Portpatrick Primary

As part of Portpatrick Primary’s ongoing Eco Schools Litter campaign, we received a visit from Andy Love, Logistics Manager, and his Colleague, Leanne, both of Enterprise D & G.  They travelled especially from Dumfries to meet with us after Class 2 wrote persuasive letters appealing for a change in practice in using single use plastic straws on school milk cartons.  Enterprise D & G were so impressed with the quality of the letters and the suggested alternative strategies the children offered that they have invited the children to have a profile entry on their Facebook page.

Andy and Leanne were keen to share the initiatives that Enterprise D & G are now trying out to help combat the issue of plastic waste in our region.  They brought ‘soft cans’ for the children to sample that make straws redundant. The children agreed that the sip style cartoons were practical.  We also learned about how Enterprise D & G are testing a range of vegetable based catering products in two of the region’s secondary schools at present.  They have promised to keep us informed.

We appreciated their visit in response to the range of Eco actions we have been undertaking as a school this year.  Indeed, we are the only school that has received such a visit.  It was an informative and encouraging session for all.

# Responsible Citizens

P4-7 received a training session from qualified paramedic, Tanya Elllis, today.  Tanya works both from the ambulance and fire services.  The children learned about first aid techniques that could potentially save a life. They were given instruction in a range of areas such as C.P.R and emergency situations.  The pupils were taught the importance of assessing danger when approaching a casualty as well as checking for responsivity.  They then practiced the A.B.C. of revival using resuscitation models.  The boys and girls learned how to modify the method for young children and babies.  The class then moved on to placing their breathing casualty in the recovery position.  The group were given scenarios on how to deal with burns, breaks, cuts and seizures.  The children were mature and sensible throughout the session, asking relevant questions to gain more knowledge.

# Responsible Citizens / Successful Learners

The incoming P1 pupils have joined us this week for transition days.  The children have enjoyed getting to know their classmates, teachers and staff.  All of the older pupils have loved making a fuss of the ‘cute’ wee ones.  Hollie and Carter joined Class 1 today for lunch and agreed that Barbara’s dinners are delicious. 🙂

# New Successful Learners

Portpatrick Primary received a special invitation to visit Lactalis today to learn about the process of cheese making in our local creamery.  We believe we have had the singular honour of being the first ever school trip on their premises.

We were greeted by Hayley, from Training and Development, and Kenny, a Shift Manager.  The whole school watched videos to learn about the history of Lactalis and the wide range of dairy products they make to distribute around the world.  We learned about how the process of cheese making has changed over time from the earlier days of manual production to the automated systems that are in place today.  There was an impressive array of brands produced on site; many of which the children were familiar with.  We were surprised at the length of time it takes the different cheese varieties to mature.

The school split into two rotation groups.  One activity went to the viewing gallery to observe the cheese packing production in operation.  It was fascinating looking at the complex automated machinery move, slice and package the different cheeses.  We could clearly see the food hygiene practices that were used in the factory to maintain cleanliness.  Kenny was very patient, answering all our questions in detail.

The second activity was a cheese tasting session with Hayley.  Just like the official cheese graders, we had to use the senses of sight, touch, taste and smell to assess cheeses.  We enjoyed the tasting part in particular!  We had to decide whether cheese A and cheese B were of a medium or extra mature strength.  Using the knowledge we had gained in our earlier session, we were able to classify the samples correctly.

The children found the experience fascinating and now have a greater understanding of how technology is used in industry to make our everyday household food products.

#Successful Learners

Primary 4-7  participated in a national SSERC Glow Science Meet online hosted by Thornhill Primary School.  The theme of the investigation was to use our technologies skills to construct an ‘O’ ring glider. Along with other schools participating, we followed the video link instructions on how to construct our glider.

The activity then extended to consider a fair scientific investigation.  We asked ourselves the following question:  How can the shape of the flights on an ‘O’ ring glider affect the distance the glider travels?

The children were challenged to consider how to make this a fair test.  They were very thorough and identified the following criteria:

• We will keep the material and length of the shaft the same.
• We will use the same length and weight of cardboard strips for our flights.
• We will launch the gliders in the same way.

The only thing we decided to change was  to alter the ‘O’ ring flight shape to a square ‘box’ shape.

The children constructed both prototypes and predicted which design would travel the farthest.  We had fun testing them in our playground. After repeating our test, to ensure a clear trend, our conclusion was that the cylindrical shapes travelled a little farther.  We think this is because this was a more aerodynamic, streamlined shape.

We applied maths to measure the strips and to measure the distance of the longest flight for each trial.

It proved a very informative challenge.

# Successful learners

The whole school set off bright and early for a great day at Culzean Castle on Friday.

Primary 1-3 were Castle Explorers where they used activities and games to investigate the castle to look for different types of evidence to help them find out about the past.  They were then set the challenge of how to build their own castle.  They had to discover the challenges that Robert Adam overcame to build this amazing structure. They had to use their technologies and engineering skills to build their own oval staircase.

Primary 4-7 went on a woodland discovery trail with a biodiversity focus.  They were presented with a series of ecological problems and had to use their creativity to identify possible solutions that could be implemented. The children used a branching key for leaves to identify the different types of source trees in the area and then consider the types of wildlife each tree would sustain.  They discussed how indigenous trees should be cultivated to improve habitat.

The pupils were also presented with the problems that arise when non-native species of plants and animals have been introduced.  They explored the negative impact this has had on native wildlife such as is the case with the rhododendron, the grey vs. red squirrels and the overpopulation of red deer in Scotland.  Who knew that honey made from rhododendron flowers is poisonous! The proposed reintroduction of wolves to control deer numbers was a hotly debated issue amongst the group.

After the morning sessions, the children got to explore the grounds and beach areas with time for the obligatory visit to the gift shop before returning home.

# Successful Learners

The partnership football team of Leswalt/Portpatrick lifted their second trophy in 2 weeks today, after winning the Sandhead fun day football tournament.  The weather may not have been as glorious as the previous week at Castle Kennedy, but this did not deter the spirit of the team (Rowan, Cameron, Ethan, Millie, Finlay, Rhian and Lachlan.)

The boys and girls never lost a game and made it to the final against Glenluce Primary. After a nil;nil draw at full time it went to penalties to decide the winner.  And after a tense shoot out and some great goalkeeping from Lachlan our partnership team were victorious!

Many thanks must go to Ewan Dodds, the coach and all the parents who have supported and transported the team to all the games this term.

 

After previously completing their Level 1 Bikeability training, P4-7 concluded their Level 2 training today.  Under the guidance of instructor, Mr Ross, the children undertook a series of road safety challenges out and about in Portpatrick village.

The children were assessed under a number of criteria ranging from controlled braking to manouvering onto minor and major roads.  They were also presented with theory questions based on road priorities and road signage to develop their competency and knowledge.  All of the challenges were designed to enable our cyclists to safely cope with common road and traffic situations involving decision making.  The children demonstrated a responsible attitude to road use and successfully passed the training.

Our thanks go to Mr Ross for volunteering his time and skills.

#Responsible Citizens – Successful Learners

Class 2 participated in the national Grow Your Own Potatoes initiative to produce our own food in an environmentally friendly way.  We had to plant two varieties of potatoes, care for them and then weigh the yield we had today.  We had 600g (rounded) of Rocket variety and 300g (rounded) of Regional variety.  The Rocket was the most successful crop.  Our food was grown in a very environmentally friendly way.  We used no fertilisers or pesticides and our crop had a zero carbon footprint as there was no food journey involved in its production.

As part of eating foods in a range of social situations, we cleaned and boiled our potatoes and enjoyed munching on them with a just a little bit of butter on them.  They were delicious!

#Successful learners

Portpatrick football team joined forces with Leswalt Primary this weekend at Castle Kennedy Primary’s Fun Day on Saturday.

The final game saw them playing the hosts in a thrilling match which ended in victory with Euan McCredie’s winning penalty shot! As always the team were a credit to the school. Well done to Ethan, Finlay McMillan, Alistair, Euan, Eva, Millie, Cameron and Rowan and Rhian from Portpatrick.

#Effective Contributors