NEWS

Port Ellen primary school in the class p5,6,7 went to the woods at 10am on Thursday. We went there because we were learning about the Mesolithic times. Also we had clans.

  All The Clans

The wolf clan, the swan clan, The snake clan and the last one which is seal clan which is the one I was in.

First we needed to get our water proof jackets and our water proof trousers and then we all set of on the way to the woods.

Next when wee got there we had the tarp laid down to lay on it what we did was we laid down and then breathed in and out. After that we got told which way to go to make a den. we found a den. Then we had to find four different leaves. We had to bring some logs down and our packed lunches to the beach to have lunch. First we had to gather some stones and some branches for the fire but some people had to go and gather some branches in the wood.

My class did a Mesolithic topic and in out topic with an archaeologist called in ” Dr Darko “.

We learned lots and lots of facts. Some of those facts are ” We don’t have evidence of people in Mesolithic times because they would not leave anything around” and that” Mesolithic people would meet together to trade with other clans. We also learnt that there was a huge tsunami that nearly made Britain an Island

We are learning about Wolf Brother. In Port Ellen we have been reading Wolf Brother. When we went to Kilnaughton Woods  and the Ard. My clan was the Mythic Seals. We made posters and read them out to the class. We were making masks and facts. We are learning about the Mesolithic times to know how they lived and survived. In the woods we had to make tiny settlements of what we thought a Mesolithic clan base.

Things we made:  boats, flags, dens, music, fire and we also cooked mackerel, potatoes, apples and we roasted marshmallows over our camp fire.

Things we made : posters, cave paintings, a quest story, shell paintings and we gave each other tattoos.

By Teddy

At school we did something called Pudsay day when we come to school in are pyjamas and we also done the Jerslema. Jurusalema is a dance we saw it on the internet and we thought it would be good for raising money on Pudsey Day When you come into school you put money in a tin for your pyjamas and doing the Jerslema help raise money here is are total. it has change because of covid 19 because the other times the tin came to the class room and not at the door and we got cup cakes at break.

£256.36 That is are total

In Port Ellen school we have a advent calendar with prizes. Every day you go on the school website or the schools twitter to see who the winners are. The school decides who the winner is  for the day  by putting their hand in the box  then they pull out a name then they are the winner. The calendar ends on the twenty fourth of December.

The kid prizes are a scooter, Lego star wars, one day ecteronic bike, board games ingluding Jumanji, Drone and the best one so far a Nintendo light that comes with a case, games such as Minecraft and Mario cart. The adults prizes are mostly vouchers, drinks, Aberg bundle and a humper bag. The School is doing this because this year we have no Christmas fair. If you don’t have a ticket don’t worry there’s always next year.

Highland dancing is a fun activity for kids and teenagers. Highland dancing is ran by a lady named Ella. Highland dancing is on a Saturday at 11:00 to 11:00. The dances that you can learn are the Pedi bias, Pedi Bias and High Cuts, Highland Fling, The swords, Scottish Lilt, Flora MacDonalds fancy, Blue bonnets, Heilind laddie and barracks Johnny. Highland dancing. In corona virus we have to wear are face masks when going out and we have seats with our names on them when we come back out we have to wear our masks again. After we have went away the chairs will be cleaned for the next week. Every week we will be teched by great teachers and get on to new dances if we do well! Highland dancing is  great for kids and teenagers! This is a great opportunity for children and teenagers! I hope to see you there!

By Iona

Port Ellen juniors is is ran by Grant, Alan, Robert, Joe, Ben and Donald. It is at Bowmore, Astor-tough pitch at 6;00 pm to 7;00 pm. It is so kids learn to get good at football.

The people in my team are James, William, Finlay, Ben, Callum, Cara, Mya, Katie, Kaley and Robyn. The goalies are normally Clallam and James our best player is Finlay. If someone touches the ball with their hands the person sanitizes and we get a new ball.

The bigger ones play 7;00 to 8;00.  it is interesting to watch them play because they play super well and you can get tips off of them, and they play all across the pitch I’ve played a couple of times with them and it is quite hard with small legs.

By Dylan 131 words

On Islay people play golf at  the Machrie hotel. There is a golf club at the Machrie  hotel for kids to learn. You show up at the golf driving range.  At the club you hit  some golf balls with a 5, 6, 7 ,8 iron  golf clubs. The coaches David and Brian  watch us to see if we are doing it right. I’m going to tell you how to play golf.

Your chest is your  engine a bit of flex in your  knee’s and hold up over at your slogger  and try not to hit the ground and it should be a good shot.

At the Machrie they’re five areas to play golf they’re two courses the big courses and the small courses they’re two putting areas ad 1 putting and chipping courses. On the big courses they’re is eighteen holes on the small courses they’re is  six holes.

Golf is a famous solo sport for calming  people down. I really in joy golf. It is also a captative sport.

In school we play loads of different sports. There is a sport we play called boccia. Its like bowling but for people with disabilities. Its really fun we all enjoy it in class.  Here’s how you play first pick two players one player has to have the red balls and the other player has the blue balls. The balls are a funny shape they have flat bumpy sides. That helps the ball move when its stopped on a slope. When we play boccia we always play it inside with Miss Brown because she normally does PE with us. But when we play boccia we play it on a wet day when we can’t go outside to do PE. The team are put in their house like Orsay Texa and nave. Then miss brown will pick different player each time if you win you will be put in the finals.  I really enjoy playing boccia its a really fun sport.

By Christopher 162 words .

In Port Ellen School we had a Christmas Jumper day and it was for the charity Save the Children.  People wore Christmas jumpers in and brung a donation in and all the money was to help children around the world. It will help to give them clean water and food and education so they can get smart.  It is kind to donate to charity.  We raised £112 for Save the children.  my christmas jumper had snowflakes and Xboxes on it.

By Ben

This year, in November, p5,6&7 had several trips to the Ard because of their new topic, from the book ”Wolf Brother”

The book tell, how people lived in Mesolithic times, but more precisely tell the story of a boy named Torak, who was forced to survive there alone after his father died!

When we went there for first time, we were divided into 4 clans with 5 people each. The clans were: the seal clan, the swan clan, the snake clan, and the wolf clan! There were five different types of people and activities in the clans, who are: leader, story teller, warrior, medic and hunter.

There were different challenges and games, which we made up.  Some of them were:  to make our clan base, to make ours flags, to make some small boat, to make a cave paint, and other.  Finally, we had a war between the clans, in which we had to take the flags of the other clans, without touching us.

We learn a lot of thing about Mesolithic time, and how the people actually survive, with not enough food, clothes or home!

Islay And Jura Dolphins is a swimming club were you learn how to swim and youse swimming techniques .  At the the deep end it is 2 meter deep and in the shallow end is 1 meter deep. At dolphins for a warm up we do 2 lengths of front crawl  2 lengths of breath strock 2 lengths or back crawl and 2 lengths of butterfly.

When there is about half an hour left we get out the pool and go the the deep end and practice are dives into the pool. After that when there is about 15 mints left we do races. Last week I did IM agents Ben, IM is were you do one length of every stroak.

Maths week Scotland was from the 28th of September to the 4th of October 2020. Maths Week Scotland is where all of the schools around Scotland have been doing lots of maths for one week. We do Maths Week Scotland to help the children around Scotland how to do all of the complicated maths.

Maths Inside is a competition that our school entered. We entered the competition and some people in the class won a prize.  There were three categories, Oot An’ Aboot, In The Home and Complete The Pattern.  The

Winners are: Dylan McDonald for In The Home, Teddy Denby for Oot An’ Aboot, Elena Miteva for Complete The Pattern, Dylan Mackie for The Best Commentary and Christopher Jamison for The Best Commentary second level. The whole of the school won The Highly Commended School.

Dylan McDonald’s entry was what the length was between his hair and Katies. Teddy Denby’s entry was how high he could jump. Elena Miteva

In the school P2/3/4 read a book called The Perfect Square and P5/6/7 did lots of things like: The Scottish maths Challenge, The Maths Inside Challenge and some other maths games.

In school this year we have bean learning about the history of racism. We have been learning about this because of all the racism going on in the world right now.  We learnt some facts about Maya Angelou these are some facts:

. Maya Angelou refused to speak for 5 years.

. She was a poet, actress and author.

.She got a medal from Obama in 2009.

Before the holidays P5,6,7 did paintings of one of the scenes of Maya Angelou’s famous poems. The poems we did were “I know why the caged bird sings and I will rise”. We had to paint things that were lines in one of the poems and we also used collage that looked like the things in her poem.

We also read about her and  other people who  did things about racism in America in the past. We also learnt about what racism is and all the different types of racism. We also learnt about when it started in the UK and the racism that is going on in the UK now and in the past.

Racism is when someone treats someone differently because of the colour of their skin, their culture and the country they’re from and we have learnt about this because we think it is important to know what racism is and the effects it can have on people.

By Dylan

The Port Ellen Primary School Community was extremely saddened to learn of the sudden death of Drew Brown on the 13th September.  Drew was a much loved pupil at Port Ellen from Nursery until he left at the end of primary 7 in June this year.  He had only been at Islay high School for a few weeks when this tragic event happened.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Drew joined us at Port Ellen Nursery in 2011 at the age of 3 .  He took a while to adjust but quickly grew into the school and everyone in the school soon realised we had a real character.  One of his earliest reports said – Drew responds to a firm voice when he is up to nonsense!!

Drew Brown was part of a class of 13. They just moved to Islay High. He was a good friend to his classmates, kind, sympathetic but he was also very good with younger children. His popularity earned him status of the School House Captain for Orsay – a job he took very seriously. He ran clubs from P5 and was an excellent leader.

It was clear from very early in his nursery days that Drew had a particular flair for number – he excelled, he was quick, could see problems very quickly and work them out at speed. This year (P7) he participated in the Scottish Maths Challenge and achieved a bronze award for his efforts. He was really proud of himself as it was not an easy task .

He also had very good digital skills and this was also identified at the age of 3. He could reset the computer or do something/ hack files and we still don’t know how he managed it!! In P7 he decided to do Robotics and coding for Endeavour and took great interest in subjects like this.

Drew always had a very good relationship with the staff and his mischievous sense of humour endeared them all although there were times they didn’t know what he was going to surprise them with next, he always seemed just that one step ahead. We have talked a lot about Drew over the last week about his antics and the nonsense he could get up to and not only has this brought a smile to all our faces, it has helped us to support and comfort one another at such a sad time. Drew’s personality struck a chord with everyone.

Who could forget the Pantomime in December- Drew was Bolt , the jester . He had the audience in the palm of his hands and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house – tears of laughter. His timing was impeccable and he spoke so clearly . He brought the house down. Some people came back the next night for seconds just like Drew did at lunch time

He loved good food, when he went to high school Mrs Holyoake just couldn’t find anyone who was so keen on seconds and who would sit and blether to her for virtually the whole of the lunch hour – often with his dinner hall partner in crime, Dearbhla . Although Dearbhla would be still eating her normal quota while Drew was often on his second lot of seconds!!

He enjoyed a laugh and often you could hear his laughter and see his excitement. He attended the leaver’s assembly in June – with some anxiety, however as always Drew quickly settled and enjoyed the videos. Drew’s was a very encouraging message telling everyone to go for it , never give up summing up his can do attitude to life . He wanted to be the same as everyone – that was his goal and at the end of P7 he achieved this, he was completely independent.

The tradition in Port Ellen is to write messages on everyone’s school jumper. Drew and I shared many conversations about Rangers – both fans so it really appealed to his sense of humour when I wrote on his good friend Scott Hope’s jumper ( Celtic fan) – Scott you’re Simply the Best!! That was right up Drew’s street.

On Thursday we started our remembrance / quiet area for Drew and planted an apple tree. Every day staff and children walk past the tree, they will remember Drew . Some days it will fill us with grief as we have had to say goodbye to a dear and good boy but it will also fill us with happiness when we remember the memories he has left behind. Ones that will always put a smile on our faces.

Remembering someone like that can’t be engineered, Drew’s personality, his uniqueness and resilience has left a legacy and he has touched all of our hearts.

We are learning about Shanarri in class because it is very important to know what we need and what other people need. All our class made a mini movie about shanarri we were all a bit of shanarri what we had to do was pick a section from shanarri i was safe so what we had to do was go outside and make a mini movie about safe then we would put all the videos together and make a movie about shanarri.

There was also people vandalizing our school so we had to send the Ileach writing about the vandalism. I am going to show you what shanarri.

Shanarri Stands For:

SAFE, HEALTHY, ACTIVE, NURTURED, ACHIEVING, RESPECTED, RESPONSIBLE, INCLUDED

Safe: You should have a safe house with a good shelter.

Healthy, you should be allowed to have fruit and vegetables daily.

Active, you should have the right to exercise and go out and play

Nurtured: you should have a right to have a loving family.

Achieving, You should have the right to

Respected, you have the right to be respected by your family, friends and anybody.

Responsible, you should have the right to be responsible and know what to do when you are injured.

Included, You should have the right to be included in party’s and so on.

We were leaning about shanarri. Shanarri is import because its child’s rights and the child’s rights is very important.

At Port Ellen Primary School, we have houses sort of like a clan. Our clans are Orsay, Texa and Nave.

Every year we normally vote for one captain and two vice captains, after we have voted, the chosen people would run that house and make it better.

We decided to change the system this year so that everyone could have a shot of leadership, most of us wanted the change but some of us were not on board with the change so we had a vote. The majority of the school voted for change so we changed our system and now we alternate.

Every term we change captains for each house. The captains would be primary six or seven. Most of the time the captain was primary seven and the vice captains were primary sixes.

By Kayla Gowler

In 1989 a really important decision was made around the world. World leaders came together in the United Nations and made an important promise to the world’s children. They made a promise to every child to protect and fulfil their rights, by adopting an international legal framework – the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Children are human beings and individuals with their own rights. The Convention says childhood is separate from adulthood, and lasts until 18; it is a special, protected time, in which children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity. The Convention went on to become the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history and has helped transform children’s lives.

Here are some of the Rights

Article 9: Separation from parents

Children must not be separated from their parents.

Article 3: Best interests of the child

The best interests of the child must be a top priority.

Article 31: Leisure, play and culture

Every child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.

I think that all children should have all of these rights.

Coming back to school was a bit confusing because it looked like a hand sanitizer shop. It was weird because we had our own pencil cases with pens, pencils and all of the supplies that we needed. We weren’t allowed to share supplies either and we aren’t allowed to go outside when any other classes are outside, we have staggered break times. But this does mean we can go on the all weather pitch whenever we want.  We also have lunch all at different times for social distancing.

The good thing about school now is that we get to do P.E with out changing which saves a lot of time, and PE is always outside.  We also get to go out in the rain with the water proofs that the school gave us and we stay dry and get to play games at the same time. We spend a lot more time outside.  We also have our own laptops to do our work on. It is different but we will soon get use to it.

Lock down was not the best but not the worst, what I mean is we couldn’t leave the house but that was alright because me and Kayla had our own ways to entertain ourselves with our families. Lock down stopped us from going to school which was not  the best but now we are glad to be back at school!

To start things off with some great news from lock down Kayla got a new puppy called Thora, who just happened to be Odin’s sister from another litter and he was really excited. I was really happy when lock down rules were eased I got to see Mya and Callie but before that we both were not happy because we couldn’t see friends. Kayla also got a new headset so she could talk with step brother Riley.  My cousin in Ireland got baby chicks too.

Then the bad news from lock down.  1 week in lock down my mum and dad were not too happy because Jess our dog is very old and she can not really get out side so she pooed all over the house. Kayla’s new dog Thora also learned to jump the out side fence so that was not good.  But overall we are glod to be back in school!

I thought it might be nice to share some of the writing the children have done through home learning.  Enjoy!

Due to the school closures our annual Easter egg decorating competition has had to take place online this year, but standards and creativity are as great as ever!  Mrs Macdonald had some great comments to make “I couldn’t pick one winner , it was so hard and I am giving you all a virtual prize . I did pick 4 and categorised as follows; Elena – prettiest egg, Millie – funniest / topical, Caitidh – Great play on words / lots of effort, Orla – best use of digital skills”

Argyll and Bute Education Services are committed to ensuring that none of our pupils have to go without access to free period products during the Covid-19 crisis when the usual availability in schools is restricted and when it is more difficult, and indeed expensive, to get products from shops.

Many schools distributed period products from their stocks to pupils before they closed. However, as the current Covid-19 Government restrictions continue, we want to ensure that our pupils’ wellbeing needs continue to be met.

For this reason we have made an arrangement with Hey Girls, one of Scotland’s main providers of period products, that enables you to order from a range of products using a survey monkey link that simply requests your chosen package, school and your delivery name and address.

To order your products please click here:  https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ZDQC8JT.  You can then click the packs you need (and it’s ok to order more than one type), enter your details and click ‘done’ at the bottom of the page.   Hey Girls will then process your order and post it to the address that you have given.  The link will be refreshed at regular intervals to ensure that you can make repeat orders.

As this system is just getting started and given the current delay in some postal service deliveries, please allow up to two weeks for your delivery to me made, although Hey Girls would hope to reduce this in time.

This Hey Girls order form link will also be sent out to parents and carers via text and email.   To avoid multiple orders at the same time from the same family, and to ensure that you get what you need , we would be grateful if children and parents/carers could consult with each other before ordering.

Please note that these products are free and are available to children and young people in Argyll and Bute schools from P6 to S6.  While the closure of schools continues, you can place an order whenever you need it.

We will continue to monitor the success of this system and will review it when restrictions are lifted and when the crisis is over.

If you need any more information on this system or wish to make any comments please contact Cathy Cameron at  catherine.cameron2@argyll-bute.gov.uk.

Schools are officially closed from the 20th March until futher notice due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.  This means much of your child’s learning will continue at home with the support of their family.  Teachers will be available online via Seesaw in the weeks to come to support you with ideas and acitivities to maintain a semblence of normality, in what are decidedly not normal times, unless they are busy in school looking after vulnerable children and key worker’s children.

Here are some top tips to help you in the coming weeks: