it was made from crushed shells and rocks and that long ago there were mountains there. Down by the sea the grains of sand were bigger. As we dug deeper the sand became wetter, damper, heavier and darker because it had been raining the night before. However the sand on the top was softer and drier. It was crumbly and light coloured. This was because the wind and sun had dried it up.

Sand dunes are formed by the sea coming in. The sand piles up on rocks and it makes a big hill. We were doing a bit of Drama. Some of us were the sand and others were rocks. We pushed together.

We went down towards the sea and looked for shells, seaweed and things which were alive or dead. We found heaps and heaps of shells and seaweed. Some shells have different patterns on them. Some of the seaweed was wet and smelly. We had to get into groups of four. We built a crab and it ate seaweed. The first crab got crushed. The second one was not very good. One group made a starfish and I thought it was quite good. The last one was not very good but it was better than ours.

When we climbed a dune my welly got full of sand. It was very hard to climb. I saw older and younger dunes from the top and we saw everybody. The Marram grass helps the sand dunes stay as a big pile of sand. When we got on the bus we went back home and had lunch.

By Iain and the boys and girls of Class 3.  

Glasgow Trip - P7

Hi from Glasgow! Eventually got wireless access!

If you want to read our blog so far - very short and simple then go to the following page:

http://strichenschoolblog.typepad.co.uk/glasgow2007/

The pictures are on the main school blog page for some reason! Hope you enjoy!

Class 6 visit Peterhead Power Ststion

Our Visit to Peterhead Power Station

On the 17th on April pr 7 went to Peterhead power station.

We were met by two men called Mike and Ron.

They gave us hard hats and goggles to wear and they gave us earplugs that we took home.

My group had our tour with Mike. He took us outside to see the pumps that takes the water from the sea and cleans it. He told us about the seal that swam through the pipe and how they had to hire a man to get it out.

Things like crabs, seaweed and rubbish is what they have to clear the water of. When the water is cleaned it goes into the power station to cool down the steam back into water again.

The steam is used to make the electric.

Mike took us to the top floor which had steel mesh flooring. We went in to the turbine hall which held the huge generators, pipes of all different sizes and the hydraulic lifts.

We went into the control room with more than 15 computers in it. The power station makes so much energy that they could power 8 cities the size of Aberdeen.

The plant that they built was powered by gas piped straight from St Fergus.

We all seemed to have lots of fun.

By Heather and Charlotte

P7 Visit to Power Station

Tuesday 17th April 2007

Yesterday we went to the Peterhead Power Station and we got to wear hard hats, earplugs and goggles. We got split up into two groups and we each got a guide. Our one was called Ron and the other one was called Mike. We went to a bit where the water from Boddam came and it stunk and at the side there was rubbish and Iona dropped her earplugs in it.

The Turbine hall was really big and noisy and there were pipes of all different shapes and sizes. There was huge generator that was really noisy.

The 24 hour operation has less than 10 workers required for each shift.

The control room was where there were loads of computers but there were only two workers. On a screen at the top it said 1103 megawatts and that would do about 8 Aberdeen’s.

It was really fun.

By Heather

Class 6 visit to Peterhead Power Station

On Tuesday 17 April class 6 went on a trip to the Peterhead Power Station. We went to meet our guides Ron and Mike then we were split into two groups and we were given a hard hat, earplugs and goggles. First we went to see where the water was pumped. It was cool. After that we went to the Turbine hall. We had to put on our earplugs because it was really noisy. There were pipes of all different shapes and sizes. We went right up to the top floor but when there it was only steel mesh flooring and you looked down - it was really scary. When we went to the control room it looked like a space ship and at the time we were there the power plant was generating 1103 megawatts. That's enough energy to power 8 Aberdeen's.

The visit was really good and I would definitely go back again.

By Holly

P7's visit to Peterhead Power Station 

On Tuesday the 17th our class went on a trip to the Peterhead power station. Everyone was exited on the bus. As we went in to the meeting room we were given hard hats, goggles and earplugs. Then we got to meet our guides Mike and Ron. The first thing we did was go and see the waste from the dirty water – but when I was looking over my earplugs fell off into the sewage !!!!!

After that we went into the turbine hall. There were heaps of pipes and it was noisy. At the top floor of it there was only mesh steel flooring so you could see right through to the next floor down and I felt dizzy. Then we went to the control room and it felt like you were on a space ship. Ron, our guide, told us that the plant was generating enough electricity to power Aberdeen8 times!!!!! It was generating 1103 megawatts!!!

I really enjoyed my visit

By Iona

Yesterday we went to the Power Station out side Peterhead. We met our guide Ron.      

First we went to see where the water came from. It came from the sea. There was a funny smell because there was a lot of rubbish. There was a big room which vibrated. There was another room with a lot of computers. There was 1100 megawatts of power. Then we went in a lift and had juice and two biscuits and then we went back to school                                                                      

Marc & Euan

Visit To Peterhead Power Station         

On 17 of April we visited Peterhead power station and it was fun. First we met our guide in the library and put on our hats, earplugs and glasses. We got split into two different groups. My group was with Susan.

Then we went outside and the man told us that the cars in the car park had to be reverse parked for safety reasons. The water in the sea smelled and there was litter everywhere, I even saw dead crabs and dead fish and the smell of sewage was terrible.

When we went into the turbine hall the huge generators were really noisy and we could not hear the man talk. Infact, one of the generators was the size of our classroom.

We noticed lots of signs including Keep Door Shut, Switch Mobile Phones Off, No Smoking, Ear Protectors Must Be Worn In This area and lots more.

When we went into the control room it looked like a spaceship.

I enjoyed my visit

By Ryan

Class 6's visit to Peterhead Power Station

Tuesday 17 April

Yesterday, our class went to Peterhead Power Station for a visit for our project which is Energy. We met up with our guides in the library and we wore hard hats - we all looked pretty silly with all our protective stuff on!!

First we were taken to the place were all the water was pumped from the north sea then cleaned because there was loads of sewage and litter in it - even CRABS! It was very, very smelly.

Turbine Hall:

The turbine hall was really big - it had loads and loads of machinery in it. There were huge generators which were really noisy and really thick pipes. The floor was  scary because it was steel mesh and when you looked down your stomach turned up side down!!

Control Room:

The control room was were they controlled all the machines and if anything went wrong they would have to tell the workers to get them to repair it. When we were there the reading of the electricity being generated was 1103 megawatts - that could power approx 8 Aberdeen’s!!

We thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

By Shannon Urquhart

Class 3 Egyptians

Look at the Class 3 Egyptian photo album to see some of the pictures painted by Class 3 at the end of term. THey really enjoyed finding out all about the Egyptians.

Easter Capers

The last few days of the winter term saw some exciting events taking place in school. Primary 7 were involved in some problem solving and were challenged to make the tallest tower that they could using only newspaper and selotape. The pupils worked very well together and the two tallest towers were only a centimetre apart in height! Well done to everyone for soing so well.

You can see photos of their towers in the 'Photo Album'  section on the left of the window.

The whole school spent the last morning of the term decorating hard boiled eggs. Everyone took in their eggs and the materials they thought they might need to decorate their egg and to make any 'extra' background, base or additional items. The children had great fun, as did some of the staff, decorating their eggs and displaying them in the foyer outside the office. Mr Fyfe, our PE teacher, judged the competition and selected the best two from each stage of the school.

If you want to see the pictures check them out in the 'Photo Album' section on the left of this window.

Craft Club

The last week of the third term saw the last 'Craft Club' for the year. The club has been running since October every Monday afternoon from 3.15 - 4.15. The club was open to pupils from P3-P5 and has been very popular with the children. A large number have turned up every week and have tried a wide variety of art and craft activities. The school would like to thank the mums who have given so generously of their time over the last two terms. They have tackled a wide range of activities with great enthusiasm with the children. The last week saw the children decorating hard boiled eggs and Mr Jenkins was the 'unlucky' person to try and decide who had produced the best one from each year group. All the eggs were great and the children had obviously put a lot of hard work into it.

We look forward to the club starting again in October once again when the nights are getting darker.