🎅✨ Sponsored Santa Stroll – Join the Festive Fun! ✨🎄
Portpatrick Primary is delighted to invite everyone to our Sponsored Santa Stroll on Thursday, 18th December, from 2.00pm to 3.00pm!
We’ll be taking a cheerful route around the village, and whether you choose to stroll 🚶♂️, saunter 🚶♀️, or sprint 🏃♂️, we’d love to see you there. Don’t forget to dress in your most festive finery – think Santa hats 🎅, tinsel ✨, Christmas jumpers 🎄, and plenty of jingling bells 🔔!
After the stroll, please join us back at the school for some warm and welcoming refreshments ☕🍪.
To help support our school, families and friends are invited to collect sponsorship. Sponsor forms are available from the school office, or you can download one by clicking on the document below 📄⬇️.
A huge thank you for supporting our school and helping us spread some Christmas cheer 🎁❤️. We can’t wait to celebrate the season with you!
We are thrilled to share that our school has been awarded the Silver School Sport Award for 2025! This recognises our commitment to high quality sport and physical activity, supported by sportscotland.
A special thank you to Alison from Active Schools for her fantastic support. With her help and the enthusiasm of our pupils and staff, our after school club, Daily Mile and many other activities from providers such as Wigtownshire Rugby, we continue to help our children stay active, healthy and engaged.
We are extremely proud of this achievement and our ongoing commitment to the wellbeing of all our children.
This achievement links to:
UNCRC: Article 31 the right to play and sport
SHANARRI: Active, Healthy, Included
SDGs: Goal 3 Good Health and Wellbeing
Meta skills: Teamwork, resilience, self management
This isOur Faith: Nurturing every child’s God given potential
At our school, we love to celebrate the achievements of our pupils both in and out of the classroom—and today we are delighted to share some brilliant news about one of our P3 pupils, George!
Over the weekend, George attended the annual prize-giving ceremony at Dunskey Golf Club, where he was presented with the Coach’s Pupil of the Year Award for his performance.
Although Duncan, one of the club’s coaches, was unable to present the award in person, he had some truly heart-warming words to say about George. He described George as:
“A joy to work with throughout the year”
Polite and refreshingly honest
Full of flair, enthusiasm, and a wonderful ability to entertain and encourage fellow competitors
Always smiling and communicating at every opportunity
A pupil who gives 100% effort, shows determination, and has a clear will to succeed
And as if that wasn’t exciting enough—George also achieved a hole in one this year! ⛳️ What an incredible accomplishment for such a young golfer.
George has been absolutely over the moon all weekend, and we are chuffed to bits for him too. This award recognises not just his golfing ability, but the fantastic attitude and character he brings to everything he does.
A huge well done, George—your school community is so proud of you! Keep smiling, keep trying your best, and keep enjoying every moment of your golfing journey. 🌟⛳️👏
🔗 Links to Learning Frameworks
UNCRC Article:Article 29 – Every child has the right to develop their talents and abilities.
Metaskills:Growing Confidence, Focus and Learning Agility.
4 Capacities:Successful Learner – showing motivation, enthusiasm and achievement.
Sustainable Development Goals:SDG 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing.
SHANARRI:Achievement – celebrating personal success and effort.
On Thursday 6th November, our P5–7 pupils set off on an exciting adventure to the Glasgow Science Centre for a full day of hands-on learning and fun! They were joined by their Partnership friends from St. Joseph’s RC. Primary.🚌✨
When we arrived, we were amazed by the Science Mall – three floors of fascinating exhibits and experiments waiting to be explored. Pupils investigated everything from forces and motion to sound, light, and space, all while discovering how science connects with our everyday world. 💡
Some highlights from our day included:
BodyWorks, where we learned how the human body works, tested our reaction times, and explored our incredible senses.
Powering the Future, where we discovered how energy is created and how we can build a more sustainable world.
A Question of Perception, where optical illusions and light experiments tested our brains and eyes!
Outer Space (Space Zone), where we journeyed through the Solar System and imagined life as astronauts.
We also had time to explore the outdoor exhibits and enjoy lunch together.
To end the day, we relaxed in the IMAX Theatre to watch an awe-inspiring Space film, learning about rockets, astronauts, and the future of space travel. 🌌🪐 The enormous screen made us feel as though we were soaring through the stars!
Everyone had an amazing day, full of curiosity, laughter, and learning. It was a brilliant experience that brought our classroom science to life and inspired many of us to think like scientists of the future! 🔭💫
A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the trip possible — it was a fabulous day of teamwork, discovery, and fun! 💛
🌍 UNCRC Link
Article 29: Education should help children develop their talents and abilities to the full.
🌱 Sustainable Development Goal
SDG 4: Quality Education – providing opportunities for all learners to grow through meaningful experiences.
💚 SHANARRI Indicator
Achieving: Pupils deepened their understanding of scientific ideas through interactive exploration.
💡 Meta-skill
Collaborating: We worked together to explore, question, and share discoveries.
🌟 The Four Capacities
Successful Learners: Investigating, experimenting, and asking thoughtful questions throughout our visit
Today, our school community came together to mark Remembrance Day with respect and reflection. We were joined in school by Reverend Breakey and guest Major Orr-Ewing, who helped lead a thoughtful and meaningful service. Community members joined us for the service.
Our senior pupils read poignant poems which encouraged everyone to think about the courage and sacrifice of those who have served, and those who continue to serve today. The whole school observed a two-minute silence, holding the moment with great maturity and understanding.
Although the rain prevented us from gathering outdoors as planned, our pupils adapted calmly and respectfully to holding the service inside. Later in the day, a remembrance wreath, carefully created by our pupils, was laid at the village war memorial on behalf of our school.
We are very proud of how responsibly and thoughtfully our pupils took part in this important occasion.
Links to Learning and Wellbeing:
UNCRC Article 15: Pupils exercised their right to come together in a respectful group to mark an important event.
SHANARRI (Responsible): Pupils demonstrated responsibility through their behaviour, participation, and reflection.
Four Capacities (Responsible Citizens): Pupils showed understanding of history, values and remembrance, contributing to our community with respect.
Metaskills (Adaptability): Pupils adjusted calmly and sensibly when our plans changed due to the weather, showing confidence and flexibility.
We are delighted to share a photo of our West Rhins Partnership football team, proudly wearing their new team strips, kindly funded by the Portpatrick Community Development Trust.
The children from St. Joseph’s R.C. Primary and Portpatrick Primary were thrilled to receive their smart new kits — especially as the strip design was chosen by the pupils themselves! The design brings together colours from both schools, symbolising teamwork and partnership across our community.
Our team will represent both schools in inter-school matches, and we hope the new strip will spur on motivation and a real sense of pride as they play together and show great sportsmanship.
In the photo, the children are joined by Trustees Ian and Linda, who presented the strips on behalf of the Trust. We are incredibly grateful for their generosity and continued support of our schools and local community.
A huge thank you to the Portpatrick Community Development Trust for helping our young sports stars look and feel like a real team! 🌟
🌱 Learning Links
UNCRC – Pupils had a say in the design.
Metaskills – Teamwork and creativity.
SHANARRI – Being active and included.
SDGs – Health and partnerships.
Four Capacities – Responsible citizens and contributor
What a brilliant day we had with our friends from St Joseph’s Primary 1–4! Miss Scott, Mrs Copeland, Miss Stevenson, and Mrs Henry led us in a day full of creativity, teamwork, and fun.
In the morning, we used our technology skills to plan and build a bug hotel using sustainable materials. It was amazing to think about how we could help our environment and local wildlife. 🐞 We also made a beautiful poppy wreath from recycled materials to remember and reflect in a meaningful way. ♻️
After a tasty lunch prepared by Mrs Campbell, we joined Alison for an energetic game of boccia. We all showed great teamwork and sportsmanship — and had lots of fun before heading home.
Our activities linked to important rights in the UNCRC: Article 29 (learning to respect the environment) and Article 31 (the right to rest, play, and take part in activities). We also showed we are Safe, Active, Nurtured, Achieving, and Responsible through our SHANARRI wellbeing indicators.
By using natural and recycled materials, we supported Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 15 – Life on Land. It made us think about how our choices can make a positive difference to the planet. 🌍
It was a wonderful day of learning, creativity, and friendship — well done everyone! 💚
UNCRC Articles:
Article 29 – Learning to respect the environment
Article 31 – Right to rest, play, and take part in activities
At Portpatrick Primary, we value pupil voice and believe our learners should have a say in shaping school life. Our new Pupil Voice teams for 2025–2026 have now been chosen, and we’re excited to introduce our fantastic representatives!
Our pupils take on these important leadership roles to help make positive changes in our school and community. Each group will work together across the year to share ideas, lead projects, and represent their classmates.
👩🌾 Eco Committee: Kaicie, George, Zak, Ella, Arran and Harry
💬 Pupil Council: Esme, Layo, Josh, Freya, Adam and Stephen
💻 Digital Leaders: Josh, Zak and Arran
🔬 STEM Leaders: Stephen and Harry
📚 Reading Champions: Ella and Adam
In addition to their Pupil Voice roles, some pupils have taken on classroom responsibilities to support their peers and school life:
Harry: Classroom Assistant
Stephen: Recycle Coordinator
Josh: MetaSkills Champion
We are also delighted to announce our House Captains for 2025–2026:
Portree: Freya (Captain), Arran (Vice Captain)
Dunskey: Adam (Captain), Harry (Vice Captain)
We’re so proud of all our pupils for stepping up to lead, share ideas, and support others. We look forward to seeing the amazing things they will achieve this year! 🌟
UNCRC Article: 12 – Right to be heard
MetaSkill: Leadership, Collaboration and Communication
Portpatrick Primary enjoyed a special Religious Observance session with Reverend Brakey, Fiona and Mrs Ross, where we celebrated the wonder of creation and our responsibility as stewards of the natural world.
During the session, the children showed their creativity and care for nature by making eco-friendly bird feeders. Using strips of willow and wooden blocks kindly donated by the Men’s Shed, pupils carefully wove and shaped their feeders, then filled them with seed balls ready to hang outdoors.
This hands-on activity supported our Eco Schools target of Biodiversity and helped us work towards achieving our RSPB Wild Challenge Award. It was lovely to see our bird feeders displayed at the recent school fundraiser coffee morning, helping ensure that birds across our community will be well fed this autumn.
We are very proud of the children for showing such care and respect for the environment — and for working together to make a real difference. 🌍💚
UNCRC Article: 29 – Education should develop respect for the environment
MetaSkill: Creativity
SDG: 15 – Life on Land
CfE Capacity: Responsible Citizen
SHANARRI: Responsible
RME CfE: I can reflect upon the awe and wonder of the natural world and explore ways of showing care for creation. (RME 1-01a)
