Primary 5-7 recently travelled to Carlingwark for 2 days of Outdoor Education fun.
The weather was initially very wet, but it soon dried up and did not stop the children having a lot of fun.
Primary 5, 6 and 7 recently travelled to Newton Stewart cinema to take part in the Galloway Music Festival. They were competing in the Galloway Music Festival, and every single pupil in the class was both singing and playing a musical instrument. After the adjudicator had fed back to all of the schools, Leswalt Primary was delighted as they were announced as winners.
As well as the whole class competing several individuals were participating in the piano and cornet classes.
Leswalt Primary has cycled once again to National success. This week it was announced that we have won the “Big Pedal” competition for the whole of Scotland! The school was also runner up in the whole of the UK, small schools category. This is the 4th year in which the school has been in the awards for this initiative.
At Leswalt Primary we are delighted to achieve success in this National competition. The success of Leswalt Primary was due to the real community effort – from pre school toddlers arriving on trikes to parents cycling over 5 miles to school with their children. It was a real wee team effort. As headteacher I did not have far to cycle to work, so I really appreciate the effort put in by all of my pupils and parents! I am so proud of them all.
Firstly, Leswalt pupils invited Portpatrick School to visit their community. The whole school travelled to Leswalt and spent some time getting to know each other in the classrooms. The pupils then worked in mixed schools teams to solve anagrams. The answers gave a list of items to be found on a Scavenger Hunt in the local wetlands, Aldouran Glen. Despite the torrential rain, spirits were high and pupils completed the Scavenger Hunt in their waterproofs and wellies! All pupils were then treated to a tasty warm snack made by the neighbouring Kirkland Tearoom and farm shop as they dried off inside.
A reciprocal visit was made this week by pupils from Leswalt travelling to Portpatrick. Luckily, the weather was on their side and all pupils were able to visit the local RNLI lifeboat shed. The children were split into mixed school groups and were all given a chance to go onboard the brand new state of the art lifeboat, dress up as lifeboat men and women and watch video
s of real life rescues at sea. The RNLI team involved in the tour were absolutely fantastic and had all children engaged from start to finish. On return to Portpatrick School, all pupils were treated to some toast and not a crumb was left! The pupils had a fantastic time and learned a lot about the importance of the lifeboat in the community of Portpatrick.
Pupils from both schools are beginning to form friendships and are always excited about the next joint project they will be taking part in. A real sense of ‘partnership’ is beginning to take place between both school communities. Leswalt Pupil Council are currently developing ideas for a joint ‘Easter Egg Challenge’ so watch this space!
With the new partnership schools arrangement in place, the pupils of Leswalt primary invited the pupils of Portpatrick Primary to come and join them for a day of outdoor learning. Unfortunately, it happened to be a very wet and windy day. All pupils covered themselves up with waterproofs and had a memorable day in the Aldouran Woods.
Back in the school they shared a warm and tasty snack from the Kirkland farm shop and tearoom, and dried out together.
In January the focus for literacy at Leswalt has been Scots language.
And, all of the pupils learned some Scots poetry to recite.
Mr Dougie Brawls the Janitor, was give the very difficult job of judging the poetry, artwork and handwriting. The winners were as follows-
BURNS RESULTS 2014
| CLASS | POEM | RECITATION WINNERS | ILLUSTRATION
WINNER |
HANDWRITING
WINNER |
| P1 | Twa Leggit Mice | 1.Phoebe Gaw
2.Finlay Scott 3.Auryn Kirkpatrick& Erin Jamieson |
Auryn Kirkpatrick | Phoebe Gaw |
| P2 | Dentist | 1.Boyd Sloan
2.Charlotte Gaw 3Iona Rickard |
Millie Smith | Charlotte Gaw |
| P3 | The Crocodile | 1.Lewis Dove
2.Kayleigh Williams 3 Ethan Smith |
Kayleigh Williams | Lewis Dove |
| P4 | The sair finger | 1.Jack Rickard
2.Arden Mc Intyre |
Arden Mc Intrye | Jamie Drennan |
| P5 | Wee Willie Winkie | 1. Lauren Anderson & Kathryn Topping
2.Finlay Cowan 3 Kerr Calderwood |
Finlay Cowan | Finlay Cowan |
| P6 | Cat food rap | 1. Aiyanna Wilson
2. Rhona Baillie 3 Freya Bathgate |
Aiyanna Wilson | Freya Bathgate |
| P7 | Address to the haggis | 1.Tommy Kerslake
2. Craig Anderson 3 Erin Topping Abbie Mc Quillan |
Abbie Mc Quillan | Abbie Mc Quillan |
On Friday 24thJanuary 2014, Leswalt Primary held its fifth annual Burns Supper.
The whole school sat down together to enjoy this tradition. Abbie Mc Quillan , P7, was a very able and organised chairperson who ensured the proceedings ran smoothly.
Arden Mc Intyre, said the ‘Selkirk Grace’ before Mr Andy Ross piped in the haggis. Erin Jamieson, P1, proudly carried the haggis into the company. The haggis was presented toTommy Kerslake, P7, who confidently addressed it with great gusto. Mr Douglas McClure educated the company about the life of Robert Burns, in saying ‘The Immortal Memory’.
Recitations were also delivered from pupils in primary 1 to primary 7.
Tommy Kerslake, proposed an amusing toast to the lassies before Erin Topping in p7 gave him an appropriate reply.
Kieran Dodds in Primary 7 provided an articulate and amusing toast , which was in the form of a poem, to Leswalt School
The Burns Supper concluded with Rhona Baillie in p6 giving an appreciative vote of thanks.
The company sang ‘Auld Lang Syne’ at the end of a highly successful and entertaining Burns Supper at Leswalt Primary.
Primary 1-4 pupils at both Leswalt and Portpatrick Primary School have been learning all about Chinese New Year, as part of their RME, with Miss Nicola Baillie, Principal teacher. As part of their learning, the pupils wrote letters to the Hong Kong City Restaurant to ask if they could visit to find out more about how they celebrate the special occasion. The letters were a great success and both schools were invited to the restaurant together. Pupils were served a selection of tasty Chinese snacks which were enjoyed by all – it was not long before the plates were empty! The children were then told about the Chinese calendar and the importance of the colour red in Chinese culture. They were also shown a variety of traditional Chinese decorations and artwork as well as learning some simple Chinese phrases. The restaurant very kindly donated some resources for the classes to use in their role play area at school, where they will be running their own Chinese Restaurant to develop literacy and numeracy skills in a fun, motivating context. All the staff and pupils would like to say many thanks to all the Hong Kong City staff for providing the children with a fantastic afternoon.
Both Leswalt and Portpatrick schools are now looking forward to future joint projects, and developing their partnership in a variety of different contexts.
