Primary School of the Year 2022
On Friday it was Children in Need and the school raised £263.46. The whole school was wearing their onesies or pyjamas. Even the teachers.
Annie, Anwen,Abbie, Izzy, Emily and Jodie did a lucky dip and we raised £28.64.
At the end of the day we had a talent show and a lot of people entered and we ran out of time so some people could not do there act, tell a joke, play an instrument or do a song or dance.
By Annie Farrell
This year p6/7 are going to be doing an Endeavour project. An Endeavour project is when you chose a topic that your interested in and do a longer version of a personal topic on it. You have from October till the end of June to complete it. Last year everyone picked something slightly different and worked to aim their personal goal everyday.
The different projects in our class are Cooking food from around the world, Japan, Sewing a quilt, Survival skills, Chicken farm, Celebration cakes, Volcanoes, Beauty therapy, Horse riding instructor, Writing a book, Climate change, Growing Vegetables, Puppets, Video games, Fitness and diet, Traditional singing and Exploration survival.
Everyday you have to fill out record sheet to record everything you’ve done and everything you need to do.
By Maisie
On Thursday 31st of October P4/5 and P6/7 had a fun afternoon because P4/5 had been learning about jobs and what skills you need for certain jobs. We buddied up with the Primary fours and fives and we went down to the hall where we met lots of different people and they all had different jobs. We all asked different questions, I was buddied up with Ronan and our question was, what skills do you need for this job? Afterwards we went up to the cafeteria for a little cake!
By Emily P6
This year our Panto is When Sasha Got Swept Up The Chimney. I am Santa . I have lots of lines to learn and I am very excited.
Here is what everyone else is: Robbie-Will William-Elf Annie-Holly Eleanor-Elf Danni-Milly Anwen-Harriet Abbie-Sasha Ciara-Ivy Alicia-Dasher (The football manager reindeer.) Cameron-Elf Asher-Tooth Fairy (Mean tooth fairy.) Maisie- Mrs Clause (Gerty.) Jodie-Rudolph (The mega superstar.) Nicholas-Elf Logan-Elf Beth-Elf Torin-Tooth Ache David-Elf (Chief elf.) Oliver-Elf Izzy-Tom Emma-Elf Emily-Santa (Berty.) P1/2-Penguins P4/5-Elves/Reindeer P2/3-sweeps
We are all looking forward to it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was great to see such a great turnout of mums and dads to P1/2 to see the children’s completed houses. The children were very proud to show off their finished work and parents had a chance to share in their learning journey through the floorbook. I think everyone had a great time building with blocks and Lego!
As part of their Houses and Homes topic, children in P1/2 have been working hard to build their own houses, complete with hinged doors! They have even learned that roofs are actually triangular prisms! They are using Plan, Do, Review to help them complete their houses. Hopefully we will invite mums and dads in to see the completed houses soon.
As part of a topic on houses and homes, P1/2 have been learning all about materials. Thinking about the story of the Three Little Pigs, they first checked to check the strength of straw, sticks and bricks as building materials. Then then heard that the three little pigs had gone on a camping trip and had used lots of different materials as coats and tents….and it had started to rain. They tested out different materials to see what was the most waterproof. They were very impressed with balloon material!! Then they worked together to put up a tent in the classroom (although the tent is waterproof, the very strong winds meant that they did not put it up outside!)
On Monday 28th October I will have a music exam. A music exam is to test our ability to play an instrument. This is my first grade music exam. I play a French Horn. I am very scared about it. You would play 3 songs and our scales then you have an oral test.
by Anwen Baker.
Every year our school tries to get every pupil to bring a tin or two, so that we can give it to the elderly in Port Ellen. It’s good that we are giving food and money to the starving people in Africa but it’s also important to remember the old people in the village because they can be lonely. We want them to know that we are still thinking about them. Lots of bags go out our school and are given to the elderly.
Harvest Assembly
Every year Miss Browns class does a harvest assembly and pick a charity. This year the charity they chose was called Send a Cow! It is a charity that helps people in Africa with farming projects. They put on a very good assembly with lovely African songs and great costumes. They got the true meaning of the charity Send a Cow across.
We should be grateful for what we’ve got.
By Elizabeth
On Thursday 24th October p6/7 from Port Ellen Primary School went on a trip to the woods as their topic was Mesolithic Life. They thought this was a good idea and relevant to their topic and would teach them more about how Mesolithic man would have to live. Part of this trip was doing challenges, one of these challenges was creating a life size shelter and also creating a mini camp. (This took effort and time!) Unfortunately our shelter didn’t win but surprisingly our mini camp won! It was a great day!  Everyone enjoyed it but were very tired by the end of the day.
By Abbie
On Wednesday 23rd October we did PE with Mrs Young who was teaching Gymnastics. We concentrated on rotation, balance, inversion and flight. We had to think of a active moves to do with all of them and we did cartwheels and hand stand stands. We had to go over and under our partners.
By Eleanor and Alicia
On Sunday the 13th of October Port Ellen Primary School Gaelic choir set off to their fun and exciting Mod in Paisley where they would compete against other choirs from different schools.
They stayed in a Premiere Inn and got their dinner, lunch and breakfast provided for them.
On Monday the 14th of of October they all set off for their competitions where they sang the Unison, Puirt-a-beul and two part harmony.
They did very well and they won all their competitions!!!!
That night they went to the concert where they sang their songs and it was recorded to go onto T.V.
In the morning they had to leave to go home . On the ferry they sang their songs as entertainment.
When they were going off the ferry the pipers piped them off.
By Emily and Jodie
On Thursday 24th of October we went to Cairnmore woods to have a Mesolithic day.  We did lots of challenges like hunt for food and we also had to make a journey stick. That’s when we wrap a stick in twine and take wee bits and bobs from the day and put it in the bits of twine so our group took a leaf and some bracken. We also built shelters, mini camps and told our Mesolithic stories.
In class today we were learning about partitioning and how it can make sums easier. For example 56 + 64 becomes 50 + 60 = 110 then do 6 + 4 = 10 All together that would be 120.
HERE IS OUR GROUPS PODCAST ON HOW ALLIGATORS COMMUNICATE.
Here is our groups podcast of howler monkey communication.
Howler monkey
Our podcast is about dolphins and how they communicate. Enjoy listening!
In class we have been learning the science behind sound and animal communication here is our bat podcast.
In school we have been learning about our school values, they can help in a wide range of activities. Such as our Endeavour project. When we are planning we need high expectations to set targets to push ourselves. Positive attitudes for when we are writing stories and getting feedback to what we could do better. Mutual respect , respecting all school property when we are in school and out of school. these are some of our school values.
On the 24th of September 2013, P6/7 from port Ellen primary went to Oban for the Stramash trip. When they arrived they were split into to groups for their rooms and activities.They did many activities, but two of them were canoeing and bush craft. To start with they paddled around Loch Nell with all the supplies they needed to make a shelter and a fire for the night.
When they arrived at the place they were going to do bush craft, they began going through a check list for surviving in the wild. The first step was to make sure that they all had oxygen, which they did! Next was to make sure that we had sufficiant body warmth, they all had that too but their temperature would drop with the surrounding temperature. So they needed a shelter to help conserve their body heat and to build a fire. They made shelters in groups and learned how to light a fire with firesticks and roasted marshmallows. It was great fun!
On Tuesday my class (p6/7) and all the other p6/7s from all over Islay and Jura went on a trip called Stramash. We had a very long journey to get to Oban but it was well worth it. After the journey we went to our rooms, found out our group buddies and set out on our first activity. Our group went Rock Climbing and Absailing. Rock climbing is very challenging but a brilliant thing to learn how to do. I bet you would love to absail down the Conglomerate rock (If you are into adventurous activities). Some people didn’t make it to the top, but at least they tried. Would you have tried? Or would you be a scaredy cat?
By Jodie Jamison and Elizabeth Macmillan 🙂
On the 24th of September schools from Islay and Jura met together for our exciting trip to Oban as part of Stramash.
During this trip we done many activities and one of them was Dinghy Sailing.
First of all we got taught how to put up the Dinghys correctly so it would be safe.
After all the hard work on putting the Dinghys up it was then a case of fitting in to wetsuits and buoyancy aids.
Then we had to get the boats down to the shore and out sailing.
After a fun sail around part of Oban we played a game where we had to collect balls. Emily Mackie from Port Ellen decided she wanted to win the game and quickly jumped out of the Dinghy but then she couldn’t get back on because Abbie Morris couldn’t stop the boat!
At last she finally managed to stop the boat everyone was laughing. Then she got on the boat and sat down. They only lasted a few minutes before capsizing and sending them tumbling down into the sea. Only to loose all their balls.
Luckily Abbie Morris hitched a lift with Chloe from Keills and Maisie from Port Ellen. Maisie felt sorry for Emily so she went to help her, this included jumping off the dinghy. Then we couldn’t get the boat back over so we ended up getting a lift with the boys.
THAT WAS NOT FUN!
Soon it was getting nearer dinner time so we had to leave however we were running late so instructors Nicky and Andy decided to give us a tow by the Motor Powered Boat. They started joking about not having enough fuel but then they realized they spoke too soon because THE BOAT RAN OUT OF FUEL! They were hoping to row back with oars but then they both broke with a SNAP!!!!!!
Full of laughter in `us we ended up having to sail back and then walking to the bus absolutely drenched!
When we got back to the Hostel we were so excited to tell all our friends about the funny but cold event!
By Emily and Abbie
P6/7 went on a trip to Oban and tried different activities to do with their Stramash trip. Coasteering was one of the activities everyone did, we had to climb across rocks and jump off rocks, it was very ambitious but very fun. They all jumped in to the deep water. The Water was freezing and it was very cold with the wind. The instructor was very happy about every thing that we did wrong or did right. When you climbed across the rocks there was barnacles that would hurt your hands they would cut them too, that is what happened to me and my group it was really sore. So when we got home we got showered and get changed and then went for dinner. 🙂
by Alicia and Danni
On Tuesday 24th September Port Ellen primary school and other schools met at Port Ellen pier to go on the ferry. When we got off the ferry we went on the bus and went to Oban for Stramash. When we got there we did some archery. It was funny when Elizabeth pointed the arrow to the teacher and the teacher thought she was going to shoot it at her! After that we played a game and we had to split the group in half. We had a challenge and the other team won and the next time we did it my team won. We all had a great time and we didn’t want to go.
By Annie Farrell
Primary 6&7 reading homework this week is to listen to the link above which is chapter 7-9 of wolf brother. In your reading journal write down any clues as to what life was like in Mesolithic times.
On Friday afternoon we were doing sound science. We did lots of fun things. We had a tin whistle and we stood back to back and one of us would blow the tin whistle and one of us would time you and you would both walk back and when the timer gets to a minute you would stop and you would hear a little noise from the tin whistle. We watched a video of a voice box as you go higher the voice box will open more and if you go lower the voice box will open a tiny bit. By Ciara
Over the last few weeks primary 7 have been doing cycling proficiency with Mr Gairns the janitor and our teacher Mrs Clark. It has been every Tuesday at the end of the day for the last two or three weeks. It takes place out in the playground. What happens is there is a big roll of rope and we put it round the playground like a road. Then we take out a couple of cones to be road works and parked cars that we have to indicate in and out of. As i said its only in the playground at the moment but we will soon be moving out onto the road. I hope we all pass our test!
On the 9th of September 2013 most of the schools on Islay went to Islay high school to learn about astronomy. The professor was called Mr Newman who is an astronomer himself. He told us lots of information like how to find an asteroid and he showed us telescopes he had worked with, some cost £5,000,000 that had found a lot or interesting stuff. He showed us a picture that had 500,000,000,000,000 stars in it which was amazing. He also explained that stars can come in different colours. Blue stars are hotter than the orange, red and yellow ones. He showed us with marbles and balloons how far away planets and stars were. At the end we asked questions and here are one of the answers. A shooting star is just a speck of dust that has caught fire as it entered the atmosphere.
By Robbie and Nicholas
On Monday the 9th September P4/5 got a visit from the navy. They came 
to help redo the pond. They arrived in at Port Ellen pier that morning so they had sailed over on a navy ship. The pond was NOT! in good shape at the time but, after the Navy came, the pond is looking in ship shape! They chopped down some trees to get wood. They dug it into layers.
The Navy were doing all the digging but p4/5 were helping to take the stones out. They were very excited to help, and had fun. Class pupil Joe Hamilton said that his favourite part was when they took photos with the navy.
By Cameron and Elizabeth.
