Author: Ms Whorlow

The whole school had a ‘spooktacular’  time at our annual Halloween party organised by our very able P7 pupils.  The children arranged decorations, planned an itinerary of ghoulish games and hosted the event for the entertainment of all.  The boys and girls turned out in haunting style with an impressive array of costumes and outfits.  Parents and family kindly donated lots of goodies for the children to enjoy.  The children all went home happy, looking forward to an evening of Trick or Treating fun after a quick chat about staying safe!  Thank you to all who supported the event.

# Effective Contributors

 

 

P4 – 7 went on an outdoor literacy lesson as part of our poetry learning. We went to the woods to seek out spooky ingredients to create our Witch’s Brew poetry. The children used their imaginations to give natural woodland materials a sinister twist e.g. pretending black seed pods were blackened wings of bats or lungs of slugs.

The children gathered their ingredients and brought them back to school to use to write their own poetry. These were added to the cauldron to create our foul spells.

#Successful Learners

Two members of the Fire Brigade service came along today to give all the children a safety talk for Bonfire Night.  They discussed the fun that can be had with bonfires and fireworks.  The children were given advice on the law relating to fireworks i.e. only those 18 and over can purchase them.  The pupils were told what to do if clothing catches fire and how to handle & dispose of fireworks such sparklers etc.  The officers recommended attending an organised event to enjoy displays without risk.  Everyone listened carefully and contributed to a sensible discussion on keeping ourselves safe.

#Responsible Citizens

P4-7 put on their scientific ‘Xplorers’ heads to design and experiment with energy.  The children discussed forms and conservation of energy.  Even though some forms of energy are not visible to the naked eye, we used a specialist thermal imaging camera to see sources of heat energy in the classroom.  Lee is all aglow, as you can see and Alba’s glasses are insulators that don’t generate heat.

The children then moved on to a construction task to follow schematic diagrams to build a dynamo to generate electricity to light a bulb.  They used a multimeter to measure the voltage generated when they turned the wheel.  The highest consistent reading was 6V by Rhian.

Next, the boys and girls worked with gears and pulleys to enhance their dynamos and increase their turning speed.  There were many designs that were modified in light of experience.  Rhian came up with a simple, 2 cog design that proved very effective.  Isabella and Ruby used this design to generate 17.9V when they turned the larger wheel cog handle.  Some used batteries and toothed gears to turn their cogs automatically.

The lesson moved on to the children undertaking a complex construction challenge of assembling either a wind or water turbine.  They had to work hard using their soft skills of sharing, cooperation, discussion and review to complete the model.  Once the working models were completed the pupils tested them to see how much electricity they would generate.  A hairdryer was used to turn the wind turbine sails and a running tap was used to spin the water buckets on the water turbine.  The water turbines generated more electricity because of the stronger force of the running water; approx 7V whilst the wind turbines generated approximately 3V.

The final challenge of the day was to build a solar powered vehicle.  Everyone worked together to follow the instructions. We held solar car races to see which vehicle travelled the fastest with a light source.

The children had a fantastic learning day exploring renewable sources of energy through engineering challenges.

Computer Xplorers sessions recognise the four capacities identified in the Curriculum for Excellence and aims to help children become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors.  Our thanks to John for delivering a wonderfully educational workshop.

 

 

Portpatrick Primary was selected to participate in a workshop from Professor Lockheart, Director: Institute of Biomedical & Environmental Health Research (IBEHR)of the University of West Scotland on the theme of ‘Breath’.

He is part of a team of scientists in Scotland and Ireland that have EU funding to establish training and school links for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is particularly prevalent in our area.

All of the children enjoyed participating in an interactive workshop of activities to raise their understanding of factors that can impact on our lung health.  They used models of lungs to observe the damage smoking and vaping can have on our bodies.  There was lots of ‘goo’ and tar in jars!  The children tested their lung capacity by puffing into measuring tubes.  I’m pleased to report lots of healthy readings.

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The whole school was treated to a musical experience today when we were visited by two members of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  The two gents peformed musical pieces on the cello and the violin.  The session was predominately aimed at our P4 pupils who are being offered the opportunity to enrol in a block of 16 teaching sessions from November until June both at Stranraer academy and online.  The RCS Stranraer Music Centre Programme is funded by the Youth Music Initiative and tuition will be free. This is a fantastic opportunity for pupils to begin to learn how to play a musical instrument.

The children enjoyed listening to the classical performance and asked many probing questions about music and learning to play an instrument.

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Keep Scotland Beautiful awards Green Flag Award for environmental action

Portpatrick Primary has yet again been awarded the prestigious Eco-Schools Green Flag Award, by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful. Eco-Schools Scotland aims to make environmental awareness and action an intrinsic part of the life and ethos of all schools, for both pupils and for staff. It also provides a framework to engage the wider school community in action and support aligned with the purposes of Curriculum for Excellence and Learning for Sustainability. Eco-Schools Scotland offers schools a choice of ten topics to engage with, from food and the environment, to litter, to energy. Portpatrick Primary chose to focus on Litter, Biodiversity and Health on its Green Flag Award journey.

Derek Robertson, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Congratulations to the Eco Committee, and all other pupils and staff at Portpatrick Primary who worked so hard to achieve and maintain their Green Flag Award Status.” “Keep Scotland Beautiful is committed to supporting all our children and young people to develop the capacities, skills and attributes required for learning, living and working in a changing environment and world.

The pupils’ community and environmental action was commended by Emma Harper, MSP for South Scotland Region.  She personally wrote to the boys and girls, to congratulate them on their commitment and endeavours ‘to make our region a pleasant place to live and visit.’

Mrs Baille, Head Teacher commented that, “This award recognises another two years of continued environmental achievement by our responsible pupils.  The whole school has engaged with our local community to bring about positive action.  Our special thanks go to the Community Safety Wardens and Portpatrick Community Council for their support”.

The Scottish Eco-Schools programme is regarded as world-leading; with almost every young person in Scotland playing a part in driving environmental excellence forward. Now the pupils and educators of Portpatrick Primary can proudly say they are engaged in a real movement, across over 60 countries in five continents, striving to improve our environment through learning for sustainability.

# Responsible Citizens

As part of learning how to be Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors, Class 2 are receiving a block of workshop lessons to become Playmakers.  Here, they are taught skills to allow more effective interaction with their peers.  Soft skills such as cooperation, negotiation, sharing and listening are developed through collaborative play activities.  Today, Class 2 were using effective communication and organisational skills to instruct Class 1 on a range of independently designed play activities.

#Responsible Citizens  & Effective Contributors

 

P6 pupil Lola has been selected to play for the Wigtownshire netball team!  Lola is making her mark with this great achievement, having just joined us from over the pond.  We will all be cheering Lola on.

# Effective Contributor

Our new P1 pupils are settling in well at Portpatrick.  They have been very busy learning in all sorts of contexts.  The class went on an active learning 2D shape hunt using our outdoor areas.  To help with writing recounts, the children went on a Teddy Bears picnic.  They applied healthy eating to create their own sandwich snacks.  They enjoyed story time with ‘We Are Going On A Bear Hunt’.  The children played games with their bears to learn social skills.  All this was used as a stimulus to write about their adventures with their favourite teddy bears.

# Successful Learners