On the 19th of December Leswalt Primary P7s went out to the Craignelder for their dinner, accompanied by Mrs B, Mrs Ferguson and Mrs Baillie. The girls looked very pretty in their finery, and the boys were very dashing. The food was fantastic – a feast fit for a king! We sat at the big round table and enjoyed our first drink courtesy of Jack’s brother. What a kind gesture!
We had a great laugh chatting about all sorts of topics. There was lots of giggling between Mrs B and Jamie – when she tried to pinch his chocolates! We all had a great evening. Merry Christmas to you all!
Many thanks to all the children, parents and relatives who helped out at the bag pack on Saturday. Everyone was in a festive mood and the boys and girls were great – wishing all the customers a Merry Christmas.
Thanks to the team effort, the grand total of £782.46 was raised in a few hours.
Thank you very much to all involved!
Mrs Baillie’s report and photo uploaded to the blog by Jenna and Euan.
Well done to Jenna, Megan, Ethan, Kayleigh, Millie, Jack and Arden. These seven pupils participated in the Rhins’ Schools Badminton Competition on Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th November. We are very proud of your efforts.
On Tuesday the 29th of November Stranraer Academy held the Rhins’ boys badminton competition. Jack and I entered it and represented Leswalt School. We didn’t win any medals but we tried our hardest and did our best. Seven Leswalt Primary pupils played over the two days of boys and girls doubles and singles matches: me, Kayleigh, Jack, Megan, Millie, Arden and Jenna. We really enjoyed the experience.
By Ethan Smith
On Monday the 28th and 29th November, seven pupils from Leswalt Primary went to Stranraer Academy to participate in the Rhins’ Badminton Competition representing our school. We didn’t come back with any medals but we know we did the school and ourselves proud, and we all really enjoyed the experience.
On the 18th of November 2016, Primary 5-7 got a visit from Pitch Pulse and Magic, a company from Live Music Now! Two people came, Juliette and Matt. Juliette played the piano and Matt played the flute, both were very talented. They taught us about how music can add emotion, set the scene and be descriptive. They first played a Brazilian Bossa Nova, then they played the Harry Potter Melody, the first part of the melody sounded mysterious, the second part was like a chase. We sketched what the music made us think of. It was very interesting. We learned about the families of the instruments; the flute is part of the woodwind family, and the piano is part of the percussion family. They also played the Bumble Boogie, which was very fast, a tango and the Dance of Goblins. Euan conducted Juliette and Matt when to start and stop, then Millie conducted them on their volume. We all really enjoyed the visit from Pitch, Pulse and Magic and we would like to say thank you to Juliette and Matt for coming to visit us. What an interesting morning!
On the 10th of November 2016 P.5-7 of Leswalt video conferenced with P.6 of Castle Douglas Primary school. We exchanged questions and answers. We found out a lot more about Castle Douglas Primary and talked with Mrs Bathgate. They knew a lot about us because they had done their research on our blog. We are maybe going to arrange another video conference soon.
Here are some reports written by the P6s about the Wigtown Book Festival trip. We hope you enjoy reading!
Shoo Rayner
On Wednesday the 28th of September the whole school went to Wigtown Book Festival. When we got off the bus we split in to P5-7 and P1-4 because we were in separate tents and had different authors to listen to. The wee ones had Tracey Corderoy who talked about her Shifty McGiftey books and the big class had Shoo Rayner (that’s who I’m going to be telling you about).
When we got to the tent, we had a seat and began listening to him. He was telling us about a story he had read and began to get all scared about it! Then he told us about his new book called Scaredy Cats. He drew a picture of one of the cats in it, Dr Catula, and read the story about one of the cats. There are 9 cat stories in this book. They sounded really good!
They are the new books and honestly I think a lot of people liked it. He was really inspirational and was so good at reading aloud. At the end of it he asked us a few questions and he told us that he has actually written over 200 books – he even illustrates his books as well! He is just about to start writing the third and final book in his trilogy is about dragon.
He told us his contract had asked him to write 20,000 words on his last one! I think he is a very good author and illustrator and is doing a very good job. I would definitely buy another one of his books. Overall everyone really liked going to Wigtown Book Festival and listening to Shoo Rayner – it was very much appreciated!
By Kayleigh Williams P6
On Wednesday P1-7 went to Wigtown Book Festival. The P5-7s went to see Shoo Rayner. P1-4 went to see Tracey Corderoy in a different tent and she talked about her Shift McGiftey books.
Shoo Rayner has illustrated and written over 200 books so far. He went to Art College and met a person called Colin McNaughton who inspired Shoo Rayner to become an illustrator…and so he did! Mostly Shoo writes short picture books but recently he tried something a bit different!
One day he got mail which read ‘SHOO RAYNER YOU HAVE TO MAKE A BOOK THAT MUST HAVE AT LEAST 20,000 WORDS!’ It was a contract from his publisher.
He told us that he thought ‘oh no, 20 000 words!’ but he got started quickly because he likes a challenge! He has written two books of that series already – they are about a Welsh dragon. He is about to start the third and final book of the series after the book festival.
He also talked about his experiences of choosing a book in the library. He likes scary books but they were right at the back in a dark area where spiders lived everywhere and if you got near them then they’d BITE! He was great at telling stories and he made us jump by reading an extract of his latest book ‘Scaredy Cat’ . Everybody laughed when he tried to scare us but we tried to scare him back! It was really funny. I bought his book and he signed it for me too. I really enjoyed the session with Shoo Rayner.
Reporters – Finlay and Ethan
P5-7 went to see Shoo Rayner on Wednesday the 28th of September. The whole school went to the Book Festival but p1-4 went to see Tracey Corderoy who wrote the Shifty McGiftey stories. Shoo Rayner has written over two hundred books. He has written and illustrated picture books and books for older children too. Today was mostly about his new book Scaredy Cats. He told us that his inspiration for writing and illustrating came from the picture book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.
Shoo Rayner went to Art College when he was younger. He was mentored by Colin McNaughton who is a well-known illustrator. He puts roughly 1000-3000 words into his picture books and around 20,000 words into his Welsh Dragon series – he has written two of these already and is about to start writing the third and final one after he has finished at the Book Festival.
I really enjoyed listening to Shoo Rayner and thought he was really funny. Most of the children there bought his new book Scaredy Cats and I think it’s going to be an amazing book to read.
Logan and Euan have added their short reports below too.
The weather could have been a bit kinder but we had a mega time! The children were just fantastic – great teamwork, problem solving and willing to give anything a go! They were great fun to be away with 🙂
Reporter – Logan Wilson
We went to Carlingwark on the 8/9/16. We headed off from school at half past eight in the morning. I was with Jack Rickard and Jamie and Euan. We came back on 9/9. I thought it was good fun. I loved the canoeing. I got soaked when we rocked the boat but I didn’t mind. It was cool!
And it was awesome. I cried a bit at night but Jack and Euan left the door open a bit. I got to sleep then Euan closed the door. I woke up at 8:00 in the morning for breakfast – Mrs Ferguson had to give me a shake to wake me up! I had rice crispies and toast. When I found out we were doing land sports, I was really excited! I liked mountain biking the best because I was like Lewis Hamilton fast and speedy! It felt like I was going as fast as lightning. I was getting used to standing up and covering the brakes. I enjoyed working with Kirstie in orienteering and scaring her through the trees! I was so tired after running about the Forest too.
I was glad to get back home to play my Xbox and see my mum, dad and cuddly reindeer. I had so much fun and am looking forward to going away next year! Get ready – here I come…
Reporter – Euan McCredie
I loved the canoeing. Some people had to walk across the wooden pole connecting the two canoes! It was really hard work! The mountain biking was great fun though it was really challenging too!! I was the youngest in my group so I found it hard to keep up.
I loved dinner – it was lush! I was sad about the No Fizzy Drinks rule but oh well…
It was a good laugh staying overnight with my friends.
Carlingwark was really great fun! I would love to go back! Maybe next year…
On the 14th of September the P5-7 class headed on out to the playground and began to draw angles. Mrs Ferguson took us out to the willow dome and explained the maths we would be doing. After she explained the primary sevens went off to do some recap work and draw an eight point compass. After that they headed back to the willow dome only to see Primary 5/6 measuring their compass angles and writing down their conclusions.
The primary 7s were tasked with giving each other angles to draw accurately. It looked so hard to do; using a protractor to draw an angle with chalk but we managed it. The P5/6s used little figures to work on some position and movement questions too using their 8 point compass. It was good fun working outside in the sunshine!
On 13th of September Duncan Brown came to give p5/6/7 a tour around his ambulance. We went in groups of 6 and 7 to see the inside of the ambulance. He took Charlotte , Kirstie , Kayleigh and Finlay’s heart rate reading. After giving us a short briefing of what he does as an ambulance driver, he let us try his stethoscope and his helmet and showed us what everything does and what the equipment is for. He showed us his bag that he takes into every emergency; it had injection syringes, oxygen tanks, bandages, plasters, IV cables and equipment to help patients breathe. The bag was really heavy and full. We all got a shot on the wheelchair that he uses to wheel patients into the ambulance and down or up stairs or ramps. P.5-7 all enjoyed Duncan’s visit and learned lots. We all look forward to the next time he comes as he’s promised to come back in a couple of weeks to tell us more!
On 23rd August, Sharon McCleary came and spoke to P.5,6,7 about fire safety. Sharon works for the Scotland Fire and Rescue service, so if you phoned 999 and asked for the fire service Sharon would usually be the person you would speak to. She taught us the importance of working fire alarms and having an escape plan. Every hour there’s a house fire in Scotland. Sharon gave us lots of advice to make sure we aren’t the unlucky ones. We then watched a video where we saw the dangers that cause house fires more commonly than anything else.Before she left she told us we can get a free fire alarm and ‘Fire Danger check’ to make sure our home is as safe as possible. We would like to say a big thank you to Sharon McCleary, who took time out to come teach us about fire safety!
