Mrs McHarg attended a cheque presentation on Wednesday night at the Ryan Centre on behalf of both Kirkcolm and Leswalt Schools, who have each received £200 from the Santa’s Float proceeds.
A huge thank-you to both the YMCA and Stranraer & Rhins Young farmers who organise the Santa’s Float, for this very generous donation to our schools. The money will go towards helping to fund transport costs which will enable us to give our pupils a wide range of experiences throughout the year and not let our rural location be a barrier to participation.
Today we enjoyed our annual Burns’ Lunch – a little later than we had initially planned due to the storms but it was worth the wait!
Daisy led the celebrations in her role as chairperson inviting Betty in P1 to carry in the haggis, our ‘Address to a Haggis’ P7s to recite the poem with gusto (thanks Ben G, Ela, Sean, Holly and Ewan!) and Sean to say the Selkirk Grace before we all tucked into our tasty lunch!
Following this we enjoyed listening to the toasts. Ben G and Ewan gave the Toast to the Lassies – with a little bit of teasing thrown in! Holly and Amelia gave the Reply to the Lads with an equal measure of joking. Isla and Ellie were invited to give their Toast to the School which celebrated all things good about our wee school. Ela rounded up our lunch with a Vote of Thanks before we all joined in with a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
Today we had the pleasure of welcoming Kathryn Purchase from History Alive to the P6/7 classroom! The pupils have been investigating Scotland at the time of Wallace and Bruce and Kathryn’s presentation brought this history period alive and visual – and what an amazing morning we all had!
Kathryn took us on a whistle-stop tour of Scotland (and England and France!) at the time of the 1280s onwards. We learnt about the influence of the French Normans, the rule of Edward I, the importance of the Church and the power struggle which was taking place in Scotland caused by the death of King Alexander III. We enjoyed sharing what we had already learnt about this – we have researched as far as Wiliam Wallace so far – and Kathryn told us about the battles and key figures which followed next culminating in the reign of Robert the Bruce.
My goodness but the battles were gruesome! Kathryn had some replicas and explained about the Scottish victories and defeats and how important weaponry was.
The class enjoyed exploring the replicas and costumes – it was such a great way to learn!
The pupils of Leswalt Primary have had a super busy month with all things Scots! Each pupil was set the challenge of learning a Scots poem, writing it out in the very best handwriting and creating some fabulous artwork to go with it. These formed January’s homework tasks.
On Monday, Mrs Buchanan had the unenviable job of judging this – she was ably assisted by Mrs Cash Leswalt Church’s minister. Phew! They had a very tricky job on their hands!
But, to keep the excitement going…. the pupils only found out who were the winners today at our annual Scots’ Showcase Afternoon to which friends and family were warmly invited to attend!
The audience were treated to Scots’ songs, wonderfully expressive recitations and a display of fantastic artwork and handwriting. Well done to all the weans!
Another fabulously fun session with Niamh today (who did say this class was her favourite one to visit!) Every pupil listens well, follows instructions and gets stuck in – oh my do they get stuck in?! The state of their clothes and hands is testament to that!
Niamh is super keen for each and every one of them to come along to the Junior Rugby sessions on a Sunday as they all show great promise! It would be fantastic to see some of them take her up on this offer… 🙂
Big thank you to Ellie and Sean for representing Leswalt Primary so well at the recent Rotary Lunch. Their polite manners were as expected from this pair and we were delighted to nominate them to attend.
Mr Alec Ross talked about To a Mouse by Robert Burns and gave an excellent recitation and explanation of this. Ellie and Sean enjoyed the chat with Rotary Club members and other P7 pupils representing our local area. They also enjoyed a slap-up lunch!
A lovely way to start the week – and a chance to thanks 2 very Responsible Citizens for their great behaviour!
Primary 1-4 were delighted that their input from Lighthouse musicians today had the added bonus of a special visitor in the form of Mr John Harvey and his bagpipes.
John played some traditional, and not so traditional songs on his bagpipes for all to jig along to. He also allowed pupils the chance to have a go playing them and try on some kilts.
This musical input ties in perfectly with the current Scots literacy focus we have in school for the month of January. The children enjoyed the pipes being played – and Mrs Baillie had some explanations to people on the phone to her this afternoon!
Today P6/7 enjoyed their first rugby session with Niamh Wilson from the Rugby Development Team. It was a muddy affair – which the pupils loved!- and lots of fun!
They enjoyed a game of SWAP where pupils marked a cone and then swapped over – though others could intercept and take over a cone. A game needing quick movement. They also played ‘Capture the Flag’ which was a team game to encourage dodging the opposition and effective communication.
The session ended with lots of flushed faces (under the mud!) and happy smiles! And they even continued their rugby fun at breaktime too!
The staff and pupils got together today to toast in the New Year and enjoy some Scottish traditions as it was the first opportunity we’d all had to be together and to wish everyone all the best for 2025!
A toast was raised with some Irn Bru and a piece of shortbread followed by a rousing rendition of Auld Lamg Syne. We also had a chat about the significance of Rabbie Burns – as Scots poems are being issued this week!
Then it was through to the hall for our very own Leswalt Primary Ceilidh!
The Gay Gordons had everyone smiling and a little out of breath then it was on to a birl through the Canadian Barn Dance! We ended with an attempt at Strip the Willow – great fun but we might have a few more shots to get it right!
We have decided to enjoy some Scottish dance throughout January Scots Month as part of our P.E.. We can’t wait for Ceilidh Mondays when we’ll be twirling and jigging like pros in no time!
The stage was set, the glitter and fake beards had been applied, the cast were ready and the audience sat in anticipation of the annual Leswalt Primary Christmas Show! It was time to launch ‘It’s Chriiiistmas!”
Friends and family had flocked from far and wide – clearly word had got about as to just how amazing all of our pupils perform. And perform they most certainly did! The roof was well and truly lifted with the sound of their happy singing as they put on their production of ‘It’s Chriiiiistmas’ – the story of a Christmas Chart show which retells each step of the Nativity and ends with a rousing and cheery song inviting everyone to sing along and remember the importance of togetherness at this time of year.
We cannot express just how proud we are of each and every one of our performers! They were absolutely AMAZING!
PS – Next stop The Christingle in Leswalt Church on Christmas Eve when you will be treated to another fabulous singing performance! Hope we see you there!
The Director and Assistant Director kept everyone in check!
The It’s Chriiiistmas Chart Show was presented by our fabulous hosts!
Angel Gabriel, Mary and a host of beautiful angels!
The innkeeper and the Landlords (Innkeeper’s wife on Angel duties for photo!)
The amazing Don-Kee and her super cool Animals!
It’s those groovy Shepherds!
Three Wise Guys and their Camels!
Booooo! It’s King Herod and his Grumpy King’s Swingers!
