Leswalt Primary School

Primary 1-3 pupils were very excited this afternoon to receive their Bookbug (P1) / Read, Write, Count (P2-3) gift bags. Parents were invited in as part of our launch of this Scottish Government initiative which aims to inspire a lifelong love of reading, writing and counting, and strengthen links between home and school learning by supporting parents in taking an active role in their child’s learning to give them the best start in life. They were shown the contents of the bags and given suggestions for helping to develop literacy and numeracy at home using these resources. After presenting the boys and girls with their bags, everyone headed down to the classroom where we spent time exploring our new books and games. The pupils are really looking forward to using the contents of their bags at home!

The boys and girls of Leswalt Primary held a ‘Pyjama Party for Pudsey’ today for Children in Need. Pupils donated money towards the appeal for wearing non-uniform and there was also official Children in Need merchandise for sale too. To further raise funds for this worthwhile cause, we had face painting by Kaiden and Joshua’s Mum and Primary 7 pupils, and we have been collecting donations of copper coins all week which were used to form a huge Pudsey in our school hall, then donated to the appeal. Well done to our Pupil Council reps who planned all of our Children in Need activities.

We are still counting up the exact total raised (there are lots of copper coins to be counted!!!) – but we expect it to be well over £100.

Well done P4-7 pupils! Under the guidance of Laura McClymont and three training sessions, the pupils planned and delivered short ‘Playmaker’ sessions for their P1-3 schoolmates. A busy, active (and loud!) afternoon was enjoyed by the younger pupils who followed the instructions given by their older friends. Hopefully some of the upper primary might use these skills in the future in the playground or outwith school – what a great life skill to have! Thanks to Laura for her time and advice.

Today we all took advantage of the glorious sunshine to head over to Aldouran Wetlands. P1-3 were looking for signs of Winter and P4-7 were ‘adjective collecting’ for their Haiku poetry writing; the carpet of Autumn leaves and bare trees were a great stimulus for our imaginations!

We explored the gardens and found a brilliant new structure there – a fabulous new outdoor classroom! We can’t wait to use this lots over the course of the school session! What a lovely morning!

Today the whole school travelled to the Ryan centre to watch the new adaptation of “The Little Vampire”, an animated film of a series of books about how 2 young boys overcome their differences and prejudices to become friends.  This film was being shown free to schools as part of National Film week. What a lovely way to spend a blustery Friday morning – watching a movie with friends!

 

Today the boys and girls of Leswalt Primary headed over to Leswalt Parish Church where they were met by three ladies of the congregation. The ladies told the pupils about the ceramic poppy garden, created by a member of the congregation, one poppy for each Leswalt parishioner lost in WW1 and WW2. They also told us about the stunning poppy fall outside the church (1564 poppies were crocheted, knitted or felted to create this memorial for the 1564 days WW1 lasted). Together we all held a 2 minute silence to take some time to pay our respects.

The P4-7 class had printed a poppy banner under the guidance of Mrs Copeland our art teacher. The children felt it was a fitting tribute to hand this over to the church so that this can be put on display in the village hall on Remembrance Sunday.

Alison from Apex visited on  Friday afternoon (and will be in every Friday over the next six weeks) to talk about Healthy Eating. The children got the chance to chop vegetables, smell their soup simmering, taste their culinary creation, enjoy some fun games about nutrition AND head home with a recipe card and a back of vegetables so they can show their folks at home how to make this delicious soup too! The first group had a fabulous time and learnt lots too. The rest of the school were most envious but their turn will come…promise! What a great opportunity!

The boys and girls of Leswalt Primary got dressed up in their creepy costumes for our annual Halloween party. The party was organised by our very able House Captains, Eva and Millie, who planned some fun games for everyone to participate in.

We started off with a costume parade for each year group and our school cook, Patricia, had the difficult decision of judging the winners!

We then moved onto some games, including Spooky Statues, Creepy Corners, Halloween Bowling and Dookin’ for apples. We ended the party with everyone showing off their best moves in a dancing competition, judged by the House Captains.

Parents and carers kindly donated apples and sweets for the children to enjoy. Joshua and Kaiden also kindly donated Halloween boxes for each pupil in the school which was filled with goodies for everyone to take home.

Everyone headed home to enjoy an evening of Trick or Treating!

Laura McClymont got the class together today to work on their organisation and leadership skills – the Playmakers’ Award.

Working in small groups, the pupils used  teamwork to plan and deliver a sporty activity to the rest of the class. The children thought about the personalities and skills within their group and how to ensure everyone was involved in the activity. Fabulous life skills to have! Laura was on hand to offer any nuggets of advice to the children too.

The children enjoyed their session and are already looking forward to their next two sessions.

The whole school received a safety talk from a member of the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service team, Mr Clark. Mr Clark gave pupils some tips to ensure they have a safe Bonfire Night on 5^th November.

He explained to pupils that fireworks travel at 150mph, so only adults over the age of 18 should be lighting them. Pupils were amazed to find out that the temperature of a sparkler can be 15 times hotter than boiling water – Mr Clark said it’s really important to wear gloves when handling them, and to have a metal bucket of water or sand ready to dispose of it afterwards. Pupils also learned which materials are safe to put on a bonfire – plastic and rubber give off toxic fumes so shouldn’t be burned, neither should glass or metal.

Mr Clark suggested attending an organised display if possible. All pupils are now armed with the knowledge to have a fun but safe Bonfire Night!