A Crossroads of Cultures

2009-08-19T08:07:00.002+01:00

News from Denmark
We are now back in scholle after a long warm(for a change) holiday.
We hope you will continue to write us on the blog as we have learned a lot from working with you on the blog.
Best wishes from (now) 5 B in Skaelskoer
Lene

THANK YOU DENMARK AND SCOTLAND!

2009-06-05T23:21:00.003+01:00

Thanks, we have enjoyed this year very much. We are happy because our 10-week-holiday has started. Have a nice summer! Now we have to go to swim.

Questions from Kuvansi- and our answers!

2009-06-02T13:45:00.017+01:00

We had hoped to ask these questions last week, by webcam, but unfortunately, we had some problems.
Here are Mr Ikonen's class' questions, and our answers.

1) Oletteko te pitäneet blogista? Have you liked our blog?
Yes, we have had lots of fun this year with the blog. Kiitos paljon! Thank you very much!

2) Kuinka monta ihmistä teidän kaupungissa asuu? How many people are living in your town?
There are around 700 people living in Gifford. The picture shows the village hall.

3) Oletteko te nähneet karhua? Have you seen a bear?
Blackie saw bear footprints when she was on holiday in Canada. Puddock also saw a bear when she was on holiday in Canada! There are no wild bears here in Scotland.

4) Suomessa on paljon hirviä. Onko niitä Skotlannissa? We have lots of elk here in Finland. Do you have any in Scotland?
No, we don't have elk here.

5) Mikä on suurin villieläin Skotlannissa? What is the biggest wild animal in Scotland?
The Red Deer.

6) Kuinka moni on nähnyt Loch Nessin hirviön? How many of you have seen the Loch Ness Monster?
All of us have seen it.

7) Mikä on suurin järvi? What is the biggest lake (loch) in Scotland?
It's Loch Lomond, (in the picture below)though Loch Ness, where Nessie lives is the deepest loch in Scotland.

8) Mitkä ovat teidän lempiaineita? What are your favourite school subjects?
Writing, Maths, ICT, PE.

9) Mitä pelejä pelaatte liikuntatunnilla? What games do you play in PE lessons?
We play Unihoc (floorball) benchball, rounders and basketball.

10) Onko Harry Potter elokuva kuvattu teidän lähellä? Have Harry Potter movies been filmed close to you?
Yes, some of the movies were filmed at Alnwick Castle, which is about 1 hour from Gifford.

11) Mitä te harrastatte? What are your hobbies?

Scrambling!

2009-05-29T10:49:00.004+01:00

We had a lovely day's scrambling up North Berwick Law on Tuesday this week.

Here are some pictures from the day. We went in two groups- one half of the class in the morning, and the other half in the afternoon.

At the top of the hill, with Mike, the outdoor education instructor.

We all wore helmets and here you can see us using ropes to get up some tricky bits of the hill!

Can you see the beautiful view in the background?

At the top of North Berwick Law.

Creating a butterfly!

2009-05-21T21:08:00.004+01:00

We made some pictures of butterflies in class this week. Here is one of them, from start to finish! Do you make things like this in Denmark and Finland?

2009-05-18T10:22:00.000+01:00

Dear friends in Finland, we wish to thank you for your lovely presents.
We all liked them a lot

News from Denmark

2009-05-11T10:26:00.002+01:00

Hej Finland and Scotland,
We have just had a small break and the children want to tell you about the break.
Best regards Lene

Golden Eagle flies to Ylläs, in Finland

2009-04-22T20:27:00.004+01:00

One of our class, Golden Eagle, has enjoyed the project we have done with Finland so much, that he persuaded his parents to take him, along with his brother and sister, to Finland for a week at Easter time.
They stayed in Ylläs, in Lapland, where they had a great time skiing, fishing, riding on snowmobiles and lots more. Golden Eagle's mum told Mr Purves before they went that they hadn't considered Finland before the link that Yester has with Kuvansi, and Golden Eagle has told us that they all enjoyed it so much, they'd like to go back again!

Skiing is fun!

2009-04-22T20:26:00.000+01:00

Here is Golden Eagle, whizzing down the slopes in glorious weather!

Ice fishing!

2009-04-22T20:25:00.003+01:00

While in Ylläs, Golden Eagle tried out ice fishing. Unfortunately, the fish were not too easy to catch!

A ride in the sled!

2009-04-22T20:23:00.004+01:00

One of the things Golden Eagle and his family loved doing while in Ylläs was going for a ride in a sled, pulled by huskies!

With the family

2009-04-22T20:22:00.000+01:00

Golden Eagle is here with his mum and dad, and brother and sister.

The snow hotel

2009-04-22T20:21:00.003+01:00

Golden Eagle visited a hotel made from snow and ice while he was in Ylläs. Here he is, about to enter the snow hotel!

Golden Eagle at the bar

2009-04-22T20:19:00.001+01:00

"Could I have a coke, with ice, please?"
Yes, even the bar was made from ice!

The snow is wonderful!

2009-04-22T20:15:00.001+01:00

The snow here was deep - up to our knees!

2009-04-20T10:40:00.002+01:00

My name is Nina, I am 11 years old, I love horses, I like Pizza, I like a computergame called Habbo

Our school nature camp!

2009-04-20T10:35:00.001+01:00

Hello, Scotland and Finland

We want to post some pictures from our outings.

We stayed at a naturecamp near our school Here we are leaving the school.

2009-04-20T10:32:00.001+01:00

I am carrying the fishing net down to the sea. I liked the camp.

Nicoline

2009-04-20T10:30:00.001+01:00

We had fun at the camp and here I am fishing.

Benjamin J

2009-04-20T10:28:00.002+01:00

Here I am with my friend Jacob. We are sitting in the shelter where we slept at night. We just palyed fottball and got grass on our trousers.

2009-04-20T10:22:00.003+01:00

We had fun at the camp. We went fishing for crabs and other small animals from the sea, walked in the meadow, played football and roasted marshmellows at the fire in the evening

from Victor

2009-04-20T10:20:00.001+01:00

Here we are playing football at the camp.

Magnus

2009-04-20T10:10:00.007+01:00

Me and my friend are looking at the crabs we found

Benjamin C

2009-04-20T10:08:00.001+01:00

4B cooking on the fire with Allan our math teacher. It got a bit burned.
Patrick

2009-04-20T10:06:00.001+01:00

We had to walk to Vasebro, 5 kilometers, but the weather was nice. Jacob

2009-04-20T10:04:00.002+01:00

My teacher and me enjoying the sun at Vasebro

By Stine

2009-04-20T10:02:00.001+01:00

Victor, Mathis and Benjamin N eating food cooked (a bit burned) on the fire.

2009-04-20T10:00:00.001+01:00

Mathias and Benjamin C enjoying the fishing

2009-04-20T09:58:00.001+01:00

Here we are at the Vasebro, going to catch some shellfish and other stuff by the see.

Tatties in Spain

2009-03-23T21:42:00.007Z

One of our class, Tatties, who is mad about motorbikes, and is the current Scottish Minimoto champion, was invited to spend a week in Spain recently. There, he practised with many other young motorcyclists, and he hopes that he did well enough to be invited back again when he is older. Here, you can see Tatties on his motorbike, getting ready to race!

Here, you can see Tatties (number 8) on the racetrack, in 2nd place. He is trying very hard to catch the leader. (Click on the picture to see a bigger version)

This is Tatties in action on the racetrack! He is going very quickly here.

Tatties even took Scotland's other national drink - Irn Bru - to drink while he was relaxing in between races.
It was a hard week, but Tatties said he loved every minute of his racing in Spain! One day, he hopes to race motorbikes professionally.

We´ve got mail, too!

2009-03-18T17:57:00.003Z

We got a great package from Denmark. Mrs Sieling and her class sent us pencils, badges, booklets and very big Danish flag. Pupils liked them very much! Thank you och tack så mycket !

Friday is rugby day!

2009-03-13T13:06:00.002Z

Today we had our second rugby lesson. Greig Munro, who is a rugby specialist, came last Friday to introduce us to the game. Today he was back again, and we learned how to make passes correctly, before playing a small game.
The weather was nice and sunny, so we all had fun.
Today has also been Red Nose Day, where children in the UK dress up in red, to raise money for less fortunate children both here and in other countries. If you look carefully, you might see some of us are wearing red, and have our hair dyed too!

Rugby is fun!

2009-03-13T13:05:00.003Z

In small groups, we learned how to pass the ball correctly.

Learning rugby

2009-03-13T13:03:00.003Z

This was near the end of the lesson, when we discussed what we had done.

We've got mail!

2009-03-05T15:40:00.004Z

We got a lovely surprise today, when the postman brought us a package from Denmark! The children realised immediately that it was something from Mrs Sieling and her class, so we began to open the package. Here is Sporran, with the first thing we pulled out of the package- a Denmark pencil for everyone.

Here we are with all our presents. We all got a pencil, a Denmark badge, a booklet about Skaelskoer and a huge Danish flag. We are pictured in front of our Finnish flag that Mr Ikonen and his class sent in December!

Thank you very much for all the things we received. The children are all delighted with their Danish presents.

Crofter spends her holiday in Salla, Finland

2009-02-24T18:28:00.003Z

Crofter, who was in Mr Purves' class a year ago and is now in primary 6, spent her February holiday week in Salla, Finland with her family. Usually, her family spend their winter holiday in Norway, but after learning a lot about Finland last year through the Healthy Passport project between Mr Purves and Mr Ikonen's classes, her family decided to go for their winter holidays to Finland this year!
She had a brilliant time there, and she kindly allowed us to use some photos from her holiday.
Here she is inside an igloo that she built.

The reindeer

2009-02-24T18:26:00.002Z

Crofter is seen here feeding the reindeer. They were really tame!

Another picture of Crofter with a reindeer.

We stayed here

2009-02-24T18:24:00.003Z

Crofter and her family stayed here, in a wooden cottage. Crofter said it was very warm inside, even though there was lots of snow outside.

The ski area

2009-02-24T18:21:00.002Z

Crofter and her family skied here in Salla. "I thought the skiing was very good, though it was always very cold!" said Crofter.

The landscape

2009-02-24T18:20:00.001Z

Crofter said it was very, very cold when she was in Salla. This shows the snowy landscape.

A reindeer comes to breakfast!

2009-02-24T18:17:00.001Z

Sometimes, there were reindeer which came right up to our house!

Winter view

2009-02-08T17:54:00.005Z

This is the view from the window of Michael`s home. It is real winter in Kuvansi.

Snow castle and Snow dragon

2009-02-08T17:53:00.007Z

Michael has built a nice snow castle and a snow dragon.

Snow dragon and Michael

2009-02-08T17:50:00.003Z

Once upon the time there was a little boy called Michael. He knew children in Scotland like snow but they didn't have any. So Michael built a snow dragon and the dragon blew snow very hard. A big miracle happened. And now he has heard he managed to send snow to Scotland. As you see Michael is very happy and wishes a nice winter to everyone.Do you believe this story is true?

School closes early!

2009-02-02T21:13:00.005Z

Today we had some very heavy snow, with blizzard conditions for a while. As many of our children come to school by bus, from up in the hills, where conditions were worse, we had to close the school at lunchtime and send everyone home. This is the play area at the back of the school.

Sledging!

2009-02-02T21:11:00.001Z

Some of the children decided to come back to school after we closed today, with their sledges. Here they are using the hill at the back of the school.

A snowy day

2009-02-02T21:07:00.003Z

This was the view from the window of the classroom this afternoon. All the children had been sent home by now.

A very special visitor

2009-01-21T12:06:00.005Z

This is a very special year for Scotland, as it is 250 years since our most famous poet, Robert Burns was born. There will be many, many celebrations around the country in the next few weeks, as we remember his birth on 25th January 1759. We were delighted yesterday, as Robert Burns himself visited us to tell us a little bit about himself! (Actually, it was not Robert Burns- it was the world's most famous Burns impersonator - Christopher Tait- who came to see us!) We were treated to some of Burns' best poems. You can read all about Christopher Tait, as Robert Burns,
on his website here.

With Robert Burns!

2009-01-21T12:02:00.002Z

Robert Burns came into our class to see what we are preparing for our Burns Supper next week.

To a louse!

2009-01-21T11:41:00.006Z

This is one of Robert Burns most well known poems. It's about the tiny creatures you sometimes get in your hair- head lice- and it's an entertaining wee story. Robert Burns performed it for us yesterday. Perhaps Mr Ikonen or Mrs Sieling can understand some of the words...?

If you are not sure of what is being said the following translation might help you!

Some more introductions from Denmark- Ava

2009-01-19T10:39:00.004Z

Hello,
My name is Ava, I have two animals a dog S'maralda, a cat Smiley. My favourite food is Spaghetti and meatsauce. I am ten years old. Ilike swimming and riding

Patricia

2009-01-19T10:30:00.003Z

Hi,

My name is Patricia, Iam 10 years old.

I live with my mum and dad and my twinsister Natashia in Skaelskoer.

I ride horses and I like that very much. I like drawing , too.

My favourite food is Lasagne.

I have three animals, a dog Thor, a bird Muffi, a rabbit Pjevs.

Benjamin C

2009-01-19T10:22:00.005Z

Hi my name is Benjamin C. I am 11 yeas old I like meatballs and playing on my Nintendo wii i got The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess,super smash bros bwal,T.M.N.T and SUPER MARIO GALAXY. And I got 2 cats 1.Pussimis 2.Wolf. My favorit game on the internet is roblox (http://www.roblox.com/)

A Maths game!

2009-01-04T20:44:00.006Z

Happy New Year everyone! For fun, try out the maths game. You need to find pairs of numbers, adding up to the total given, to repair the slide. Drag the pair of numbers to each part of the slide which is broken.
If you have tried this, please leave a comment underneath!

Merry Christmas !

2008-12-18T19:50:00.003Z

Mr Purves´s class sent Christmas cards and yo-yos. Pupils liked very much. Thank you!

Jari , Headteacher and the Christmas tree

2008-12-18T19:48:00.002Z

Our Christmas lunch was served on Wednesday. Everybody liked it very much. Jari was ready to enjoy Christmas lunch.

Mrs Pöllänen and kitchen staff

2008-12-18T19:47:00.002Z

Mrs Pöllänen is taking her food. You can see the kitchen staff, Mrs Suhonen and Mrs Räisänen, behind Mrs Pöllänen.

Hungry girls

2008-12-18T19:46:00.003Z

Some girls from Mr Ikonen´s class smiled. They look as if they are pleased with their meals.

A Christmas lunch

2008-12-18T19:44:00.002Z

Potatoes, ham with mustard, green salad, beetroot salad, smoked salmon, salted salmon, smoked whitefish, mushroom salad, peas, carrot casserole, swede casserole and as dessert chocolate pudding. It was a very tasty lunch!

Joulupuu on Rakennettu

2008-12-17T13:00:00.007Z

We have learned a Finnish Christmas song- or at least two verses of it! We hope we have pronounced the words correctly, and that you can understand us!

Joulupuu on rakennettu,
joulu on jo ovella.
Namusia ripustettu
ompi kuusen oksilla.

Kuusen piennet kynttiläiset
valaisevat kauniisti.
Ympärillä lapsukaiset
laulelevat sulosti.

Our Finnish presents!

2008-12-17T09:48:00.007Z

Some of the class, with their keyrings and badges.

Mr Ikonen sent us some key-rings, badges and a large Finnish flag. The pupils were really delighted to receive them. Kiitos paljon!

Glaedelig Jul! Merry Christmas! Hyvää Joulua!

2008-12-16T13:54:00.011Z

We would like to wish both Mr Ikonen's class in Finland, and Mrs Sieling's class in Denmark, a very Merry Christmas! Click to listen to our messages, in English, Danish and Finnish!
If you follow the voices, you will see who said what, starting from the back row, left side in the photo above.

Hello from 4B in Denmark- Victor

2008-12-14T22:06:00.002Z

My name is Victor. I am eleven years old. I live near Skaelskoer. It is a town in Denmark. I have green eyes and my hair is brown. I like fruit and I don’t like cheese. I have two cats and two horses.
I love football and my Brazilian favourite player is Cesar Santin.

Simon

2008-12-14T22:05:00.000Z

Hello, my name is Simon. I am a boy and I am ten years old.
I live in Denmark in Skaelskoer, and I like football and counter-strike and my favourite food is pizza. I live with my mom and my dad.
I also have a brother and a sister. My sister is 24 and her name is Line, and my brother is 21, his name is Christian. We have a dog and three cats. My best friends are Jonas and Benjamin N.

Patrick

2008-12-14T22:03:00.000Z

Hello! My name is Patrick. I am eleven years old.
I live on a farm. My favourite food is pizza and burger.
I have two sisters and one brother.
We have four horses and two dogs.
I have brown hair and blue eyes.

Benjamin N

2008-12-14T22:02:00.000Z

Hello, my name is Benjamin N.
I’m ten years old.
I like football and badminton. I have two brothers, Lukas and Andreas.
I have two dogs. My hair is blond. I live in Denmark.

Jacob

2008-12-14T22:00:00.002Z

Hello!
My name is Jacob, and I’m nine years old.
My eyes colour is green, and my hair brown.
I live in Skaelskoer together with my mother, my father.
I like football. I like pizza. I like dog.
I like play football

Benjamin J

2008-12-14T22:00:00.001Z

Hello my name is Benjamin J.
I am 10 years old.
I love fruit.
I have a dog, Buller.
I have a cat, Tarzan.

Natashia

2008-12-14T21:57:00.000Z

Hello!
My name is Natashia, and I’m a girl. I am ten years old.
I live in Skaelskoer together with my mother, my father and my twin sister.
Her name is Patricia.
My eyes are blue. And my hair is blond.
I like painting, so I go to art school Wednesdays.
I have three animals. I have a dog, a bird and a rabbit.
My dog’s name is Thor, my bird’s name is Muffi, and my rabbit’s name is Pjevs.
My favourite food is Mexican pancakes, and my favourite fruit is pineapple.

Magnus

2008-12-14T21:56:00.001Z

My name is Magnus.
I am 10 years old.
I like pizza.
I have 1 dog and two cats and I have horse.

Julie

2008-12-14T21:55:00.003Z

My name is Julie.
I am 11 years old. I like football.
I don’t like basketball.
I like pizza.

Mathias

2008-12-14T21:54:00.002Z

My name is Mathias. I like swimming. I have a Guinea pig. I am 10 years old. I can play Gun it is a game. I have a sister, Line and a brother, Martin.

Nicoline

2008-12-14T21:50:00.001Z

My name is Nicoline. I am 10 years old and I love pizza. I have blonde hair and green eyes.
I have two brothers a big brother and a little brother, my big brother’s name is Mikkel and my little brother’s name is Emil. I also have 4 animals, I have a dog, 2 cats and a guinea pig and I hate spiders

Stine

2008-12-14T19:17:00.008Z

Hello, my name is Stine. I live in Denmark. I am a girl.
I have a brother, Carsten. I have three animals, two dogs and a rabbit. I like Pizza.

2008-12-14T19:14:00.003Z

We have now sent information on some of the children in 4 B. The rest will be sent without pictures for now and we'll try to get pictures asap. We shall be on the blog again monday morning.
Kind regards
Lene

The Virginia Reel

2008-12-11T12:18:00.003Z

In P.E. this morning, we learned the Scottish dance called The Virginia Reel. We thought you might enjoy watching us perform it! This was filmed using our new camcorder, which we bought after winning £200 for our blog work with Kuvansi last year!

A tasty Christmas lunch

2008-12-10T20:50:00.004Z

We all enjoyed a very tasty Christmas lunch yesterday of turkey, potatoes, sausage, carrots and peas. Here, you can see Golden Eagle and Tatties, eating their lunches hungrily!

Christmas lunch time

2008-12-10T20:48:00.003Z

Here are some of last year's P5 class, who worked on the Healthy Passport blog with Mr Ikonen's class. They look as if they are enjoying their food!

Yester's Christmas lunch

2008-12-10T20:42:00.004Z

Sylvia and her kitchen staff were very busy. However, they still managed to smile!

Christmas lunch at Yester

2008-12-10T20:39:00.004Z

As the children finished their lunches, the staff sat down to enjoy the turkey. We all agreed that, once again, the cooks had produced a very tasty lunch. Well done to the kitchen staff!

Christmas lunch in Yester

2008-12-10T20:32:00.008Z

After lunch, the staff enjoyed a few minutes in the staff room, where they exchanged "Secret Santa" gifts that they had bought for each other. This is the present that someone bought for Mr Purves. Perhaps it's an improvement...

Hello from Denmark!

2008-12-08T08:26:00.002Z

Hello, all.
4 B is currently reading end enjoying the blog. Sorry we have taken so long, but oktober and nowember is very busy here, we have a lot ready and will be sending over the next few days.

Snowy Yester!

2008-12-03T12:42:00.004Z

This is Yester church, in the centre of the village. It has been snowing here and it is looking very beautiful. This type of weather is very unusual here in East Lothian. (I have not reduced the size of these pictures too much, so click on them for a larger version.)

2008-12-03T12:40:00.003Z

This is The Avenue, which leads to the park, where children often play football when the weather is better. In the park, it's also possible to play cricket in the summer. This is a very unusual scene for us, as it is only very rarely as cold as it has been today!

Winter comes to Gifford!

2008-12-03T12:38:00.001Z

This is one of the main roads into the village. It's a very beautiful scene, with the snow on all the trees.

Snowy Scotland!

2008-12-03T12:36:00.004Z

This is down in the centre of the village, close to the village hall.

Here are some of the class, outside our school entrance in the falling snow!

St Andrew's Day!

2008-11-28T16:20:00.006Z

In Scotland, the 30th November is a very special day as it is St Andrew's Day. All the pupils in the school stood outside this morning in the playground, forming the shape of the Scottish flag, the Saltire.

In class, we made our own tartan designs, using white card, and different colours of wool. This is one of the designs we made!

Oscar the robot comes to Yester!

2008-11-25T21:51:00.008Z

We are doing a project about electricity. Today, we had a very special visitor who came from Torness Power Station. His name is Oscar- and he is a robot! The whole school sat, amazed, as Oscar gave a presentation about electricity. Click on the play button to hear Oscar talking to the class!

The parcel from Scotland

2008-11-23T19:08:00.006Z

Mr Purves sent a parcel to Kuvansi. We got Scottish flag, pens, pins and booklets. Pupils were very happy. Thank you very much!

Sliding down

2008-11-23T19:07:00.015Z

Jack and Jake like winter very much because sliding is so funny.

A snow squirrel

2008-11-23T19:05:00.005Z

Girls made this of snow, eyes and nose are stones. It's not living even if it looks like it.

A snowman with girls

2008-11-23T19:04:00.004Z

The squirrel with a snowman. Isabel, Jane, Kitty and Suzy are proud of their sculptures.

A snowman with boys

2008-11-23T19:01:00.003Z

Victor and Michael with their snowman whose hands are made of wooden sticks.

Dress up as your favourite book character!

2008-11-21T10:41:00.003Z

Today, some of the class have been dressing up as their favourite book character. We have done this to finish off our Book Week. Here, you can see the following characters:

Back row: Jenna from Magyk
Mr Twit, from The Twits
Tom from Beast Quest
and Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit
Front row: Fern, from Charlotte's Web
Jamie B from The Secret Life of Jamie B
and Pippi Longstocking from the book of the same name!

Gymnastics in the hall

2008-11-20T15:52:00.005Z

This morning, we worked in the hall with Mrs Jones (our gym teacher) on our gymnastics skills. Lang Syne demonstrates how to make a "tuck jump" shape in the air.

Tatties in mid air!

2008-11-20T15:50:00.002Z

Here, Tatties is vaulting over the apparatus.

On the box

2008-11-20T15:48:00.003Z

Tod is showing how to make a dish shape on the box.

We love gymnastics!

2008-11-20T15:45:00.003Z

Corbett demonstrates a perfect hand stand.

A visit from the local policeman

2008-11-18T14:18:00.006Z

As part of our Health Fortnight, we had a visit from the local community policeman, PC Gunn. We listened very carefully as PC Gunn explained some of the ways to keep ourselves safe at all times. It was a very interesting talk and we asked lots of questions.

Health Fortnight- PC Gunn visits!

2008-11-18T14:16:00.002Z

PC Gunn explained to the class how to keep themselves safe.