Primary Seven Update

Health Project -

Last term, primary 7’s project was about ‘Drug Awareness’. We discussed the problems associated with prescription drugs as well as those available on our streets. We were delighted to welcome outreach workers from the Wester Hailes Youth Agency to Gylemuir to deliver a session on the danger of drugs. The WHYA brought in lots of literature and samples of drugs for us to see. The children, as always, asked many well considered questions and appeared to take a lot from the experience.

Class Charities -

Both primary seven classes have adopted their own separate charity again this year. Primary 7a are raising funds for the SSPCA and made a handsome sum at the Christmas Fair to add to the money raised through classroom events - well done! 7B have decided to support the children of the Mogolino Social Care Home in Bulgaria. Although our children have already raised a considerable amount of money, they realise that is is just as important to raise awareness of the plight of these unfortunate children and have been striving to do this by telling everyone they know about our project. Well done to all in P7! Your efforts are much appreciated.

Gallery of Modern Art and Dean Gallery trip -

We recently visited the above galleries as part of this term’s Social Studies topic - World War 2. On our visit we looked at works by artists that experienced persecution at the hands of the Nazi party in Germany at the time of the war. We studied work by Otto Dix, Oskar Kokoschka and Ernst Barlach before exploring the rest of the gallery’s collection. The children were impressed by the work of artists like Anne Redpath, Eduardo Paolozzi and John Bellany who all had studios in Edinburgh.

'Outstanding Oskar Kokoschka' -

As I arrived back at school, I knew my choice was right, Oskar Kokoschka's self portrait was extremely eye catching. The warm melting colours and extraordinary detail obviously won me over! The variety of greens was fantastic. The green grass and multi coloured sky was extraordinary! The amount of discussion that surrounded this piece of splendor clearly shows that not only me but several others enjoyed this painting as well. The skin tones on Oskar's face were very detailed, stalk greens and pale pinks. It certainly caught my eye. The animal in the background chasing a person was great and fitted the forest backdrop perfectly. Every line and colour was splashed in where appropriate to make this picture amazing. In the picture, Oskar struck a pose of defiance and pride and this is as it should be as he has produced a brilliant self portrait and he has certainly won me over. By Lisa

Quite Simple, But Brilliant! -

You might not think that you're good at art but that doesn't matter. As long as you've drawn something that will engage people and make them discuss the piece, you have suceeded. That is what this picture did for me. The picture was quite simple yet I still really loved it. It was a white canvas that had a couple of black lines on it with a bright yellow square in the left hand corner. I really liked it because it made me think, that's easy, I could have drawn that but I wouldn't have even thought about drawing something as simple as this. I would have probably thought to draw something far more detailed. It made me think that I should try to design simpler things and concentrate on using more vibrant colours. I loved the colours and that's what caught my eye and that's why I really liked this piece of work. By Megan