Today our class went on a trip to Tongland Power Station, near Kirkcudbright. It was amazing to see how electricity is made using water from the River Dee.

When we arrived, the staff welcomed us and explained that Tongland is a hydro-electric power station. That means it uses the energy of moving water to turn turbines, which then make electricity. We were surprised at how powerful the rushing water sounded!

We learned that Tongland has been producing clean energy for almost 100 years. Instead of burning coal or gas, it uses a renewable source – water – which helps to protect the planet.

Walking around the station, we saw big machines, control panels, and even the river flowing into the dam. The engineers told us about their jobs and how important it is to keep everything running safely.

The trip made us think about how much we rely on electricity every day – for lights, computers, cooking, and even charging our phones. It also made us realise we need to use energy wisely.

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What we learned connects to:

MetaSkills

• Curiosity: We asked lots of questions about how electricity is made.
• Creativity: We imagined new ways to save and use energy.
• Collaboration: We worked together in groups to take notes and share ideas.

UNCRC Rights

• Article 12: We had the right to share our views and ask questions.
• Article 24: We have the right to a safe and healthy environment, which renewable energy supports.
• Article 29: Education should help us learn how to care for our world.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• SDG 7 – Affordable and Clean Energy: Tongland produces renewable electricity.
• SDG 13 – Climate Action: Hydro power helps reduce climate change.
• SDG 15 – Life on Land: Using clean energy helps protect animals, plants, and nature.

As part of our ongoing drive to raise attainment in literacy, we are committed to building a culture of reading for pleasure among our pupils. Recently, thanks to an opportunity provided by the Scottish Book Trust, our pupils from St Joseph’s and Portpatrick enjoyed an inspiring morning at Stranraer Academy with celebrated children’s author Martin Stewart.

Stewart is well known for his debut novel Riverkeep and, more recently, his children’s series featuring Sandy Fin. The pupils were thrilled to hear him read from his latest book, Sandy Fin: Operation Splash Landing. His engaging style captured imaginations and opened up conversations about where story ideas come from.

During the workshop, Martin encouraged the children to see how inspiration for writing can come from anywhere; a day at the shore, an unusual animal, or even just a unique name. This practical insight showed our pupils that creativity is within everyone’s reach.

The session ended with a lively question-and-answer opportunity, where pupils asked thoughtful and curious questions about Martin’s work, his journey as an author, and the process of writing books. It was wonderful to see our learners so engaged and motivated.

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Links to Learning Frameworks

UNCRC: Supports creativity (Article 29) and freedom of expression (Article 13).

SHANARRI: Builds Nurtured and Successful learners.

SDGs: Links to SDG 4 — Quality Education.

Metaskills: Encourages Creativity, Communication, Curiosity, and Resilience.

Four Capacities: Promotes Successful Learners, Confident Individuals, Responsible Citizens, and Effective Contributors.

On Tuesday 16th September, pupils from St. Joseph’s R.C. Primary and Portpatrick Primary shared an unforgettable day of learning and excitement.

The morning kicked off with a STEM-themed Wider Achievement Day. Children took part in autumn, and Halloween inspired challenges, including building zip lines, rafts, bridges and shelters for LEGO mini-figures, competing in Blooket quizzes, and joining digital learning sessions exploring patterns, coding, and budgeting. Teamwork, creativity and problem-solving were in full swing!

In the afternoon, excitement soared as the Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance helicopter landed on the school field. Pupils waved banners, met mascot Nevis, signed the official Skyward Challenge banner, spoke with the pilot and paramedics, and explored the lifesaving equipment onboard.

The visit was part of the Skyward Challenge, a nationwide campaign supporting Operation Skyward, with St. Joseph’s securing the honour for our region through a fund raising competition.

How this links to our learning:

• UNCRC (Article 31): Pupils had the right to play, create and have fun while learning.
• Metaskills: Pupils practised problem-solving, creativity, teamwork and adaptability through STEM challenges and working together.
• SHANARRI – Active: Everyone joined in, got involved, and stayed curious throughout the day.
• Sustainable Development Goals – Quality Education: Pupils worked together, solved problems, and learned new STEM skills.
• Curriculum for Excellence – Successful Learners: Children practised teamwork, creativity, and digital skills while exploring real-world challenges.

On Friday 12th September, our new cohort of Digital Leaders from across the West Rhins Partnership gathered at St. Joseph’s, Portpatrick for their first training day of the year.

After a quick hello to all the boys and girls at Portpatrick, Ms. Whorlow warmly welcomed the group and thanked Josh and Arran for hosting our meeting at their school. The excitement and enthusiasm of our new team of Digital Leaders shone through from the very start!

Exploring Roles and Responsibilities

The children discussed what it means to be a Digital Leader – from supporting classmates with digital learning to promoting online safety and leading clubs. They were eager to take on these responsibilities and develop their leadership skills.

Skills Training

To prepare for their roles, the Digital Leaders took part in a range of hands-on activities, including:

• Logging in: mastering Glow accounts and setting up diaries with login details.
• Websites: creating bookmarks and setting favourites, including Sumdog.
• QR Codes: generating, saving, and printing QR codes for classmates to use.
• Emails: practicing professional email use; from attachments to folders and flagging.

Leaders of Learning

The group planned the first series of Digital Skills Clubs to take place back in their schools. These will cover:

• Logging on, emails, and QR codes
• Coding projects using Microbits or Spheros
• Internet safety awareness

A Digi Skills Suggestion Box will also be introduced in each school so pupils can request support or suggest future club ideas.

Looking Ahead

The Digital Leaders will be working together across schools on:

• Running coding sessions in November and December
• Organising activities for Internet Safety Day (10th February 2026)
• Sharing new ideas for Digi-Clubs regularly via email

As a team, the children identified important metaskills they were using: communicating, critical thinking, initiative, leading, and collaborating.

We are very proud of our Digital Leaders – they are already making a positive difference in their schools and are excited to share their skills with others!

There was time to enjoy a break with partnership friends before the group returned to their classes.

Have a read of the minutes of the meeting here:

Links to Our Wider Values

• UNCRC Article: Article 17 – every child has the right to reliable information from a variety of sources, especially those aimed at their wellbeing.
• SHANARRI: Safe – promoting safe use of technology through internet safety.
• Sustainable Development Goal: Goal 4 – Quality Education, ensuring inclusive and equitable opportunities for digital learning.
• Four Capacities for Learning: Confident Individuals – building self-belief through leadership and digital skills.
• God’s Loving Plan: Respecting ourselves and others by using our talents to support our community.

The boys and girls received a surprise visit from Portpatrick hotel staff today. Before the holidays, the children created beautiful artwork of the hotel to display for their guests. As a thank you, Jody and her team brought goodie bags for every pupil. The children were delighted and very grateful.

Thank you Port Hotel!

🎉 Portpatrick Primary School – End of Year Award Ceremony 2025 🎉

We ended the school year with a joyful celebration at our End of Year Award Ceremony, recognising the hard work, progress and achievements of all our pupils. From academic success to creativity and kindness, every award reflected the unique strengths of our wonderful learners.

A special part of the day was saying goodbye to our fantastic Primary 7 pupils — Lacey, Louise and Carter. They have been a valued part of our school community, showing leadership, care and enthusiasm throughout their time with us. We are so proud of the young people they have become and we wish them every success at secondary school.

Thank you to our families for your continued support. We hope everyone enjoys a safe and happy summer break. We look forward to welcoming you all back in August for another great year at Portpatrick Primary.

UNCRC Articles:

• Article 28 – Right to education
• Article 29 – Goals of education (developing talents and abilities)
• Article 12 – Right to be heard and taken seriously

SHANARRI Indicators:

• Achieving – Celebrating learning and progress
• Included – Whole-school participation and recognition
• Nurtured – Positive environment that supports wellbeing

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• SDG 4 – Quality Education
• SDG 10 – Reduced Inequalities (ensuring all pupils are recognised)
• SDG 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing (supporting emotional development)

With best wishes,
The Portpatrick Primary Team

What a way to end the school year! Our last day was packed with sunshine, laughter and brilliant memories that we’ll all treasure.

Mr. Morrison truly stole the show. His head was bedazzled with colourful jewels, sparkling with every step. The children couldn’t stop laughing and absolutely loved seeing him shimmer through the school. A fantastic sport as always!

Outdoors, the fun really kicked off with a slip and slide that had everyone whooshing and splashing in delight. The water fights were just as wild, with students (and some brave staff) getting thoroughly soaked and loving every minute of it.

After all the action, it was time for a well-earned treat. Ice cream for everyone! The sweet surprise was a huge hit and gave everyone a chance to cool off and relax in the sun. To top it off, pupils were gifted goodie bags from our amazing staff and students, a thoughtful and fun way to mark the end of term.

The day finished on a heartfelt note with a guard of honour for our P7 leavers. The entire school came together to cheer them on as they made their way out, led by the stirring sound of Scott the Piper. It was a proud and emotional send-off for a wonderful group of pupils.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the day so special. Wishing you all a safe, sunny and super summer holiday! 🌞🎒🎶

We are delighted to share some fantastic news with our school community. Thanks to the incredible generosity of Portpatrick Dunskey Golf Club, our school has received a cheque for £1000 💷 following their annual PGA in Scotland Tartan Tour Pro Am golf competition.

Pupils Harry, Carter, and Arran, along with Mr Morrison, proudly accepted the cheque 📝 on behalf of the school. The presentation was made by Mr Quentin McKie, representing Portpatrick Dunskey Golf Club.

We are extremely grateful for this donation, which will be put to great use supporting opportunities and resources for our pupils 📚✨.

A huge thank you to everyone at Portpatrick Dunskey Golf Club for their continued support of our school! 🙌

• UNCRC: Article 31 (Right to rest, play, and recreational activities), Article 26 (Social and Economic Help)
• SHANARRI: Achieving, Nurtured, Included
• Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 4 (Quality Education), Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities), Goal 17 (Partnerships for the Goals)

The stowaways are a bit sad 😢, but their magnificent journey has come to an end. Here they are in Paris 🇫🇷 about to board the Eurostar train 🚄 that goes through a tunnel under the sea 🌊. They have had so many adventures across Europe, from Newcastle 🇬🇧 to Amsterdam 🇳🇱, Cologne 🇩🇪, Milan 🇮🇹, Rome 🇮🇹, Sicily 🇮🇹, Switzerland 🇨🇭, France 🇫🇷, and finally home again 🇬🇧. Inky Mouse was a bit disappointed to miss seeing the Eiffel Tower in Paris 🗼. You just cannot do it all, can you? They did enjoy swimming 🏊‍♂️ in the Mediterranean Sea and relaxing in the shade of Reverend Breakey’s fan 🍃. It was very relaxing indeed!

What an adventure they’ve had. Thank you to Reverend Breakey for taking Inky and Lion on such an exciting journey. We can’t wait to welcome everyone back home again safe and sound.

A huge well done to our Primary 7 pupils who successfully completed their Bikeability Road Safety Training this week with the brilliant Mike Blakeman.

During the session, pupils took to the local roads to develop their cycling confidence and learn vital safety skills. From signalling at junctions to checking for traffic and managing road positioning, everyone rose to the challenge and made amazing progress.

Mike Blakeman was full of praise for the group, saying:

“They were all great and grew over the sessions, particularly individuals who overcame many challenges. Fantastic to see their confidence grow.”

Lacey, Carter, and Louise, who showed great determination throughout. Each of them overcame challenges and grew in confidence as the sessions went on. Their perseverance and positive attitudes were impressive!

It was wonderful to see the pride on everyone’s faces as they achieved their certificates and cycled away with new skills and self-belief.

Thank you again to Mike for leading such an engaging and supportive session, and to our P7s for being such fantastic role models.

Keep cycling safely, everyone! 🚲💪

UNCRC

• Article 29 – Education should develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full

SHANARRI

• Safe – Pupils learned how to stay safe while cycling on roads

Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing – Promotes active, healthy lifestyles through cycling