Leswalt Primary School

Books are BIG news at Leswalt Primary – we LOVE to share stories together, curl up with a good book and use what we read to help us learn more about the world around us. Last Thursday was a chance to celebrate all of this 🙂

P5-7 signed up to join a World Book Day event with none other than the award-winning author Terry Deary – he of the Horrible Histories fame! This fitted in perfectly with our class project as we have been learning all about the Romans and Terry was holding a quiz about the Rotten Romans! Oh my, they truly were rotten!

Library Monitors Ben Gill and Ellie Bennewith led a lunchtime Book Club for P1-3 which was extremely popular! They used Bookflix to listen to some fabulous stories as pupils cuddled up on the blankets and cushions – staff quite liked the look of this club too! They wrote up this short report up too…

On World Book Day, we (Ellie and Ben) held a lunchtime reading club with P1-3.  We listened to and read stories like The Gingerbread Man. We brought through cosy blankets and cushions from the big class so that we could snuggle down. One of the stories had a song and a dance to go with it so we enjoyed a little dance too! It was lots of fun!

In the afternoon, P1-3 donned their jackets and, armed with a WBD scavenger sheet on a clipboard, headed out into the Spring sunshine on the hunt for some book-ish clues. P5-7 ended their afternoon with a ‘Book and a Biscuit’ session – taking the chance to enjoy some chilled out reading time whilst enjoying a tasty treat!

Hope you’ve all had a chance to use those WBD vouchers! These give a £1 off a book or can be used in exchange for any specially produced WBD £1 books.

Curl up with a good book and let your imagination grow!

Friday 8th March saw the start of British Science Week – a ten day celebration of all things Science-y!

Primary 5-7 headed off to the Ryan Centre this afternoon for a musical extravaganza, provided by the Stranraer Music for All team. House Captains Hamish and Carys provided a report of their time away –

This afternoon we went to the Music for All workshop at the Ryan Centre. When we got off the bus, we went into the theatre and sat down. There were two people playing instruments: Ron playing the guitar and Rachael playing the clarsach (a small harp).

They started with a few tunes then Rachael told us about her clarsach – she told us that it was made of Canadian wood and that the strings were made from cows guts. Then Ron and Rachael played some traditional Scottish songs while we played air harps along with them!

They finished off with some questions from the audience then a final song. We had a great afternoon!

UNCRC Article 31 – Right to take part in cultural and creative activities.

Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any photos during the performance, but here is a photo of Rachael with her clarsach on the way out!

Our new school community police officer, PC Amy McGregor, visited Leswalt Primary on Friday to introduce herself and discuss internet safety with the pupils.

First, she visited P1-4 and shared the book ‘Digi Duck.’ This told the story of a duck who shared a mean picture of his friend, the pig, online and everyone laughed at the pig. The Wise Owl helps the duck to realise that what he did was wrong. Pupils learned important things about friendship and being responsible online through this.

PC McGregor then headed into P5-7 to have a discussion about how pupils use the internet; which social media platforms they use; and how to stay safe and be responsible online. Pupils enjoyed a questions and answer session with her, all about her role as a police officer, helping us to learn more about the world of work.

Thank-you to PC McGregor for taking the time to visit us!

UNCRC Article 13 – Share what you think, unless it harms others; and Article 29 – Aims of education.

Last night, Cara, Colin and Hamish represented Leswalt Primary at the Stranraer and District Burns Club. Such Confident Individuals who did so well!

Hamish sang ‘The Lewis Bridal Song’ and was awarded 3rd equal place in the P6/7 singing category. Colin recited ‘The Kirk Moose’ by Lavinia Derwent in the P3-5 Recitation category, and did so with great gusto! Cara performed ‘Address to a Haggis’ by Robert Burns and was also awarded 3rd equal in the P6/7 recitation category.

It was a fabulous night, showcasing lots of local young talent. Many thanks must go to Mrs Jane Sloan for her piano accompaniment of Hamish.

Well done Cara, Hamish and Colin – we are very proud of you!

#ConfidentIndividuals

UNCRC Article 29 and 31

Feis Rois are back at Leswalt!

We were delighted to welcome back Paul and he brought Becky with him. Paul plays the guitar and Becky plays the harp.   We got the chance to listen to both instruments being played and learned the names of the different parts of the instruments.  We also tried to get our tongues round the Gaelic word for harp ‘clarsach’, it was tricky.

Over the next few weeks we are going on a ‘Tartan Tour’ of Scotland.  We will be visiting various parts of the country and  learning songs related to those places.  At the end of this block of work we might even have the opportunity to perform these songs to you.

We are very excited about our Tartan Tour, listen carefully at home and you might hear us humming or singing some new Scottish songs!

We’ve been very lucky to have Stuart Fisher in school over the last 4 Fridays, delivering tri-golf lessons to each class. This was funded through the ‘Children’s Golf Trust.’ We learned about drivers and irons, and used these the hit the ball a distance. We also learned how to putt. Stuart had lots of fun activities and games set up for us to practise our new skills.

Thanks to Stuart for taking the time to come into school to deliver the session, we had great fun! Have a keek below at us in action!

UNCRC

Article 31 – we have the right to play

Article 15 – we have the right to join groups

This afternoon, we had the pleasure of welcoming Neve and Niamh to lead us on the first of a block of rugby sessions!

We started with some fun warm-up games to get us moving and the heart rates up. Great fun – though admittedly a little on the muddy side! Working in small groups/pairs, the class enjoyed an activity-fuelled hour of exercise.

Mrs F tried to pre-empt the inevitable mud-fest by looking out some carrier bags, laying down newspaper for muddy shoes and dishing out old football shorts for those who had no change of clothes. Apologies to those at home though as there are a number of rather mud-encrusted children coming your way! Needless to say, old clothes, spare trainers and socks and a carrier bag to stash those filthy clothes in are, without a doubt, the way forward.

On the plus side, just take a look at the smiles on the photos below as the pupils had such a good time 🙂

Session two – next Tuesday!

Old clothes, spare trainers and socks and a carrier bag

Mrs F left the 5 Primary 5s (Roman, Ben, Rachael, Murray and Colin) an assignment to complete last week whilst P6/7 were away on their Glasgow overnighter! Their mission – to research the Roman army and plan, design and make their own Roman replica shields, helmets and swords!

Were they successful? Did they complete their task?

They most definitely did! Just look at their blog reports below and the fabulous photos!

Well done P5 – any Roman emperor would have been proud to have you as part of their army!

Last week when the primary 6-7 were away, the p5 made some Roman shields helmets and swords. It was hard but fun! The hard bit was making the helmets. I really want to take the the stuff home and play with them and show everyone. It was quite tricky making them but we had some ladies helping. Thanks Mrs Kyle and Sheila!  We couldn’t do it ourselves .It was fun doing some research with our friends too!       

By Murray 

Last week we made Roman swords, shields and helmets. We made them out of cardboard, tape and pins. I loved making them! They are great! I love everything creative. It was a lovely treat to have when the p6/7 were away in Glasgow. Remember it was us p5s who made these amazing Roman shields, helmets and swords! We are going to teach P6/7 how to make them later this week!     

By Colin

Last week the p7 and p6 went to Glasgow, but the p5 stayed at school and made Roman shields then we made swords and helmets. We made them out of cardboard and it was AMAZING! So next time you want to make cardboard shields or helmets – just ask Leswalt p5’s.       

By Roman

Last week, when the P6 and P7s went to Glasgow, all of the P5s made some Roman shields! It was a little bit hard but not too bad that I couldn’t do it! Sheila and Mrs Kyle helped us. I liked doing the painting and designing the pattern. I think our shields are amazing!       

By Rachael

I had lots of fun last week creating my Roman shield, helmet and sword when the P6/7s were in Glasgow! Spray painting the helmet was one of my favourite bits! I am looking forward to taking them home. We will be showing the P6/7s how to make mini shields later this week.   

By Ben

UNCRC

Article 17  Access to Information

Article 29 Aims of Education

Article 31  Rest, Play, Culture, Arts