Bun-sgoil Bhogha Mor/ Bowmore Primary School
School Website for Bowmore Primary on the Isle of Islay
Today the children filled a box each for the. They picked a box, decided if they would like to make a box for a boy or girl then selected their choice of items from the list. While we were filling the boxes we talked about WHY we were participating in the shoebox appeal. Well done everyone!
🌍Article 1 – Everyone under 18 has rights
🌍Article 27- I have the right to have a proper home, food and clothing
The boys and girls have loved all our little pumpkins in Sgoil-Àraich, so today we opened one up to explore. Outside we scooped out the insides and used some fruit tea, and natural loose parts to make our own Brot Peapag (pumpkin soup) inside the pumpkin. After lunch they wanted to take it inside to play with again. They all wanted to collect the seeds to grow their own pumpkins. “Can we grow pumpkins?” “Is it halloween yet?” ” Can we make real pumpkin soup?” “Lets keep all the seeds!” “Its all gooey inside!” “Its a bit stinky”
Today we made ice cream in a bag to explore changes of state and reactions in everyday life. We saw a chemical reaction when the salt mixed with the ice and lowered its freezing point, making the ice melt faster and creating a super-cold environment. At the same time, we observed a physical reaction as the milk mixture changed from a liquid to a solid, forming delicious ice cream. The children loved shaking the bags, watching the changes happen, and, of course, tasting the results. It was a fantastic, hands-on way to finish our Fizz, Bang, Pop! chemistry lessons!
G4-7 performed beautifully at our Harvest Assembly! Each pupil showed real confidence and professionalism, sharing their poems and learning with pride. Their Gaelic was clear and expressive – a real credit to their hard work and practice. They should all feel very proud of their achievements 💛👏
We are learning about shapes! The children connected lots of different magnet shapes together to create ‘Clothes’ for the people! They also enjoyed playing the shape game on our interactive board. In the afternoon we went on a shape hunt in the garden and found lots of 2D and 3D shapes.
We have been learning all things bee today for world bee day! This morning we were learning about the differences between honeybees and bumblebees, we learnt lots of interesting facts from Pamela yesterday as she keeps honey bees. Sometimes honey bees look like wasps, but wasps are much more yellow and aren’t as important as bees 🐝 This afternoon we created a beehive, we had to find flowers and grass for our bees and then we pretended to be the bees using pom-poms going around flowers, taking some of the chalk like bees so with pollen and taking it back to our hive.
This week the boys and girls have shown an interest in number symbols 0-20. We set up 3 tables, one exploring 0-3, the other exploring numbers within 0-10 and the 3rd exploring numbers 11-20. Our activities were based around number recognition and estimating a group of objects and matching to the number symbols. All the boys and girls engaged well with their chosen activities and are looking forward to exploring number as the week goes on!
Today, P5/6 pupils took part in a Sports Leadership lesson where they worked in groups to design an exciting new game for younger pupils in Primary 1 to 3. They thought carefully about making the game fun, fair, and safe for everyone. They planned the rules, choose equipment, and made sure the instructions were clear. This experience is helping pupils build confidence, teamwork, and leadership skills. Next steps 🐾 pupils will play their games with P1-3 at break time next week
Today we introduced a new digging area to our outdoor area where the boys and girls were kept busy all day, digging, transporting and filling with the mud. Today they explored adding water 💧. What happend to the texture of the mud, the sound it made when they jumped in it and even how far the splashes traveled. Lots of dirty suits and super happy children. There was even an audience for “the mud show”.
This afternoon we decided to head on an adventure down the lane to the battery beach to gather materials to create a bug hotel in our outdoor area, to coincide with our current interest. We thought flowers, sticks, grass, stones and shells would be a good idea and we will use our recycling bin to reuse bottles, cans and cardboard too ♻️. We noticed a bee 🐝 on one of the flowers which sparked lots of conversations about pollination and why bees are important in our environment. We had a wee play on the beach to relax after our busy foraging
On Tuesday we asked the boys and girls ‘What would you like to learn about this term?’ We had some really interesting answers! During the week whilst playing outside one of our friends found a beetle! The boys and girls asked if they could use magnifying glasses and bug finders to search for more minibeasts! As everyone has become really interested in finding bugs in the garden we decided to visit the library to find some books with information on minibeasts, frogs, life cycles etc. 🐛🪱🦋🐸🐞 Charlie told us all about the life cycle of a frog. Charlie enjoyed exploring the messy room this week which has been filled with minibeasts! We look forward to learning more throughout the term.
🦕 🦖 We had a truly unforgettable day at Port Ellen yesterday with Dino man and the National History Museum roadshow. ⭐️ Firstly, we began in the hall and learned more about carnivores, herbivores and dinosaurs we have studied in class. We then had a play with our friends in Port Ellen and then finished the day with experiments and real life dino artefacts and fossils. We all got the chance to purchase a souvenir from the shop too. The best part however was the T Rex finale in the playground with Rex! 🦖 🦕
Yesterday at our daffodil tea we began planting some sunflowers. Today we made sure everyone in Sgoil-Àraich had one planted. The boys and girls helped to give them a big drink to help them grow, and made sure they were in the sunshine. We will send these home tomorrow so you can watch them grow big and strong. We look forward to seeing photos from home once they are big and tall. I wonder who will grow the tallest sunflower?
Meal do naidheachd gu Flynn a bhuannaich Farpais nan Ughan Clas 1! Seall air an Titanic a rinn e. Sin thu fhèin Flynn!
Today, we explored renewable energy by designing and building our own hydropower stations as part of our STEMOVATOR project. Our young engineers investigated how water can generate electricity and power our world sustainability. We used a lot of problem-solving to figure out how to harness the power of water to generate electricity. 🌊♻️ Article 29: education should develop every child’s talents and abilities to the fullest potential well, encouraging respect for the environment.
Today we were very lucky to have a lady from St Andrew’s Ambulance deliver some first aid training to us. We learnt about what we should do in an emergency, what to do if we come across someone who is unwell and we also learnt how to give basic CPR. We had to do 30 compressions and 2 rescue breaths (although we didn’t do these). Then we learnt how to bandage a head injury. It was very practical and we learnt lots!
Today Grace, Katie, Ryan and Angus took part in an online consultation with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate (HMI) to share their views on the ideal school and the inspection process. Demonstrating their right to be heard, as outlined in Article 12 of the UNCRC, they spoke confidently and articulately, ensuring their voices were represented in discussions about education. The pupils thoughtfully expressed their ideas on creating a supportive and engaging learning environment, as well as how inspections could better reflect the experiences of young people. ⭐️
Wow what a fantastic day we have had with our friends from Sgoil-Araich and Port Ellen Nursery. We made hammocks, dens, nature bracelets, fairy wands, we had our lovely lunches, hot chocolate made in our Kelly kettles, shared some stories, looked at the huge fallen tree and loved just being outside exploring the nature in the world around us ❤️
This morning we had our trip to Gartbrek recycling centre, or “the dump” as we know it as, and had a very interesting and enjoyable tour with Caitlin who manages the site. Caitlin told us what to recycle and what not to recycle, what happens with our recycling once it reaches the dump and showed us where the landfill is. We learnt that our landfill is nearly full so we need to be extra careful with what bins we put rubbish in. We also learnt that each bin lorry holds 26 tonnes which is the equivalent of 5 adult African elephants 🐘! There are cars buried UNDER THE GROUND at the landfill, but this doesn’t happen now as car batteries and fuel aren’t good for our environment ❌. Caitlin showed us all the areas of the refuse site and explained what happens with each category of recycling, did you know that concrete blocks and rubble are recycled at the site too, the dump have used them to create gravel for the road up to the landfill. 💡 We have decided we would like to make posters for our school and our community to encourage folk to recycle as often as they can to help reduce the rubbish in the landfill 🚮.
Our Comic Relief bake sale was a huge success! P6 and P7 worked together to bake delicious treats like banana loaf and pancakes, and set up a bright, welcoming stall. Everyone took turns serving customers, handling money, and keeping the table tidy. It was great to see so many people supporting the cause and enjoying our baking. In the end, we raised an amazing amount of money to help children who need it most. This links to the UNCRC, especially Article 12, as we got to share our ideas and make decisions, and Article 27, because the money we raised will help children have a better standard of living. We’re so proud of what we achieved!
