Primary School of the Year 2022
There was great excitement in P1/2/3…and a bit of envy from P4/5….as the solar ovens were used to cook marshmallows and melt chocolate digestives. Even although it was not particularly warn, we were amazed how quickly the ovens melted the chocolate and marshmallow. William is keen to cook pizza next!
P1/2/3 have read the story of Handa’s Surprise and been learning about life in Africa. They have found out that it is very different in rural Africa from the city. They build these huts from straw, clay and wooden sticks….then added solar panels and LED lights. They were a great addition to the sand tray with all the African animals. The children learned how useful solar panels can be in helping children in rural Africa to do their homework. Evie’s mum showed the children a kerosene lamp that would be used – costly to run, dangerous and giving off nasty fumes. We researched case studies and made these Explain Everything to show what we had learned.
We have been discovering how strong eggs are and learning to measure at the same time! Underneath this stack of books are only three eggs…..and two trays of eggs can support a small person! We were amazed when we watched a film clip of Richard Hammond balancing two crushed cars on a large array of eggs. Check it out.
Climate change is getting worse and worse every day because of us. Climate change is when lots of carbon emissions are released into the atmosphere which creates a lair of greenhouse gas which then traps heat in the earth causing global warming, which destroys habitats and can create tornados, tsunamis and hurricanes. This is also caused by surprisingly cows because of there farting and burping , this happens because the methane they let out.
The energy we use is also having an impact on the earth because of all the carbon emissions we use to run our homes,cars and electronics. We could change this by using renewables such as wind, solar and hydro power. We are destroying the Arctic so Polar bears and penguins won’t have habitats. So I feel that everyone needs to start using renewable energies.
You can see how global warming is happening using this climate spiral animation:
By Aidan and Jack
As part of the Knots to Wats competitoin. Dearbhla’s dad Mr Newman and Morgan’s dad Mr Mcfarlane came into help us make our floating wind turbine. There was a rule book we had to follow it. for example, it must float in water, the connecting wires have to be 1.5m long attatched water level. It was hard work but we were very pleased it worked.
Dearbhla and Caitidh
Yesterday Nicola Davies came in to talk with us about her books as part of the Scottish Book Trust 20th Anniversary Tour. She has mostly based her stories with animals in them because before she was an author she was a zoologist and there was a book that she was telling us about and it was about a boy that got his arm pulled of by a lion, it’s name was The Lion Who Stole My Arm. The real story that it was based on was about a 5 year old boy who got attacked by a lion and even though his arm didn’t come off he had to get it amputated because the attack was so bad. She was also telling us about animals that she was looking at such as: lionesses, humpback whales etc. When she was talking to us about the humpback whales she noticed when she was studying them that mostly every day and hour of the day the whales would eat then eat then eat again. Also to have a little fun we learned how to sing like a whale. Nicola Davies also wrote a climate change book called Gaiya and because we are doing climate change as one of out topics that was very interesting. We also wrote climate change poems. We have been researching a lot of different facts and effects that climate change has on the world. We could either write a kenning, a haiku or a free verse poem. We thought that the visit as very exciting learning about lots of different animals.
By Rebecca and Rowan
This term we have been learning about how WW1 affected the lives of people on Islay and Port Ellen by learning about the sinking of the Tuscania and the Otranto and the lives of the local people at the time. All through our WW100 topic we have made art work, researched from primary sources of evidence online, imagined letters and put ourselves in the soldiers shoes. The reason for this is that on Friday 4 May it had been one hundred years since WW1 and we had a big remembrance event on Islay. Everyone around the island came to remember WW100 in Port Ellen. The Islay Quilters had worked with local community groups to make the state flags of the US soldiers who died in the two sinkings, including our school; our class made the flag for the state of Michegan. The five schools on Islay came together to carry the flags in a procession to the pier and then we put them at the Ramsay hall for display. For the project we used our research to write letters pretending to be one of the soldiers from the Port Ellen war memorial, that we had chosen, writing to their family. We included the name of our soldiers, any interesting facts, information about family members and their jobs. In the hall there is information about the Tuscania, Otranto, and soldiers that fought in the war. Jack used a map of Port Ellen at the time to show where the soldiers lived. The art work we did was about the Tuscania and all different things about the war and was mixed media. The other schools also had things on display. We liked learning about the war and how the war started and how it impacted on people here on Islay.
By Jack and Aaron
On may the 4th Islay came together to remember all the people that died in WW1 in the sinking of the Tuscania and the Otranto and to save us and make life better for the future people. Everyone went to the pier by the Islay hotel in Port Ellen and there was lots of solders with guns, there were bands too. Later on Princess Anne came in a black car with a lot of security. I didn’t really see Princess Anne I just saw her get out the car then walk towards the memorial. All the schools on Islay got together to hold the flags of the states of America, which had been made by the Islay Quilters and lots of people in the community as well as the schools; Port Ellen P67 made Michegan. We stood on a sidewalk and held out our flags. We were greeted by MP’s and navy officers and we also got to meet the American ambassador and his wife. I think that it was a fun day and it was an honer to be there because we were representing all the different states America by holding the flags which we had made.
By Ciaran and Charlie
On Friday the Choir sang at Port Ellen Pier in front of the Princess Royal, it was very nervewracking! We sang to remember the solders that died in World War 1 and the people who drowned in the ship disasters. The song we sang was called Tuireadh nan Treun, it was amazing and the Choir was very nervous. The song meant Lament for the Brave.The Choir sang with there red shirts and we also sang with the adult Choir. We also saw the Royal Navy. The bagpipes played along the road. Princess Anne said our singing was amazing.
Evie and Kayla
Friday the 4th of May
Princess Anne visited Islay. We went down to the pier and waved flags for the cameras and for other people and for two of the NAVY solders and the American Ambassador came over to us all and we waved our flags for Princess Anne but she was in the car so we did not get to see her for long, it was about two seconds.
I am in the Choir and for the welcome we sang “Glasgow” then we had to wait for about an hour with our jackets off, then we sang our choir song Tuireadh Nan Treun. Then we waited while they were leaving the wreaths at the monument while Alastair Currie sang Shein e Bhan. It was a very emotional ceremony.
On Friday the 4th May all schools came to Port Ellen Primary School except from the school in Jura they came for the World War One commemoration. The choir walked down to the pier to sing a Gaelic song with the Adult choir. About half an hour later the schools walked down to the Islay Hotel to wave the handmade flags that we made at Port Ellen Primary School. They waved the flags to welcome the Princess Royal for the WW1 commemorations and to remember the brave soldiers that were in World War One and that the fought for there country for us. We also thought about the vrave Islay people who helped the survivors of the Tuscania and Otranto.
Charlet and Millie
On the Friday 4th of May we went down to the pier to remember the sinking of the SS Tuscania and the Otranto. We stood outside the Islay Hotel and we waved our flags when we were getting our pictures taken. When we were leaving the school we were buddied up with P123 so they were safe. The pipers and the drummers were coming down the street and we were waving our flags to the music and there were people behind the pipers and the drummers with big flags walking down the pier.
Then we saw Princess Anne’s helicopter flying over us and it landed on the football pitch next to the Ramsey Hall. Then Princess Anne came in a blue range rover and she got out at the monument and she put a wreath next to the monument.
On Thursday 3rd of May Fiona Hyslop came in. The PortEllen band and two people from Bowmore played their instruments in front of Fiona Hyslop, they played Mary had a Little Lamb and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Fiona Hyslop is an MSP and the minister of culture. ‘I enjoyed it because it was a one time thing only and it was really fun,’ says Donald from primary six and he is in the band. The band consisted of Holly, Donald, Charlie, Dearbhla, Charlet, Millie, Liam and Emily. The band was in practising at breaks for Fiona Hyslop and were exited to play in front of her.
By Holly and Donald
On Friday 4th May the school attended the Islay WW100 service in memory of all those lost in the sinking of the Tuscania and Otranto in WW1. Here is a video created by Islay Info of the day.
I am doing animation for my Endeavour. I have made some animations. I am making a storyboard for my last animation and I have done some research on the different types of animation and famous animators like Walt Disney, Dr Suess and Nick Park. Nick Park is the animator of the popular kids show Wallace and Gromit. Walt Disney is then founder of the amazing company which made amazing animations like The Lion King and Bambi. Dr Suess wrote the books for animations like the Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Chirstmas. Some of the most famous animations are Zootopia by Disney and Wreck it Wralph also by Disney.
I am doing an Endeavour on photography and the reason that I am doing this for my endeavour because I won a competition called the My Place Photography Competition 2017. I won a Nikon COOLPIX with my photo that I took of the old Port Ellen distillery funnels and then the Scottish civic trust entered my photo into the European competition and I placed 17th. Then I won a competition at Bowmore Distillery called the Islay Legends Photography Competition and I got a Cannon camera.
I also completed an online course called Photography Made Easy and it taught me all about photography like what IOS to use in different situations and what F Stop to use for different photos and I also made an Instagram account that has all of my photos on it called @mattsphotos06.
P1/2/3 had a visit from a police officer this afternoon as the school was a hub for the WW100 event. We had great fun trying on hats and handcuffs and asking lots of questions.
P1/2/3 and P4/5 down at the WW100 commemoration this morning to see what was happening, catching a glimpse of Princess Ann. We did meet the US Ambassador.
Thanks to the Parent Council, Miss Brown and P4/5 and all the parents who have donated ‘scrap’ for our Nuts and Bolts shed. We love it….P1/2/3.
A few weeks ago there was a Sumdog competiton for who could get the most points in Argyll and Bute. You had 1000 questions to answer and everyone in our class had to take part, it was a tough Competition we didn’t finish 1st but it is super rare to get first place. One of the most played games is Junkpile because you can stack junk cars speakers the highest score to beat is around the 2000s. Another popular game is Dinnerdefense its highest is around a 150.
Sumdog is a maths game that tries to help you improve your maths. Sumdog is a hard game to beat – the settings are up when your playing against a destroyer and world’s best people – they have the best scores they get 250 points, my highest is 150 points. On jetski rescue you have to drag the mouse to get little boats and lots of other little vehicles, the highest score on this game is about 75. In the competition the person that had the most questions correct was nearly 900 out of 1000 the highest out of anyone was alomst all of then correct.The competition lasts around 1 weeks.
P1/2/3 really enjoyed Evie’s mum coming to visit the class to tell them all about life in rural Tanzania where she lived. She explained all about the Masai, showing them some lovely fabrics. She also told them how resourceful Tanzanian people are reusing and recycling things – making bags out of bottle tops and sandals out of car tyres. Thanks you Mrs Wood!
Neil Chattle, our Rolls-Royce mentor, visited the school on 26th April. He gave a talk to the whole school about jet engines and brought some model jet engines for us to try building. We had a great day and ended with a challenge for teams of children to work together to build the model engine in the fastest possible time!
This term we where doing Egg Engineering. We made parachutes and cars. We tested the cars the day after we made them in teams with other classes. Our class made parachutes for our eggs. Nearly all of our eggs lived, only 3 cracked. The egg cars were a success!Four cars passed the finish line on the day. Some of the cars went through the tunnel and some did not because they were too big.
Phoenix and Robyn
Renewables Engineering Islay – April Diary
With Easter on the horizon the team decided that we’d do a bit of…..
Egg Engineering
All the children in the school have been finding out about the strength of eggs. P1/2/3 and the Pre-5 unit were amazed to watch a video clip showing that a huge tray of eggs could support the weight of two cars! In their joint play session they investigated to see if eggs could hold up a person. Primary children then engineered different ways to drop an egg without them breaking, learning about gravity and air resistance along the way. There were lots of parachutes……but also trampolines and some very innovative but simple designs. Primary 6/7 used Newton’s three laws when thinking about their engineering designs. Throughout the build the children were encouraged to think like engineers and use the engineering process to imagine, plan, create and improve on their designs. Since the whole school were involved in this, we used this as an opportunity to use maths skills within an engineering context. Children measured length, weight and volume of eggs. They worked out the area of parachutes and time taken for eggs to drop. Primary 6/7 children also calculated the speed of descent. At the end of the week the children worked in cross-stage groups to design and build wind-powered cars. We showed the children the incredible Theo Jansen strandbeests to inspire them. Parents were then invited to join us for the final testing seeing which vehicle went furthest, fastest and could cope with a tricky obstacle course while keeping the egg secure. Connor, P3, said It’s been great fun this week because we were building stuff and building is my thing. Ellen thought it was great fun and I liked how we got all the parents in. Aiden said I enjoyed racing the cars and learning all about friction and things.
Maureen MacDonald spoke to the parents about the Rolls-Royce Science Prize and what a great experience it had been for the school. She also said that we were planning a community event to celebrate all the work that had been done over the past few months.
Parents were also encouraged to do a little engineering themselves, building rafts to support an egg. It proved to be trickier than we thought! Comments from parents included Amazing experience for all the children with so much fun and learning, loved the teamwork, Well done Port Ellen Primary – what an interesting project, Fantastic – hope it encourages lots of budding engineers.
Knotts to Watts
Kate Brown and P4/5 have also had great parental involvement in helping to build a prototype floating wind turbine for the Knotts to Watts competition. It was very exciting for the children to see their own designs and models being scaled up and fantastic to have the support of a couple of dads. For two afternoons Dearbhla’s dad and Morgan’s dad worked with the group to develop the children’s design. It is very innovative with two turbine heads. Initial testing in the classroom got the blades turning and it did produce electricity. The class are looking forward to testing it out in the sea next week. The whole school is very proud that the group have been invited to test their design in a wave tank as part of the Young Scientists and Engineers event in Glasgow in June.
Gus Newman, one of the parents, commented I enjoy coming in to school and working with the young ones and getting them involved in future technology. I really like seeing their creativity.
Nuts and Bolts
The Parent Council are very supportive of everything that we do in school. They have helped us to set up our Nuts and Bolts shed in the playground. This is based around the idea of a scrap store with nets, ropes, crates, creels etc. The children have had great fun building lots of new things using the fish boxes donated by Drew’s dad. Kate Brown has taken responsibility for sourcing material for the shed…and we are hoping to build on this in the future. In the nursery outdoor play area Alison Logan has had dads in to develop a system of water chutes for children to explore.
STEM Homelinks
Maggie Harrison and Maureen MacDonald are thinking about how we move forward as a school after the Rolls-Royce project is over. We have started to use a STEM self-evaluation tool to help us. One of things we would like to improve is parental engagement with STEM. Maggie, in her role as Primary Cluster Mentor, has been working with two colleagues from other primary schools and as a team they have agreed to develop a series of STEM bags that can be sent home with activities that children can do with their parents.
Budget
Since we have been on holiday for two weeks we have had no outgoing this month so we still have £3280.99 in the budget. The children have expressed an interest in getting a wind turbine for the school and are in contact with George Dean to see how we could go about this.
P1/2/3 have been learning about parachutes (air resistance) and they used Explain Everything to record their experiments inserting video clips of their tests, how they made their tests fair and the results. They were then able to use this information in the design of their own parachutes to protect an egg from smashing when dropped from the top of the stairs.
This week the whole of Port Ellen Primary school have been testing Newtons 3 laws of motion with eggs!
The rules work as you have to protect your egg from breaking using resources provided, you have to make 2 things to hold your egg but 1 has to have a parachute and 1 doesn’t and there is prizes for the lightest, the egg that is least damaged and the one that looked the nicest.
We dropped the eggs from a height (The top of our stairs.) Then it will go at a high speed then splat on the floor. This is Newtons first law, The law of Inertia a object (The egg) will stay in motion still unless it is acted upon, the act is the floor the thing thats going to stop the egg so the egg falls down then hits the ground.
Newtons second law F=MA which stands for force= mass acceleration, This one was the most important this was to slow down your craft before hitting the ground using… Parachutes! For the parachutes there is only a few things 1. the bigger the better, 2. don’t make it to big it gets stuck on the stairs and 3. make it out of something light not like card so we used bin bags!
Newtons 3rd law for every action there is a opposite reaction. The egg is falling then it hits the ground the action the reaction the egg goes splat.
The eggs experiment was a great way to test Newtons laws of motion. It wasn’t just a way of testing Newtons laws but every body loved creating there own special device to keep the egg safe it was like a baby and you can’t drop the baby unless you are 5 metres high and it has a parachute.
A computer engineer is someone who writes codes/debugs a computer. Debugging is the process of identifying and removing errors from computer hardware or software. The code in the computer is a language which the computer understands and will follow the commands given. The computer needs commands to have the ability to do anything. If the computer didnt have commands, you wouldn’t even be able to switch it on.
For my Endeavour I am making a webpage from scratch. To do this, I dont have everything setup for me like a webpage creator online. To do it first you open notepad, then save it as something like your name, but after you’ve written your name, type .html, then open the file. You will have to write code into the notepad to make it appear in the webpage. However, If you want to write code in it, just research it. My webpage isnt currently online, but I am still working on it.
An electronic engineer would be the person who make the computer itself but a computer engineer is the one who makes everything on the computer work. If you press the window button, search cmd, then right click it, and select open as administrator, you can change some of the computer settings. It is possible to break the computer through the command window however, so be careful on what you type in. Its better to research all the possibilities of it so you know what things you can do and what they do.
What I think I am learning from my endeavour will help me be a computer engineer in the future. I could also be a webpage creator or a games designer.
This year I chose to do mechanical engineering for my endeavour project. A mechanical engineer is someone who works on cars or lots of other stuff like working with gears and more. I chose mechanical engineering because I love cars and I play a lot of Forza which is a car game. After this endeavor I hope to have achieved a lot so that can help me in the future to maybe a mechanic. I would also like to be a mechanic when I’m older as I think it would be a good job for me.
For my endeavor I’m gonna make a Haynes model engine and a sway about all the different kinds of engine. I have also made a quiz that you have to label the parts of the car engine of a Chevrolet Camaro Zl1.
Taylor
My Endeavor project is about electronics. I have created a circuit with a soldering iron for a model for my endeavor to show off at the endeavor fair. What a soldering iron does is the tip gets really hot and you get some soldering wire and you put it at the tip and then put under the circuit board where you put your resister or a light anything that’s supposed to be with that will work with the circuit board and solder in the parts. So one day I thought about building a robot that can move i hope i can do this with spare. I didn’t know how I was going to to it or I could just make some circuits and I’ve made two so far and now I can make a lot of circuits if I don’t burn myself from the soldering iron.
This afternoon our school will be building wind powered vehicles ready for a great egg race with parents tomorrow. We will be put into teams (which will include all of the classes). Once the teams are picked we have to design a vehicle that will transport our egg with out the egg breaking. We will be using a hair dryer to blow our vehicle so that it will move. There will be points for: Lightest design, prettiest design, vehicle that goes the furthest and whose egg gets least damaged.There will also be points getting taken off. Points will be taken off for: Wasting materials and damage to egg. We are doing the egg race to help us with our engeneering skills and it is also part of Rolls Royce Science Prize. We are doing a lot of engineering activities because engeneering can help the world with climate change. The engeneering activities are a lot of fun because it challenges us. I think that engeneering is very helpful to be doing in school because it uses math and science and it is also helpful because it tests us with our team working skills. I would like to do engineering challenges again.
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