As we started back into a new term, we have based a lot of our learning this month around the topic of Pirates and all things of the sea. The pupils are very engaged with the theme and of course the excitement of the stories and the gruesome nature of the Pirate life makes it an enthralling starting point for many lessons. We even named our class groupings for the month by Pirate bits and pieces.

We began by studying the language that Pirates used and some of the terminology associated with the sea faring lifestyle. Everyone loved discussing the meanings of the phrases that were used aboard ships and how pirates used them day to day. For example, did you know that if a Pirate asked you to “Splice the mainstay”, that they would be asking you to share a drink with the rest of the crew. Once the language had been thoroughly researched, we created a beautiful noticeboard outside our classroom featuring speech bubbles of “Pirate Speak”.

Next we looked into the many facts and myths that are associated with Pirates. We learned so many things that we had never known. Did you know, that Pirates wore gold and silver earrings and jewellery as they believed that it improved their eyesight. They wore eye patches for the same reason. They flag “The Jolly Roger” was only used by Pirates who sailed on the Spanish Main.  We also learned that Pirates rarely used treasure maps as they were too greedy to ever bury their treasure.

As part of our creative writing we then wrote what we had learned through a piece entitled “A Pirates Life For Me”. We discussed the reasons that we would like to be a Pirate.

One of the most famous Pirates, Blackbeard really grabbed the children’s attention. His real name was Edward Teach and he had a hide out on the island of St Thomas, in the Caribbean.

Ms Dillane kindly donated her “barrel of rum” (a pirates favourite drink), her Jolly Roger and her treasure chest to us for our classroom display. We also have a skull and a real pirate ship and headband.

Donnadh brought us in a Pirate ship which we then studied. We learned that there were two types of Pirate ship-the Sloop, which was smaller and faster and the Square Rigger which could hold up to 200 men. Pupils brought in many books that they had at home about Pirates and we even have a Polish book based on the theme.

Over the next few weeks we will be learning more and more about these Sea Farers and a lot of our music and songs will incorporate the sea.