P5/6/7 in Islay Primary School have entered the Mathematical challange for 2016-2017 the p5 have been finding it challing to do the maths for the challange this year and next year. Only some of the p5s have completed the first questions on the paper. P6/7 are a little bit more confident than p5s and most of them done it last year.
Our Trip To Stirling University
As a student you get to choose your own subjects. You get set essays on a set time.You can also do courses. You also get to meet new people that will be you friends forever. They have a major sports program.
Advantages – You get a student discount. You get Christmas, Easter and the Summer off. You get a University flat. When you graduate you get to go to the grad ball and get pritty pictures. You are close to the cinama and yummy restrants and a very good swimming pool and gym.
My Aunty (Shona Isla) studeyed Animal Biology and very recently gratuated. Her friends still come to visit with there parents.
By Eva Munro
Stirling University stands with rich and varied history. The estate was bought by John Hope in 1678 then it was passed over to Ralph Dundas whose son was John Dundas.
By Ruaraidh
A team from Stirling Universaty went to Rio 2016 they got to go on Tv.
Some people from Stirling Unaversaty is part of team Gb
The are four swimmers from team GB which was taught by Stirling University. They also do golf . They also do running, football, rugby and many more.
By Darren
Giant’s Grave Archaeological Dig
On the 25th of August, Port Ellen Primary along with their teacher Mrs Clark, Mr Gairns, Mrs Logan and Struan’s dad Mr Colthart, went to a fascinating archaeological trip to the Giant’s Grave. We were going there because we really wanted to learn about Islay History. As we got onto the bus, I was filling up with excitement. We were in the bus for quite a while until we got to Nerabus. As we got off the bus, I couldn’t wait to start walking to the Giant’s Grave. Also, Professor Steven Mithin walked with us.
On the trip, we walked one hour and ten minutes to the Giant’s Grave. Before we got there, my friend Abi fell into a big stream and got soaking wet. When we were all set we started walking again. On the way, we saw loads of blood red and white mushrooms. They looked really interesting. Finally we got to the Giant’s Grave. I thought it looked amazing and very inspiring. It was as peaceful as the sun crawling up a hill. As we were strolling to the heart of the dig I gazed at the awesome rocks forming the Giant’s grave.
After we had our break, we got up and circled around the Grave. We listened to the archaeologists from Reading University explain about the Giant’s Grave and what they think it used to be six thousand years ago. After they told us about the Grave, we split up and got into partners to work with the archaeologists to help with the Grave. Rebecca and me went to Tom who told us that he worked in the muddiest corner to dig out the peaty mud that could be burying important artifacts. We got a shovel and started to dig the icky sticky mud.
When we were told to move we really enjoyed helping Tom with the mud and digging. When we moved over we went to a lady named Sarah who helped us take pictures of the site with her. We learned that it was a hard job getting the right angles when you take the pictures. We also took stalk photos when we creep up to the others and take pictures of them. Then, with a heavy heart, we went back to the others and sat in the gazebo. We listened to a Dendrochronologist speak about his job as a person who looks at tree rings on the trunk to see how old it is. I thought that was fascinating that you could calculate how old a tree is by looking at the lines.
After we had our lunch, we said goodbye to the people there and we left the Giant’s grave. I really enjoyed myself and I really hope that I could meet them again soon on a different dig. I thought that the dig was phenomenal and I really hope to go again.
By Kaya Middleton P7
WINNERS!
 
https://vimeo.com/170321861
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. They also took part in STEM challenges as a team, with around 40 other schools, where they had to correct a listing oil rig, calculate pH for crops, stabilize a bridge, build a train and identify oil products. When we got to the awards ceremony the Imax cinema was full. We were shocked and amazed when Heather the weather announced the winners of the primary STEM challenges as Port Ellen Primary School! We got a great trophy and went and sat back down, only to discover we had also won the Primary Junior Saltire Awards! What a day! Above is a video of our Junior Saltire Journey.
Our visit to Port Ben
On Friday 3rd June we walked up the distillery path to our favourite beach Port Ben with our buckets and spades and a delicious picnic. Â We made sandcastles and decorated them with shells and seaweed. Mrs MacDonald came and joined us for our picnic.
Our visit to Islay Airport
This term we have been learning about journeys and holidays so as one of our our end of term outings we visited Islay Airport.  We climbed the tower, put our bags through security, went through security ourselves, we even got to sit in the fire engines and spray water from the hoses. The highlight of our trip was sitting in Mr Sandy MacTaggart’s plane and talking to Pat the pilot. We had a great time with all our children and their parents.
HOGWARTS BUZZING GARDEN IS ALREADY BUZZING!
Here are some photos of our finished garden, already attracting bees and butterflies.
The Results are in!
P3/4 have been conducting lots of different plant experiments using fair testing techniques. They have chosen one variable and kept all other conditions the same, testing for heat, water, light, soil and plant food. One group was amazed to see a broad bean growing in sand! The beans in the boiler house germinated and grew really quickly but the leaves were very pale and the plants did not look too healthy so we decided that a combination of heat, light and water works best! They worked in groups to produce a scientific report using powerpoints. Some of the plants will be used in the Pocket Picnic garden.
Islands, Birds, Whales and Dolphins
P1-3 have been very busy learning about different islands from around the world. Each co-operative group studied their chosen island then presented their learnings during an open afternoon with family and friends. There were powerpoints, information posters, maps and 3D models on display as well as plenty of food tasting.
We all enjoyed our visit to the yacht “The Silurian”. We put on our life jackets and were whale and dolphin watchers. We even learned how to hoist a sail.
P1-2 have been learning about birds with David Woods from the RSPB during some of our “Buddy Sessions”. This culminated in a joint visit to the RSPB Center and Gruinart Farm. The children were keen birdspotters in the hide, fed a baby lamb and even witnessed the live birth of a calf! Fabulous learning.
Picnic Pocket Garden
P5/6/7 took part in the Eco Schools Scotland One Planet Picnic Pocket Garden competition and designed a Pocket Garden in pairs. The garden had to be eco-friendly, use seasonal produce, be grown locally and have a theme. Mirren and Rebecca’s Hogwarts Buzzing Garden came back as a winner! They had a Harry Potter themed Garden that is bee friendly which they now had to create and take to Edinburgh for the Royal Horticultural Show at the start of June. After they found out they won they went straight to work with finding, making and growing different items to put on there garden. Mirren, Rebecca, Mrs Clar and Mrs Leask took a trip up to Glenegadale Garden and Peter to source some locally grown plants for the display, which he generously helped us with. We think the final garden, which has plants to help with spells and help attract and feed bees, will look great. Thanks to everyone who is helping to make it possible, including our mums and dads who are taking us.
Junior Saltire Awards
A few weeks ago p5/6/7 worked on designs for a wave power device for the Junior Saltire Awards, which is a national competition for school children to design and make their own devices to promote the use of renewable energy. The group that built the device was called Wave Islay, and included Bronagh, Joe, Murray, Kaya, Abi and Ellie. We researched renewable and non renewable energy and learned about wave powered devices. Bronagh’s dad came in to help us build our device. When it was finished we went to test it in the sea and it worked. We had to fill in some papers to send away. Later on we found out that our device was in the finals. Now we are working on improvements to make it better! Bronagh, Joe, Murray and Kaya get to go to Edinburgh for the awards on the 9th June, where we will test our device in the Flo Wave facility at Edinburgh University. It is all very exciting!
House Building Endeavour
This year Endeavour has a world of work focus and I chose house building. I chose House Building because I wanted to find out how to build a house. I planned my Endeavour using a long term planner. I have achieved building a model house, sent a letter to an architect, made a powerpoint and some more. I have had a few problems with the cement and making the roof. I have had help from my dad with cutting the wood and Mr Pollock gave me some tips in my letter. I will sow my house and powerpoint at the end.
Our woods visit
We visited Laphroaig Woods to look for sign of spring,  the buds were just beginning to appear on the trees.  We gathered  different sized sticks to made a den.  We played on the slope where we made a super slide and we had a yummy picnic too.
Our visit to the RSPB
We visited the RSPB reserve at Gruinart to bring together everything we have been learning about birds with our buddies from P1/2.  We travelled by  bus and took a packed lunch, we had a great day.
Our Frogs
We have been learning about the life cycle of the frog.  We have looked after our tadpoles and have watched them change into frogs. Mr MacIntyre helped us release  them back into the pond.
Explaining Everything
P3/4 have been learning about parts of a plant and what each part does. They have also learned about photosynthesis – the process where plants make energy for carbon dioxide and water using energy from the sun and chlorophyll in leaves. They used a new app on the ipads called Explain Everything to show what they had learned.
Seeds from Space
P3/4 are now officially plant scientists. Along with lots of other schools from across the country we are taking part in a scientific experiment to find out about the effect of space on plant growth. We were given two packets of seeds from the Royal Horticultural Society – one normal rocket seeds and the other a packet that have been to the International Space Station with Tim Peake. We have learned all about fair testing and randomisation and the seeds are now sitting waiting to grow. We will keep you posted of progress and our results!
First Rocket Seed Germinates
Our first rocket seed has germinated!! It was only planted 2 days ago!!
Architecture Endeavour
This year my Endeavour is Architecture. I got the idea of doing Architecture because I don’t know anything about Architecture and I wanted to learn more about it. I have achieved a model house, a plan for my model and lots of research to help do my Endeavour. I planned my Endeavour by doing my long term planner. Long term planner is a planner that has writing on it which what I wanted to do in my endeavour. A problem I have overcome is when I was making my house it broke and I had to start again. My mum has helped me with my Endeavour at home and my teacher Mrs Clark has helped me in school and a teacher from the high school Mr Pollack sent me an email. At the end of my Endeavour I will have to show my model house my plan for it research and a big board of what I have have done in my Endeavour.
Wooden Toys Endeavour
My Endeavour is on making wooden toys. I choose this Endeavour because I wanted to try something new and this year your Endeavour had to relate to the world of work. This project I can sell the products I make to people at the Endeavour fair.
I got my idea one night when I was watching my dad make a gate for where he was working this inspired me to chose this project.
I got my plan from looking on the internet where I saw loads of cute and really good ideas so I took some put them together and made my plan.
I have achieved lots of things like a pram, 2 jigsaws, lots of plans and wooden box with alphabet letter.
Trip to the Pontoons
On Monday 25th April P3/4 went to see the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust boat. It is called the Silurian.
The Silurian was fancy. It had ten beds, a toilet, a shower and a galley. On deck there was a huge steering wheel and dials. A digital map was on top of the steering wheel. There was a thing that tells you how much knots the wind is going. The boat is 20m long, double the size of my dad’s boat because my dad’s is only 10m.
I learned about whales and dolphins. The biggest whale in Scotland is the minke whale and the smallest is the porpoise.
By Drew, P3
Whale and Dolphin Boat
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
Silurian Visit
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
The Scottish Mathematical Challenge
This year pupils at Port Ellen primary school took part in the Scottish Mathematical Challenge where they had to answer problem solving questions 3 times over the year showing their working out. To get a bronze award you couldn’t lose more than 10 points, to get a silver award you couldn’t lose more than 6 points and to get a gold award you couldn’t lose more than 3 points. Rebecca, Katie, Ross and Matthew got a bronze award and I got a silver award missing out on a gold award by only one point! I feel happy because I got a silver I am also very surprised because I didn’t think my problem solving was that good. One of the questions was “Maureen, Alice and Siobhan are three young sisters, in that order of age. Alice is two years older than Siobhan. Each year, their wealthy aunt gives each of them, for each year of her age, as many pounds as she is years old. For example, on her first birthday a girl would receive one pound and on her third birthday nine pounds. The aunt has promised to continue this family custom with each girl until her twelth birthday. This year Maureen received as much as Alice and Siobhan put together.
How much will Siobhan receive next year?” I found this quite tricky. There was also a question about a diagram that represents a rectangular net, which is made from string notted together at different points. Another one was about a diving competition where there are 5 judges that each awards a whole-number from 1-10 and you had to work out all the possible scores awarded. It was really challenging but helped me get better at my maths problem solving. There is an award ceremony in June in Glasgow. Next year I will try to get a gold.
Beat the Flood
For National Science and Engineering Week P3/4 were trying to Beat the Flood. This was a challenge set by Practical Action to try and design and build a floodproof house that could stand up to flooding and monsoon rains. The design also had to be sustainable, use materials available on a small Pacific Island and be cheap to build. This innovative design has a water catcher and grows food on the roof so that people can still eat if the land around has been flooded.
Wild Weather
P3/4 investigated extreme weather events as part of their weather topic. Charlet Rose found out about the flash flooding in Boscastle in 2004. She discovered the cause of the flooding and used weather data to show the rainfall pattern over this event. She found out how the flash flooding affected the people and the disruption it caused. This was a great piece of work that pulled together learning in literacy, numeracy and social studies. Well done Charlet Rose.
Investigating Microclimate
P3/4 have been investigating the microclimate in the school grounds. They used digital thermometers on loan from the Royal Meteorological Society to record the temperatures at different places in the school grounds. It was a great way to consolidate all they had learned about maps as part of their orienteering. They then worked in the group to produce a scientific report complete with prediction, method, results, bar chart and explanation. A great piece of work!
Waste Week
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
The Rock Cycle
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.
Science Club
Mrs Clark has started a club called science club on Wednesdays from 3:30am to 4:30pm. We have done it for 2 weeks; the 1st week we did it we were doing looking for worms for citizen science. The next week we did balloon rockets and the boys won by 2 meters with 1 balloon because we put more air in it for the pressure.
