Summer

Edinburgh: Day 3

Another fun-filled day today. We drove in the coach to see Royal Yacht Brittania this morning and took an audio tour around the vessel. Afterwards we headed to Aberdour Silver Sands beach where we enjoyed eating our lunch, running around playing games and digging deep holes! The weather wasn't brilliant but we didn't let that dampen our spirits. Back at the hostel we got ready for our 3 course meal in Pizza Express before heading on our evening walking tour in the city. We enjoyed walking around Edinburgh learning about the history of the city (including lots of gruesome bits). It rained a little during our tour but that just added to the atmosphere. Another excellent day!

_{Edinburgh: Day 2}

Another brilliant day in Edinburgh, today. We haven't had the sun but we've managed to avoid the rain again. We enjoyed Dynamic Earth this morning, particularly hearing about the famous geologists of the area and watching the planetarium show to learn about the solar system. We then had our lunch before heading up to the castle. The children enjoyed being locked in the prison cells, seeing the Crown Jewels and exploring the rest of the castle. We had a lovely meal at Nando's this evening where we were given our own dining room...a real treat. We ended the evening with a walk around the atmospheric Greyfriar's Kirk graveyard looking at where J K Rowling took inspiration for her Harry Potter series. Another day of activities tomorrow...watch this space.

Edinburgh: Day 1

We've had a brilliant first day in Edinburgh. The class had their lunch at the hostel before heading out to Arthur's Seat. It rained on the coach on our journey up and we thought we wouldn't manage a walk but luckily the sun shone through and we had a warm walk up Arthur's seat which was great. We then headed back to the hostel to check into our rooms, have a quick change and get out for dinner. Tonight we ate at Bread Meats Bread and it was very nice. The children enjoyed their two courses before heading off for our final treat of the day...the cinema. We went to see Inside Out 2 which the children loved. A great way to end the first day. I look forward to the rest of the week... watch this space.

Kittiwakes - We visited the new nesting towers on the River Tyne where we observed the Kittiwakes, counting and recording the different types of birds by using our binoculars. We then did some drawing of the birds and saw where our decoys were going to be added to encourage more Kittiwakes to nest here.

Careers fair

Kittiwakes - We have been learning all about the Kittiwakes and their need to find new nesting places due to the Tyne Bridge repairs, from Hellen who is the programme development manager at Groundworks North East and Cumbria. We made decoy birds to entice them to use the new nesting towers that have been built on the banks of the River Tyne.