Portpatrick Primary

As part of the national British Science Week’s (B.S.W.) celebration of science, Portpatrick Primary got their enquiring minds in gear by participating in an open afternoon.  Friends and family attended to help the children engage with a range of activities and experiments covering aspects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (S.T.E.M.)

Prior to the event, the school successfully submitted a bid for funding to purchase resources with which to promote the learning and teaching of S.T.E.M.  As a result of this, the boys and girls thought it was a good idea to get the whole community involved in sharing our exploration of the world around us.

The children were presented with a wide selection of activities such as using logic to program a moveable mouse to follow desired routes around a maze, making poo and constructing birds’ nests from natural materials in the younger class.  As you can imagine, the poo making activity proved the most popular. The upper class followed schematics to construct programmable robotic devices using Lego Wedo.  They also built complex models using a K’nex engineering kit.  The online Citizen Science activity allowed us to contribute to the B.S.W. target of tagging plastic in 250,000 images of U.K. beaches.  There were dissolving, acid & alkali experiments, magnetism, electricity, Scratch programming and geology activities too.

Everyone participated fully and were free to select which activity they desired using a carousel arrangement.  A great afternoon of learning was had by all.

P5-7 had a wonderful time this week as part of an outdoor learning opportunity.  The children set off bright and early on Monday morning for a residential excursion to the Stronord Outdoor Education Centre in Kirroughtree Forest.  The experience helped to foster their problem solving skills and develop their abilities in the four capacities of the Curriculum for Excellence: Successful Learners, Confident Individuals, Responsible Citizens & Effective Contributors

After a quick snack upon arrival we got kitted out by Ian and Mike, our instructors, and headed for the hills.  We completed a 6 mile trek along the top of Larg Hill; respecting the country code as we went.  There were beautiful views to be seen along the estuary.  The children were upbeat and approached the challenge with gusto.  We returned on a circuitous route via Garrochar Wildlife Ponds.  There were many fallen trees on the pathway as a result of the recent weather.  The children had to problem solve to identify and select safe routes through the obstacles.  We completed our walk at the churchyard where we had a well-earned breather.

Upon our return, Carol had prepared a delicious hot meal for us all.  There was a mountain of food for everyone and we all relaxed with full stomachs.  Everyone was weary after their physical efforts and all were pretty much fast asleep by 11 p.m. – a first!

The next day the boys were first to rise and enjoy breakfast.  The sleepy girls followed a while after.  We all went for a quick stroll up to the play park at Kirroughtree visitor’s centre before Ed & Robbie arrived to kit us out for our first activity of the day; mountain biking.  We progressed through a range of the forest bike trails of differing challenge.  Each person had to strategise to select speed and direction going downhill.  We also had to renegotiate our route when we encountered blocked paths.  Everyone showed determination and grit, testing their capabilities to attempt new challenges.

After lunch back at the centre, we set off again for our orienteering adventure.  The children were split into pairs.  They were required to apply their map reading skills to locate control points in the woodlands.  Once they had this competency under their belt, the children were split into teams to complete a speed challenge using electronic dibbers to record the fastest route time.  Our clear winners were Rowan and Rhian who recorded 7 control station stops in an impressive 9.46 minutes.  Sportsmanship was evident throughout as the children took care of each other, even when this impacted on time scores for the competition.

After all our exertion and activities it was then time to return to the centre and ready ourselves for the short journey home.

Everyone demonstrated strong ‘soft skills’ during our trip.  They organised themselves and made decisions seamlessly & harmoniously as a team without adult intervention.  Special recognition for ‘Team Spirit Stars’ was given to 2 boys and 2 girls: Innes & Lee and Katie & Mia who went beyond even that in their kindness and consideration towards every member of the team.  Well done all!

Many thanks go to Larraine and Mr. Harbottle for their kind assistance on our trip.

#Succesful Learners/Confident Individuals/Responsible Citizens/Effectice Contributors

Primary 5-7 headed off this morning at 8.30am for 2 days of outdoor education at Stronord outdoor education centre, near Newton Stewart.  

Day one and the pupils have had a clear dry day to enjoy hill walking.  Limited mobile phone network coverage means communication has been limited, but Ms Whorlow did manage to send through 2 photographs to illustrate what they were up to earlier………….

Class 2 braved the elements today, albeit very briefly, before returning to the warmth of the hall for our ‘outdoor’ maths.  We were applying our problem solving skills to act out adding and subtracting positive and negative numbers.  We used the Start-Direction-How he walks strategy to move ourselves along the number line to find our answer.  We now know that when the two signs in the middle of a calculation are the same the result is positive e.g. 6 -( – 4) = 10.  When the two signs in the middle of a calculation are different, the result is negative e.g. -4 + ( -2) = -6. We are problem solvers!

#Successful Learners

Primary 4-7  experienced some world culture today.  We were delighted to welcome Dr Meryl James from the  SCILT, Scotland’s National Centre for Languages, and CISS, Confucius Institute for Scotland’s School.

The children learned about the culture, language and history of China and its connections to the wider world.  Links were made to the Dragon of the Western Seas opera that we are learning as part of a national initiative.

The children were able to learn, recognise and write Chinese symbols and words over a range of topics.  There was opportunity for dress up and role play as part of our learning too.

#Successful Learners

Primary 4-7 were joined today by P6 & 7 of Kircolm Primary for a drama workshop on road safety.  The Baldybane theatre group presented a series of tableaux role plays focused on risk at an age appropriate level.  The children were involved in the sessions through discussion, questioning and ‘director’ participation to lead the action.  The pupils were encouraged to give suggestions and advice on how to keep ourselves safe on the busy roads that they encounter now and in the future when the transition to the Academy.  The session provided thought provoking material.

#Responsible Citizens

Shrove Tuesday is not till next week, but the children will be on holiday that day.  So, not to miss out, we had an early pancake making day today!

As part of our topic of Healthy Eating in Health and well being this term we have considered how to improve the health content of our pancake recipes.  We have reduced the quantity of sugar and salt in the recipe we used and we lowered the fat content by using skimmed milk.  We also added healthy toppings such a range of fruits and the natural sweetness of honey. We also factored dietry requirements by substituting dairy milk for lactose free for some of the pancakes.

This activity provided lots of inter-disciplinary learning opportunities.  The children have learned why we celebrate Shrove Tuesday as part of making links to Religious and moral education We also applied our maths skills to increase the quantities of the recipe ingredients and to measure and weigh amounts. We used our language skills by following a recipe instruction text and applied our knowledge and experience to create our own instruction recipe.  We utilised technologies to create a high quality word processed document using images and text.

Primary 1-3  were our friendly critics and judged the quality of our pancakes.  Sophia, Rose and Jack deemed them, “Delicious and yummy in our tummies!”

#successful learners

Primary 4-7  travelled to Kirkcolm primary school today to join in with a History Alive workshop with the trio senior pupils from Leswalt and Kirkcolm Primary schools.  Catherine, a historical reinactment professional, took the children on a walk back in time to the days of Wallace and Bruce.  The children learned about the struggle for independence that Scotland undertook from 1286, when Alexander III of Scotland died, until the death of Robert the Bruce in 1329.

The boys and girls had the opportunity to dress up in authentic battle style costumes and handle replica weapons of war.  The chainmail tunic itself weighed a whopping 10kg!  It was a very entertaining and educational session and has helped our learning on our Social Studies topic this term.

#Succesful Learners

The boys and girls received an unexpected visitor today.  Mrs Joan Beer enjoyed our Grandparents’ lunch so much, she was inspired to create a poem to remember the day. She thought the children would like to hear an example of creative writing being used by grown ups for pleasure.  We certainly did enjoy listening to Tatties, Neeps and Haggis Galore.  Roll on next year!

Tatties, Neeps and Haggis Galore

Tatties, neeps and haggis galore,

What a lovely treat, with knife and

Fork held in my hand, I couldn’t wait

To eat.

No sooner had I filled my tum

I couldn’t wait for seconds to come

The grans and grandads were a

Lovely bunch, and they, like me,

Enjoyed their lunch.

Rosie and I said the haggis was great,

But I only wish mine came on a

Bigger plate!!

Shortbread biscuits, coffee and

Tea, went down very well,

With Rosie and me.

The food was served by hard working

Staff, then all the young children

Made everyone laugh.

Rosie and I would both like to

Say, thanks very much for

A wonderful day.

“TATTIES, NEEPS AND HAGGIS GALORE”

So roll on next year, when I

Hope to eat more.

Joan Beer

02.02.18