Leswalt Primary School

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

WOW!  What fun p6 and 7 had in Glasgow!

Together with Kirkcolm and Portpatrick our children had a wonderful residential trip – 39 pupils, four members of staff  and a lifetime of memories.

It was an adventure just getting there with cars, buses and trains transporting us all up to the big city.

The children walked across the city before  before setting off to the Kings Theatre to enjoy a fabulous performance of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory- the musical”.  The special effects were amazing, and it really brought alive the book by Roald Dahl

It was then time to get some more steps in again by walking to   Ten Pin Bowling – which was  a lot of fun and brought out the competitive streak in the teachers too!

Evening meal was an all you can eat buffet, which proved a real highlight for many.  Pupils filled up on rice, noodles, ribs, roast, pasta , pizza and even sushi! The ice cream machine and chocolate fountain proved a great hit with many a visit for dessert!

On the way back to our accommodation the group travelled by the Subway – a first time experience for the majority of children.  The children enjoyed the wind tunnel effect created by “the Clockwork orange”

The next day, the group visited Kelvingrove Park and Musuem. The children enjoyed some fresh air fun in the park before exploring the ancient artefacts – with the natural world section being a particular favourite.

After that it was back to the youth hostel to collect our luggage and try our second Subway trip. There was a lunch treat at McDonalds – with Happy meals all round,  before we all travelled home having had wonderful experiences.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this great experience possible – all the staff who gave up their personal time, and the children who were praised by members of the public for their excellent behaviour and manners as responsible citizens.

Have a look at all the happy faces for yourself , the smiles say it all!

UNCRC Rights of the Child – Article 31: Rest, Play, Culture and Arts

P7 pupils, Hamish and Faye, represented Leswalt Primary at the Rotary Lunch at the North West Castle today. They were excellent Responsible Citizens, able to chat politely to all and be superb ambassadors for our school.

They enjoyed a very interesting talk from Mr V. Plant about Robert Burns and enjoyed time talking with Rotary Club members.

Thank you Faye and Hamish for being fabulous school representatives – we are very proud of you!

Well done to Ben Gill and Ewan Clark who represented Leswalt Primary at the Rhins K’Nex competition held at Sandhead Primary this morning!

The boys were set the challenge of building a go-kart. They set to work by sketching a plan and using the pieces in their kit to build their design. Though they didn’t win the engineering task today, we are extremely proud of their efforts and delighted that they were our representatives for today.

Both boys were presented with a certificate for their participation.  We awarded them 2 merits each once they returned to school – for being Responsible Citizens and Percy Perseverance skills in being faced with a tricky task – and in finding success in their end product!

Well done Ewan and Ben!

This morning, we were delighted to welcome Ribh and Faith from GSA (Galloway and South Ayrshire) Biosphere who had come to deliver a presentation about Ocean Odyssey and the marine life found in and around our shores.

The time was packed with quizzes, activity, matching tasks, questions and chatting about a information powerpoint. Below are just a few of the facts that we noted down…

Lesser spotted dogfish and Thornback Ray – empty shell casings looked and felt a bit plastic but weren’t!

Plastic is originally made from fossil fuels. Takes from 20-1000 years to breakdown. More than 40% is only used once.

Polyester is plastic. This is in your clothes!

Glass jar – plastic round seal.

Bubble gum – in wrapper. Also in actual gum. Makes it stretchy.

Suncream – bottle, lid and actual lotion!

Teabag – glue down sides of bag

Cans – lined with plastic to keep products fresh.

Paper cups – plastic coating so they don’t disintegrate. 95% paper!

How plastic ends up in sea – littering, from boats, industrial waste, over-fishing, over-flowing bins, flushing things down toilet, draining micro plastics down sink/shower from hygiene products. Shampoo, shower gel etc… washing machine takes micro plastics from clothing.

We talked about ways in which we could all do our little bit to help. Ribh and Faith were impressed to see so many reusable water bottles! We are hoping to plan a Beach Clean for next term – and now we know so much more about some of the things we might find on the beach too!

Thank you GSA Biosphere!