"Anchored in Excellence"
P1-3 have been learning about Our Community. They went for an observational walk in Portpatrick village to identify the different kinds of places that could be found. They then carried out a sorting activity in the classroom by categorising the facilities they saw into:
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We have been waiting patiently for a sunny day to allow us to participate in an outdoor shadow investigation. The weather today provided the ideal conditions for us to explore shadows around us. Class 1 & 2 worked collaboratively to undertake some, or all, of the following tasks as appropriate:
Class 2 are going to continue our science investigation by conducting a fair test that the boys and girls have designed. Mia is our control object that we will use to block the Sun and create a shadow. We will measure and record both the direction and length of the shadow at different times of day to observe any changes. She will stand in the same location each time. Class 2 have predicted that the direction and length will vary dependent on the position of the Sun in the sky! Do you think their prediction is correct?
# Successful Learners & Effective Contributors
Update – Today Class 2 completed our investigation into shadow direction, angle and length. We discovered that at the start of the day Mia’s shadow was long and got gradually shorter as the Sun was higher in the sky. The shadow length then began to reduce in the afternoon. Also, we measured the angle of the shadowa and it was moving approximately 20 degrees every hour!
Today, the whole school engaged in collaborative learning with their buddies from the opposite class. The boys and girls are preparing for careers in the future by learning how to complete job application forms. They have worked together to identify the personal skills and qualities they each have that would make them effective in the role of a pupil council representative. P4-7 are learning to use the skills of persuasion as part of their Literacy and Language learning this term.
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The boys and girls of Portpatrick Primary look very smart today for their first day of our new term. We are so pleased to welcome Lotty, Cameron, Max, Lewis and Atticus to our school as our brand new pupils. They have been enjoying their day and are loving Barbara’s delicious meals.
The boys and girls took advantage of the dry spell to complete their community litter pick as part of our ongoing Eco School’s work. We helped to tidy the park and picnic area in the village. We were impressed to see that the quantity of litter has reduced since our last activity.
We took a moment to admire the view from Mr Tyson’s bench, kindly donated by the community council. We tidied around his bench to make it spick and span.
We then returned to school to tidy our own playground.
#Responsible Citizens
All the pupils from Portpatrick, Leswalt and Kirkcolm came together to get to know one another better today. A beach clean and a sports day was planned, but due to the weather, we quickly improvised. The children performed a range of songs to entertain their audience and then played outside together.
The boys and girls were happy to be split into primary groups and mix with their peers from the other two schools. Each class arranged purposeful activities. The lower school played true or false ‘get to know you’ questioning, learned and performed an action song and participated in a social P.E game. The upper school engaged in STEM engineering challenges. They had to work collaboratively to design and build a helicopter using basic materials. The teams were then tasked with constructing a structure from paper straws that was capable of supporting weight. The children had many creative ideas to meet the brief.
After lunch, we all walked down to the beach where we created beach art using natural materials.
Throughout the day, the children had the opportunity to mix and form friendships between schools.
See below for a photo of the nursery boys and girls who came to visit the school for 3 days as part of their transition to the primary school. We look forward to welcoming Lottie, Max, Atticus, Lewis and Cameron to our school after the summer.
Class two culminated eight weeks of practice by presenting a musical performance to the rest of the school. They played two traditional Scot’s songs on ukuleles whilst being accompanied by John on the accordion. The audience enjoyed ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘The Bonnie Ship, The Diamond’. Unfortunately, the video is too large a file to upload but we promise it was a very professional and entertaining event.
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The partnership football team of Portpatrick/Leswalt United finished off the Summer season of fun days on winning form. Today they won every game to get through to the final at the Sandhead tournament – against their new trio partnership school of Kirkcolm.
It was a very tense final, with Mrs Baillie being very diplomatic on the sidelines and avoiding showing allegiance to any one of her schools. At full time the score was 0:0. The tension was further heightened as it went to a penalty shoot off to decide the winners. Kirkcolm narrowly won on penalties, but Portpatrick /Leswalt football team can hold their heads high that they played very well and demonstrated great sportsmanship.
Runners up Sandhead fun day 2017.
The weather was kind to us today as the whole school participated in a sponsored walk at Dunskey Estate. This was to raise funds for the P.F.A.
P1-2 walked a route from the Tea Room, round by Home Farm and the Game Keeper’s cottage before returning back to the start. P3-6 walked a longer distance appropriate to their age via Glen Lodge. Mr Orr-Ewing popped out to say hello as we walked by Dunskey House.
The children had a chance to enjoy playing in the maze before returning to school.
Thank you to the parents who gave their time to organise the walk, transport and supervise the children. Thank you also to Mr & Mrs Orr-Ewing for granting us permission to walk on the estate.
