Portpatrick Primary

As a wee treat for all the children’s hard work on their school play, we went on a Christmas scavenger hunt around the village. The boys and girls spotted an object for each letter of the word CHRISTMAS.  There was some creative spotting to allow us to use an interesting word for each letter. We had aerial, buoy and even an igloo decoration found with eagle eyes!

We combined our wee word wander with a visit to the park for this term’s winning house team. Portree kindly invited Dunskey to join in the fun.

When we arrived back to school, Miss McGeoch was waiting for us! The boys and girls were so excited to see her. After lots of hugs and a catch up, she told the children about her new life in London.  Allowing the children to learn about the world of work, she explained all about her new job in finance.  She also told us about enjoying the recent snow in the big city,  which was a first in about 16 years apparently. It was just so lovely to see Miss McGeoch. We hope she visits us again!

Next on the agenda was another visit; this time from Mrs Ross and our new minister Elizabeth Brakey.  The children enjoyed making Christingles whilst learning of the significance of this Christian tradition through telling a story.  Thank you ladies for a very enjoyable and educational afternoon!

 

Portpatrick pupils took to the stage for the first time in 3 years, not once but twice today, to perform their Christmas show ‘Who Took all the Loo Roll?’ The show tells the story of 3 aliens who have been watching us humans from a distant planet and are intrigued by our Christmas traditions, so they decide to visit to learn more.

They are baffled by: the gifting of loo roll (having panic-bought it during covid!), mistletoe (a feeling that is only enhanced when great-granny tries to land a smackeroonie on everyone, but luckily there is enough spare toilet roll to wipe it off!) and the most hated vegetable – brussel sprouts! The story culminates in the aliens finding out about why humans celebrate Christmas, with everyone learning that the real hero is actually the donkey – how else would Mary have got to Bethlehem?!

Pupils have been working really hard this term to learn their lines and lyrics and I think anyone who came to watch the show can agree, it definitely paid off! It was lovely to see everyone back in the building again sharing in the children’s achievements!

Alison Graham from the Wigtownshire Food Bank visited school this morning, to speak to the pupils about the crucial role that the Food Bank plays in our community. She explained how parcels are made up, what goes into them and talked about her job as a support worker.

In the true spirit of Christmas giving, the pupils were delighted to know that their donations would be helping families in need.

We had a surprise visitor today.  Alan Jenkins arrived this morning representing the Stranraer Community Council, Stranraer Development Trust and the Millennium Centre.

Alan came bearing gifts, just like the wise men.  He brought a great big Santa sack of chocolate treats for everyone.  The children were delighted to receive these gifts.

We are so lucky to have such a wonderful community who are very kind to us.

Thank you!

Tilly and Katie represented our school at our local Church Christmas service. on Sunday.

The girls each gave a confident and clear reading that helped bring the true spirit of Christmas to the congregation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

# Confident Individuals

Mary McIntosh, of Mary’s Mini Bakes, stopped in this afternoon to talk to the pupils about starting up and running her own business.

She spoke about why she started the business, having a keen interest in baking, and how she went about building the business up from scratch – from getting her food hygiene certificate, to designing a logo and advertising. She shared the skills she needs to be able to run the company and what her hopes are for the future of the business.

Mary also very kindly brought in some yummy cupcakes for the boys and girls to take home at the end of the day to enjoy – they picked from Nutella, red velvet and Malteser.

A huge thank-you to Mary for taking time out of her busy schedule to come and speak to the children, and for the delicious treats! You are welcome back any time!!

Santa paid a flying visit to Portpatrick Primary this morning to say hello to the pupils and very kindly brought them all a chocolate advent calendar!

Pupils were thrilled and were telling Santa about the letters they have written to him. He reminded everyone that they have to be good to get their presents though! We then joined Santa in a chorus of Jingle Bells and When Santa got Stuck up the Chimney, before waving him off.

Everyone is now excited for the breakfast of chocolate they are planning for tomorrow morning – having 16 advent calendar windows to open at once!!!

Thank-you to Santa for taking the time to stop by – we know you are very busy at this time of year 🙂

The boys and girls got their Christmas spirit in gear to enjoy their annual Christmas lunch with all the trimmings.  There were festive songs and turkey galore.  Katie was super keen to go back up for seconds of Brussel sprouts!  Thank you Kym for our delicious lunch!

In the afternoon, we were treated to a very active Christmas Unwrapped workshop delivered by the Scripture Union.  The aim was to give the children a biblically accurate presentation of the Christmas story, debunking some of the well-established common misconceptions.  The children really enjoyed all the interactive elements of the session. There was voting with our feet in a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? style quiz, Christmas songs and audience participation throughout.

# Successful Learners

Our boys and girls were lucky to receive an early Christmas treat today thanks to the kindness of our local RNLI crew. Ian Marshall and John Conor delivered a selection box for every child in the school. There was even a box of sweeties for the grown ups. 🙂   The children were delighted

Thank you very much for your gifts. Yum!

 

Just to add to the Christmas mood,  P5 – 7 joined a live Christmas code-along workshop where we programmed microbits to display a flashing snowflake decoration.  The more adventurous in our class, composed music to accompany the festive flashing snowflake sequence.  Our digital leaders were on-hand to offer support to their classmates.

The site is free to access from home.  Why not have a try for yourselves!

Microsoft MakeCode for micro:bit (microbit.org)

# Successful Learners

 

Our digital leaders from across our partnership held an online meeting via Teams today.  We came together to create a Christmas trivia quiz for pupils to enjoy.  This provided a theme for us to learn how to use Microsoft Forms.

Our Digital Leaders used our Higher Order Thinking Skills to work collaboratively on a shared ‘form’ online.  The children had to remember and understand how to access and design questions using the software. They also used their applying and creativity skills to select and insert appropriate images and themes to present the quiz in an appealing way for the user.  In addition, they had to analyse and evaluate the functionality of the quiz.  For example, they had to set up the software to automatically mark the quiz to give the user feedback and a game score for their results.

Why not click or scan here to play the quiz for yourself!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, our leaders supported their classmates in designing and sharing their own quizzes.

Thank you to Alexander, Hamish, Danny, Havana, Cameron and Conor for working hard on this.

# Successful Learners