Collaborative work on the times tables through active learning in class.
Minard’s P4 led the outdoor addition and subtraction treasure hunt for pupils of Minard and Furnace by giving clear instructions before we began and used up loads of energy racing round making sure everyone understood what they had to do! We worked together in teams to get the answers and follow the clues.
Tag Archives: Furnace
Sharing memories with the local community at Minard
On Tuesday 7th February 2017 some of our local community neighbours from Minard village came along to school to share some memories from their childhood. Mrs Hay and her friends brought with them things which reminded them of their childhood and our pupils brought in some things from their earlier childhood. Over teas and biscuits we all shared our ‘memories’ using our memory objects to tell stories. Our neighbours brought old coins, school photos and toys from long ago.
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Celebrating Rabbie’s Birthday at Furnace
Written by P.J Cogan P7 Minard Primary
“A highly enjoyable Burns supper was held at Furnace Primary on 25th January 2017 with all the Minard and Furnace pupils and staff. Lots of parents and members of the community came along too. All the pupils were involved in one way or another. Myself and Marie from Furnace were the MCs for the afternoon.
Minard & Furnace at large in Kelvingrove Museum
Furnace and Minard pupils headed off to Glasgow for a day at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum this week. We had a brilliant day and were so inspired by everything we saw from Egyptian “mummies” to dinosaurs, Charles Rennie MacIntosh art and the famous spitfire. We had planned our visit as part of our Scotland topic but we saw and learned much beyond our national heritage. Here are some pupils comments:
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Furnace Community Quiz
On the evening of Wednesday 30th November 2016 the pupils at Furnace Primary School took on the “grown-ups” in the first ever ” Pupils v Grown-Ups Furnace Community Quiz” organised by Mike Masters of Furnace Community Council and Furnace Primary Head Teacher Robyn McIlroy.
Furnace and Minard Pupils Go Gruffalo Hunting
Last Friday, while the ‘bigger’ pupils were off learning how to become Digital Leaders, Furnace and Minard ‘littler’ pupils decided to go off on a Gruffalo Hunt to Ardkinglas Gardens to have some outdoor fun and learn some more Scots words. The crispy cold day added to the sense of adventure, especially as we had recently read The Gurffalo’s Child. We followed the little mouse’s directions past Tod’s ‘deep-dooon hoose’, Hoolet’s “tree-tap hoose” and Snake’s “log-hoose”.
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4th Green Flag for Furnace
On Sunday 25th September 2016 the pupils, parents and staff of Furnace Primary celebrated being awarded our 4th Eco-Schools Green Flag. Our celebration morning started early on Sunday with a garden taskforce made up of parents and pupils setting about clearing our wildlife garden and pond, cutting back bushes, making bottle sides for our plastic bottle greenhouse and generally tidying up our school grounds and gardens. We found some interesting marine life in our pond in the process. Our volunteers were rewarded for all their hard work with a picnic lunch and a fantastic “Green Flag” cake made by Mrs Baird. Continue reading 4th Green Flag for Furnace
Medieval Historians and Firemen at Furnace Primary School
Medieval Historians and Firemen – what do they have in common? Furnace Primary children have had active learning sessions from both in the last week. Why? We have been learning about different types of careers as part of our “World of Work” topic and were visited by Dr Steve Marritt from the University of Glasgow Medieval History department (complete with armour) and we visited Lochgilphead Fire Station where we had a tour from David Gilmour the Community Safety Officer.
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Coding at Minard and Furnace Primaries
Pupils at Minard and Furnace Primaries were very fortunate last week to have developed their coding skills through two mini-technology days led by Steven Simpson of Argyll & Bute Council. The technology days came about as a result of pupil feedback saying they were really keen to learn more about coding. Steven came along to both primaries armed with Raspberry Pi, Lego We Do 2.0 (programmable lego) and ‘Flying Spiders’ (drones). Steven also showed us how to make mini-film trailers using Ipads.
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Furnace and Minard’s Art Exhibition
Last Wednesday evening the children of Furnace and Minard primaries put on an art exhibition for parents and the community in Furnace Primary. It was well attended and bidding was fierce during the silent auction!
There was a variety of work on display but all were particularly proud of the watercolour landscapes they had worked on with Mrs Cindy MacDonald. These were also turned into cards and prints were available.
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Author visit in Mid-Argyll
On Thursday the 31st of March children from across Mid-Argyll in P4 and 5 enjoyed a workshop with children’s author, Emily Dodd.
Emily, whose books include, ‘The Mouse and the Grouse’ and ‘Can’t Dance Cameron’ worked with the children on how to write a good story. She used the two book characters, ‘Book Buddy’ and ‘Reading Rhino’ that the children in Mid-Argyll had voted on for our recent Reading is Fun competition.
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Mid-Argyll pupil council ‘Reading is Fun’ event
The children in the Mid-Argyll pupil council have been working together over the last few months to organise a ‘Reading is Fun’ event.
They ran two competitions, one for children in 1st level and one for 2nd Level to come up with a book character to encourage reading in these age groups.
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Minard and Furnace perform ‘The McTivity’
The children of Minard and Furnace Primaries performed their version of the Nativity on Wednesday the 16th to friends and families in a packed out Minard village hall.
The show was called ‘The McTivity’ as it tells the Christmas story in Scots. The children had been studying the Scottish language and enjoyed writing stories in Scots. Finding the ‘McTivity’ to perform was a good follow up drama activity.
Storytelling at Minard Primary
Recently Minard Primary children welcomed Mrs Linda Williamson to their school as part of their ‘Scottish Traditions’ topic. Mrs Williamson is the wife of the late Duncan Williamson, storyteller, who had connections with the area. We spent the morning listening to Linda’s stories and hearing about her life then were joined by the children from Furnace Primary and members of the community for more stories and fun. We hope to welcome Linda again soon.
Furnace pupil wins a national art competition!
Everyone at Furnace are delighted that our P7 pupil, Abbie Wallace, took the top prize in the nationwide TECHBOT Competition, after her artwork was selected from more than 4,000 entries. Abbie has won for her school a brand new ClassBuddy(tm) ‘Charge and Sync’ trolley from LapSafe® Products, with her artwork displayed as a graphic on the doors. Abbie has also won us 5 brand-new iPad Air’s complete with cases and an iPad and case for herself to take home. The iPad cases also display the winning artwork.
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Furnace and Inveraray P6/7’s enjoy their week at Benmore
The children in Primary 6 and 7 in Furnace and Inveraray Primaries joined together to enjoy a week of outdoor activities at Benmore Outdoor centre last week. They abseiled, gorge walked,completed an orienteering challenge, kayaked and took to the waters of Loch Eck in canoes. They also went for a late night swim in the Loch and ended a busy week with mountain biking before getting dressed up for the disco! They all admitted they had achieved much more than they thought they could and they had a lot to be proud of.
Minard’s annual Duck Derby is a great success!
Minard held their annual Duck Derby on Friday the 29th. Thankfully the weather held while the races were on. There were 17 races with 20 ducks per race. The winners of each race then took part in the grand final! The prize, lunch for two at the George Hotel, was won by Heather Miller and the runner-up was Adam Barclay. He won a £30 voucher for Dewars store in Inveraray.
Furnace children joined them for the afternoon.
Continue reading Minard’s annual Duck Derby is a great success!
The BarrowBand
Did you know broccoli comes from Italy? Or that carrots came from Afghanistan? Primary 1-4 pupils in the Mid Argyll area learned these and many other interesting facts about fruit and vegetables thanks to The BarrowBand. The BarrowBand’s goal is to ‘inspire a new generation of people (especially children) to love, understand and demand fruit and vegetables as part of their diet and lives.
Fruity Phonic Fun at Furnace!
Yesterday the children in P6/7 received a surprise parcel in the post.
Mrs Baird had been looking for a new way to encourage the children when learning their spelling words and had come across the Fruitella Fruit letters which could be found in a pack.
Furnace and Minard Panto
The children of Furnace and Minard Primaries joined together to perform Roald Dahl’s version of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ on Thursday the 11th of December.
We held two performances, one in the afternoon and again in the evening and these were greatly enjoyed by all.
