A few weeks ago, one of our older pupil’s had the fantastic idea of doing a sponsored walk to raise money for Learning Centre funds, particuarly to buy new outdoor equipment and toys. The LC2 class planned and organised the walk in consultation with the head teacher. We used Google maps to plan our route – it was 2.5 miles from the school to the Sandbank swing park which we thought was perfect. We wrote to parents, made posters which the younger children in LC1 helped to decorate, and carried out a risk assessment.
Primary 6 pupils have been finding out what life was like in the Stone Age during a programme of outdoor learning in their local woodlands.
The class have been reading Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver, which is a novel set in the Mesolithic Period. To bring the story to life, they have been visiting Ardenconnel Woods to experience a Stone Age existence.
The children at Lochgoilhead Primary School were very lucky to be able welcome a visiting volcanologist to the school last week. Steve Wright shared with us his knowledge, passion and incredible first-hand experiences he has gained from visiting active volcanoes around the world. Volcanic rock and samples of meteorites were passed around as Steve answered excellent questions from the children.
Inveraray Primary School was the first school in Argyll and Bute to gain Green Flag status as an Eco School back in 2003. We are pleased to share the good news that we have once again retained our Green Flag status through our Crofting and Kenyan Connections work which includes the whole school and the nursery.
To get the New Year off to a flying start Lismore Primary School had a “French Alpine Ski Week” to celebrate all things alpine and wintry! We have taken the overall theme in French of the alpine year and have a large changing display in the classroom. This week, we imagined we were all off skiing to the French Alps!
Wow! Primary 1-4 have been learning everything there is to know about TREES! We went a big walk into the forest to collect conkers recently. We also made collages in the playground with various other interesting things we found, for example pine cones and strange shaped twigs!
We made crowns decorated with different shaped leave and petals from wild flowers. Our teacher, Mrs Leyland, told us what trees the leaves had come from.
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Park Primary 1 and Early Learning and Childcare Centre share learning experiences in Early Level activities. This term the activities took the children to Dunollie woods where they chose to learn about trees. Each group made friends with a tree and got to know their new friend really well(its name, shape of leaves, type of seeds, parts of a tree, bark pattern).
Primary 4-7 pupils experienced a very rare and exciting outing to Coll on Wednesday. The Clansman was buzzing with eagerness from members of our whole Tiree community. Once on Coll we found ourselves in an unfamiliar landscape of rugged hills and twisting, turning roads. Mrs MacKechnie impressed us all by manoeuvring the new mini bus past the few not so passable ‘passing places’!
Easdale Primary school held a vey successful open afternoon on Wednesday
22nd. The whole school have been researching its history and have
contacted past pupils to find out where they are, what they are doing
and what memories they had of the school. They mapped where these people
now lived.They delved into its history through log books and old
registers, had past pupils visiting, learned about evacuees and the
island’s social history.
JUNIOR SALTIRE WINNERS!
Last week Joe, Bronagh, Kaya and Murray traveled with Mrs Clark and Mrs Leask to Glasgow and Edinburgh to take part in the Celebration of Science and Engineering run by @scdiYESC at the Glasgow Science Centre. They were finalists in the Junior Saltire Awards with their Wave Islay design, made with help from Bronagh’s dad Gus, an excellent boat builder. They tested their devices at the Flowave facility in Edinburgh along with 6 other primary schools and 5 secondary schools, before attending the event and presenting to the judges.
Pupils travelled through to Edinburgh to Holyrood Park where with the help of Rangers from Historic Scotland they travelled back in time to study the nature and type of volcanic activity was involved in shaping Arthurs Seat. They learnt the names for all the different parts of a volcano and were able to identify the different features in the surrounding landscape. They discussed and studied the best place to be if a volcano was about to erupt and decided to be as far away as possible especially as one of the Rangers mixed some vinegar and Bicarbonate of Soda to make a chemical reaction.
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The Scottish Diaspora Tapestry team, in partnership with Education Scotland, is offering Scottish schools an exciting opportunity to take part in a nationwide competition to plan, design and stitch your own diaspora story. The finished panels will be exhibited beside the Scottish Diaspora Tapestry in 2017. This exciting competition is open to both primary and secondary schools, and is designed to help pupils explore their community’s global links as well as their own creativity. Continue reading »
Dunoon Primary School Primary 5/4 invited their family and friends into their classroom last Wednesday to allow them to see all of the hard work they had put in to their ‘Where’s Wally?’ topic. There were many Wally Watchers to be seen around the class, with a variety of disguises on show. The class had studied different continents and selected a country from within each continent to look at in more depth. From their findings, they produced a travel brochure which highlighted what they felt were the features that would encourage someone to visit the country of their choice. Continue reading »
On Thursday 28th April, we hosted a Gaelic Open Afternoon to share our learning with our families and friends! Each class’s IDL had a Gaelic theme – whether it was historical or cultural!
Gaelic songs were sung, Gaelic stories were told. Lots of lovely art work illustrated the stories children had been learning about! The Gaelic tradition of the belief in the fairy world was explored – there was even a glittery fairy garden in the grounds of BPS! Many children are going home to create their own.
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Rothesay Primary School Eco Day
Rothesay Primary School held their first ever Eco day on Monday 9th May. It was a huge success. The Eco committee worked with teachers to organise lots of different activities and all 255 pupils took part. Some of the favourite things were making (and eating) fruit kebabs, making bird feeders, parachute games, Eco art, making Earth mobiles, and singing Eco songs. We also picked up every scrap of litter from the playground. The whole school learned about the United Nations’ Global Goals for Sustainability, too. Continue reading »
The pupils of Port Charlotte Primary school have been learning about the fascinating geology of Islay. We were very lucky to have the help of local geologist David Webster for our project. David took us on field trips to every corner of the island and we learned lots of interesting facts about Islay’s geology and how the rocks which make up this amazing island were formed;
Our early level class have had two very exciting sessions of Forest School led by our P1-2 teacher, Mrs Leyland. Our Pre-5, Primary 1 and Primary 2 pupils have enjoyed getting muddy whilst developing various skills in outdoor education.
Prior research has shown that this type of outdoor learning can improve physical, social and communication skills and increase self-confidence, motivation and concentration. Continue reading »
Strachur Primary and Pre-5 have started a challenge – to walk the 6000 miles to Rio, where this year’s Olympic Games will be held. We have been doing laps of the playground and have figured out that 7 laps is approximately one mile. Last week we managed to walk 250 miles! The children (and staff) enjoy the exercise and we have also been learning about Rio in the classroom.
The pupils at Innellan Primary School have received a ‘Level 4-Thriving It’s Your Neighbourhood Award’.
The School is continuing to develop an area of waste ground in order to attract as wide a variety of wildlife as possible. Members of the community help the children with growing seeds and planting, and the children get involved in environmental art, making it a fun and productive space.