Dalbeattie Primary School turned back time on the 28th January when pupils and staff dressed up in old fashioned clothes for a themed day with a focus on the school’s history. Not only did pupils come to school in outfits typical of the period in which the school opened but they also: took part in a ‘history detectives’ trail outdoors to look for clues for how the buildings had changed over the years; took part in a Victorian clothes and toys handling workshop with costumes kindly loaned by Dumfries Museum; took part in old fashioned playground games such as marbles, hopscotch and used gird n cleeks, kindly loaned by the Catstrand in New Galloway; watched and discussed a powerpoint of the school’s history made from photos supplied by Dalbeattie Museum; and watched a clip of the school in 1901 which one parent found on the BFI website. The children were amazed by this – quite a find! There were also special visitors: Donald and Tommy Henderson from Dalbeattie Museum came in clothes of the period and were equipped with a teacher’s abacus and old fashioned toys; Dumfries Museum’s Fiona Wilson gave a hand to children trying on outfits. The school is also grateful to Dalbeattie High School for lending extra dressing up items for the day. And there’s more…in the weeks to come, retired Head Teacher Norman Kennedy will also be visiting classes to lead talks on the school in days gone by.
