Today we made full use of National Outdoor Learning Day.  Bright and early, we headed up to Dunskey Woods to take part in a range of learning activities across the curriculum.

Observational Zones – Maths & Science

First on the agenda was a combined maths and science challenge.  The children used a metre stick to find a natural stick of equivalent length.  We then used that stick as a measure to locate 3  more.  We formed a metre square area with our sticks as boundary markers.  We then observed the natural objects that were present in our study zone.  There was a wide variety of items; from pine needles to leaves and  larvae to beetles.  The class created a tally chart of the objects they observed in each group zone.  Finally, we used digital technology to present our data as a bar graph to interpret our results more readily.

Tower Building – Engineering

The next challenge was to see which group could build the tallest free standing tower using just sticks. There was a lot of discussion on how to tackle this problem.  Some opted for a layered square tower, whilst other groups made use of a conical shape.  The children quickly realised that balancing the sticks to a centre point gave the most height.  They also concluded that they needed a key stick with a ‘Y’ shaped branch formation to help support the structure.  Maya, Ava Lily, Tilly and Izzy were the winning team with a final height of an impressive 2.5 metres!  This was even after their first tower of 2 metres got knocked down by accident.  They rebuilt in super quick time, even taller than before.  Well done on your resilience girls.

Mud Monsters – Art /Language (follow up task for tomorrow)

Everyone then moved on to create mud monsters.  The children combined water and soil to create just the right consistency of mud to bind and adhere to tree trunks.  They then used their inventiveness to imagine a monster character.  They used foraged materials such as twigs, leaves, moss and pine needles to create the facial features for their monsters.  You will see from the photos below that it is an interesting rogues gallery.

We made sure we had gloves for those who wanted to use them, water and wet wipes to wash our hands, and hand sanitiser to ensure we kept as clean as possible.

The follow up creative writing task will require the children to write a fact sheet to describe their mud monster character, its personality characteristics and what it likes to do. We will focus on the use of similes, alliteration and metaphors as figurative language tools.

 

Journey Sticks – HWB (nature appreciation/choice & personalisation)

After lunch, we chose to take a closer look at our everyday, familiar surroundings with a fresh focus. The children went on a forage hunt around the school playground, selecting appealing items that they found interesting.  Each little treasure was tied carefully to a stick they had brought back from the woods to make a traditional Journey Stick.  We talked about our objects and why we selected them.  Further talking and listening skills will be used to describe our objects in more detail.

Throughout the day, the children demonstrated great interpersonal skills. They all cooperated, shared ideas and thinking and supported each other fully.  They took care of their environment and made sure they left everything as they should. They were a pleasure to spend a grand day outdoors with.

Successful Learners

Responsible Citizens

 

 

P4-7 have been busy applying their computational thinking to programme dance animations. Computational thinking allows us to take a problem, understand what the problem is and develop solutions. We can then present these solutions in a way that a computer, a human, or both, can understand.

The children have been using and applying logic skills to create algorithms with sequenced coding command blocks.  They have had to filter unnecessary lines of code using abstraction and then debug their coding algorithm to ensure it satisfies the task requirement.  Busy bees!

Copy and paste the links below to watch a sample of their avatars boogie on down!

https://studio.code.org/s/dance-extras-2019/stage/1/puzzle/2

https://studio.code.org/projects/dance/eIm3Fhr4kU7Oa0tOWvFjJLiWpeIndXmVg7Ax9qKIpEw/edit

https://studio.code.org/s/dance-extras-2019/stage/1/puzzle/9

https://studio.code.org/projects/dance/4wvhLTrMrzvMlH-q5KDa0indo-urM09uJQ-n6J8Nk3A/edit

https://studio.code.org/projects/dance/owXcOnfDI9KqbSYmG9MoeoSmH7JAqs2r7Gfe42yfbVo/edit

Successful Learners

Portpatrick Primary had another super fun-filled day which ” Lifted everyone’s spirits !” After the morning activities, the children enjoyed the annual Halloween party which was very well organised by our fa-boo-lous  House Captains – Izzy and Robin .

While things were slightly different this year in that we had to have our party within our class bubble, we still had a wicked time. Games included a costume parade, spooky statues, wrap the mummy, creepy corners, pumpkin race, haunted chairs and finished with the best dancer.

The winners for best costume in each category ;

Primary 1/2 – Harry McKie

Primary 3/4 – Cameron McNiell

Primary 4/5 – Atticus Orr-Ewing

Primary 6/7 – Alba White

See below for some photos of the pupils enjoying their parties and all the wonderful costumes!

Happy Halloween everyone 😀

Our Halloween STEM fun continued today as we got stuck in to a food technology team activity.  We scooped out pumpkin flesh and followed an instruction text recipe to make the American Halloween treat of pumpkin pie. We used a variety of food preparation techniques such as chopping, boiling, blending, mixing and rolling etc.

Robin’s uncle was up at the crack of dawn making short crust pastry, to Gillespies’s secret recipe, for us to use for our pies.  We all agreed the pastry was just delicious.  Thank you so much to Iain!

Many of us had never tasted pumpkin pie and we were keen to try it. We can report that the flavour didn’t disappoint.

Nothing was wasted as we roasted the pumpkin seeds.  We enjoyed eating this nutritious and healthy snack.

The children were in charge of the tasks in the activity.  This included using their technology skills to record our steps with digital photography.  The boys and girls also designed and carved the pumpkin for themselves.

Successful Learners

Effective Contributors

Some of you might remember that back in January of this year Portpatrick Primary submitted an application for a STEM Nation Award. Ms Worlow has been developing STEM across all three schools now for a number of years. As a result, last year Portpatrick Primary was invited by Education Scotland to participate in the STEM Nation Award Pilot Scheme.

I am delighted to report that everyone’s hard work has been formally recognise. Portpatrick Primary has received a STEM Nation certificate which recognises excellence in STEM curriculum and Learner Pathways.  Thank you again to Ms Whorlow for providing excellent STEM experiences and for all the hard work and dedication in putting together the application !

Halloween has definitely not been cancelled this year at Portpatrick Primary. Today, the boys and girls enjoyed an immersive STEM Day themed on all things Halloween.

Throughout the tasks the children were using and applying  Skills 4.0 as outlined by Education Scotland as promoting skills development for a thriving future for our children and young people.

Bone Bridge Building – Engineering:

The boys and girls were set the challenge of working collaboratively to design and construct a ‘bone bridge’ using cotton bud bones and a range of selected construction materials.  The design criteria was to create and build a bridge that was raised from the surface and that had a span of between 0.5 metres to 1 metre long.

The children were completely focussed on their task; discussing and sharing their ideas.  They quickly adapted and modified designs in light of practical experience to achieve their successful outcome.

Self-Inflating Ghost Heads – Chemistry:

The two classes took turns to combine substances to create a chemical reaction.  We poured 50ml of vinegar into a drink bottle.  We added a heaped teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda into a balloon with a spooky face drawn on it. We then stretched the balloon neck over the neck of the bottle.  When we were ready, we all tipped the balloons upright and watched them inflate.

Maya explained that the two substances reacted together and that the chemical reaction produced carbon dioxide which inflated our balloon ghost heads.

Creature Catchers – Engineering/CDT:

The next challenge was to design a creature catcher web that would be capable of trapping creepy crawlies when lifted up after they had been placed on its surface.  The winning team would be the one that had the least amount of creatures fall through the net and escape the spider’s web.

The most problematic area was how to construct a frame with which to create the net.  Once the children overcame that, they quickly found efficient methods of weaving a network grid to capture the creepy creatures.

To test our creature catchers, we placed 20 creepy crawlies on top of each catcher and lifted it to see how many would fall through.  We had great results with only a quarter falling through on one design and zero falling through on each of the others.  We discussed why more fell through on the one catcher and determined that there were more gaps on that mesh as the weave was only in one direction.  We reviewed and reflected on how to improve the efficiency of that design.  It was a great learning activity for all.

Trick or Treat Toss – Physics:

The final challenge involved imagining a scenario where a shy ghost wanted to find a way to deliver trick or treat sweets to children without having to leave his haunted house.  The children designed and built their own catapults using fulcrums.  We then tested our treat launchers to see which design managed to send a wrapped sweet the farthest distance.  Robin and Alfie managed to toss their sweet an impressive 1.9  metres.

There is more spooky learning & fun planned for tomorrow.  Watch this space!

Effective Contributors

Successful Learners

Mhwwwhaaahah!

Today we said goodbye to our wonderful school cleaner, Larraine. After working at Portpatrick Primary School for 10 years (yes 10!!), Larraine has decided to put her feet up and retire!

The pupils presented Larraine with some gifts from the children, staff and the Parent Council to remember Portpatrick Primary by – she loved the handmade card with a photo of her wearing a flowery headband!!!

Thank-you Larraine for everything you have done for Portpatrick Primary, both in your capacity as our cleaner and in volunteering. Enjoy your well deserved retirement – and don’t be a stranger!

Today we said thank-you goodbye to our superstar janitor, Mr Brawls, who has sadly retired from Portpatrick Primary. Mr Brawls has been at Portpatrick for over 3 years and has worked his socks over – nothing was ever a problem to him!

Our House Captains and a few other pupils presented Mr Brawls with some retirement gifts, to fondly remember his time at Portpatrick Primary by.

Thank-you for everything Mr Brawls – we’ll miss you! Enjoy your retirement!

As part of our ongoing commitment to S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) we got our aprons on today; with food technology and nutrition as our learning focus.

This year, the Royal Horticultural Society’s Big Soup share took a different tack, where organisations were encouraged to share a pot of soup within their social bubbles.  The annual event is to encourage social involvement and highlight the issue of food waste.

The boys and girl picked our home grown sweetcorn  and leeks from our veggie patch.  We brought in a range of vegetables to add to our pot.  We cleaned,  prepped and chopped carrot, pepper, sweetcorn, leek and onion.  The children were given a choice of adding rice, pasta or lentils to our soup.  Rice was the winning choice.

Next, we simmered our soup and enjoyed a tasting session in the afternoon.  The verdict was that soup is a great way to get those veggies eaten in a delicious way.  There were seconds and even thirds served and the pot was scraped empty!

Successful Learners

P1-4 pupils had a wonderful session with Susi Briggs on Wednesday afternoon, as part of the Rhins Coastal Path project. Susi popped back this afternoon to complete her input with the class – and what a lovely time we had out in the sunshine making music!

We started by humming along to familiar tunes – pupils suggested sounds we could make such as meowing, barking, howling rather than saying ‘la’ all the time – we had quite the menagerie!!  We then kept the beat to a different tune by tapping, clapping and jiving! Pupils started to compose a class song on Wednesday all about the things they saw at the beach last week, so we had a practise of our song, standing like a professional choir on the outdoor steps!

Next, we got the instruments out – this was the bit we had all been waiting for!! We practised playing our instruments at different speeds and volumes – we definitely needed our listening ears on for this one given the noise level!

After that, we split into 2 groups – 1 group explored the instruments and looked and which instrument would be best to match a given word/phrase, e.g. the clip-clop of horses hooves, the shimmering of the waves. The other group worked with Mrs McHarg to decide on actions/movements for given words – we pretended we were limpets on the shore and used our arms to wave like seaweed. We were then given a song and we had to choose instruments and actions to match the words – and then performed it to the class.

After one final version of our class song which was recorded, we thanked Susi for a fabulous afternoon of music outdoors!