Author: Mrs Baillie

The boys of girls of Leswalt Primary have been very busy raising money for Children in Need.  On Friday 18^th November 2011 they had a non-uniform day and pupils were encouraged to “show their spots and raise lots”.

The spottiest pupils in school were named as Tommy Kerslake, Kerr Calderwood, Eilidh Hill and Megan McIntyre.

Primary 1-4 are currently doing a project on “Toys”.  With help from their teacher Mrs Mc Knight, they organised a toys bring and buy sale, with all proceeds going to Children in Need.  The children also invited the Little Acorns toddler group, who meet in Leswalt village hall, to come into school and “have a play”.

Parents and pupils had been busy baking and there was a wonderful selection of goodies on offer for visitors to eat and children to buy for a snack.

A fantastic Children in Need cake was a raffle prize, which was won by Mrs Campbell who generously donated it back to the boys and girls of the school.

The children were also able to get their faces painted thanks to the artistic talents of Katie Jamieson.

It was a fun filled few hours for the enterprising pupils, and with the help and support of parents £200 was raised for Children in Need.

Leswalt Primary were delighted to recently receive an anonymous donation of £200.  This donation followed the school representing Dumfries and Galloway at the Royal Highland Show.  One spectator passed on their delight at the performance of Leswalt pupils and gave the Headteacher Mrs Sheila Baillie the very generous donation with the instruction to “treat the pupils”, on the condition that their identity was kept a secret. 

 

Subsequently, £100 was spent on buying a two new shields which are awarded annually to girls and boys sports champions.  The remaining £100 was spent by the pupil council.  The children decided that they would like to buy new toys for the playground.  The new toys include a huge selection of different balls, skipping ropes, frisbees, cheerleading pom-poms, bats and various other equipment.

 

The school now has a lasting legacy from the donation in the form of the awards which are presented annually,and the the children have fun daily in the playground with the new toys they picked.

This term a new Scrabble after school club has started.  This club is taken by Mrs Baillie and aims to have the boys and girls of Leswalt having fun, while also devloping Literacy and mental maths skills.  Eighteen boys and girls came along to play on the first week.

It is hoped that the school can soon arrange an inter-school Scrabble tournament with the pupils from neighbouring Kirkcolm Primary.

On Tuesday 4th October the whole school took part in a technology challenge , set by Mrs Baillie.

 The whole school was split into 6 teams.  Each team had a P1 and p7 pupil in it (and a range of pupils from different classes.)  They were given the following instructions –

*You must design and make a lighthouse with a flashing light on it.

*The lighthouse must be between 30 and 50 cm tall.

 *It must be brightly coloured so that approaching boats can see it.

 *It must be sturdy enough to withstand a Force 7 gale (from my hairdryer!)

 *It must be made within a budget of £9000 (as that is how much it cost to build the Mull Of Galloway lighthouse)

 *Everyone in your team must have contributed to the finished lighthouse – all should be able to talk about what they have done.

 *Each team will present their finished lighthouse to the judging panel at 2.30pm.

The pupils then had to “buy” resources such as glue, card, batteries and bulbs.

It was a fantastic afternoon, with great co-operation and teamwork evident through out the school. 

Congratulations must go to Maxwell, who led his team to victory with the winning lighthouse!

 

 

The boys of Leswalt Primary had a thoroughly enjoyable, and blustery day at The Mull of Galloway lighthouse.  Catching the tail end of Hurricane Katia, the pupils and staff experienced a visit to the most Southerly lighthouse in Scotland on an extremely windy day!

 

This trip was part of the whole school development of the topic on “Lighthouses”.  Guided by Mr Steve Hardy all of p1-7 learned from the interactive displays in the exhibition and the engine room.  The highlight for all was climbing the 115 steps to the top of the lighthouse.  Despite the wind the pupils could see for miles.  Throughout the visit everyone learned about the development of lighthouses in Scotland as well as some facts about the lighthouse at The Mull of Galloway.

 

The windswept pupils, staff and parents concluded their trip by popping into the Gallie Craig to enjoy some delicious home baking.  Muching on their chocolate cake, pupils reflected on what a real experience it had been to visit the Mull!