P1-4 joined Elizabeth Tindall on the beach yesterday as part of the Rhins Coastal Path Project. Thankfully the sun was shining (although Mrs McHarg & Mrs Rice both wished they took their gloves with them!!).

The pupils had a fun filled morning learning lots about various things on the beach. First, we had a nurdle hunt – these are small pellets of plastic that get washed up on the shore line. We hunted for limpets and sea aenmones and learned why/how limpets stick to the rocks on the beach.

Next, we searched for some perfectly sized stones and cleaned them in the rock pools (some children were also “cleaned” after slipping into the water…!!). Whilst waiting for our stones to dry, we listened to Elizabeth tell a story using her story stones and then used acrylic pens to create our own.

After a break, Elizabeth explained about the different types of seaweed on the beach and we went to see how many different types we could find – the most common ones were bladder rack, sea lettuce and sugar rack. Pupils seemed rather horrified to learn that toothpaste has seaweed in it, as does some types of ice-cream!!!

At the start of our session, we found some larger stones to place at the edge of the sea, so to finish off our session we went to find our stones – but they were no where to be seen! Elizabeth then explained that the tide moves in and out over the course of the day, and we played a little game at the edge of the water (although some overly-enthusiastic pupils ran a bit too fast and didn’t stop at the edge of the water, ending up with soggy feet!!!).

Everyone had a fab morning and learned lots about the beach. Huge thanks to Elizabeth for the past 2 days’ input – we are really looking forward to our next session with Suzi next week!

Today P 4- 7 joined Elizabeth Tindal for another outdoor session in the glorious sunshine.  We walked up the steps at the start of the Southern Upland Way path.  As we strolled, we took time to observe the different fauna and flora that grew along the pathway.

We tasted edible leaves, which were a bit nippy on the tongue and discussed salt environment hardy species of flowers such as the pink sea campion.  We learned that this plant  thrives along the coastline.  There were a few butterfly visitors to the flowers as we watched.  As the seed pods were ready, we gathered and scattered some seeds to help the species propagate and support our insect wildlife.

Next, we recycled card with a strip of double sided tape along it. We used this to gather a collection of plant colours and textures as we walked farther along.  We were careful to only pick tiny samples from each of the plants. There was a kaleidoscope of colours to choose from.

We even got to get up close and personal with an insect.  Can you identify it? 😉

Successful Learners

P4 – 7 spent the morning at our lovely, local beach today as part of our participation in the Rhins Coastal Paths Project. We were joined by Anna Johnson, Countryside Development Office and Elizabeth Tindal.

A further session with Susi Briggs, songwriter, will follow to develop our song writing skills using our session events as a stimulus.

The session began by us going on a beach forage. The children worked in pairs to bring back one object they knew something about and one thing they wanted to find out about. We found and discussed a wide variety of seaweed, crab claws, mermaid’s purses and the like. We learned that seaweed comes in three main colour groups: red, green and brown. We also discovered that some varieties are edible when freshly picked.  There is even a sweet tasting one that was used in a blancmange recipe during WWII rationing.

Next, the boys and girls placed large stones on the edge of the water to see if the tide was coming in or out. Pretty quickly, our rocks were submerged showing an advancing tide.  The children enjoyed a wellie wade whilst we were at it 😉

We learned how to identify male and female crabs by the banding on their outer exoskeletons. We readily found live examples of crabs on the beach to study along with anemones and whelks. The children were fascinated by the rock pool life forms.

The session then moved on to our using story stones to link together a creative and imaginative tale using the images painted on the rocks as features in our story. The children gathered a stone of their liking and decorated it with a picture using acrylic pens. These will be used in a future story telling and song writing session planned for the following week.

As a final activity, everyone gathered two more stones which we studied. We learned how many stones are formed e.g. sedimentary or volcanic. Our stone treasures were used as percussion instruments to produce a musical tune in groups. Different sounds were produced by rubbing surfaces together or tapping the stones together gently or with more pressure for volume.

It was all too quickly time to return to school for our lunch. The children thanked Anna and Elizabeth for a very informative and enjoyable outdoor learning session.

Successful Learners

Lots of pupils have been busy filling in application forms and/or interviewing for positions of responsibility in school over the last week, giving them a taster of the world of work! All of the position have now been announced – much to the delight of pupils who were desperate to find out!

In our Pupil Council for this session we have: Harry (P1-2), Erin (P3), Max (P4), Jack (P5), Ava Lily (P6) and Lillie (P7).

Taking on the task of kick starting our new Eco action plan in the hope of achieving another Green Flag, in the Eco committee we have: Adam, Rebecca, Louise, Cameron, Lewis, Alba and Ruby.

We have a few helping hands around the school this term, our monitors are:

• Dinner hall – Sean Paul and Conor
• Library – Maya
• Cloakroom – Arran (infants) and Alfie (upper)

Our new tech-savvy Digital Leaders will be on hand to lend their expertise to both classes! They had their digital skills tested before they were even appointed, as they had an online application form to complete! Digital Leaders this session are:

And finally – House Captains! All of our prospective candidates had to prepare a short election speech which they said to the whole school, who then voted for the best person for the job. Hopefully leading Dunskey to success is Robin, and heading up Portree is Izzy! Everyone did an amazing job at their speeches, we were all super impressed with the time and effort that went into these.

Well done to everyone who applied for a position – there were lots of very difficult decisions!

We were delighted to receive a beautiful bouquet of ‘Gryffindor’ roses and a stunning hand made card from Ava Lily and Atticus’ family this morning.  These were given as a thank you for our Hogwarts event yesterday.

We are sure you will agree that Ava Lily and Atticus’ uncle, Thomas Nguyen, is indeed a very talented artist.

The message inside made us all smile.  Your thoughtfulness and consideration is greatly appreciated by our wee team.  It was certainly our pleasure to host the event yesterday.  It was hard to tell whether the children, or the grown ups had more fun!

 

Pupils had lots of fun trying to create the finger puzzle. This was very tricky and we had to practise using our scissors again as well as following instructions and folding. This can be very tricky for some pupils but it’s a great activity for fine motor skill development. Pupils had lots of fun and now have a great game they can play and a little memento from our day at Portpatrick Hogwarts.

Pupils in the younger class had a little try at writing with quills, chalk and slate. This tied in nicely with their current topic of school long ago. We disused how quill writing and writing on slate with chalk was how pupils were expected to write long ago. Pupils used the Hogwarts writing paper to practise handwriting and while we didn’t have real ink – we did have a try at writing with the quill and some black paint. Some pupils found the quills a little big for their tiny hands which resulted in a few tickles under their noses.

Physical Education also took a magical turn today as pupils took part in a Quiddich target practice and Dobbies Sock Toss- Hosted by our very own Dobbie !

Pupils were split up into the four Houses ( Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw) before the games began. On this occasion Gryffindor did not win and in an unusual twist it was in fact Slytherin who won the Dobbie Sock Toss and Ravenclaw who won the Quidditch  target practise. In the spirit of things all staff were in on the action and were assigned to a team. All the boys and girls were in good spirts and had lots of fun as well as learning a few things about the different types of throwing and catching techniques too.

First order of the day was to put on our Harry Potter glasses and start making our cloaks. Pupils were given instructions which they had to read and carefully follow. Younger pupils worked together to support the reading side of things. This involved some cutting which some found difficult given the material. However in the end we all made some fantastic Harry Potter capes and we headed outside to take a quick photograph.

Cloak Making Instructions
– Cut the bottom off a bin bag
– Open the bin bag up
– Cut along the top of both tie handles
– Lay the bag out flat with both of the top tabs facing you.
– Cut the bag from top to bottom on both sides
– You should now have two capes. Tie the tabs together.
Finally, enjoy your Hogwarts cape.

P 4- 7 decided to use air dry  modelling clay to shape the Harry Potter Sorting Hats.  We used rolling, flattening and shaping to form the hat.  We then used a range of tools to imprint the face and wrinkle detail onto our creations.

When they are fully dry we will see if we want to paint and varnish them with P.V.A. glue to seal them.

We hope you like them.