After almost 25 years working at Leswalt Primary school, Mrs Smith our fabulous learning assistant has called it a day.
Leswalt pupils were sad to see her go, but all were happy to have had that special Mrs Smith sparkle in their life. She has worked so hard, for so many over the years.
Sadly, she was off unwell on what should have been her final day on Friday – but the pupils did not forget about her! A special delivery of flowers was sent out to her house from the staff. And, on Friday we were all treated to a huge Simpsons sponge cake, thanks to a generous donation from Lorna Drummond. All the boys and girls were treated to a piece, before Mrs Baillie took the cake to Mrs Smith after school.
The Parent council and staff have all got generous gifts ready and waiting to hand over to Mrs Smith. It has been decided to hand these over when we all get into the new and improved Leswalt Primary school. Mrs Smith has suggested she would like a wee tea party there and we look forward to welcoming her back to pass on our appreciation.
‘Farm to Fork’ is the title for this term’s topic in P1-4, and what better way to learn than meeting some local farmers and finding out more about what they do.
We were lucky to have a nice sunny afternoon to welcome our visitors to Kirkcolm, and by kind permission of Jack Milroy, were able to use a field next to the school.
First up was Grant Hurcomb, aka The Sheep Shearing Expert! We got to watch him shear some sheep, discussed why he does this and then we got feel the wool and find out ways it is used. Grant was ably assisted by Jack who was able to give us an idea of the value of the wool. Turns out, not a lot!
Next was the turn of Stuart McCrindle and his sheepdog Zak. This winning partnership were last year’s Scottish Champions so we knew we had the best team to demonstate a sheepdog working with some sheep. Zak was a true professional and guided the sheep around the field with ease. Some of us even got the chance to give Zak some commands too. Stuart had also brought along the newest member of his team, an 8 week old collie pup. The children all got the chance to name the puppy, and the winning name chosen at the end of the day was ‘Jem’. The perfect choice!
The children then had the chance to meet local contractors Angus Brown and Steven Adams. Despite their busy schedule and the dry weather, they took time out from silage making to visit us with a chopper, tractor, mower and a rowing up machine. It was a chance to see these machines up close, find out what they do and have a seat inside…and toot the horn! Being a contractor also means you have to be a mechanic and engineer, fixing problems as you go. It’s a tough job!
We also had a local sheep farmer there, Ian McKnight, who talked us through rearing and caring for animals. We learned about the farming calendar, saw some tools and medicines he uses and got to see different feeds for the animals. He also had the quad bike he uses on the farm too with him.
Finally, we had our very own Alexander Clark (budding auctioneer) on hand to finish proceedings with an auction. He stood in at the last minute after a cancellation and he did an awesome job. We got to see him in action with groups competing to buy some calves and win an extra 5 minutes of breaktime!
What a lovely way to spend a sunny Friday afternoon. A big thank you to all of our visitors who have perhaps inspired a few young people towards a career in agriculture!
On Friday, P1-4 enjoyed a fun filled day at Dumfries House, enjoying 2 interesting workshops, then a play in the Woodland Adventure Playground.
The first workshop was all about weather and we had the chance to show off our knowledge picked up in last term’s weather topic. The focus was Wind and we used bubbles and compasses to measure wind direction, and also give it a value on the Beaufort Scale. Our final challenge was to ‘outrun’ the wind at various stages on the Beaufort scale using a measuring tape and stopwatch. We struggled to get past a moderate breeze! J
The second workshop was called Energy Engineering and we had great fun exploring energy generation using wind turbines, a hydro system and solar panels. We also had to search in the play area for natural sources of energy and made our own wind socks.
A stop off at the adventure playground was enjoyed before setting off home on the bus. A super trip in beautiful surroundings and we would all happily make a return trip to explore the grounds more!
As part of younger pupils learning all about caring for babies, our younger pupils enjoyed the company of Miss Maeva Mc Harg. Mrs Mc Harg brought in her baby daughter, who has just turned one, to allow all to appreciate all the more, what caring for a baby involves. This is part of the health and well being teaching planned for p1-4 this term.
There was lots of questions for Mummy Mc Harg and lots of happy little faces enthralled by the cute Miss Maeva who enjoyed crawling about the gym hall.
Many thanks to Mrs Mc Harg and Maeva for coming in – the cute little visitor brightened up the day for all in school!
After a long delay due to Covid, the annual Primary 7 Rotary Lunch event recommenced today.
Breagh and Aidan represented Leswalt Primary at this year’s event where the guest speakers were Bejing Olympic Gold and Silver Curling Medallists Vicky Wright (Gold), Bobby Lammie (Silver) and Hammy McMillan (Silver).
They enjoyed a tasty lunch of Tomato soup or fruit juice, followed by fish and chips. This was followed by a Q & A session with our Olympians. They talked about practicing for about 7 hours a day, five days a week and travelling a lot for competitions. The curling sports heroes said that they were first introduced to curling by attending the curling club at the North West Castle in Primary 7. So, now is about the time for anyone interested in curling as a sport to think about joining.
Our Leswalt team rocked up at the North West Castle wearing Scotland tops that once belonged to Vicky Wright, who also went to our school.
Both represented our school well, chatting easily with a member of the Rotary Club, who joined us at our table throughout the event.
What a morning we have had at Leswalt Primary. We were delighted to welcome back to our school, our Olympian medallists – Vicky Wright and Bobby Lammie. Both arrived wearing their Olympic kit, with medals round their neck for all to admire.
They arrived to a heroes welcome from all the pupils at Leswalt Primary, as a great cheer went up as they walked into meet the current Leswalt Primary crew. Once in, they were shown how Leswalt Primary had been cheering them on throughout their time in Beijing – from good luck video messages, bunting round the school and watching their games in the classroom. With the ladies semi final going onto an extra end even meant the pupils were late home one day, it was that tense everyone had to wait until the final stone!
The two house captains then read out letters they had sent to the Royal Mail, MP’s. MSPs, and local councillors asking for the postbox at Leswalt school to be painted gold. Malcom Mc Gregor and Breagh Kirkpatrick outlined how sadly they are not doing this again after the London 2012 Olympics. But, the Royal Mail sent every pupil in Leswalt Primary a special presentation pack of stamps Royal Mail have produced to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of the Queen, to say sorry and make up for disappointing the boys and girls.
Mrs Baillie, then told all the boys and girls that we will have our own special additions at school to remind everyone how proud everyone at Leswalt Primary is of our former pupils. Thanks to a kind donation from the Baillie family of 2 curling stones we will mark out entrance way to school to remember when Vicky and Bobby won Gold and Silver at the Olympics. The school has sourced gold and silver curling stone handles which will go on the stones. Inside the building our new extension entranceway will have a commentative photograph of our former pupils and today they left us a special addition for our time capsule that we will be burying in the playground.
The floor was then opened for questions from the pupils. They ranged from “What does it take to be an Olympian?” “What is your favourite ice rink?” and “How did you celebrate after winning your medals?”. Vicky and Bobby took the time to answer to every single question from the inquisitive audience. The boys and girls also learned about the symbols on the medal and learning how heavy they were.
The school then took part in some live Olympic curling. The younger class had previously had a round robin tournament of table top curling in class. So the school had a female then male final. Young Rachael Drummond took on Vicky Wright, and sadly could not defeat the gold medal winner. But in the male final it was a “Bobby Bonspiel”, as Leswalt’s young Bobby Shaw in P1 played Bobby Lammie. The cheers went up when it was “wee” Bobby who won the Bobby bonspiel!
A prize giving ceremony took place on the specially constructed Leswalt Primary podium. Medals and certificates were awarded to our curling superstars as “Simply the Best” was played instead of the National anthem!
Finally Bobby and Vicky signed the curling games and some autographs for their young fans before leaving Leswalt Primary again.
It was a wonderful, inspiring morning for all, showing what true sports Bobby and Vicky are, both on and off the ice rink.
Some of our pupils made the most of the spring sunshine and had fun snuggling up in their den together – and even had a wee snooze in their little shelter.
Our trio partnership football team had their first outing in over 2 years , and despite nicer having trained in school or playing together as a team they came together extremely well.
The team of pupils from Kirkcolm, Leswalt and Portpatrick schools had 3 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws. What a result!
Well done to all for their enthusiasm and team spirit. The next games are on the 25th March .
All at Leswalt Primary could not be prouder of two of our former pupils – Bobby Lammie and Vicky Wright.
Bobby Lammie
Vicky Wright
They have been part of Team GB at the Winter Olympics in Beijing and are returning home with medals – a silver for Bobby and Gold for Vicky!
The ladies final started at 1am, and there were many from the community cheering them on in Stranraer at the North West Castle hotel. Mrs Baillie was able to speak to some some of the school children at 4am who were there until the end, celebrating with friends and family.
Team Mouat, with Bobby centre
Team Muirhead, with Vicky second from right
Wow! We are so proud of you both 🥇🥈
And, we cannot wait to welcome you back to Leswalt Primary !
After almost 25 years working at Leswalt Primary school, Mrs Smith our fabulous learning assistant has called it a day. 
