"Anchored in Excellence"
Well done to Isabella White for being ranked 9th in the top ten student Sumdog players in this week’s regional Sumdog’s online maths challenge!
1530 pupils participated with 401,864 maths questions answered. So this is no small feat by Izzy!
P4-7 also achieved a high ranking; 14th on the class leader board from 112 class entries (70 qualifying). Keep on calculating!
#Successful learners
P4-7 have been having a great time exploring new software to support their learning in literacy.
The children have been researching Christmas traditions in France as part of our Modern Languages topic for this term. We have used Book Creator to publish an information book on their findings.
We selected a template design, imported appropriate images, recorded pronunciations and used the ‘read to me’ function to dictate auto text entry.
We have created a library of our books. Your child will be sending you an email with an invitation link in it to allow you to view their personal creation. Why not scan the QR below to have a read of some examples for yourself! There may even be a song to entertain you from Ruby and Maya.
#Successful Learners
Today marks the day WWI ended, at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918.
The whole school came together to remember the members of our armed forces who have served, and still do serve us around the world today.
We talked about what the poppies we wear represent. We also discussed why we raise money by selling poppies to help and support those who have made sacrifices.
We shared how we observed the two minute silences held around the country yesterday for Remembrance Sunday. Some children were at church, some were in the supermarkets and some marked the occasion in their own homes.
We all stood together today and held a one minute silence to show our respect and thanks.
#Responsible Citizens
As part of Outdoor Learning Day, P4-7 visited our local Post Office shop today. Margaret, the manager of the shop, kindly gave permission for our pupils to carry out a budget challenge working with money on the premises, working with real stock. We made use of what is is our local environment to engage with real-life learning.
The children were given a choice of budget with which to select and plan party food and drink for our imagined class party. They had to choose and cost items on the shelves, decide how many of each item was needed for our group and, thus, give a total unit cost. They then had to find a final cost for all their selected the party items to determine whether they had kept to their budget. If they were over budget, they were required to make decisions as to what items to keep or swap for alternatives.
The session was very productive; providing a real life context for using money. Margaret was keen to lend a hand and help the children make decisions on their ‘purchases’.
Our thanks go to the staff at our local Post Office – community participation! Morning shoppers were happy to see a productive team in action.
# Successful Learners
Portpatrick Primary have had a great learning boost as a result of our links with local Industry employer, Lactalis McLelland.
Mr Nick Dietz, HR Manager, very kindly donated 5 Ipad minis to our school to help support our digital literacy development.
The children are thrilled to be able to now access a wider range of technology to enhance our learning across the curriculum.
Mr Dietz gave his time to talk to the children about the skills for work that a company such as our local creamery look for in an employee. He also chatted about how science, technology, engineering and maths are used to run an efficient organisation; making the cheeses we all know and love.
We are keen to expand the quantities of Ipads we hold to allow greater engagement. To this aim, the school is pursuing funding options to allow us to do so. Watch this space…
A very big thank you is given to Mr Dietz and Lactalis McLelland for their generosity.
Lactalis McLelland#Effective Contributor
The whole school were given some very wise advice on how to stay safe during this season’s bonfire celebrations. Representatives from both the Police and Fire Brigade came to talk to children about the dangers that are present when they are near fireworks and bonfires.
Everyone agreed that Guy Fawkes celebrations are great fun, but that we should all make sure we take simple precautions to keep ourselves out of harm’s way. We now know how to behave sensibly around fire and fireworks.
Thank you to our emergency services.
#Responsible Citizens.
P5 and 6 were given the opportunity to visit Balgracie Dairy farm as part of a R.H.E.T. organised initiative. The pupils were given a guided tour and an explanation of farm processes that apply technology, science and engineering to carry out tasks. They learned about the many, many jobs that are required to keep a healthy and productive dairy stock and how farming is undertaken in an environmentally responsible way.
All the milk from Balgracie farm goes to Nestle to make Kit-Kat chocolate. We were treated to a few ‘biccies’ to take home with us to sample after our visit!
The children then applied their recount writing skills to share their experience with their partnership Glow e-buddies.
See below for an example of recount writing from Ruby P5:
All about Balgracie Farm! Ruby Rankin P5
Introduction:
Today P5-6 went to Balgracie farm on the 29.10.19 at the farm. We learned about dairy farming.
Arrival:
When we arrived we had to dip our feet into a soapy bucket to kill any germs so we didn’t infect the animals. Then, Mrs Mc Nicoll gave use a pair of gloves and we were not allowed to take our gloves off.
Baby calves:
Next, we went to see baby calves. They were all six weeks old. They had blue or red tags on their ears. Blue was for boys and red was for girls. When the calves are born they have to get colostrum milk within six hours or they get ill.
Milking parlour:
After we saw the baby calves we went to see the milking parlour. Mr Drennan showed us the milking pumps they use to automatically milk the cows. He demonstrated the automatic nut feeder that gives the cows food to eat whilst they are being milked. He also showed us a yellow cream that you put in the udders so they don’t get bugs.
Sleeping barn:
Next, he showed us the cow beds. They were made out of rubber. There was a motorised pooper scooper to clean away any slurry. The slurry is used as fertiliser for the fields.
# Successful Learners
Our partnership pupils completed a Digital Technologies pupils’ views survey recently. The children answered responses to a range of questions and offered their feedback and comments on how they view their Digital learning experiences.
One particular suggestion from Emma Drummond of Kircolm, spurred our Digital Leaders to organise rainy day I.C.T. clinics. Whenever we now have a wet weather break that might keep us indoors, the pupils have the opportunity to come along and share skills and knowledge with one another.
Today’s focus was on using the Smartboard tools. The boys and girls used both Smartboards to run two workshops. Everyone found the sessions enjoyable and worthwhile.
# Successful Learners
P4-7 travelled to the Wigtown book festival today to participate in an illustrator workshop with successful book author and illustrator Shoo Rayner.
We learned to use basic shapes as the building blocks for illustrating characters as well as how to use guide lines to rotate faces etc. They children practiced creating people by starting off with a stick person and ‘filling’ them out.
Shoo reinforced that everything takes practice, practice, practice, just like our school REACH character Practicing Pete.
It was a very informative and enjoyable session.
Shoo Rayner has lots of Youtube videos on ‘how to draw’ available to watch if you would like to learn more. Here is one example:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaQOnL-tNULRYma5nRDy1QA
# Successful Learners
P1-7 received a visit from our local Royal National Lifeboat Institute (R.N.L.I.) volunteers Kim and Johnathon yesterday.
They explained that there are over 4000 R.N.L.I volunteers in our country. Each person gives up their time for free to help others. They work very closely with the coastguard.
We learned that the lifeboat travels at 25 knots, which is equivalent to 32 miles per hour. The boys and girls agreed this was pretty fast for a boat.
Kim said that the longest ‘shout’ rescue job they have been on was over 20 hours, so the job can be physically demanding. They will respond from everything to a kayak in trouble to large ferries, wherever anyone needs help at sea. She also said that every volunteer receives basic lifesaving skills training such as C.P.R. Our P4-7 class have already practiced this skill with Tanya Ellis, our local paramedic.
Johnathon explained to everyone that if we ever fall in the water, the shock of the cold water can be very dangerous for our bodies. He said we should all ‘starfish’ float for a minute to let our bodies adjust to the cold before we try to swim. This safety tip could save our lives.
Johnathon showed us all the safety and protective clothing each RNLI officer has to wear when going out on a shout. It is all designed to protect them from the cold and to save their lives if they get into trouble. Everyone got to try on the helmet and the lifejacket. The life jacket is a very expensive piece of equipment, costing nearly £1000.
# Responsible Citizens
Photos uploaded by digital leaders Lillie and Maya
