Portpatrick Primary

We had a wonderful trip to Mabie Farm Park yesterday! 

The weather was kind to us which really helped. The boys and girls (and staff!) tried out the jumping pillows, bouncy castles, the very popular ‘choo choo express’, play park, grass sledging, trampolines, donkey rides and the straw barn! Apologies, you might have found your little one came home with half the straw with them! The bus driver really did brush pupils down before they got back on the bus!

We also got the chance to meet some of the animals; Pandora the giant long-haired bunny was quite an attraction, as was the baby guinea pig.

The boys and girls were on the go the whole day, stopping briefly to enjoy a picnic lunch before dashing off to explore more. The behaviour of all our pupils was excellent – a real credit to our wee school. 

There were a few snores resonating from the bus too (no, not the teachers!).

Thanks to all for making this day out a wonderful success. Thanks also for the helping hand cheque from the Parent Council. What a brilliant way to round off a fun session 2015-16!

On Friday 24th June the boys and girls of Portpatrick Primary headed a walk round Dunskey estate to help raise money for the Parent Council.  Supported by family and friends the school set off for  a stroll in the sunshine.  Everyone had fun, and hopefully raised plenty of money in the process.

Our partnership football team, incorporating pupils from Leswalt Primary school has finished off a very busy summer season of games with 4 tournaments in the last 4 days!

On Friday, they entered Park Primary football tournament and won every game, taking them to the final where they were narrowly beaten 3:1 by Rephad in the final.

On Saturday they were in action again at Castle Kennedy Primary, and on Sunday they ended up runners up at Sandhead fun day football tournament, after numerous wins again.

Yesterday they played their final games in the summer league, which has been playing on a Monday night at the 3G pitch in Stranraer.  The team finished a very credible 4th, out of all 12 primary schools in our area.

Well done to all who have played in the team.  Many thanks must  go to Ewan Dodds from Leswalt who has given up a lot of his own personal time to coach the children.  Thanks also to all the parents who have helped transport footballers and supervise them at matches this year.

What a team!

On Tuesday 14th June Portpatrick Primary had their annual sports, up on the playing fields at the top of the village. After being postponed from the previous day, the sun came out and all enjoyed an afternoon of fun competition, which was cheered on by family and friends.

The winners of the sports champion awards will be announced at the closing ceremony on Friday 1st July

Have a look to see all the boys and girls in action!

Glorious sunshine, delicious food and great company! Today we enjoyed a delicious lunch outside to celebrate the Queen’s official birthday. Barbara had organised our lunches in Union Jack bags with yummy Union Jack decorated cupcakes as a treat too.

Bet the Queen wished she had been able to join us! 

 

On  Wednesday 1st of June, Portpatrick Primary school set out in the glorious sunshine to help tidy our village.  The boys and girls, accompanied by parents, grandparents and siblings, went down to the beach to collect litter along the shoreline.  We were warmly greeted and encouraged by holiday visitors and their families.  After making the beach spick and span for everyone to enjoy, the school progressed to the play park and the public areas at the heart of the village.  We dutifully bagged and binned 12kg of litter, helping to make our village shine.    This was a great learning opportunity for the children as the task supports the requirements of Eco Schools Scotland.  Such whole-school activities help to cultivate the children’s social skills, developing their capacities for learning i.e. responsible citizens and effective contributors and aligns with the learning experiences and outcomes of the Health and Wellbeing curriculum.  

Take a look at our happy snaps to see our little workers in action!

 

E & O’s relevant from Early – Second level

Representing my class, school and/or wider community encourages my self worth and confidence and allows me to contribute to and participate in society. HWB 2-12a

Through contributing my views, time and talents, I play a part in bringing about positive change in my school and wider community.

HWB 2-13a

I value the opportunities I am given to make friends and be part of a group in a range of situations. HWB 2-14a

On Tuesday we had the pleasure of a visit from Wayne Dixon and his dog, Koda, who are on a major litter-busting mission!

Together Wayne and Koda are walking around the coast of Britain and litter-picking as they go. He explained to us about how important it is to keep the world around us looking as beautiful as it really is. Some of the boys and girls in P1-4 wrote about his visit.

Maya P1

We asked Wayne lots of questions about what he is doing. He’s going to walk around the whole country with litter pickers and clean everywhere up! If people keep on dropping litter then he will be doing this job forever! He had a lovely big dog called Koda who is walking with him so he is not lonely.

 

Liam P2

Wayne told us about his dog. He is called Koda and likes to go for long walks too. They like to walk together. Koda was quite a big dog and he was mostly white. They’ve found lots of litter. People need to put their litter in a bin.

 

Rhian P4

Wayne told us about some of the strange litter they have found like take-away boxes, phone cases and hats! He wants to keep Britain tody. He likes walking because he used to go on walks with his dad. His dad died a few years ago but Wayne likes to walk in memory of him. Wayne and Koda have a tent to sleep in if they need to but he uses his Facebook page too and sometimes pubs and hotels let him stay there instead. He asked us to help out by putting out litter in the bin and telling everyone we know to do the same! We promised that we would.

This afternoon Isla, Lara and Kelsey travelled to Stranraer Academy with Mrs Mercer to represent Portpatrick Primary in the local heat of the “ice cream challenge” competition.  This team was selected as the winning entry from the school and they went on to compete against other local primary schools in Stranraer.  After an intense afternoon of ice cream making and judging,  our trio from Portpatrick were delighted to be crowned winners!

The girls will now go on to represent the Stranraer schools at the Dumfries final next month.  Well done girls

!

All of P1-4 recently went along to Leswalt Wetlands to learn a bit more about caring for the local environment.  They were met by the team of excellent volunteers there who guided the pupils though various activities such as pond dipping and a scavenger hunt.   The boys and girls learned a lot about the natural environment and the habitats which are home to a variety of different plants and animals.

All the boys and girls had an excellent afternoon, and learned a lot more about the lovely local environment of Aldouran Wetlands –  as well as being able to have lunch and a play with their friends in Leswalt Primary.

 

Prior to taking part in a Stranraer cluster ice cream making competition, P5-7 at Portpatrick had their own competition in class.    Children came into school with all the ingredients and were awarded points on creativity, taste, health promoting and fair trade/food miles.

Pupils were all given the opportunity to taste all of the creations – and staff enjoyed this as well!  There was a wonderful variety of flavours; including berry based, bannofee, marshamallow and fudge.  The most unusual was the cheese ice cream and the entran who added salt instead of sugar!

After much deliberation Isla was voted the school winner- as the tastiest.  Kesley and Abbigale were judged to have met the most criteria for the competition.  Lara was commended for use of superfruits and locally source ingredients.

Isla, Kelsey and Abbigale will go forward to represent Portpatrick Primary in the next stage of this competition.

Good luck to the girls – and watch out Cream of Galloway!