Author: Ms Whorlow

A trio partnership science morning was the order of the day at Portpatrick Primary today. Pupils and family in our  P4 – 7 classes from Kircolm, Leswalt and Portpatrick came together to participate in a wide range of STEM based activities (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) as part of British Science Week.

The showpiece of the event was a mobile planetarium provided by the Galloway Forest Astronomical Society, organised by Mrs Ferguson.  Mr Antony Berretti, Dr Douglas Snell, Mr Hunter McCall and Mr Brian Rice, gave up their time voluntarily to bring a night sky experience to the children.  We were taken on a journey through the planets and moons of our Milky Way, learning fascinating facts on our travels. P1-3 were also treated to a session as an added bonus.  This resource has been kindly funded by the Kilgallioch Community Fund and is being made available to schools within our region.

The planetarium will be part of the attractions on offer to all ages on Saturday 9th March during the weekend programme for the Wigtown Big Bang Weekend event. (11-4pm, £5 per entry).  There are visiting astronomical dignitaries scheduled to attend the weekend.

When not in the planetarium, the pupils were given a carousel of hands-on challenges to select from; ranging from electrical circuits to tower construction and from pin the organ on the body to parachute making.  For example, they had to design an electrical circuit that would sound an alarm in the event of a flood.  Our little engineers didn’t let us down and were up to the challenges of all the problems presented to them.

There was even an opportunity for social time during break, which the children made full use of.

P1-3 will not miss out as they will have their science event this coming Friday.

#Successful Learners

 

P1-3 donned their archaeological hats for the morning when they travelled back in time to Ancient Egypt with Kathryn Purchase from History Alive.

The session began with a bang as Kathryn arrived in a full ‘Howard Carter’ style costume with a giant hieroglyph display.   She took the children through the location and background of Ancient Egypt and asked them to think about how we can possibly know anything about people who lived 5000 years ago.

She introduced archaeological evidence left behind by the Ancient Egyptians and encouraged the children to think about what this tells us about the lives of those people so long ago.

The boys and girls learned about the social hierarchy of Egypt from slaves and peasant to Pharaohs. There was much discussion about the lives they led and how they compare to our own today.  Homes, jobs, games, clothes, food and worship, and much more were all explored.

The children were particularly fascinated by the ancient Gods, tombs and mummification process!

Everyone enjoyed the opportunity to dress up in Ancient Egyptian costumes and to have a hands-on exploration of artefacts.  There was even an opportunity to carry out an archaeological dig using a sand box to reveal treasures. The boys and girls carefully scraped and brushed sand away to see what they could uncover. There was an opportunity to write their names in hieroglyphs and complete puzzles.

The children had a fantastic morning and learned lots of new information to help with their topic.  The class now say that , “Many of us want to be archaeologists when we grow up!”

#Successful Learners

 

P1-3 have been busy exploring inventions of the past today.  They have learned about how the ancient Egyptians built shadufs to help them lift water from the River Nile to water their crops.

The boys and girls constructed their own shaduf models using rods, Plasticine, string and containers. The children applied the principle of pivot points to lesson the force required to move water from one point to another.

The children used their engineering skills to create their concept designs, constructing and modifying through experience to ensure sufficient drop and counterbalance.  The stability of free standing design was tinkered with and a conclusion reached that the tripod method was the most stable for this purpose. Hands on learning, developing soft skills of cooperation, discussion and idea sharing was the order of the day!

#Successful Learners

 

 

We were treated to an interactive World War II session with History Alive today.  Catherine and Steven came in to school and delivered a very interesting and informative potted history of WWII to P4-7.  The children learned about many facets of the war such as what caused the conflict and how it impacted on the lives of people in Britain through blockades, rationing, evacuation, the Blitz and blackouts, to name but a few.  This led into a discussion on how life subsequent to the war had changed and why.

The children had the opportunity to have a hands-on experience with memorabilia such as weapons, photographs, gas masks, propaganda, rationing samples etc. They all relished the chance to try on authentic uniforms and have a little role play.  The class then posed insightful questions to gain even more knowledge of WWII, its causes and effects.  A very purposeful and enjoyable session was had by all.

#Successful learners

 

Parents and family gathered together to celebrate our pupils’ success in this year’s Scot’s poetry activities in recitation, handwriting and artwork.  The winners in each skill category were presented with certificates for their achievement, with everyone praised for their hard work and effort.  The 1st place achievers recited their poems with expression and confidence.

The children then performed their Scot’s songs to entertain the audience with full audience participation encouraged.

# Successful Learners

 

Today saw the beginning of construction of a new addition to our playground space.  Sian,  local gardener,  has kindly brought in willow whip bundles from her own garden with which to build the dome. With the help of some very willing volunteers, she has rapidly got work underway to complete the structure. Enginnering discussion was had on the properties of materials and how best to interlace the structure for rigidity.

The boys and girls will have the opportunity to watch the bare sticks grow and transform into a lush, living creation.  They will then be able to practice gardening and pruning skills to maintain the dome throughout the year.

We are discussing the environmental benefits of the structure as willow absorbs carbon from the atmosphere, provides a habitat for wildlife and enriches the soil.

The dome will provide a magical den for the children to enjoy and use in their imaginative play and relaxation.

#Effective Contributors

Portpatrick Primary held our annual Burn’s lunch in school today.  Grandparents and family guests were invited to join us to celebrate our Scottish heritage and enjoy the traditional meal of haggis, neaps and tatties.  P7 recitation winner, Rowan, was piped in on the bagpipes by Mr Colin Moderate.  Rowan gave an impressive Address To A Haggis.  P3 pupil, Amelia, then gave the Selkirk grace before everyone sat down to enjoy their delicious lunch prepared by Barbara.

After lunch and refreshments, the poetry winners recited their poems with lots of actions and ‘gusto’. All the children then entertained the audience with their songs: ‘Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Of A Bus’ and ‘Listen Tae The Teacher’.  Next, everyone joined in for an energetic performance of the’ Shooglie Wooglie’: a Scot’s version of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Mr Moderate and Mr Harbottle brought proceedings to a close by providing further entertainment on the tin whistle and Irish drum. A fabulous afternoon was had by all!

Our thanks to Barbara for a delicious meal, our parent and staff helpers for serving teas, coffees, homemade shortbread and tablet (kindly provided by Barbara).  Also, thank you too to Mr Moderate & Mr Harbottle for their wonderful musical performances.   A final thank you goes to all of our guests for coming along to make the day so special.

 

# Confident Individuals & Effective Contributors

Portpatrick Primary has completed another successful annual celebration of our Scot’s heritage this week.  The children have worked very hard to learn a range of Scot’s poems, produce handwriting examples of their poetry and create artistic models,  Mrs Carol Maxwell judged the worthy winners, as follows:

Poetry

P1 – 1st Carter, 2nd Erin, 3rd Holly

P2 – 1st Cameron, 2nd Lewis, 3rd Conor

P3 – 1st Rose, 2nd Amelia, 3rd, Sophia

P4 – 1st Maya & Ruby, 3rd Ava Lily

P5 – 1st Robin, 2nd Lillie

P6 – 1st Findlay, 2nd Finlay

P7 – 1st Rowan, 2nd Rhian, 3rd Lee

Art

P1 – Carter

P2 – Cameron

P3 – Liam & Jack

P4 – Ava Lily

P5 -Lillie

P6 – Findlay

P7 – Rowan

Handwriting

P1 – Carter

P2 – Lewis & Atticus

P3 – Ameila

P4 – Ava Lily

P5 -Lillie

P6 – Findlay

P7 – Olivia

 

 

On the 21st of January, Lee and Myles attended the annual Rotary Lunch to represent our school.  The children were able to mingle and chat with guest speaker, Adam Gray.  Mr Gray is the Development Manager for the Scottish Rugby Union and has a distinguished career in Scottish Rugby.  The invited guests took the opportunity to ask many relevant and probing questions of Mr Gray to find out more about his life in the field of rugby.  The boys were excellent representatives for Portpatrick Primary. It was an entertaining and enjoyable experience for everyone.

# Responsible Citizens

 

 

On the 17^th of December, the boys and girls of Portpatrick Primary performed their annual Christmas show. As always, they put lots of effort and sparkle into it; performing to the senior members of the community in the afternoon. The evening performance was delivered to mums, dads and families. Every day in the afternoon we had to go up to the hall and practice for the play.  We had to do this before the day of the play.  The skills we used were listening, remembering our lines, having the confidence to project our voices in front of an audience and using expression. Our play was called It’s Christmaaaaaaas! There were many songs and they were excellent and uplifting.

Blog written by Rowan, Livvy, Lee, Myles, Rhian (P7 Pupils)

#Confident Individuals