Author: Ms Whorlow

Mr Bennis from Scottish Water visited Class 2 today.  This supported our learning on ‘Life in our Local Area’ as part of our Social Studies this term.  We are considering how the services of our community are served. Mr Bennis gave the pupils input on where and how the water in our area is treated to be made safe for our community.  He also supported our Water Eco-Learning by advising us on how we can protect our environment and preserve our natural water resources.  The children became more aware of how to be responsible citizens.

P5/6 participated in the annual Rhins school cross country tournament held at Green Valley. Every pupil gave each race their all, competing against high numbers. Our boys and girls gave an excellent performance in determination and were ranked as high as 5th and 6th position for their year group.

Portpatrick Primary pupils had some swashbuckling escapades as they entertained audiences with their Easter production of Pirates vs Mermaids. They ‘heave-ho’d’ with sea shanties and mermaid invaded adventures on the ocean waves. The boys and girls presented two performances for family and friends of Portpatrick. It was a real community affair as local senior citizens were invited to enjoy the entertainment and refreshments provided. The actors swaggered and sparkled to everyone’s delight.

Class 2 were treated to a musical experience in a live session with Pitch, Pulse and Magic today.  The musicians demonstrated a range of brass instruments; playing contemporary and classical pieces for the children’s entertainment.  There was even a demonstration of playing a tune on a common garden hose!

Class 2 participated in a live link with the Tim Peake Primary Project today.  There were about 40 schools selected from across Britain to take part.  The children gained insight into life on the International Space Station (ISS).  We carried out practical and learning activities covering aspects such as:

• Manual dexterity in space suits
• Reaction times
• The effects of zero gravity on the body
• Using a model to visualise the distance between the Moon & Earth
• The importance of maintaining physical fitness in space
• Observations of Earth from the surface and satellite
• Tim Peake – selection, training and missions

The children were all inspired and I think there may be a few future astronauts in the making!

Today we learned about the custom of Shrove Tuesday for Christians. Traditionally, on this day, Christians used up the eggs and butter in their home before Lent began the following day.  This is why we make and enjoy pancakes.

In maths we applied ratio to adjust the quantities in a pancake recipe for the number of people required. There were also opportunities to multiply by 2D, factors of 10 and decimals in our calculations. Once we had calculated the required quantities for our pancake recipe we began to make them.

During the practical task we remembered our HWB food preparation and hygiene practices by washing our hands, wearing protective clothing and covering our hair. We applied our soft skills of cooperation and sharing to create the batter mixture then cooked them in a pan.  We shared them out amongst the whole school and enjoyed them with butter and jam; yum!