Junior Activities/Extra-Curricular

Harvest

Part of the tradition at St Margaret’s is to hold a harvest celebration in the nursery and the junior school.

We once again celebrated harvest by collecting food stuffs for the Cyrenians. We worked together as a nursery and junior school to produce a thank you poster which was a great reminder of how fortunate we are to have such a wonderful world to live in and so many wonderful things to enjoy.

Junior School visits Hazlehead Woods

In October, girls from the junior school had the opportunity of a number of outings to Hazlehead Woods to enjoy some outdoor learning. The highlight for all the girls was toasting marshmallows and s’mores in the fire pit!

Easter Visitors to Nursery and Junior School

Pupils in the junior school and nursery were surprised by two springtime visitors. Easter Bunny and Spring Chick took time out from their busy schedules to visit the school and hand out prizes for the PTA Spring Bonnet Competition.

It was a tough competition to judge with so many fantastic entries. The children had clearly been working really hard designing their bonnets. We saw lots of little chicks, sheep, spring flowers, a frog and one bonnet even had lights on it! Well done to all the pupils who entered the competition and congratulations to the winners.

Spring Chick and Easter Bunny also delivered treats to all the nursery and junior pupils for all their hard work after a busy Spring term.

Before they left the school, Spring Chick and Easter Bunny took some time out to relax in the playground after their busy afternoon!

Rachel Paterson-Davies Head of Department

1 Junior Knight Visit

In the spring term, 1J girls had a visit from a medieval knight who spoke with them about history and showed them a variety of medieval objects.

The girls had lots of fun holding the mace, axe, shield, and other medieval objects.

1 Junior visit to the science labs to investigate owl pellets

The 1 Junior girls have been reading The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark and enjoyed going to the science lab to look at owl pellets with the senior school teachers. They found lots of tiny bones and stones from mice and shrews.

Judith Garden Teacher of 1 Junior

2 Junior trip to the Maritime Museum

2 Junior had a fantastic trip to the Maritime Museum. They enjoyed a talk with Lynsey, their guide, who showed the girls some artefacts.

The girls ate their snack before heading out to the museum to complete a quiz in groups and explore all of the brilliant displays and activities.

2 Junior Aberdeen Science Centre Trip

In May, 2 Junior visited the Aberdeen Science Centre to take part in a Human Body workshop.

They thoroughly enjoyed taking part in all the activities and exploring the exhibits.

Mel Binfield Teacher of 2 Junior

3 Junior National Bee Day Outdoor Learning

On Friday 20th May, Miss Tomlinson spoke about National Bee Day in assembly, so 3 and 4 Junior were given bee facts and given the task of writing bee facts on the path of Rubislaw Park to educate the public about bees as part of their outdoor learning.

In the spring term, 3 Junior enjoyed learning about the Vikings. They made some Viking jewellery and they finished the topic off with a Viking feast.

3 Junior Viking Project

They had some strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and bread which they dipped in honey which the Vikings would have enjoyed. They even had a fancy drink of white grape Shloer!

They also enjoyed a visit from a Viking and he told them the story of how Odin gave one of his eyes to the tree of knowledge. The girls enjoyed dressing up and they all got a chance to blow the horn and handle the artefacts.

Alison Dressel Teacher of 3 Junior

4 Junior Visit to Doonies Rare Breed Farm

As part of the 4 Junior farming topic, the girls went to Doonies Rare Breed Farm.

They were met by their tour guide, Alice, who took them round the family farm. Alice taught the girls about the different breeds of animals on the farm and some key facts about each. They learnt about subsistence farming and crop rotation. Did you know that pigs don’t sweat, or that sheep only have 8 teeth?

In May, 4 Junior had a visit from the Royal Northern Countryside Initiative, who brought along two very cute lambs. The classroom on wheels team spoke to the girls about many aspects of farming and the countryside.

Sophie Hulme Teacher of 4 Junior

5J Outdoor Learning Investigating leaves

In May, 5 Junior were out in the playground investigating the properties of different leaves.

Did you know there are so many different leaf shapes, sizes and colours? The girls tried to find examples of all of the different types of leaves and then spent time creating an outdoor artwork from them.

They were all amazed at how many different leaf types they discovered in the playground.

Norma Murray Head of Junior School

6J French Breakfast

In May, 6 Junior finished their current topic talking about what they like and dislike eating for breakfast with a celebratory French breakfast.

Each girl was given €5 to spend in the café and placed their order in French. Some used their maths skills to purchase an extra ‘half’ croissant at the end if they had opted for the free drink option! It was great to see them enjoying the delicious treats at the same time.

Karen Williamson Head of Modern Languages

History Detectives ?

Over two weeks in October, 6 Junior had the opportunity to work with Mr Paterson from the Aberdeen Urban Studies Centre. The girls visited some familiar landmarks in the Queens Road and Rosemount areas of the city.

They were able to evaluate how much Aberdeen has changed since the Victorian period. They were surprised to discover that Rubislaw church once had no bell tower, and stood alone with only six other houses in the nearby vicinity. Not only that, the church was considered by city folk to be out in the countryside.

Other remnants of Victorian life were spotted along Esslemont Avenue, with the tenement blocks built for workers in the nearby mills, some still having boot scrapers outside the properties. Next time you are walking around the area have a look for some of the boot scrapers that can still be found today.

Back in class the girls were able to carry out further research and find out about Victorian school life, houses and homes, sport and pastimes and many other aspects of Victorian life. Having the artefacts at hand brought to life the differences between living now and then.

Paula Twigg Teacher of 6 Junior

7J Mindfulness Course

THE 7 JUNIOR GIRLS ENJOYED WORKING ON A MINDFULNESS COURSE IN THE AUTUMN TERM AS PART OF THEIR HEALTH AND WELLBEING LESSONS.

Their discussions included learning about what mindfulness was and how they can integrate it into their lives. They worked on mindful eating and decided to bake bread which is a slow, mindful process. They thought it was the perfect recipe to help them celebrate Harvest.

The girls worked in small groups and individually produced a small loaf of bread. Some girls made plaits and some traditional loaves. The school smelt amazing and we can confirm the bread was absolutely delicious.

7J WW2 Streetscape

The 7 Juniors completed a WW2 Streetscape with Mr Allan Paterson from Aberdeen Urban Studies.

It was a fascinating tour. The girls learned about life in 1939 in Aberdeen, they completed their information booklets, stepped inside a real air raid shelter and worked a fire pump.