As part of our ‘Around Scotland’ theme, Primary 5D learned more about the wildlife of Scotland from our visitor from the SSPCA. We played a group game similar to Trivial Pursuit and had to answer questions about the animals found in Scotland. The visit was very informative and lots of fun!
Pupils from P4, P4/5 and P5 enjoyed a visit from two more musicians as part of the Pitch, Pulse and Magic initiative. We were amazed at the playing techniques of the musicians and recognised some of the classical musical pieces from films like ‘Harry Potter’. Pupils worked with the musicians to explore Pitch and we even created our own performance piece linked to an atmospheric poem. This was another great visit and we look forward to exploring ‘Magic’ next term.
Primary 5D learned about Internet Safety when PC Johnstone visited our class. He answered lots of our questions about the role of the police and told us how we can stay safe when online. We watched a short film which reinforced his message.
Primary 5D enjoyed our outing to RSPB Mersehead to learn about the journey of Barnacle Geese. We were amazed at the journey the geese make from Svalbard in the Arctic to Scotland each year. We had great fun creating our own beach art using natural materials. After lunch, we learned about the lifecycle of the Natterjack Toad. This rare and amazing toad is currently hibernating at Mersehead. We visited the bird hide and used binoculars to spot wildlife. Although the weather was wet and windy, we had a great day!
As part of the Big Pedal Initiative this week, some pupils cycled and scooted to school and had a bike breakfast. This event was supported by Katie from ibike. Thank you Katie for providing breakfast. Well done to all those who cycled and scooted to school even though the weather was cold and a bit wet.
On Thursday afternoon we invited parents and friends to join us for some fun making junk model dinosaurs! First of all we sang a dinosaur song and then we began creating our dinosaurs. We had a brilliant time making them and we think the mums and dads enjoyed themselves too!! Mrs Fitzsimmons and Miss Reid were extremely impressed with the creativeness shown and would like to thank everyone who came along again for helping and supporting the children.
On Friday 17th of March, 12 P7 pupils took part in the Dumfries and Galloway schools Orienteering Championship at Barrhill Plantations in Dalbeattie. The Event was organised by Solway Orienteers. Thank you to all those involved in organising the event. The children all had a great time. In the P7 category, Jenny and Lainey were 2nd and Leon and Cohen were first. Well done both partnerships. More pictures from the day are available on the Solway Orienteers Facebook page.
Our school Eco Group enjoyed a trip to Shirmers Burn to release our alevins today. Mrs Dyson’s Primary 5 and the Eco group have been involved in looking after salmon eggs in school. Rowan Armstrong from Galloway Fisheries brought us a tray of 100 eggs together with a water cooler, just over two weeks ago. They hatched a week later and so were ready to be released, today, into the water so that they can continue feeding once their yolk sacs are all used up. We will revisit the burn in June to take part in some electro fishing when we will be able to see how much our salmon have grown. By then, they will be ‘fry’ before becoming ‘parr’ when they are one year old. We were also very interested to see frogspawn in one pond and toads in another. Afterwards we enjoyed eating our snacks while enjoying the pleasant weather and the lovely views of the Loch Ken countryside.
The Scots poetry winners from each class visited Alma House today and recited their poems to the residents. Well done to the boys and girls who performed their poems extremely well . During our visit, the children also chatted to the residents. Thank you to Mrs Henderson for inviting us. We hope to visit again in the near future.
We have had a fantastic day in school celebrating World Book Day. A great number of our pupils came dressed as a character from a favourite book and brought along a copy to share with their classmates. The costumes were terrific, as you will see from the pictures. We are also very grateful, this year, to Dalbeattie Book Shop whose donation of many books has meant that we could allow each pupil to select a free book from previous years of World Book Day publications. The children have also been given their World Book Day 2017 tokens which can be exchanged either for a free 2017 World Book Day or can be used as £1 towards any book or audio book over £2.99.
