BURNS LUNCH

Lunch-time on Friday 24th January was started with the sound of the bagpipes skirling down the school corridor closely followed by the ‘haggis’ carried in to the dining hall by Sam Tait. The Address to the haggis was delivered by Georgia Johnston and followed by grace, said by Holly Barr. Children and staff then enjoyed a traditional Burns lunch of haggis, neeps and tatties, followed by shortbread. Several children then entertained the rest of us with a variety of verses, songs  and dance. The dinner hall was decorated in a suitably themed Scottish style to add to the occasion.

On Friday 15th November we had a ‘PJ’ day. We all came to school in various night time attire and many of the children seemed to have changed into wild creatures in their animal onesies !!!  Jude and Aaron went across to our playgroup to help them make Pudsy biscuits and returned with their own decorated ones. Our cook, Mrs. Neill prepared Pudsy cakes for lunch-time and afterwards the older children did some story reading with the infant class. Loose change was collected to send to the Children in Need Appeal. We had a relaxing and fun day doing activities a little bit different to that of a normal school day.

Last year we recieved a bundle of ‘twigs’, which we put into a nursery bed to enable them to develop a healthy rootball over the winter months. Today (Wednesday 1st May) we planted them out in our school grounds. Mr Colin Hossack who works for the Forestry Commission( and is Tara’s Dad)  came and gave us a short talk about the importance of trees and all the associated wildlife and habitats that revolve around them. He then demonstrated  how to plant the little trees and protect them from rabbits with mesh guards which he brought along for us to use. The pupils in P5,6,7  then managed to get many of the plants in the ground, and hopefully they will grow eventually into strong healthy trees.

A very special new person has joined Hardgate School. He came with no name, but is a very cuddly wee person – and now the boys and girls have had a vote and we call him HECTOR !  Hector had a jumper and four scarves knitted for him by our dinner ladies and each week on a Friday he will have a change of scarf. The scarves are knitted in each of the 4 colours of our house teams, and whichever team has the most points in a week, then Hector will have to wear the colour representing that team. Falcons-blue, Hawks-red, Owls-green and Eagles-yellow.

Our enterprise club, run by Mrs Martin, held a Farmers’ Market on Friday 7th December. They invited several local producers to come along and have a stall to sell their produce. The children in school had also made several different items at craft club to sell and help raise funds for school. There were welcome refreshments, including soup and bread, shortbread and mulled wine which helped to heat everyone up on a very cold night. A raffle was held and prizes came from a wide variety of local business people. Grateful thanks is extended to everyone for donations recieved and all help given, making the evening a resounding success. Santa also made a guest appearance during the evening, having taken time out from his very busy schedule to visit the children of Hardgate School.

Fiona Jamieson, from RHET, Dumfries and Galloway Countryside Initiative, provided invaluable support with the organisation , contributing to the success of the event.

Our total figure came to over £800