Every year the Dalbeattie Hardrock Challenge draws many competitors in both the senior and junior events. The events consist of a combination of running and mountain biking, in the Dalbeattie Forest. Here you can see 2 of our pupils who took part this year. Alastair in P.7 came third and got a bronze maedal , and Jack in P.5 came 13th out of a field of around 50 competitors. Well done to both boys – a brilliant achievement.

Recently the children in P.6 and 7 went for an overnight stay at Stronord Outdoor Centre near Newton Stewart. A big part of the learning was preparing and understanding the need for the correct equipment and clothing before venturing on the activities. On the first day after arriving and getting settled in, the instructors made sure everybody was correctly kitted out before setting off on a hill walk lasting several hours. The children returned with a great sense of achievement and also healthy appetites ready for a meal to replenish their energy. with no TV available they had an evening of old-fashioned games followed by bed.

Ater breakfast on day 2, the group split in 2 and did mountain biking and orienteering, swapping round half way through the morning. after having our picnic lunch it was time to head back to school. Everyone gained a lot of knowledge and fun, with this very worthwhile outdoor experience. Thanks also to Fred, Cameron’s Dad who came along to help us with this trip and enjoyed himself just as much as the children.

Cameron in P6 has  proudly shared his new bronze medal with us. Cameron took part in the Dumfries and Galloway Athletics Championship last night (Tuesday) at the David Keswick Centre in Dumfries. He was taking part in the 80m. sprint event and came third to gain his bronze medal. Well done Cameron, – this is a great achievement.

Today (Wednesday 9th. October) we had our harvest assembly, combined with a coffee morning to raise funds to help support MacMillan Cancer Support. The pupils sang a variety of autumn themed songs along with some instrumental accompaniments, to entertain the audience of family and friends from the local community. Rev. Sally Marsh came along to tell us a story based on caring for others. A very fitting story which preceded a short talk and explanation of what MacMillan CancerSupport is all about, delivered by Pauline Drysdale who is one of the local committee members. Coffee and tea was then served along with a wonderful selection of home baking provided by some very hard working mums from the Parent Council. Our big green bucket of donations managed to raise the wonderful sum of £227.37

We would like to thank everyone who managed to come along to this special assembly.

 

 

 

Niamh Carroll in P.7 has been one of the lucky finalists from Scotland to go through to the national competition, run by the Royal Mail for designing this years Christmas stamps. She has already won money for both herself and the school at this stage and we wish her luck in the next round. All the details and Niamh’s design can be seen by clicking on the link below, which takes you to the press release in the Galloway Gazette.

http://www.gallowaygazette.co.uk/what-s-on/niamh-puts-her-stamp-on-christmas-1-3095740

After 25 years of association with Hardgate School, Rev. Norman Hutcheson, minister of Dalbeattie and Urr Parishes, has decided to retire. He has been coming here on vitually a weekly basis to our school assemblies and over time has become known as ‘Story Man’.  He has counted up and reckons he must have told about 900 stories to the children over these 25 years. Today was no exception, and he told us his last story at a special leaving assembly where the children had some special songs and poems to include.

He was presented with an engraved bowl with a picture of the school on one side and the school logo and his name on the other. Mrs Hutcheson recieved a lovely basket of flowers in the school colours and then both cut the sponge cake which was baked by our school cook and served along with tea for the adults and juice for the children. Not only did he come to school assemblies, but he assisted with school trips, both day trips and overnight ones with all stages throughout the school, as well as being a serving member on our Parent Council at various stages over the years.

Mr and Mrs Hutcheson are now going to spend a year in Sri Lanka, working with a Church out there, and we all send them our best wishes for a long and happy retirement.

The children in P.6,7 are studying Europe and the European Union this term. One of the artists they are looking at is Vincent Van Gogh. They have done their own version of his famous sunflower paintings. They used their maths skills of measuring angles with protractors and based their desingns on a clock face format initially before using their artistic skills to complete with colour.

On Tuesday morning the children in Hardgate had a few small visitors to the school.  Ian from ZooLab brought along a selection of his little creatures and gave a talk about their importance in the eco-systems in our land. He showed the children a millipede, tarantula, toad, snake and a white rat. The children were allowed to handle all except the tarantula. Below are some pictures of these fascinating and clever little creatures.

The children from Mrs Martin’s class and Mrs Courten’s class joined forces and had their school trip together this year. The younger pupils have been studying weather and the older ones have been looking at climate and the world’s rainforest regions. They all travelled together to Edinburgh where they visited the Dynamic Earth exhibition. They took a tour through ‘time’ exploring some of the effects of nature on our planet earth. Each class then had a workshop activity to do before we had our ‘Showdome’ experience with the ‘aliens’. a good day was had by all. Below is the web address of Dynamic Earth which you can click on and find out more about what the attraction has to offer.

http://www.dynamicearth.co.uk/