We have continued along an underwater theme, which was started by the story of The Rainbow Fish last week. Some of the activities have been more factual and we have learned about a range of creatures which live in the seas and oceans. We have made a lovely Rainbow Fish display which developed our scissor skills as we each cut out and decorated a shiny scale. We also painted our clay fish and explored colours on the light box. We have been counting to 8, based around the tentacles of an octopus and exploring how to mix paint to create lighter shades of a colour to paint our own fish.
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.
The Rainbow Fish
This week we have focused some of our activities around ‘The Rainbow Fish’ by Marcus Pfister. It is a great story to develop the themes of sharing and friendship with the children. We have been using different media to create our own Rainbow fish and have made a beach themed tray to play in – which we decided to add pirates to! Our playdough has been decorated with sparkles and we have been changing the words to popular tunes to make them fish related as well. We have also been fishing for magnetic letters in the water and retelling the story in our own words. We are still very interested in the book so next week may well be fish themed too!
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.
P1 Trip to Threave Gardens
Last week P1 enjoyed a great trip to Threave Gardens where they met with the Rangers to go bug hunting and pond dipping. We had a lovely walk round the gardens and a play in the park- even though the sunny weather seemed to have disappeared!
Infant Sports
The sun shone and sports day was a great success. Thank you to all those who were able to join us for the afternoon.
Primary 4 and 4/5 Photo Competition
P4 and P4/5 took part in a photo competition as part of their class learning about Dumfries and Galloway this term. The children had to take a creative photograph anywhere in Dumfries and Galloway. Mr Phil McMenemy, a well know local photographer came into school today to judge the competition. Well done to all the pupils who entered photographs.
Primary 4/5 Trip Rockcliffe & Kippford
Just Like Yesterday
Primary 7 put on a terrific leavers show, ‘Just Like Yesterday.’ The children had gathered their memories of their journey from nursery through to Primary 7. There were some sad stories but mostly they were happy and funny ones. Some highlights included re-enacting a bus trip and the stresses of sports day. Miss Clenndinning was delighted with the performance, especially as the children had had so little time to learn a set of new songs so soon after they had worked with Scottish Opera.
Walk to the Woods
The morning children requested a final walk to the woods before the summer. Luckily Monday morning was dry so we got a chance for one final exploration!
