Author: Mrs Ferguson

P1-4 are learning about babies and life cycles in HWB. We had some special little visitors into class to help us learn about how to care for a baby.  Kerr (4 months) and Olivia (13 weeks) popped in to see us with their mums, Alexa and Sarah.  The girls and boys had the chance to ask the mummies lots of questions and will now be taking on the challenge of caring for our own class baby, Baby Annabelle.

“I’m not looking forward to changing a nappy. I don’t really want to do it!”  Noah

“I now know how to hold a baby.” Brandon

“Washing the baby might be tricky!” Cara

“I’m not very keen on getting up in the middle of the night!” Malcolm

The whole school travelled to Logan Gardens today for a ‘Lost Word’ experience.  After enjoying a yummy picnic lunch in the gardens, the children joined Kate, our ranger from the Royal Botanical Society of Edinburgh, who used poetry as exploration of our local natural environment and biodiversity in different ways.

The focus was on the book, The Lost Words, which is a collaborative project between writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris.  The Lost Words celebrates the relationship between language and the living world, and of nature’s power to spark the imagination. Robert Macfarlane has created a series of spell-poems – one for each lost word – while Jackie Morris, inspired by her lifelong passion for Britain’s landscapes and wildlife, has painted  watercolours and used gold leaf to take the viewer on a visual journey of nature.  Every school in Scotland will receive a copy of this book as a result of a Crowd Funding project.

The children went for a poetry walk around the garden where Kate shared examples of work describing nature using figurative language.  They were then set the challenge of using their senses to discover the nature around them, creating a word bank to share with the group of what they found.  The boys and girls also created natural sculpture artwork using foraged materials to represent their particular plant of study.

Everyone enjoyed a lovely afternoon in the sunshine!

 

 

P1-4 jumped on a bus to go and visit a bus on Wednesday afternoon! The Wild about Scotland double decker bus has been parked up at Stranraer Academy this week, and children were invited to hop aboard and find out a bit more about Scotland’s biodiversity. The children got to look through microscopes to view tiny animals in more detail, match bones and skulls to animals, look at antlers and feel different animal skins. It looks, and sounds like a whole lot of fun! What a lovely way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.

 

 

Primary 1-4 had a blast of a time on Tuesday morning when the team from Generation Science came to visit to explain a bit more about the sun, moon and stars in a really fun way!

They used giant models of the Earth, sun and moon to show how they orbit and explain the concept of day, night and time (days, months and years) in child-friendly speak.

Judging from the giggling which could be heard coming from the hall, and the enthusiastic pupils who were full of interesting facts after the show; this was a tremendous success!

“The suitcases were from different countries and we learnt what people across the world are doing at the one time!” explained Malcolm.

“I had to stick the crocodile on Africa!” Isla said.

Aidan felt that it was a “really fun way to find out how the earth and moon orbit the sun.”

What a fabulous morning; full of fun and learning! The perfect combination. Take a look at the photos below…

What an active morning P5-7 had at Green Valley today. All Stranraer Academy feeder schools were invited to take part in the annual cross country event. Primary 5 pupils were set the challenge of a 1/2 mile race, whilst P6 and 7s had a mile route to follow.

A fast-paced aerobic warm-up got everyone in the zone then it was time for the runs.

Well done to everyone for their fantastic effort; every Leswalt pupil gave it their all. There were some rather pink cheeks at the finish line! Phoebe won 2nd place in her group and received a medal – go Phoebe go!

This afternoon, the whole school headed outside into the Spring sunshine. The Eco-group’s recent meeting has discussed any litter issues and, as this month highlighted The Great British Clean-Up, we decided to do our bit for the community by doing a litter pick.

Boys and girls worked together in small groups to go on the hunt for rubbish which really should have been put in a bin. We’re delighted to say the playground was reasonably litter-free, so we headed off into the village, towards the park, picking up any rubbish as we went.

Some boys found a pair of gloves in the park which belonged to the Aldouran Wetland Watchers team, so we returned these to them. Soon our bin bags were rather full and so we headed back to school.

All of the rubbish picked up has been disposed of in our bins at school. The children worked very well together; being careful not to pick up any glass by themselves. They showed themselves to be very Responsible Citizens.

It was a nice way to spend an afternoon; making sure our wee village of Leswalt stays looking as lovely as it is!

Today two representatives from Scottish Power Energy Network came to visit our P5-7 class to give their insider information about Electricity Use.

The children were brimming with questions about how electricity gets from the power station to their homes, Scottish Power Energy Network’s use of renewable and non-renewable power sources, how can birds sit safely on power lines (!) and electrical safety questions.

The pupils looked at some examples of underground cables and the ones which we use in the home, recreated a series electricity circuit using themselves as conductors and a wooden spoon as an insulator, tried on some electrical safety clothing and took part in a quick-fire quiz at the end to check their listening skills.

It was a very interesting morning and came with one very important message: BE SAFE WHEN USING ELECTRICITY! Just because it cannot be seen, smelt or heard does not mean that it is harmless.

Many thanks to Kenny McKinstry and Ewan Cameron for coming into our class. We learned lots!

Wow – what a brilliant day we have had! The children of Leswalt P5-7, Sandhead, Portpatrick and Drummore got together at Sandhead to work on their production of ‘Dragon of the Western Seas’ produced by The Scottish Opera. The children had been working hard on the song words since the start of February and had them mastered, now it was time to add that extra sparkle with choreography, acting and costumes.

The mini-opera production told the story of a Chinese Emperor, his Admiral, their fleet of explorers and their travels across India, the Persian Sea and the continent of Africa. The children were split into groups of Indians, Pirates and Africans and then took the lead from the three members from The Scottish Opera for their moves and actions. After a very busy morning of listening carefully, following stage directions, adding some snazzy dance moves and getting those costumes on; the children were ready to stage their show.

Over 50 parents and friends came to enjoy the final performance. And what a rousing and emotionally-charged mini-opera it was! We loved every second of it – I hope all the boys and girls did too! Well done to all involved.

Rain, wind and hail did not deter this bunch of ‘Tough Tinas’ one bit at Stronord! The boys and girls of P5-7, accompanied by Mrs F, Gael Gaw and Kim McGuire enjoyed an overnight residential stay packed full of fun, new experiences, yummy food, night-time blethers and mud!

The first day involved a 5mile hill walk up Larg Hill beyond Creetown. They were led by Outdoor Instructors Robbie and David. The children climbed over 450 metres through marshy land, burns and rocky crags. The wind knocked a few sideways and the hail was unrelenting but did they moan or grumble? No way! This bunch simply started singing their Scottish Opera songs and ‘Flower o’ Scotland’! It was their positive mental attitude that impressed the instructors hugely. They were full of praise for the attitude of the children.

Dinner was a huge hit. Unfortunately, the cook for Stronord was unwell and so we had to be very resourceful and cater for ourselves. The day before we left, some P7s and Mrs Gaw headed off to do some shopping for our breakfast, supper and packed lunches. Thursday night’s tea was a Starfish dinner! Yum yum! The boys and girls then settled down in their pjs and sleeping bags to watch Paddington 2 . All was quiet and settled. It was the calm before the storm!

In all honesty, everyone behaved very well! There were just a few of our younger pupils who were far too excited to sleep. Their giggles and excited whispers were heard long into the wee hours of the morning… but eventually they nodded off.

Friday dawned (a little too quickly for the adults!) and once we were up, dressed and breakfasted, Robbie, Alex and Ed appeared to get us kitted up for the day. We split into two groups and headed off to either mountain biking or orienteering. The day was initially chilly but bright – the rain held off until after lunchtime.

The children had a fabulous time and came home dirty, tired but full of enthusiasm. They were a pleasure to be with. Huge thanks to Kim and Gael for coming along to share the experience with us! I really do believe the children gain so much from an annual residential trip; confidence, socialisation, independence and the chance to try something a bit different a million miles away from the classroom setting.

Just take a look at these photos – what an amazing part of the world we live in. Don’t you agree?

On Monday the 12 of March, to celebrate the fact that the sun was shining, p5-7 went outside for their Maths work. We went over what we knew about angles and used new learning to calculate volume. We also shared what we already knew about shape by spotting and naming real-life 3d shapes like the portacabin, bug hotel and pencil bin!

We got sticks and used them to measure and find out the size of angles. We all had a great time outside. It was a nice day but still quite cold. We enjoyed doing something a bit different to start off our week!

Reporter Euan McCredie