The Boys and girls of Leswalt Primary School really got into the spirit of World Book Day by dressing up as a character from a book for the day. The also brought in their favourite book to share with others and brought in old books for a book sale. Throughout the day there were many book related activities such as book speed dating, writing book reviews and designing book marks
As part of the newly formed partnership between Leswalt and Portpatrick Primary Schools, children have been taking part in some exciting outdoor learning to find out more about each of the school’s communities.
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.
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.
Leswalt and Portpatrick Primary schools have recently been involved in Partnership schools implementation, which is currently being phased in across Dumfries and Galloway. Practically, this means that both schools now have Mrs Sheila Baillie as Headteacher.
As part of this new partnership arrangement, learning, sporting and social events are being planned to bring pupils and staff of both schools together. At the weekend, pupils from Portpatrick Primary joined up with Leswalt pupils to play in a football tournament. Neither school has enough pupils available to enter independently, so it was of benefit to both schools that the pupils could combine as “Leswalt/Portpatrick United” and allow them to participate.
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.
The pupils of Leswalt Primary have already achieved National recognition through their annual participation in The Big Pedal, virtual cycling race. Now they have been added another National award – by taking part and winning in Pigeon racing!
Mr Alec Wilson, a parent from the school, volunteered to enter 3 pigeons in the National One Loft Race, “Join our sport campaign”. This event was designed to promote pigeon racing among children, and the birds were entered under the name of Leswalt Primary. The pupils in school received photographs of their birds and a competition was held in school to name them.
A website was set up so that pupils could log in and check the progress of their pigeons www.scottishoneloftrace.co.uk/josc . Aiyanna Wilson in Primary 6 was the pigeon expert in school, and she also provided regular updates as to how the birds were getting on.
Everyone was delighted when the final race was won by a racing pigeon from Leswalt Primary – winning the school the fantastic sum of £350. The school has since asked Mr Wilson what he would like the prize money spent on and all he asks is that the school provides a “treat for the children”.
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