There is deep concern about the impact the internet is having on families, especially on children and young people. iRights is a coalition calling for five basic rights that children and young people should have online.
Preventing abuse – how to minimise the risks
Abusers rely on secrecy. Here are the Lucy Faithfull Foundation’s tips for things to look out for and how to respond.
Spotting the signs of abuse
It’s hard to think about the possiblity that someone we know might be an abuser or that a child may be being abused. But there are warning signs that can alert us to potentially abusive people and it’s as well to be aware of them. Donald Findlater of the Lucy Faithfull Foundation explains what they are.
P7 photography composition
Last week our class p7 entered a competition about photography and architecture run by the Scottish Civil trust. We went a walk round the village looking for photographs to take. There were all kinds of photos like roof tops, paths & drain pipes and they were taken at different angels to make them look eye catching. When we got back from the walk round the village we looked though all of our photo’s and picked out the best photo and edited it a wee bit to make it look better. Then they could enter it in to the competition.
by Logan Porter and William Monaghan
Musical Flight Art
As part of our 10 Pieces music topic we have been creating art in response to pieces of classical music. We have created abstract pieces and yesterday we made art based on the theme of flight in response to a piece of music. This is Beth’s picture based on the piece Mars by Holst.
Abbie and Emma’s visit to Islay High School
On Thursday 18th January we went to lslay High School for an Endeavour visit. Abbie went to a music room to record herself playing her fiddle. She recorded 3 tracks for her CD that she is making for her Endeavour. After recording she had to edit her tracks. The 3 tracks were the Mist Covered Mountains, The Fiddler and the Yetts of Muckart, The Bears Dance and The Road to Goven and The Banjo Breakdown.
Emma went to the gym, the maths room and then she fed the gold fish. Mrs Young and Emma went to the library where she read Fuzzbuzz. Lastly she to the music room and played the piano.
By Abbie and Emma
Address To A Haggis
In class we have been learning a poem called address to a haggis for Robert Burns day, which is next week in school. Have a listen here … haggie
Gymnastics
P7 have been learning all about gymnastics and have been doing it for P.E. We have been focusing on four key things : Rotation, inversion, balance and flight. Rotation means rotating round, inversion is upside down, balance is just balancing and flight is when you jump or are in the air. But remember that when you are doing balance you have to hold it for extended period of time. We went into groups and made mini sequences to show our ability to do rotation, inversion, flight and balance. We were moving to the classical music the BBC 10 Pieces program. At the end we had to peer assess and self assess our ability to perform the four key things. We were all very enthusiastic and exited to be able to have an opportunity to learn about gymnastics.
By Jodie and Izzy 🙂
P7’s Rock Topic
P7 have recently done a rock topic. They have made there own rocks and experimented with them. The types of rock you can get are igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. To make our candy rocks we got 4 Starburst and cut then in to quarters to show erosion and weathering. Then we kept cutting them until they were quite small and then put them in your hand and squeeze them together just so they stick which is sediment being compressed into sedimentary rock. Then we got a square of grease proof paper and squished it all together really hard so it looks smooth like a metamorphic rock. Then we put it in a cupcake case and then put it in the oven, when it comes out it is liquid like lava and then hardens to make igneous rock which you can eat! That is how you make a rock made of Starbursts.
By Beth and Annie:)
10 Pieces Of Music
For the past couple of weeks we have been doing a project from the BBC called Ten Pieces. We have been learning about it with P3/4 as well. It is all about classical music and their composers, plus we have to make our own body percussion to the songs and our own art. The three main songs are: Night on Bare Mountain, In The Hall Of The Mountain King and Mars, The Destroyer. When you do music you have to think about all the different techniques which are; Ostinato, Crescendo, Diminuendo, Surprises, solos, when they play altogether, call and answer, layers, gaps of silence and change of tempo and speed. We also were in groups of four to create our own piece of music using our voices and body percussion which we recorded and built up using Garageband. Our group had to make a piece that sounded happy and we used lots of different techniques. In pairs we all researched a song and their composer. We researched Firebird by Igor Stravinsky. Lots of other people researched famous composers too like Mozart and Beethoven. We really enjoy doing 10 Pieces because it lets us find out about classical music, composers and get the feel from different music.
By Emily and Eleanor 🙂
Who are abusers and why aren’t we better at spotting them?
The reality of abuse is rarely like the high-profile cases we hear about on the news. The Lucy Faithfull Foundation busts a few of the myths.
Gambling – questions to ask
Is gambling an addiction like drugs? And is your child at risk of becoming a problem gambler?
How does your child’s internet use compare?
Researchers have been studying how children use smartphones, tablets and computers across Europe. So are children addicted to their phones? And how many have experienced cyberbullying? We have (some of) the answers…
Trip to Islay High to learn About Art
Jasmine and I went Islay High too learn about art because we are doing art for there Endeavor. It was really fun and we learned a lot of new techniques such as drawing and printing with Mr Galligan. We hope to hold an art exhibition of our pictures in June when we are finished.
Visit from Janet Watersworth
On Thursday Janet Watersworth came in to our school to tell us about dog training and she gave me a booklet on how to train your dog and she brought in her dog to show us some tricks. I learned how to train your dog what age you have to be and what skills you need.
By Ellie
Children, alcohol and the law: a parent’s guide
What’s the law on children and drinking alcohol? Read our quick guide to find out
ECO Green Flag Assesment
Today Paula from Eco schools Scotland came to see if our we could keep all four of our green flags. She said our school is very tidy and she would like to come again. The committee gave Paula a tour of our school grounds. In the hall we had stuff set up for Paula we showed Paula our Eco power point, some of our old endeavour files and some of our new endeavour files, we also showed her primary one and two homemade paper that they made all by their selves. During play time we had healthy soup and we also had a book swap. We have now found out we have our 5th green flag! Well done Port Ellen!
By Annie and Ciara 🙂
Beach Clean
On Friday we all went down to the beach for a beach clean. The storms last week had uncovered lots of plastic bags down near the water line but within an hour the beach was looking good again.
Eco Update
1. Oliver welcomed us all.
2. Mirren was off.
3. our progress- w have made our signs. We have done our spot checks in the classes. We have got our litter police set up an will be changing them every week. we thought about fair trade and we might set up a sample week to see who like what the best.
4. Action plan- litter police problem- sign on the pitch almost one- Start a new action point which is reduce the amount of water waste in water bottles.
5. Go out side and plan what we are going to say.
6. next meeting to be discussed.
7. itinerary for lady coming on monday
meet her
action plan
tour round school
go in to classes
break
book swap
soup
display
By Annie May Farrell- Secretary
P1/2 Litter Survey
P1/2 went round and picked up all the litter from the playground and they made a survey about what they found.
- 2 Cans
- 1 Cole Bag
- 2 Co-op Bags
- 31 sweets and crisp packets
- 15 Bottles
- 1 Lighter
Now the playground is nice and clean. We should all start picking up litter like P1/2. They used some of the litter to make bird feeders
By Elizabeth Macmillan
P1/2 Bird Feeders
Primary 1/2 from Port Ellen Primary school made bird food and feeders for the birds as a Christmas present. To make the bird food that they used Lard, seeds, dried pineapple, raisins, mix, the then used pine cone hanging with string to put the bird food mix on it. They then made bird feeders for their food using bottles that were found on their litter pick one day. They made them by putting a hole in the top where they threaded through some string to hang it up. They then decorated it by wrapping a piece of paper around the bottle which let them draw christmas picture using felt tip. It was GREAT FUN! 🙂
Tips for talking about alcohol
Our checklist of top tips for guarding your child against trouble with drink…
Gardening and making soup
On Wednesday 19th November our class, (p7) went down to the front of the school where they cleared and tidied the raised beds ready for Winter. During
the digging we pulled up lots of lovely parsnips which Emma will make into soup. Yum Yum!
ECO Update
1. Oliver welcomed us all.
2. Scott and jasmine were off
3. Our progress- We have done our pitch posters, chosen our litter police for the week then we will change it every week and we have also started doing spot checks in the class to see if the classes are putting their rubbish in the right bins.
4. At our next meeting we will discuss what we have done and say what we did.
5. We have written our ideas down for the green flag assessment and all the classes have a job to do.
6.We are thinking of doing some fund raising to make money. We are thinking of buying bags to sell and do some fair trade tuck.
7. All of the classes are taking part in getting the school ready for the assessment.
8. The date of our next meeting is Thursday 20th November.
9. At our next meeting we are going to get ready for the assessment.
By Annie- secretary
Litter Police on the beat
The Litter Police have just got their new grabbers and gloves and are patrolling the grounds looking for litter. Ideally they should find none….so remember to use the bins properly!
Transient Art
At their Joint Sessions, the Pre-5 unit and P1/2 have been learning about the 3rs – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. They enjoyed making fabulous pictures using their unusual art materials – straws, pompoms, beads, lolly sticks….but no glue! This means that the material is not wasted but reused each time. Children took pictures of their art instead.
Eco superheroes
The Pre-5 unit and P1/2 made their own Eco Superheroes that are going to save the world. They discovered that they can be eco-heroes too and decided what they could do to help the planet. Check out their ideas on the noticeboard….and add your own. Look out for the Green Eco Hero in nursery!
Looking at plastics for recycling
Have you ever noticed the little triangles on the bottom of plastics for recycling? The Pre-5 children and P1/2 have been investigating a recycling bag to see which numbers were in the greatest number. Here are their results.
Eco minutes 9.10.14
This was our first eco meeting with the new committee.
1. Welcome
2. We met everyone and found out about our roles.
3. Action Plan – We went over the action plan. For the next meeting we have to decide what we want to start with. We will start with 3 action points.
4. Green Flag – Our assessment is on 24.11.14. We will decide what we need to do at the next meeting.
5. Getting the whole school involved – we talked about ways to get everyone involved. New noticeboard. Eco-assembly. New eco-code in all classes.
6. Action to be taken
Eco-committee to decide action points.
Anwen to come up with fundraising ideas.
Mrs Harrison to arrange date of eco assembly.
Media group to make eco code posters.
Secretary to arrange photos of everyone for the wall.
7. Next meeting 23.10.14
Eco update
On the 5TH of November Mrs Harrison received a big box. When she opened it, it turned out to be the grabbers and gloves that we ordered.
That afternoon when we were having a meeting, the new paper bins arrived!
We are all very happy with the things that we got.
