On Monday we went to visit the Silurian. It was awesome. There were ten beds. We had to search for things up on top of the deck and down below the deck. They had toilets and showers on the boat.
Then we did learning about whales and dolphins where we listened to the sounds they made under the water. I learned that sperm whales have 40 teeth in their mouth and they go deep down into the sea and use clicks to see their prey.
By Donald, P4
On Monday 25th April we went down to the pontoons at the pier to see the Silurian which is the boat of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. We had to put on life jackets.
The Silurian was a yacht. It was very nice and fancy. First we investigated the boat. We found out that the boat had ten beds, a galley, a bathroom, a dining room, a crows nest, a steering wheel, two masts and sails. The front of the boat is the bow and the back is the stern.
I learned about basking sharks. I also learned about the sounds of dolphins and whales and that people listen for the sounds underwater using a hydrophone.
By Ciaran, P4
Last week the Eco group decided to do a waste week and try to find out how much packaging  gets wasted at lunchtime in school.
We collected it for only three days.  There was quite a lot and I don’t think that it was very good. I think we should do the waste week again because on Tuesday 15th we collected 650 grams and to me that is very wasteful. On  Wednesday  it got a little better and then on Thursday it was the same as Monday, terrible. Hopefully we might be able to do it again and try to improve and have less packaging that gets wasted.
by Rowan
P567 at Port Ellen Primary have been doing Geology. This includes learning about rocks. So, we learned about how all the rocks are formed. They are formed by a cycle which is the Rock Cycle. There are 3 types of rock groups: Sedimentary rock, Metamorphic rock and Igneous rock. First, little broken up pieces of rocks, called Sediments cement and compact together to make Sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock then heats up and gets lots of pressure building up on it. Then it turns into a Metamorphic rock. Next the Metamorphic rock travels to the core of the Earth and melts into magma. When magma crystallizes, it makes Igneous rock. Finally, Igneous rock then experiences Weathering, Erosion and Depostition. Then the Igneous rock turn back into Sediments. Then, It starts again. The process of the rock cycle takes millions of years to complete. When we were learning about the Rock Cycle, we all made A3 posters and we drew a diagram on the Rock Cycle. I thought learning about The Rock Cycle was really fun.
On Friday the 19 of March all of Port Ellen primary walked down the streets collecting money for Sport Relief, even the nursery. The places they went to ask for money was the park, the Cyber, the Islay Hotel, Lennox Street, the Columba Hall, the whole village streets and the doctors. But before that long walk we sold lots of cake to everyone in the school. The amount of money we raised was £405.17. Well done and thanks.
For the Day of Dance, which is when children from other schools come to Bowmore hall and we all do different dances, we have been practicing different dances in partners. We have learned the Dashing White Sergeant and much more. It has improved our level of fitness and we have learned to work together in groups and partners better. We have also improved our listening skills because we have to listen to the teachers so we know how to do the dances.
It is energetic and you can meet your friends and maybe new friends when we practice the dances and go to the day of dance and we will learn and get better at Scottish country dancing.
Struan and Ronan are starting up a new club on a Wednesday and will be taking p 3,4,5. It will be running in the hall and out side when it is nice. Thy are going to be taking them for runs around the school and doing circuit courses in the hall. They are doing it as part of Struan’s Endevour which is fitness. It will be running at lunch time.
On Friday 4th March our school had a beach clean. The beach clean was for a very special reason, it was because it was the Queen’s 90th Birthday.
The Queen asked everyone to help clean Scotland instead of sending her  birthday cards because that would have meant a lot of stamps! So our school went down to the Co-op beach. The Primary 1s were very excited  was because it was their first beach clean.
I think we made a big difference.
A couple of weeks ago, Global citizens group at Port Ellen Primary had a fair-trade coffee morning. We baked tiffin, scones, tray bake and banana muffins using fair-trade products only.
The Port Ellen co-op gave us a kind donation of £30 to put towards fair-trade products. We bought fair-trade sugar, bananas, chocolate, coffee, tea etc.
At the coffee morning, we also had a donation box and the money collected was donated to Save the Children. When the coffee morning was over, we counted the money and found out we raised £86.54! We think it was a really successful morning.
We thank everyone at Port Ellen co-op and the Mums, Dads, grandparents and babies for making this possible.
On Friday 11th March it was the school swimming gala in Bowmore pool. The senior boy champion was Ross Thompson winning the front crawl and backstroke. The senior girl champion Katie Middleton who also won the front crawl and back stroke. This was the second year Katie and Ross were senior champions. Well done Katie and Ross!
The relay winner was Nave House. To be the house with the most points Nave had to win the relay and they did!
Nave made an amazing comeback in this exciting finale. Orsay had half a length to go when Nave just started the length but they caught up and won it.
Nave were the CHAMPIONS!
