Author: Mrs Baillie

As part of Scottish Careers week, Primary 7 were invited along to Stranraer College.

Leswalt and Kirkcolm Primary 7 pupils both went along together to learn more about the World of Work and options available at the local campus in town.

While at the college, our senior pupils took part in 4 different rotations;

1.  STEM – activities focussing on Science, technology, engineering and maths
2. Meta skills – what they are and what skills are required for different occupations
3. Shark Island – a problem solving activity in which pupils had to collaborate and communicate
4. A tour of the college, showing all the different courses available ( including catering, childcare, beauty, hairdressing, mechanical engineering and construction) 

All the activities really got everyone thinking about the wealth of possibilities for life after school – including the skills needed for these jobs.  As well as coming together with Primary 7 pupils from other schools we were re-untied with the teacher formally known as Mrs F, from Leswalt Primary.  She was on hand to lead one of the activities and have a chat with some of the familiar faces from our schools.

After a snack stop midway through the activities, all came together at the end for a quiz – with the grand prize of a £10 Greggs voucher.  Sadly , none of our crew were lucky enough to win this, but they did have all of the correct answers ( but their name was not pulled out the hat!)

All and all it was  a fun morning, focussing on what the future could bring.

 

🎓 Key UNCRC Rights Linked to a College Visit

• Article 28 – Right to Education
  • Every child has the right to education. Visiting a college supports this by helping children understand pathways to further education and inspiring them to pursue learning beyond school.
• Article 29 – Goals of Education
  • Education must develop a child’s personality, talents, and abilities to their fullest potential. A college visit exposes children to new environments, subjects, and aspirations, helping them envision their future and grow in confidence.
• Article 12 – Respect for the Views of the Child
  • Children have the right to express their views in all matters affecting them. A college visit can include discussions about future choices, encouraging children to voice their interests and ambitions.
• Article 13 – Freedom of Expression
  • Children have the right to seek, receive, and share information. Exploring a college campus allows them to ask questions, gather knowledge, and engage with new ideas.
• Article 17 – Access to Information
  • Children have the right to access information that is important for their well-being and development. College visits provide valuable insights into academic and career opportunities.

Primary 1-3 started a weekly block of Rugby training today – taken by staff from Wigtownshire Rugby club.

Our younger pupils enjoyed all the fun activities, and the brief shower of rain only served to help make the ground and them all the muddier!  It was certainly big smiles, and big fun all round.

Meta Skills being developed-

• Resilience Players face intense physical and mental challenges—bouncing back from setbacks, injuries, or a tough loss is crucial.
• Collaboration Rugby is a team sport through and through. Success depends on trust, communication, and working together under pressure.
• Adaptability Game plans shift, opponents surprise you, and conditions change. Being able to adjust quickly is a major asset.
• Decision-Making Whether it’s choosing when to pass, kick, or tackle, players need sharp judgment in split seconds.
• Self-Leadership Staying disciplined, motivated, and focused—especially when things get tough—is vital for personal and team growth.
• Emotional Intelligence Managing emotions, reading teammates’ moods, and staying composed helps maintain team cohesion and performance.

🏉 UNCRC Rights Fostered Through Rugby

According to Gregor, today has been the “best Friday ever!”.  This judgement was based on all the sweet treats provided in school today.  

At breaktime the boys and girls of Leswalt were treated to some birthday cake from Noah, in Primary 1.  Noah is only 4 today, but tomorrow he will turn into a big 5 year old! Happy birthday to Noah ! 🎂

After lunch,  the boys and girls of P1-3 enjoyed some jelly, cream and sprinkles from Mrs Mc Knight.  Yesterday, they had all made the jelly in school as part of their writing and writing the procedure on how to make jelly. 🍹

Then, to end the day the younger children enjoyed some Oreo biscuits – this time as part of their Science learning and teaching.  They enjoyed taking bites out of the biscuits to demonstrate the different phases of the moon.  🥮

So, fruity Friday was replaced for one week only with some sugar.   By the smiles on their faces, I do not think they minded!

Normal service shall resume next week…..

 

 

The sun was shining.  The uniform was crisp and clean.  And, all the boys and girls were smiling as they arrived at Leswalt Primary for their first day back at school after the Summer holidays❤ .

All our new pupils – Jack, Noah, Leo, Ellis, Merida, Olivia and James tootled off into their new classes when the bell rang like they had always been here.

And, everyone was in for a treat, as the fabulous Mrs Ferguson had left a playtime snack for all – crisps and chocolate treats for all the boys and girls, as a thank you for her fond farewell at the end of last term.

All the boys and girls had brought a snack with them today.  So, tomorrow for one week only we will forget fruity Friday and they can help themselves to something from the treat box!😋

It has been a great first day so far – here is hoping everyone come back to school tomorrow smiling too! 😁

 

As part of both schools ongoing work with The Children’s Parliament – Both Fallon (Kirkcolm) and Ewan (Leswalt) were selected to represent children’s voices and views at  the Scottish Government base at Atlantic Quay in Glasgow.  Fallon and Ewan and have been doing ongoing work with The Children’s Human Right Defenders. This has meant many video calls and a whole lot of information for them both to absorb and contribute to before presenting their hard work. This culminated in a Residential Trip last week, escorted up by Mrs Baillie herself.  They stayed near Edinburgh, and went from the Sunday morning until Tuesday evening.  There were 7 children representing the whole of Scotland at this residential – and two of them were ours!  Fallon and Ewan did us very proud – they were impeccably behaved, confident and articulate individuals.

Ewan had customised his glasses with some pipe cleaners, left over from his artwork.  He even managed to persuade some of the government to do the same – see if you can spot this in the photographs!

Here is Fallon’s account of their days away –

Leswalt Primary is delighted to announce they have just received an Eco Schools Scotland Green flag award!  This is in recognition of all the hard work and efforts of the school to protect the environment,

This is the 4th Green flag the school has achieved.  Previous awards were in 2019, 2021 and 2023 – demonstrating our ongoing commitment to this.

Please click here to see the feedback we received.

The photograph below shows our Eco committee under their Eco flag and proud of another award

Our football team were playing again on Friday after school.  They did really well and won 3 games, out of 5 played.

Well done team! They look very chuffed with themselves

 

• Right to Play and Recreation:
• Right to Participation:
• Right to Inclusion:

We were thrilled to welcome back Kathryn from History Alive into P1-4 to help make their Viking topic come to life this term!   And as added bonus, Primary 7 got to join in too, while P6 were away at Operation Safety.

Kathryn, is a history expert with all the props that helps to really get the pupils to understand what life was like for Vikings in that time.

Kathryn told the boys and girls all about how life was like when the Vikings were about and they learned about long houses and their diet and the pillaging activities they got up to.

They all enjoyed getting their hands on all the props.  The children learned about the helmets and (thankfully fake) weapons as they got to grips and they really enjoy this session of roleplay! Putting their new found mindsets to use, they went outside and engaged in a little Viking war cry! ⚔🪓🗡🏹🛡

 

Meta Skills 

Focusing Fergus

Feeling Felix

Curiosity Carlos

Sense-Making Samira

Articles

Article 12 – Respect for Children’s Views

Article 28 – Access to Education

Article 29 – Aims of Education

Article 30 – Right to Culture and Heritage

Today, as is the yearly custom, our P6 across both schools dotted off to Operation Safety at Stair Park today for some safety input! This linked in really well with our Risk Taking behaviour focus in class for these pupils so they had a fair idea of how to manage some of these situations! ⛑🆘

Pupils moved around 8 stations, each with their own focus:

1. A CPR and emergency response input which taught them the basics of emergency response first aid! How to tell if your casualty is breathing or not and how to perform chest compressions… 🚑
2. Fire safety – can they spot the fire hazards in a home and how to manage these! 🧯🔥🚒
3. The Coastguard! (very important for this time of year in this area…) what to do if they spot somebody drowning and how to keep themselves safe in water. 🥽🚣‍♀️
4. Electricity with Scottish Power – spotting electrical hazards in the home and how to prevent these ⚡💡🔌
5. Youth Work came and did an input on Internet Safety – teaching pupils how to stay safe online and what they should or shouldn’t share online. 👍
6. Drugs and Alcohol – what are the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol 👎
7. Community, Council & Criminal – looking at certain acts and who is responsible for preventing and managing these! Is it a criminal problem for the police? A problem for the community to manage themselves? Or something we should turn to the council to help prevent? 🧐🤔
8. Finally – looking at vandalism in the community! Pupils built giant Jenga Towers (with a promise of a prize for the tallest?!) Before someone stormed in and destroyed them all! (He was supposed to – promise!) This taught pupils how it feels to have something of value that others can take upon themselves to deface! 🖌🎨

After a whopping 8 inputs over the course of the day – safe to say our P6 pupils are pretty clued up now! Thank you to all the organisations in the community for making this happen every year.

 

Meta Skills 

Integrity Imani

Initiative Ivy

Communicating Cate

Collaborating Cora

Articles

Article 6 – Right to Life and Survival

Article 12 – Respect for Children’s Views

Article 19 – Right to Protection From Harm

Article 24 – Health, Food, Water & Environment

P1-4 have been getting into  bowling as part of their P.E focus this term.

 Dan, Colin, Bobby and and co. from Kirkcolm Bowling club were happy to bring some of their bowling gear to the school and this gave the pupils some hands on expert experience in developing their skills in bowling and learn more about the game. 

They had an excellent time and we are very grateful to the gentlemen at Kirkcolm Bowling Club to make the time and effort to come into the school and take time out of their own personal lives for us. It is much appreciated and another example in how our local community continues to support us!