P3 have been very busy over the last couple of weeks. They have been learning some Christmas songs in class and visited Alma House, Munchies Care Home and Dalbeattie Day Centre to entertain guests and residents with their singing.
Category Archives: citizenship
Christmas Jumper Day 2017
Today, we came to school wearing our Christmas jumpers to raise money for Save The Children. At the time of posting, the exact amount is not known exactly but is thought to be over £140.
All children may not be in the photos as some may have been busy elsewhere when pictures were taken……Here is a taste, however, of the huge variety of jumpers which were on display.
Nursery Say Big Thank You to Dalbeattie Men’s shed
Dalbeattie Nursery children have been delighted with the wonderful refurbishment of some of their favourite play things. Before moving to our new Learning Campus, staff felt that some of our much loved items were still really loved but were in need of a little care to make them look fresh and bright for our brand new school. Dalbeattie Men’s Shed came to the rescue. The gentlemen uplifted all the items we wished to be restored and returned them to our campus in time for the new school opening. Our restored car has ben a particular favourite! Our pictures show the Geoff Allison, Geoff Thomas and Derek Caldow from the Men’s Shed receiving a cheque to cover the cost of materials used together with a small donation. Derek Caldow has particularly enjoyed re-varnishing our set of wooden chairs. He remembers sitting on these same chairs when he was at school. Our pictures also show him testing out what it feels like to sit on one today! A third picture also shows our wonderful school lectern, which has pride of place on the Primary School stage. The lectern was found in the basement of the old school at the time of our 140 year anniversary celebrations but was riddled with woodworm. Again, the Men’s Shed sorted things out by treating it and replacing the wood where necessary so that it could come with us to our new school.
‘Spotacular’ Children In Need 2017
Dalbeattie Primary School turned the Heughan Hall, in The Dalbeattie Learning Campus, all spotty ‘spotacular’ for Children in Need day. The children were asked to come to school wearing bright clothes so that they could make their bodies into spot shapes covering the hall. The amount raised for Children In Need is still being calculated but proceeds from donations received today will be split between our sponsorship of a school child in Malawi, as part of the Janice Jamieson Foundation Trust, and the Children In Need appeal.
Dalbeattie Nursery Boat Naming Ceremony
The sun shone on a very special boat naming ceremony at the new Dalbeattie Learning Campus on November 9th. The children in Dalbeattie Primary’s Nursery were thrilled to see their new play item officially named ‘Everest Skye,’ a name they had picked themselves, based on a popular TV programme. Sir Malcolm Ross, Lord Lieutenant for the Stewartry performed the ceremony, watched on by excited children and invited guests who included Lady Ross, members of Solway Yacht Club and representatives from Grahams Design Team and D&G Schools For The Future together with the school’s management team.
In order to install a play feature designed by the landscape architect, Project Manager Andy Little was tasked with finding a boat. He made contact with Solway Yacht Club who gladly came to the rescue. The club has donated a laser dinghy which they have lovingly restored and painted with the boat’s name and yacht club emblem. Commodore of the club, Ian Purkis, also presented the school with a pennant from Solway Yacht Club and made a speech about how much the club wants to encourage more young sailors from Dalbeattie to get involved at the club at Kippford. Sir Malcolm and Lady Ross also presented the school with the Stewartry Flag so that the school can fly it from their flagpole once it is installed. The party of invited guests then had a tour of our wonderful new campus.
Macmillan Coffee Morning
Last week we held a coffee morning in nursery to raise money for Macmillan. Family and friends came to play and then we all had cake. We raised a fantastic total of £68.40. Thanks to everyone who came along. We look forward to inviting you in again when we have moved.
Eco Schools
On Thursday 31st August, the Eco Group went on a trip to Tongland Power Station and The Dee Hatchery. At Tongland, the group was learning about renewable energy using hydro power. We found out about the dam system on ‘The Dee’ and visited the turbine hall to find out more about how electricity is generated. We got to walk along the actual dam at Tongland and saw the gate being opened to see the force of the water rushing through. We also saw the fish ladder where the salmon move up river when they return from the Atlantic, back to their spawning ground. Later in the day, the group moved onto the Dee Hatchery at Shirmers Burn where we watched the Galloway Fisheries Rangers undertake some electro fishing. The fish were put into buckets for us to look at more closely and handle. Some of the group members were even brave enough to handle the baby North American Signal Cray Fish. The salmon and trout were returned to the burn afterwards but not the cray fish as they are not native to the Dee River system! The group is very grateful to Tim and especially to Rowan who has worked so closely with the group over recent years.
End of Term Awards
Dalbeattie Primary held its last end of term awards ceremony on Friday 30th June. Amongst the awards presented were the sports day trophies and house cup (winners Colliston) and house shield (winners were Colliston.)
Boys Champion: Leon Pipe and Andrew Millar- joint winners
Runner up: Cohen O’Conner
Boys 300m winners: Ewan Taylor
Runner up: Leon Pipe
Girls champion: Tia Thorburn
Girls runner up: Lainey Ireland and Myah Sargent joint
Girls 300m winner: Tia Thorburn
runner up: Lainey Ireland
Also presented were:
Lions Citizenship Prize: Ciara McQuarrie- winner. Runners up: Lucy Glendinning, Andie Wilson, Sam McKnight
Alistair Gourlay Art award: joint winners Samuel Donnelly and Anaya Nerestan
Alan Younger memorial for art in the upper school: Brooke Henderson
Maureen McShane Award for effort: joint winners Stuart McFegan and Kerrie Pendelton
Jennie Corrie Trophy for Poetry: Louise Kelting
Babsie Caig Trophy for best role model: Tia Thorburn
Heughan Citizenship Awards: EXCELLENT: Robbie Wykes, Jasmine Wixon, Cameron Patterson, Rory McCormick; VERY GOOD: Emmie Sanderson, Carey McCubbin, Nell Porter, Owen o Dornan, Erin Styles, Aulay Webster, Harry Cameron, Jessica Bowden, Cara Houston, Ewan Herries, Kerri O Dornan, Ruari Webster. In addition to these awards a further special prize was awarded to Louise Kelting for dedication and commitment to eco schools activities.
Gold, silver and bronze awards for accreditation in Country Dancing were also presented by Mrs Fortnum to many children in her dancing after school club.
A new trophy was also presented for the first time this year. The Dalbeattie Primary School History Prize which has been donated by Dalbeattie Museum was presented to Jamie Laurie for his outstanding interest in this local history project about the Titanic. The trophy was presented by Mr Tommy Henderson and Mr Donald Henderson made a very fitting speech about Murdoch being a former pupil of the school and how poignant it was that this cup was being presented for the first time in the old school and next year it will be presented again for the first time in the new school.
We are a FairAchiever School!
Exciting news as Dalbeattie Primary School has now been awarded FairAchiever status by the Fairtrade Foundation. Evidence of our Fairtrade work was submitted, with positive feedback given along with the issuing of our FairAchiever Award. We look forward to continuing our journey to raise awareness and promote Fairtrade, not only in our local community but in the wider community.
Scottish Opera Tale O Tam
Dalbeattie Primary has just staged a terrific performance of Scottish Opera’s ‘Tale O Tam.’
Primary 6 and 7 pupils made up the chorus groups of ‘The Tavern Crew,’ ‘The Witches Crew’ and the ‘Stormy Crew.’
The opera told the familiar story of Tam O Shanter drinking late in the tavern before making his way home on his old grey mare Meg before stopping to look through the window of the auld Kirk by Alloway where he sees the witches and warlocks dancing with the devil. He shouts out ‘Well done Cutty Sark’ and the witches take chase after him. He reaches the keystone of the brig but only after the witch pulls off Meg’s tail.
The whole show was fantastic: the singing was tremendous and the costumes were brilliant. The school is very grateful to Scottish Opera for coming to school to deliver a day’s workshops and rehearsals in the morning before the actual show in the afternoon. The school is also very grateful to class teachers and especially to Kate Picken who helped the children to learn and prepare the songs and music in the weeks ahead of the actual day. The whole school enjoyed watching the dress rehearsal before parents came to watch the final show before the end of the school day. This year’s Scottish Opera was funded through the Creative Scotland’s YMI (Youth Music Initiative.)
