Portpatrick Primary

The whole school recently enjoyed a trip down to the bowling green in the village.  Accompanied by Barbara and Alison Murray from Active Schools the school enjoyed a taster session, prior to a weekly Saturday morning club being offered to all.

The whole school enjoyed a day trip to the South Rhins.  First the bus took pupils to Logan Botanic Gardens.  At the gardens the school was split into 2 groups with pupils taking part in different workshops .  They all earned a lot more about pollination, plant structures and the eco systems in the Botanic gardens through participating in active outdoor learning.

Following a picnic lunch at Logan, the pupils hopped aboard the bus to travel to The Mull of Galloway.  At the most Southerly point in Scotland the school learned more about the operation and history of the lighthouse and visited the RSPB bird reserve centre to learn more about the birds who nest nearby.  They also climbed all the way to the top of the lighthouse to take in the stunning views!

It was a very busy – but very worthwhile day,  filled with lots of different new learning experiences. 

Have a look at the photographs to see all the fun  things they got up to!

The boys and girls of Portpatrick Primary are continuing to get out and about doing their daily mile walk around the community.  Last week real community spirit was demonstrated when Mr Schofield from the Crown Hotel spotted the children out in the sunshine and invited them all to stop for a drink.  The boys and girls had a seat on the picnic tables by the harbour and enjoyed a drink of juice in the sunshine.  Thank you to the Crown Hotel!

 

Primary 5-7 have been busy learning about how to make Ice cream, using resources from “science on the menu” .  The children were provided with a variety of fresh fruits and yogurts/milk by Ms Whorlow.  They had to select the ingredients that they thought would combine well, before mixing them and turning them into ice cream – all without the use of a freezer!

This learning and teaching was in preparation for a competition which 2 of the Primary 7 pupils will be entering.  They will have to design and market their own ice cream flavour, utilising locally sourced ingredients.

Have a look at the photographs to see the ice cream making in progress – Mrs Baillie did taste some of the finished products and was pleasantly surprised!

 

What a delicious birthday buffet we enjoyed in school today to celebrate the 90th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II! Union Jack bunting was hung around the dining hall and Barbara iced some colourful buns to keep in with the red, white and blue theme. Staff sat with the pupils to enjoy their lunch too. We sang Happy Birthday in honour of Her Royal Highness and raised a toast to her with our juice. We had a lovely lunch – I wonder what she had for her birthday lunch?!

P1-4 had great fun this morning enjoying some football coaching. Lots of skills were being developed; passing, dribbling and even some impressive Ronaldo and Messi style celebrations! Many thanks must go to Gary McKnight SFA coach for his input. The children will have another 3 weeks of this to hone those footie skills further!

 

An Easter end of term service was held in school this afternoon. Rev. Burns led the service and family and friends gathered with the children. He talked to the children about the Easter story and the relevance of Easter eggs in this. We all enjoyed singing some hymns then Mrs Ferguson took a moment to reflect on the term and just some of the wonderful achievements; Lockerbie Manor, Burns Federation Winners, Curling competition, Rotary Quiz, the Sport Relief Wave Runner and Winter football league to name but a few things.

Happy Easter holiday to you all – look forward to seeing you for an action-packed, fun term 4!

What’s Easter without some traditional egg decorating? The boys and girls put their creative talents into action this morning. What an arty bunch they are!

Barbara was given the unenviable job of judging. After some close inspection she decided upon a first, second and third from each class.

P1-4                                                                          P5-7

1. Lee                                                                   1. Abbigale
2. Olivia                                                               2. Jenna
3. Jack                                                                  3. Callum

The winners’ names from each class were put into a hat and one was drawn out to win the Maltesers Easter Egg donated by Miss Whorlow. Lee was the lucky winner!

The boys and girls were surprised to find a unexpected visitor on their football pitch at interval today. No, not a world class footballer come to join their playtime kick-about but a rather bewildered looking hedgehog with a sore leg!

The children quickly alerted staff and Miss Whorlow donned some plastic gloves and popped the frightened creature into a newspaper lined box while Mrs Ferguson contacted the SSPCA.

Patrick, the name the pupils christened the little hedgehog, spent the next hour and a half in the relative quiet of the jotter cupboard until a lovely lady from the SSPCA came to collect him.

She spent some time with the children telling them what would happen next to Patrick – though it turned out he was actually a ‘Patricia’! She reckoned she was about a year old and was probably struggling to find food. She would need a full examination to find out what was wrong with her sore leg. Patricia headed off to a Hedgehog Sanctuary in North Ayrshire and she will be released back into this area in a few weeks. A happy ending!

Well done to our Rotary Quiz team of Lara, Magnus, Finn and Callum who were runners up in the annual Stranraer and district Rotary Quiz!