Portpatrick Primary

The whole school had a fabulous day at Logan Gardens on the 27th of April.  First, we all enjoyed a social picnic on the garden lawns.  We got to observe the friendly coy carp in the pond who came up to say hello to everyone.

Class 2 worked with Kath to use their observation and mapping skills to create 3D mapping of the area using natural resources.  They also  applied their maths skills to use compass points and coordinates to navigate around the gardens.  Later they were given the option of either being scientists or artists by surveying their surroundings and recording their findings on a scaled location line.

Class 1 enjoyed a nature walk with Kath before taking part in a texture treasure hunt.  The children created beautiful collages using foraged natural materials.  Then followed an experience of using magnifiers and microscopes to observe plants up close.  The group then created their own 3D map of an area of the garden using natural materials to represent the landscape, plants and flowers all around them.

The sun shone for the whole session and everyone had a great time!

Class 2 braved the biting wind to apply their measure skills for area and perimeter today.  We used our playground to undertake a range of measure challenges. Using our knowledge of shape properties, we had to draw squares, rectangles and triangles of given perimeter and areas.  We also had the option to choose our own dimensions where we then calculated the area and perimeter as appropriate.  We remembered to apply our formulae and to use the correct unit of measure.  We also developed our HOTS & soft skills by working collaboratively in pairs.  We cooperated, negotiated, listened and applied our skills.  We were successful learners.

I can explain how different methods can be used to find the perimeter and area of a simple 2D shape. MNU 2-11c

A representative team of 4 pupils from Class 2 travelled into Stranraer with Pat today for the S.P.F.L. Trusted football tournament arranged by Allan Jenkins.  The boys and girls performed well alongside their Leswalt teammates in inter-school matches.  They played 3 matches; winning 3-0 against Sandhead and drawing two with St. Joseph’s and Glenluce/Castle Kennedy.  Afterwards, they were allowed to see the S.P.F.L. trophies up close.  Major teams such as Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen vie to win such esteemed trophies.  Everyone then received a commemorative medal before returning to school.  The team then shared their experience with their classmates.

Yesterday, P1-4 were learning all about personal hygiene as an introduction to their dental health topic in HWB.  We learned about how easily germs can pass on to other people, particularly after sneezing and coughing.

We looked at how tiny germs were and if we don’t wash our hands regularly, the germs build up and spread easily to other people.

Mrs Henry pretended she had not washed her hands after the toilet and after sneezing! We then played ‘catch’ using pretend glitter germs.  The glitter germs went on everyone’s hands that caught the ball.  This was a really visual way of seeing how germs spread and how important it is to keep our hands clean.

We then used an ‘Airzuka’ which shoots blasts of air.  This was to simulate a cough and see how far cough germs can travel.  We were shocked that the cough still hit us up until we were over 8 steps away from each other!!

Take a look at us exploring the yuckiness of germs! 🙂

Mr Bennis from Scottish Water visited Class 2 today.  This supported our learning on ‘Life in our Local Area’ as part of our Social Studies this term.  We are considering how the services of our community are served. Mr Bennis gave the pupils input on where and how the water in our area is treated to be made safe for our community.  He also supported our Water Eco-Learning by advising us on how we can protect our environment and preserve our natural water resources.  The children became more aware of how to be responsible citizens.

Today the boys and girls had a fantastic last day of term 3.  After a wet and rainy start to the day, the sun came out just in time for their take away lunch.  Barbara served sausage and chips or fish and chips in take away boxes and the school had lunch in the sun outside.  Mrs Henry even joined them too 🙂

P1-4 took part in an Easter Maths Challenge Hunt too!  Unfortunately the rain did stop them doing this outside but we did it around the school instead.  Finlay and Liam P were the winners with 10/10 in the questions!

At the end of the day, the children decorated their own Easter eggs and had an egg rolling competition.  This was to remind them of why Christians celebrate Easter – to remember when Jesus rose from the dead in the empty tomb.  The eggs symbolise the rolling away of the stone!

P5/6 participated in the annual Rhins school cross country tournament held at Green Valley. Every pupil gave each race their all, competing against high numbers. Our boys and girls gave an excellent performance in determination and were ranked as high as 5th and 6th position for their year group.

Portpatrick Primary pupils had some swashbuckling escapades as they entertained audiences with their Easter production of Pirates vs Mermaids. They ‘heave-ho’d’ with sea shanties and mermaid invaded adventures on the ocean waves. The boys and girls presented two performances for family and friends of Portpatrick. It was a real community affair as local senior citizens were invited to enjoy the entertainment and refreshments provided. The actors swaggered and sparkled to everyone’s delight.

On  Friday for Red Nose Day, all the pupils donated money to come to school wearing ‘something silly’.  P1-4 also took part in ‘Portpatrick’s Got Talent’ where they followed this year’s theme of ‘Making their laugh matter’ by telling jokes.  Some hilarious jokes were told and Barbara and Larraine judged and placed the top 3 comedians.

1st place went to Finlay Schofield P4 for his tongue in cheek jokes about school teachers which included;

‘How many teachers work at this school?’ ……………… ‘About half of them!’

2nd place went to Isla Davidson P1; ‘Why are teddy bears never hungry?’………….. ‘Because they are always stuffed!’

3rd place went to Olivia Johnstone P1; ‘How do bees get to school?’…………….. ‘On the school buzzzzzz!’

The children also enjoyed some red nose day cupcakes provided by P1 parent Kim Stevenson.  The staff enjoyed them too!  Thanks  🙂