Instagram is now bigger than Twitter. What’s the big attraction? And is there anything you need to know?
Mental health and young people – the background
What does good mental health look like when it comes to young people?
How to open a difficult conversation
CEOP’s tips for ways to start a conversation with your teenager – and where to take it after that.
Our Eco Grounds Day
On Saturday 17th May Port Ellen Primary School had an eco grounds day.
Pupils brought their mums and dads granny and grampas. And some adults came that didn’t even have children that go to the school. Two women that couldn’t make gave us a donation. but it was a hard working in the rain. Then at 12 o’clock we had lunch. Then we got back to work then at 2o’clock we finished up and then we went home.
By Ciara and William 🙂
Our Mini Topics
My topic is on horses and I’m enjoying learning about them. I have found out about their teeth, and they have more teeth than humans. I did something very exciting, I sent a letter to Beth to find out more about horses and I got a letter back. I’m really enjoying doing my topic.
By Millie Clark P1
Learning About Explorers
Explorers is our new topic and we drew pictures of explorers. We also got giving a map and we had to colour in the country they were going to, it was good fun. We got a explorer diary and we had coloured in the front cover and decorate it. We all learned that explorers go all around the world on a boat. I’m really enjoying this topic so far.
By Millie
Depression
Is depression a fact of teenage life? What are the signs of depression and what can you do if you’re concerned that your child may be depressed? Young Minds’ Lucy Maddox offers some advice.
Your child’s digital footprint
What goes online stays online. Some advice to help you and your child understand the long-term implications of publishing all about your life.
Digital parenting tips
Top tips on staying up-to-date with what your children are doing online.
Snapchat – what to do if you’re worried
Does the fact that photos disappear from Snapchat make it completely safe to use? If things do go wrong, what can you do?
Making Snapchat work for you
How to be a bit more careful, and a bit better informed, when using Snapchat.
Snapchat FAQs
What do you need to know about Snapchat?
Visiting Port Charlotte
On Wednesday 14th May, p6/7 went on a trip to Port Charlotte school, to discuss our Endeavour projects and do some orienteering. We got to go down to Port Mor and do our orienteering down there. My team got all of our marks first so we won.
Golf At The Machire
Last Wednesday p2/3 and p4/5 went to play golf at the Machire golf coarse. At the golf coarse we did putting, chipping, shooting. We took the school mini bus to the Machire. MR. Gaudie, Mrs Ramsey, Mr Gairns thought us how to play golf. The Machire grass was really wet and boggy so it was harder to play golf at the golf course. we also saw a smashed golf buggy behind the fence. There were a lot of animals by the golf coarse.
By Mathew and Sarah
Facts of Scotland
Robbert Burns is famous for his poems. Ally Mccoist is famous for being a manager of Rangers. Andy Murray is famous for tennis. GreyFriar Bobby is a dog that was thoughtful and lived in the country. He lived with jock a shepherd of nearly a hundred years ago. Foods that Scotland are famous for are Haggis neeps and tatties. Animals you find when you are in scotland are : highland cows ,birds of prey ,puff adders ,sheep and of course wild haggis. by jack and Aaron.
Money Maths
In class we are learning about money in maths. We have been learning the different types of money. We have also been learning about money from different countries and what they are called. Here are some examples.
Money in America is called Dollars. Lots of European countries use Euros.
You can pay for lots of different things with money. Money makes The world go round.
by Mara and Charlie.
Beetle drive
On Friday 2nd May p2/3 made a Beetle Drive with a raffle. In the game we had to make small sheets to draw the beetles on. Number 1 was the body, and number 2 was the head, number 3 was the antennae, number 4 was the eyes number 5 was the mouth and number 6 was the legs. To get the numbers you had to roll a dice and who ever won got a prize. We played three games. It was so much fun. We won one raffle prize it was a fantastic raffle.
By Rebecca,Rowan and Eleanor 🙂
The World Of Money
P 2/3 have been learning about money all around the world. We learned you got a $500 notes.In Botswana the money is called Pula. In Malawee the money is called Kuacka. Lots of places in America use Dollers. Most places in Europe like France use Euro’s and scence. People in Britten use Pounds and Pennies. There are different faces on pound notes, like; the Queen, Robert Burns, Robert the Bruce and in Cameroon you can even get Diggers on the money. ( COOL!!!) In China you get Yen. You can’t get can get £1 notes here anymore but you can in other places. You can even get £1000 notes in some places and you get £5000!
By Aidan, Taylor, Torin and Izzy
Commonwealth Piggy Banks
How to make a Commonwealth piggy bank.
What you will need:
balloon
newspaper
paste
egg box
coloured tissue paper
card
googly eyes
Instructions:
First get a balloon and blow it up.
Next dip newspaper in to paste.
Then stick the newspaper onto the balloons.
After that put coloured paper on it.
Finally wait for it to dry.
By Freya and Rhys
Making the most of parents’ evenings
It pays to be prepared for parents’ evenings…
Homework and beyond
Research shows that children do better at school if their parents are involved in their education. When parents show interest, exam results tend to improve – so what’s the best way to take an interest without putting them off completely?
Before and after school
Children do better at school if their parents are involved in their education. That means taking an interest in what they’re doing academically – but it also means creating conditions that help them… here are some suggestions.
Traveling Art Gallary
On Monday 19th of April Port Ellen Primary p4/5 and p6/7 went to see the traveling art gallery bus in Bowmore. The art exhibition inside was made by Rachel McClean, all of the paintings were made by her and even the paint design was made by her on the inside of the bus’ wall. We watched one of her movies The Lion and the Unicorn, it was based on Scottish Independence. She used a green screen to take her pictures, all of the people in the paintings were her. The paintings were very strange but did show us what the artists views were and were very clever.
By Nicholas and David
Education Award
On the last day of school, Scottish Education Award judges came to our school because we were in the final of the Scottish Education Awards for Enterprise. They were most impressed with the social enterprise, Scent Citizens, and got to see the other enterprising things we do in school like Endeavour. Two people from the Scottish Education Awards, came into our class and asked us about our Endeavour and they looked at our Learning Logs. They asked us questions like; What is Endeavour?, Why did you choose your Endeavour? and What do you do in your Endeavour? We even made them a cake in Endeavour.
By Elizabeth
Bowmore Visit Us For Endeavour.
On the 30th April Bowmore P7 came to visit us to find out about our Endeavour projects. We were partnered with people from Bowmore and met new people. Before they left they got to try out our Endeavour projects and we answered their questions. We had great fun.
Our Gaelic Cafe
On Friday 2nd May some of p6/7 set up a Gaelic cafe. Throughout the morning we had to speak Gaelic to the customers and the other pupils. We served tea, coffee and cakes that were kindly made by Cameron’s mum. We also had to make help sheets for all the customers so that any of them who do not know how to speak Gaelic can try and learn a wee bit. Oliver was running the juice, Cameron and Annie were running teas and coffee, Izzy and Ciara were running the cakes and Robbie was adding the money and giving out change. Over all the day went really well and we made a profit of £29.19.
By Robbie and Cameron
Fair Trade Tuck
P6/7 were doing Fair Trade tuck because this week is finance week, and we were learning about Fair Trade and how it is better. Fair trade is good because more of the money goes to the person that produced it. We also did some money for finance week. On Monday we had hot chocolate, and it was yummy. On Tuesday we had hot chocolate and coconut crunch. It was the best coconut crunch I have ever had. On Thursday we made chocolate crispy cakes. Today we sold some fair trade foods at the Gaelic cafe. Everyone enjoyed it and we had great fun. So buy Fair Trade!
By Ciara and Annie. 🙂
Fair Trade Stall
P6/7 have been learning about Fair Trade foods and why we have Fair Trade. They had a Fair Trade day for parents to come up and learn about Fair Trade. They had different stalls for different things, one had free samples of chocolate and some were selling trade mark goods. Many people came up to the school to find out about Fair Trade. They sold many variety’s of Fair Trade goods, what they didn’t sell they are rolling it over to the schools healthy tuck shop. At the end of it all they find out if they made a profit or loss with their money. It was a successful day for P6/7 and they all enjoyed it.
By Alicia & Torin
Poetry Success
Every year the National Galleries of Scotland run a competition called Inspired? Get writing! for children and adults. Port Ellen has 2 successful poems. Abbie was a runner up with her Poem The Ghost Fiddler, inspired by a photo of Aly Bain by David Williams. Asher achieved a special merit for his poem Old Defence, based on a painting of Inverlochy Castle by Horatio McCulloch. Both have been invited to hear their poems read aloud at an awards ceremony at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh on the 17th April.
Here are the two poems:
THE GHOST FIDDLER
In the center of a humid room,
Sat a figure hunched close to his fiddle,
Moonlight gleaming, his body glows,
Body bitter and cold, heart scorched by music,
His instrument in gentle, airy hands, notes drift like phantoms.
The room awakens, comes alive,
Louder, louder, the room screams with anticipation,
Its eyes dance to the energetic melody,
The soft, faint feet are tapping, thumping the rhythm,
As the room dances to his tune.
Stop.
The room falls to a sudden stillness,
The majestic figure sits in complete silence again,
Drifting away into the dark,
Like his last notes fading into the heart of the room.
By Abbie
OLD DEFENCE
An elderly defence,
Confronting a forceful hill,
Protecting a village from destruction,
Now smoke stacks curl,
Weavers weave,
Fishermen fish just for fun,
Once mighty land of feasts and splendour,
Is now just a traveller’s rest.
The Loch is poisoned,
With a potion of inattention,
Blinding one’s eyes from danger,
Discarding the view of marching armies,
Watching for unclaimed lands,
The slumbering dragon rests behind,
In a million year slumber it reposes,
Preparing itself for plunder,
A storm gathering, engulfing the sky,
Like wisps of a snoring volcano,
Isolating the village from help.
As if on the banks of Loch Ness,
A stronghold remains searching,
For a long ago enemy,
Waiting for its time to strike.
By Asher
Band Trip
On Thursday 20th March the Islay High school band and the Primary band went on the ferry to set off for the trip. Once we got to Kennacraig we got a bus to Inveraray, we had our lunch there afterwards. Then we travelled into Glasgow and checked in at the Euro Hostel and put our bags in our rooms, later we got to watch a magician. They next day we met some professional instrument players and they told us all about them and gave us some tips. On Saturday it was the day of the competition, we went shopping and then we went to get ready. We went into the school and played our songs on the stage, then we found out our results. The primary band won the cup. It was fun and a new experience for people who hadn’t been on a trip before.
