Leswalt Primary School

Our lucky P7 pupils had a blast heading off with their Leswalt pals to the Curling Rink at North West Castle to kick start the curling season!  🥌 When they arrived they got their shoes swapped, learned the safety rules and had a bit of fun warming up on the cold ice! The boys and girls learned how to deliver their stone and how to use their brush to help their stone to glide along the ice!

After that, it was was game on! 💪The first half gave everyone plenty of practise sliding stones and sweeping like pros, before the second half brought two thrilling matches which ended in a nail-biting tie with Sandhead Primary! No medals this time (but you never know, another Leswalt curling Olympic champion might be on their way), but loads of laughs, teamwork, and new skills picked up along the way.

A huge shout-out to the amazing team at North West Castle Ice Rink for giving our older pupils this fantastic chance to try curling. 🧹🥌

Collaborating Cora
Communicating Cate
Integrity Imani

Article 31 – The right to play and leisure activities

This Monday marked the beginning of Anti-Bullying Week at our school—a special time to celebrate kindness, friendship, and standing up for one another. To start the week, pupils wore odd socks to school! 🧦This fun tradition helps us show that being different is something to be proud of—our unique qualities make us who we are. ❤️👬

We also joined in with the BBC’s Live Lesson, all about how we can ‘Power Up!’ to stop bullying with this year’s theme “The Power of Good” and we shared ideas of how we can continue to make our wee school the kind, caring place that it is!

Leswalt and Kirkcolm Primary 7 pupils both went along together to learn more about the World of Work and options available at the local campus in town.

While at the college, our senior pupils took part in 4 different rotations;

1.  STEM – activities focussing on Science, technology, engineering and maths
2. Meta skills – what they are and what skills are required for different occupations
3. Shark Island – a problem solving activity in which pupils had to collaborate and communicate
4. A tour of the college, showing all the different courses available ( including catering, childcare, beauty, hairdressing, mechanical engineering and construction) 

All the activities really got everyone thinking about the wealth of possibilities for life after school – including the skills needed for these jobs.  As well as coming together with Primary 7 pupils from other schools we were re-untied with the teacher formally known as Mrs F, from Leswalt Primary.  She was on hand to lead one of the activities and have a chat with some of the familiar faces from our schools.

After a snack stop midway through the activities, all came together at the end for a quiz – with the grand prize of a £10 Greggs voucher.  Sadly , none of our crew were lucky enough to win this, but they did have all of the correct answers ( but their name was not pulled out the hat!)

All and all it was  a fun morning, focussing on what the future could bring.

🎓 Key UNCRC Rights Linked to a College Visit

• Article 28 – Right to Education
  • Every child has the right to education. Visiting a college supports this by helping children understand pathways to further education and inspiring them to pursue learning beyond school.
• Article 29 – Goals of Education
  • Education must develop a child’s personality, talents, and abilities to their fullest potential. A college visit exposes children to new environments, subjects, and aspirations, helping them envision their future and grow in confidence.
• Article 12 – Respect for the Views of the Child
  • Children have the right to express their views in all matters affecting them. A college visit can include discussions about future choices, encouraging children to voice their interests and ambitions.
• Article 13 – Freedom of Expression
  • Children have the right to seek, receive, and share information. Exploring a college campus allows them to ask questions, gather knowledge, and engage with new ideas.
• Article 17 – Access to Information
  • Children have the right to access information that is important for their well-being and development. College visits provide valuable insights into academic and career opportunities.

Today P1-3 buddied up with Kirkcolm’s Primary 1-4 class for a trip to The Planetarium in Kircudbright, as part of their science learning this term! 👽🌍 When they arrived, they were greeted by the Planetraium staff, who were just as excited about space as us! They then enjoyed an interactive live show inside the  dark dome theatre- a dark room with a huge curved ceiling! When the lights dimmed, they were looking up the planets, moon and stars! ⭐📽 

Afterwards, they got  a feeling of what it would be like as an astronaut in space as they had a wee look around the exhibits – looking at planet models, meteorites and they even got to try a virtual reality headset they took them on a journey through the solar system. 👨‍🚀👩‍🚀🔭

A huge thank you to the Planetarium staff for such a fantastic trip! 🚀

Today  Primary 4-7 took part in their first Sound Trap input and wow- what a fantastic digital learning experience! 💻Pupils were working in partners to develop their sound engineering skills, with the guidance and help from Mr John Dinning and I, for one, am truly in awe at their DJing skills already🎶. Children can access and share their music at home on www.soundtrap.com

Watch this space for the next Calvin Harris!😆

Our upper class were delighted to welcome Robert McCrorie, a Community Safety Advocate from the Fire and Rescue Community Safety Team. He spoke to the pupils about staying safe around fireworks and Bonfire Night celebrations. 🎇

Robert covered important safety topics including fireworks, sparklers, and bonfires, highlighting potential hazards. Hannah  gave a great demonstration on how to hold a sparkler safely—at arm’s length and without waving it around—unfortunately nobody offered to do a demo of  the vital Stop, Drop and Roll technique in case clothing catches fire. 👩‍🚒🔥

The session also explored what should never be added to a bonfire and the reasons why, along with key rules and regulations for purchasing and using fireworks responsibly. 🎇🎆

Collaborating Cora
Critical Thinking Chris
Initiate Ivy

• Article 19 – Protection from violence, abuse, and neglect: Children have the right to be protected from all forms of harm. Learning how to stay safe around fireworks and bonfires supports this right.
• Article 6 – Right to life, survival, and development: Teaching children how to prevent accidents and respond to emergencies (like Stop, Drop and Roll) helps safeguard their well-being and development.