Portpatrick Primary

The boys and girls of Portpatrick Primary rolled up their sleeves and got stuck in to some planting on Friday.  We applied to the Woodland Trust to receive a grant of 20 different tree saplings and 20 shrubs for our school grounds.  The aim of the project is to support biodiversity and to create natural habitats for wildlife in our area.  We have been gifted species such as rowan, birch, hawthorn and dog rose to name but a few.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As part of our British Science Week activities, the children were given the opportunity to find out about what plants need in order to grow and survive.  They will have the opportunity to observe and record their findings and use what they have learned to  grow healthy plants in school.

It is hoped that the plants will flourish and give pleasure for years to come.

# Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors.

Celebrating ‘all-things-science’ this week saw the Primary 5 to 7 pupils explore coding using Micro:bits using an “if … then … else… “ statement to control what was happening with our LEDs  and speakers when we pushed certain buttons.

The children really enjoyed applying their computational thinking skills to bring block programming to life using these great bits of hardware!

1. Algorithms-Creating step by step instructions or rules to solve a problem
2. Abstraction –Identifying key information & removing unnecessary details
3. Logic-To analyse and make predictions
4. Decomposition-Breaking a problem down into smaller manageable parts
5. Pattern Recognition-Observe patterns, trends and spot similarities
6. Evaluation-Assessing the solution and making judgements

If you would like to have a go at programming at home, why not visit https://microbit.org/projects/make-it-code-it/?filters=makecode

Select a project and open in ‘make code editor’.  This has a Micro:bit simulator – no Micro:bit needed!

# Successful Learners

As part of our Rights Respecting Schools Silver Award, our P6’s and House Captains from across our partnership took on some responsible training today.  The Diana Trust delivered a workshop on developing our older pupils as Anti-Bullying Ambassadors.

This is supported by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, The Diana Award Anti-Bullying Campaign engages schools to change the attitudes, behaviour and culture of bullying by building skills and confidence to identify and deal with different situations.

The aims of the session were:

• I know what bullying behaviour is and how to identify it
• I understand how bullying behaviour can make someone feel
• I can support students in school who are experiencing bullying behaviour

We defined what is meant by bullying behaviour as:

Repeated negative behaviour that is intended to make others feel upset, uncomfortable and unsafe.

The children had lots of rich discussion around this topic with our online trainer, Clio.  We talked about situations to determine whether they were bullying or not.  Pupils were shown that there are three steps to support a peer who might approach us with a problem – S.A.D.:

• Say – Thank you (for trusting us)
• Ask – Tell me what’s been going on?
• Do – What do you want to do?

Everyone was reminded that all school staff are always here to manage and deal with any situation that might arise. Our ambassadors are there to help anyone experiencing bullying access support from an adult.  There is scope for our ambassadors to work together to achieve 4 different challenge badges.

Childline is available for any child to call 24/7, 365 days a year on 08001111.  The Diana Award Crisis Messaging service provides a free text support service for children, also available at any time.  Simply text DA to 85258!

# Responsible Citizens

This morning, Primary 5 – 7 were lucky enough to enjoy a hands-on session with the marvellous Kathryn Purchase of History Alive!

The children covered the Scottish Wars of Independence as their Social Studies topic for this term – and Kathryn was the very person to help bring this historical period to life for them with her fact-busting whizz through the years in question, answering any queries pupils had about the events of the time (clue – lots of unfortunate deaths, power struggles, scheming nobles and some ghastly treatment from both sides of their enemies!

The pupils were enthralled. Kathryn has a wonderful knack of really bringing the history to life for them. Needless to say, her huge collection of artefacts (some bought and some made by herself) helped too. Everyone listened to her retelling of the life and times of King Alexander III, William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and those momentous battles of Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn and , after a quick break, Kathryn let them explore the helmets, shields and swords  (safe replicas!) and ask questions. Such fun – just take a look at the fabulous photos Mrs Dignan took below! (click to see full image)

A Fierce Bunch Indeed!

 

This was a wonderful way to bring the children’s learning to a conclusion. It was a morning to remember – thank you Kathryn.

# Successful Learners

 

 

Primary 5 to 7 got their engineering thinking caps on to learn more about the physics of chain reactions using potential and kinetic energy.

The children first enjoyed watching videos of Rube Goldberg machines to explore these principles.

You must have a watch as they are very impressive!

This Too Shall Pass

Honda

Keen to invent and apply their creativity skills as part of developing the skills for life, learning and work, the children designed, tested and modified their very own ‘Rube Goldberg’ marble runs for best efficiency.  Through rich discussion and application, they explored physics!

Gravity pulls the marble down the first slope. At the top of the slope, the marble has potential energy (energy that’s stored up and ready to be released). As the marble rolls down the hills the potential energy turns into kinetic energy (energy of motion).

If you would like to find out more about a Rube Goldberg machine, and perhaps create one of your own at home as a family, why not watch here!

# Successful Learners and Effective Contributors

As part of British Science Week, Primary 5 to 7 pupils went outdoors to learn about vessel design by applying science  Building on developing the young workforce, the children first watched a video that showed the different vessels that are used both in deep sea and coastal waters for a range of different jobs in the subsea industry.

We decided to explore different bow shape designs to see if we could determine which style might be the most streamlined.  We set up an experiment where we created a section of sea by using guttering filled with water.  We then tied string to each of our ‘vessels’, each with a different shaped bow.

The children decided that the same person should gently pull each vessel along by the string.  They determined that this would be a fairer test as the same person was more likely to apply the same pulling force each time, keeping the conditions as close to the same as possible for each test.

We timed how long it took for each vessel to travel from one end of the guttering to the other.  The results were as follows:

• Pointed bow = 14.02s
• Rounded bow = 15.2s
• Flat bow = 15.66s

The children concluded that the pointed bow was the most streamlined as it took less time to travel the distance.  They felt that this was because the shape reduced friction, offering low resistance through the water.

 

# Successful Learners

Last night saw the return of the eagerly awaited annual Burns recitation competition at the Ryan Centre organised by the Stranraer and District Burns Club.  Children, families and friends from all over the Stranraer area came together to watch the winners from each school recite their Scots poetry.

It was a very entertaining evening with so much talent and confidence on show.  There were two categories; P3 – 5 and P6 – 7.  Our North Rhins was well represented by the following pupils:

P3 – 5

• Jack Howie: Kirkcolm Primary – The Auld Broon Troot
• Ewan Clark: Leswalt Primary – Beasties
• Cameron McNeill: Portpatrick Primary – The Auld Broon Troot

P6 – 7

• Alexander Clark: Leswalt Primary – The Moosie’s Prayer
• Luke Butler: Kirkcolm Primary – Address Tae A Haggis
• Maya McNeill: Portpatrick Primary – Address Tae a Haggis

We are delighted to announce that Cameron McNeill won second place in the younger category and Maya McNeill also won second place in the older category.  Congratulations to both!  They each received a book of the complete works of Robert Burns.

Every child that recited had already been judged as winners in their respective schools.  They all gave a sterling performance and they well deserved the certificate they achieved for their participation this event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cameron’s Performance:

Maya’s Performance:

 

The Free Press will be publishing an article with photographs of all the participants.  More photos will be posted on here hopefully later today.

Well done Everyone!

#Confident Individuals

 

 

 

Our trio partnership football  team had their first outing in over 2 years, and despite never having trained in school or playing together as a team they came together extremely well.

The team of pupils from Kirkcolm, Leswalt and Portpatrick schools had 3 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws. What a result!

Well done to Ruby from Portpatrick for playing her part in it all.

Well done to all for their enthusiasm and team spirit. The next games are on the 25th March .

 

As part of our journey towards Rights Respecting Schools Silver status, the children have been discussing all of the rights within the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).  They have discussed what rights they feel are most important and have explained their views.  Here is just a sample for you to see what responsible citizens we have!

 

RRS Silver Our Views On Rights video

If you would like to find out more about Rights Respecting Schools, here is a link to their website.

The pupils of Portpatrick Primary were lucky enough to visit a workshop to observe a skiff under construction in our village.  This lovely example of craftsmanship is being built solely by volunteers, and under the umbrella of projects of the Portpatrick Community Development Trust.  Some aims of the trust is the provision of recreational facilities and the advancement the arts, heritage and culture.

The trust started work on the skill in September 2021. The design of skiff is that of a St. Ayles. The children were delighted and fascinated to see such creativity close up.

Thank for PCDT for allowing us to visit.