The Eco group recently went to Colliston Park to plant red, white and blue flowers to create a special bed to commemorate the Armed Forces in the year we mark the 100 year anniversary of the end of WW1. Thanks to Margaret Copp for organising the plants. We do hope the design comes into flower according to the design!
We are delighted to announce that Gregor Davidson and Aaron Bryson have been chosen as our Police Citizenship prize winners. They were chosen for the their commitment to extra duties such as litter picking and for the part they play in supporting groups and organisations in the local community. Well done! their prize will be to join other winners form across the region for a trip to Cream o Galloway on Monday 4th June.
On Friday 11th May, the school councillors launched their fundraising campaign for the local lifeboat station at Kippford . We had a visit from Mr Keith Armstrong Clark who gave us a wonderful presentation about the work of the RNLI. He showed us the kit which a RNLI crew member would wear in addition to lots of interesting video clips to see the range of boats in the RNLI fleet and the types of rescues which the RNLI can get involved in. We also found out how much the kit and boats cost in addition to being reminded about being safe near water. Mr Armstrong Clark also brought us some super leaflets to remind us of this. We also welcomed volunteers from Kippford Lifeboat station.
The school councillors have now distributed small jam jars (one per family) to fill with 5p coins. When full, a jar will hold between £2.50 and £2.65. We have had 12 full jars in already…well done! We would like all jars to be returned as soon as they are filled and we would like them all back in by the end of September 2018.
Very soon, Primary 4 will also be visiting the lifeboat station at Kippford as part of their learning about the Galloway Coast.
On Thursday 29th March, we held our Easter Service in Dalbeattie and Kirkgunzeon Parish Church. The service re-told the Easter story through ‘Three Trees’ which each had different aspirations about what they wanted to be used for. Their hopes and plans did not work out and, although initially disappointed, the trees all saw the much greater worth of the uses they were actually put to. The story was told most effectively by the three Primary 7s who played the parts of the trees but also by the other Primary 7 narrators, interspersed with some lovely singing which the whole school has been practising over recent weeks.
On Friday 23rd March, history was made in Dalbeattie Primary, within Dalbeattie Learning Campus. Primary 4, under the direction of Mrs Anderson, staged our first dramatic performance in the Primary School Hall. This was the first time, out stage had been opened up to the hall to showcase a play. Primary 4 rose to the occasion. They worked so hard to learn their lines and knew all their parts well. By the end of the show, we had all learned so much more about life in Roman villas and how to build Roman roads. Well done Primary 4 and Mrs Anderson for making history!
There was great excitement today as Wee Dee Gee visited to say hello to our young people and to give out new water bottles and activity packs. This was followed by the announcement of the results for the recent T Shirt competition, which was judged by our elected councillors. Winners were announced for P1 through to P7 with one overall winner, Primary 5’s Amber Latimer whose design will be made into a real t-shirt for herself and all her classmates. Well done Amber! The other winners were Holly McKerrow, Ryley Morgan, Owen Dornan, Jay Parker Smith, Willow Caldow, Grace McQuarrie.
Today we had a visit from Jack Wootton from Galloway Fisheries Trust with some real live Sparling! Our Primary 5 Class and Eco Group were very pleased to see the fish first hand. Jack was able to bring the pupils out in small groups to look at the fish close up in a bucket and he also lifted them out of the water briefly to see them from a side view. It was interesting to se how they were camouflaged from the top and that the female fish was bigger than the male due to the huge number of eggs which she carries. We heard more about the project being undertaken by Jack and he told us about the numbers of Sparling he had just recently found in the Cree River. We also got more of an understanding about how important this project is for Scotland. Today, a camera man came to film Jack talking to us. The footage will be used in a documentary highlighting the importance of the project and will be shared amongst wildlife experts at conferences and for use in further research work as a reference tool. Jack was very impressed with the amount of information Mrs Dyson’s Primary 5 class had retained from his last visit and with the sheer number of relevant questions the pupils were coming up with. Lots of hands kept going up, eager to know more!
Today, Primary 5 together with our Eco Group were delighted to welcome Jack Wootton into school to talk about a special project which he is working on behalf of Galloway Fisheries Trust. Our young learners were very interested to hear about how the Sparling are endangered, having once been in 15 Scottish rivers, they now survive in only three. One of these rivers is The Cree. Mr Wootton explained how sensitive the fish are to any conditions which might change the environment of the river they are living in. We heard about water dams, pollution and intense fishing all being issues affecting the species. We also learned about the life cycle of Sparling including where they spawn, how they are washed down to estuaries and then their movement back up rivers when conditions are best. Mr Wootton is working to safeguard the Sparlings’ existence in the Cree and is also looking to introduce the fish back into other suitable rivers. The children learned about how important it is not to make detrimental changes to our eco system. It was interesting to hear that, historically, that the River Urr once had Sparling too. The children were also intrigued to learn that the fish smells like cucumber, that its body is transparent when looked at from the underside and that some eggs are so small, they are less than 1mm in diameter. The children were asked for suggestions about how we can safeguard this species in Scottish rivers for the future and there were many good ideas put forward. Our Eco Group and Primary 5 are very keen to been involved in this project as it continues over the next few months and to track its progress. The children were also excited to hear there was possibility that Mr Wootton might be able to bring in some real live Sparling for us to look at! We are very grateful to Mr Wootton for his interesting talk: many of our young people found his enthusiasm for his work very motivational and he may even have inspired some of them to pursue careers in safeguarding wildlife in the years to come!
Thank you to everyone who braved the weather conditions to come into school early today for our Fairtrade Breakfast. We had 82 people attending which is a super turn-out in our bid to share awareness of Fairtrade food items. Activities such as these help us to retain our Fair Achiever status for our school. We are very grateful to assistance from Mrs Houston from Dalbeattie’s Hospitality department and the school kitchen and also to Mr Parker, Mrs Dyson, Mrs Cox, Mrs McMinn, and Mrs Robison for all their help. And of course we are so grateful to Kinnairds, Dalbeattie Co-op and Tesco Castle Douglas and to Mary Van Zwanenberg from the Kirkcudbright Traidcraft Group for supporting our event with donations of Fairtrade food items. Here are just a few of the pictures from the event. Any profits raised is going towards purchasing Fairtrade footballs to help to continue to spread awareness.
Glow Blogs uses cookies to enhance your experience on our service. By using this service or closing this message you consent to our use of those cookies. Please read our Cookie Policy.
