Recently, pupils have been taking part in a consultation about possible future uses of our current school site. School Pupil Councillors collated the information from written questionnaire sheets, which were filled in by children of all ages though-out the school. The School Pupil Council then met with Michelle McRobert of Dalbeattie Community Initiative to discuss some of the issues in more detail. Lots of ideas were taken aware from the meeting…… 
All posts by Mrs Howie
Eco Schools Fifth Green Flag!
Dalbeattie Primary is delighted to have been awarded its fifth green flag as part of the two year Eco Schools Scotland renewal scheme. The school eco group has been working closely with teacher Mrs Dyson, over the last two years , on topics such as litter, energy and school grounds. The school received a letter congratulating the pupils on their outstanding work; work on calculating the school’s carbon footprint and links with local community groups and organisations, such as Galloway Fisheries and Fairtrade, were specifically highlighted. The school is looking forward to continuing its eco work as it moves to a new school site In October 2017 when we will finally have a flag pole to display our fifth flag! We will also be able to compare the carbon foot print of the new building with the old one and investigate ways to encourage wildlife habitats as well as growing more of our own produce in new raised beds! Our photo shows current Schools Eco Committee together with the two committees of the previous two years who worked so hard towards the fifth flag.
A Timeless Nativity More Photos
Christmas 2016 Hall Decorations
Well that was our last Christmas in this school…. We thought you might like to see our hall decorations (photographed kindly by Mrs Blackwood.) They were fantastic this year and we are very grateful to the staff and pupils who put so much effort into making our hall look so special for its last Christmas as a Primary School. We haven’t decided yet about what we will do with all the beautiful nativity pictures so watch this space….
A Timeless Nativity
Our Nativity this year, for 2016, was ‘A Timeless Nativity’ and was written specially for our last Christmas in this school before we move to our new school in 2017. The story starts with a present day child ‘Johnny’ who is bored with all the singing practice because he just wants it to be Christmas and get all his presents. The teacher has words with him and says he needs to see the Doctor as he is not in the true spirit of Christmas. Cue the Doctor who arrives in his Tardis. He then takes Johnny back to 1876, the year Dalbeattie Primary School first opened so that he can learn something from the boys and girls back then. He then takes Johnny even further back in time to Bethlehem, over 2000 years ago. By the time the play ends, Johnny now appreciates the true meaning of Christmas and he apologises to his classmates for his lack of enthusiasm earlier on!
More photos will follow soon….
Children In Need and Malawi Fundraising
On Friday 18th November, we had a non uniform day to raise money for Children In Need and for the Janice Jamieson Memorial Fund to sponsor our young person in Malawi. Throughout the week, the School Pupil Council also ran a competition to turn Pudsey all spotty in ‘Spottiland’ for a ‘spotacular’ fundraiser with Children In Need prizes for five lucky winners. Altogether an amazing £410 was raised and the money will be split between the two charities. Thank you to everyone who supported this.
Dalbeattie Museum Donates £250 to Dalbeattie Primary School
We are delighted to receive a donation of £250 from Dalbeattie Museum on the occasion of Tommy Henderson’s 80th Birthday which also marked the end of this year’s season as the Museum closed its doors for the winter. Dalbeattie Museum has gifted the Primary School with this money as many of the Museum’s members worked on the ‘History of Dalbeattie Primary School’ book which was published earlier this year and they wanted to thank the school for the opportunity for school and Museum to work together on this successful project. Thank you!
Songwriting with Feis Ross Musicians
Dalbeattie Primary School has been thrilled to welcome Feis Ross Musicians Nicola and Andrew Black into school to work with our young people in Primary 4, Primary 4/5 and Primary 5. This year, the children have been experiencing the art of songwriting. Primary 4/5 wrote a song about dinosaurs, Primary 5 used the Dalbeattie Town Wood’s Totem Pole as their inspiration and Primary 4 composed a song about Tatty Bogel. However, another highlight is a song which all three classes have worked on, while thinking about their current school and looking forward to the new one. It’s called ‘We Live In Dalbeattie.’ Today, the classes, accompanied by Nicola and Andrew Black, gave a wonderful performance of all these songs to a packed school hall. The ‘We Live in Dalbeattie’ song was, particularly memorable. Well done to all and thank you! The words for the school song are given below:
V1:
We live in Dalbeattie, where the river flows,
We live in Dalbeattie, where the wind blows,
Moving to a new school, it’ll be so cool,
So many memories, in this primary,
Grannies and Papas and great nana’s cousins,
For a hundred and forty years, they all came here.
Chorus:
Friends forever, always together,
Even when it rains, we’ll still play together,
Even if we fall out, we’ll be friends whenever,
We meet each other again
V2:
We live in Dalbeattie, in the granite city,
We lo-ove Dalbeattie, very bold and pretty,
Nearer to nature, we can learn outside
To get to the playground, we’ll go on the slide
CHORUS
V3:
We bide in Da’beattie, whaur the burnie rows,
We bide in Da’beattie, whaur the birkie grows,
Hard rock challenge and a granite quarry,
Gaun tae the forest wi ma family
CHORUS (repeat last line to finish)
Folktober’s ‘Haggerdash’ Visit Dalbeattie Primary
Dalbeattie Primary had a treat at their usual Friday afternoon awards ceremony when folk group ‘Haggerdash’ visited to entertain the pupils and staff. They performed a collection of traditional Scots songs and tunes where they had the children joining in with singing and actions too! ‘Haggerdash’ are currently in Dalbeattie as part of the ‘Dalbeattie Folktober’ Festival. They will be playing at a family concert in the hall on Burn Street, Dalbeattie at 3pm on Saturday 8th October. Children under 12 will get in free. Other folk performers will be ‘The Camden Quine’ (Carol Anderson) and ‘Finbar Magee and Breige Quinn.’
Westsound School of The Week
Westsound’s Tommy Jardine visited school this week to record interviews with a group of our children. The children talked about their friends at school, their favourite subjects and what they want to be when they are older. There were, of course, some good jokes too! The children will be broadcast in the morning and afternoon of the week beginning 10th October (the week before the school holidays.)
