On Tuesday 5th June the community of Leswalt celebrated the Diamond Jubilee with Jubilee teas in the grounds of the school. Parents, pupils, extended family and members of the community all came together. There was a wonderful feast of sandwiches and home baking for all to enjoy. Other attractions included a bouncy castle, Barbeque, face painting, bottle stall, baking stall etc. The enterprising pupils had also designed many other stalls themselves including pin the tail on the corgi, a raffle for a best of British hamper, a quiz, design a crown, and red white and blue manicures.The rain came on as the afternoon progressed, however this did not dampen spirits or keep people away. The fundraising committee organised a magnificent event and were delighted to raise over £1000. Some of the money will be used to pay for a bus to take the whole school to Edinburgh zoo, on a trip to see the pan
Primary 1 recently went on a little trip into Stranraer. The pupils had been learning all about money and weight in their maths, and decided to go and see both in use in real life. Primary 1 took some money and paid for the bus into town. They then went to “Sweet Delights” to spend some more money and weigh out some sweeties. The pupils then went down to Agnew Park to enjoy the goodies they had bought and have a play in the sunshine.
Leswalt Primary are delighted to have won “The Big Pedal 2012”.This achievement in a National competition was done to the effort of pupils, parents, staff – and indeed the whole community – in cycling to Leswalt Primary School.The final results were announced on Monday 26th March. That afternoon the whole school had taken part in a sponsored pedal to raise funds for playground development in school. A huge cheer went up as the results were posted on the website www.thebigpedal.org.uk .Many, many thanks to all in team Leswalt for their dedication and effort! We are so proud of all of you.
Leswalt Primary recently concluded a highly successful and engaging whole school topic on “The Rainforest” with an open afternoon.
All parents, friends and relatives of the school were invited in to come and see the learning that had taken place, to take part in some interactive activities and listen to the children entertain by singing some rainforest songs.
Leswalt Primary pupils, parents and staff have all been arriving at school on 2 wheels, instead of 4. As part of the National “Big Pedal” competition, we have been aiming to increase the ratio of cyclists and scooters arriving at school. Check out
www.thebigpedal.org.uk for details, and you will see on Thursday 8th March 2012, Leswalt Primary had the highest ratio of cyclists in the whole of the UK!
Pupils at Leswalt Primary school have all recently been learning about “The Rainforest”. As part of this topic, the children all went to their local forest, Aldouran Glen, to compare with the habitat of the rainforest.
As the school is currently competing in “The Big Pedal”, pupils and staff travelled to the Aldouran wetlands on their bikes or scooters. PC Kevin Wyllie came out to ensure the traffic was aware of the whole school cycling through the village of Leswalt.
Once at the woods, the school all met in the bird hide and the different types of trees apparent were discussed. Pupils were then divided up into pairs who had to complete a scavenger hunt. There were 15 items on the list for pupils to try and find. Amongst the items were a couple of red herrings, including a pineapple.
Eilidh and Emma were the first pair to find all of the items, with an imaginative interpretation of many of the trickier clues.
Pupils all enjoyed their outdoor learning afternoon, and pedalled back to school energised by the fresh air and excited by what they had found.
Primary 1-4 at Leswalt Primary have been learning all about Baptism, as part of their Religious and Moral education
. In order to further develop understanding of the ceremony, all the children took part in a mock christening at Leswalt Parish Church.
The pupils took their baby (doll), who they had named baby Annabel Jane to the church to be baptised. Prior to this they had decided on the parents and responsible godparents, as well as making a birth certificate for the infant.The children were met the Church by the Rev Mike Sheppard. Mr Sheppard discussed the significance of a christening ceremony before leading the pupils through it. All the pupils said a prayer for their baby before the parents, Rhona and Robert came forward with baby Annabel. The Godparents, Jack and Lauren agreed to help support and guide the baby through life. Baby Annabel was very good and did not cry when the minister put the water on her forehead. The Rev Mike Sheppard signed the back of the birth certificate to state the Christening had taken place before the children returned back to school having learned more by taking part in this religious ceremony.
Staff and pupils at Leswalt Primary were delighted to recently be awarded a “Cycle Friendly School status”. They are the first school in Wigtownshire to achieve this status.
This recognition was the result of the pedal power of the pupils, parents and staff. Following recommendation from the School travel co-ordinator for Dumfries and Galloway, Fiona Lessals, the school had to submit a self assessment document and case study. An assessor from Cycle Scotland then visited the school to verify the submissions and speak to staff and pupils. Chris Johnston was delighted – and even amazed at the lengths some pupils cycle to Leswalt Primary.
The school now has the framed award hanging up in pride of place. The school has also been added the Cycle Scotland “Hall of Fame” on the Cycle Scotland website (www.cyclingscotland.org).
The school hopes to continue with the cycling and will again be entering the Big Pedal this year.
As part of “Health and Wellbeing” learning and teaching the whole school has been learning about the dangers of smoking. This learning was amplified when P5,6 and 7 took part in a Drama workshop “Smoke Free Me”, with Pace theatre group. Following a workshop session the senior pupils then presnted their play to the younger pupils of p1,2,3 and 4.
The boys and girls of Leswalt were delighted to recently receive a Nintendo Wii from the Parents fundraising group. This additional resource will be used for games based learning, after school clubs and wet weather playtimes at school.
