Author: Mr Morrison

Today the school extended a warm welcome to nursery pupils who will be enrolling in our school this year or next year. The current P1s did a fantastic job of introducing the youngsters around the school and played with them in the playroom. They did various activities including modelling with playdoh, counting with a till, making food and drinks and getting used to their new surroundings for the future.

SHANARRI – Included and Safe

UNCRC – 28 – Access to Education. 12 – Respect for Children’s Views.

On the last day of term before the Christmas holidays, Reverend Breakey came into the school to make Christingles.

This gave the children a sense of association between the birth of Christ, the light that is shared and the love that is spread around the world – indicated by the red tape. The candles and sweets signify the fruits of earth and the four seasons.

The children thoroughly enjoyed their task and we thank Rev. Breakey once again for all she does for our school!

UNCRC – Article 14: Freedom of thought, belief and religion. Article 29: goals of education.

Metaskills: focused, collaboration, empathy and creative.

Portpatrick Hotel and the Portpatrick Cinema group kindly invited the children to watch a film on the penultimate day of Term 2! The children were spoilt with popcorn and mini munchie boxes provided by Portpatrick hotel and Cinema group. They were treated with watching Despicable me 4 in comfy seats.

We would like to extend a massive thank you to the Cinema Group and Portpatrick Hotel for making our children feel comfortable and giving them a sense of pride in our community. It is much appreciated and was a lovely end of term gesture for the children for all their hard work.

UNCRC: Article 17: Access to information and Article 31 (Leisure, play and culture)

Metaskills: behaviour, focussed, critical thinking.

Sorry for the belated blog post…. those pesky elves! The children had a great build up to Christmas in the school. They gave a fantastic performance in the school show and were rewarded with a visit from Santa Claus! Santa brought each of the children their own special present which they wished for in class.

Additionally, the children enjoyed a yummy Christmas dinner a few days before the holidays which included turkey, roast potatoes and everybody’s favourite… Brussel sprouts!

Well done to all the children for their efforts in Term 2. I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas and Happy New Year.

Metaskills: communication, collaboration, creative

UNCRC: Article 3 (best interests of the child), Article 14 (freedom of thought, belief and religion)

Children in Need Day was a great success at Portpatrick primary this year, with students, staff, and families coming together to raise funds and awareness for a fantastic cause.

Students (and staff!) dressed in colourful outfits, some sporting the iconic yellow and polka-dotted theme of Pudsey Bear.

The day kicked off with a special assembly led by Mr. Morrison, where the importance of Children in Need was highlighted. Students learned how their contributions would directly help children and young people across the UK facing challenges such as poverty, illness, and disability.

The creativity on display was amazing, with children creating cupcakes in the afternoon with ingredients supplied by Miss. Whorlow. Our Pupils raised £30.00 through donations of non-uniform and seeing “how far our pennies go”.

Well done everyone involved!

SHANARRI – Safe, Healthy, Nurtured.

UNCRC: Article 27 – Food, Clothing, A safe home. Article 26 – Social and Economic help

Metaskills: Integrity, Feeling, Creativity

The Fire Safety Warden Robert came into our school to talk about how to keep safe during Guy Fawkes night. This included discussing the types of material that are allowed to be burned in a bonfire and identifying which substances aren’t safe for the environment. He conversed about safety procedures and what type of safety equipment should be used to keep us safe at this fun (but potentially dangerous) time of year.

George testing out safety equipment.

Carter performing the “Stop, drop and roll”

Article 3: Best interests of the child, Article 19: Protection from Violence, Abuse and Neglect.

Meta-Skills

Self- management: Focusing

Social Intelligence: Communicating

Innovation: Sense Making

Last Thursday we had a great day at Portpatrick primary school for our Halloween party! The house captains (Carter + Lacey) organised some party games and there were lots of treats provided by the school.

Some of our party games included musical statues, 4 corners and Skeleton, Skeleton, Zombie (a game made up by Carter).

After a brief intermission and some treats, the ghoulish games commenced with a mummy wrap (where the P7s were mummified!), a hot pumpkin game (similar to hot potato), pass the parcel and we rounded off the day with a judging of the best costume.

Thanks to all the parents who turned up, donated Halloween gifts and put a lot of effort into getting the children dressed in their costumes. It made it an afternoon to remember for the children.

Article 12: (respect for the views of the child)

Article 29: (goals of education)

Meta-skills: Self-Management: Initiative, Social Intelligence: Leading, Innovation: Creativity.

Our learners took part in Maths Week participating in a range of different number experiences including a Sumdog contest, making shape monsters, counting our laps in the daily mile and making 3D buildings as part of our shape city! Additionally, the children organised our Macmillan Coffee Morning where the pupils used budgeting, finance and counting the number of raffle tickets sold!

Well done Portpatrick!

The responsibilities for our learners have been chosen

Our learners submitted applications for the school’s Pupil Voice groups. They worked very hard on putting forward their skills, attributes and qualities for the various positions (as they would do in a real job scenario).

The house captains did especially well as they had to do a presentation for their roles.

The following pupils were selected for the following groups:

Lacey: House Captain of Portree and Carter: House captain of Dunskey

Eco Committee members: Callie-Jo, George, Zak, Freya, Harry, Arran and Lacey

Pupil Council: Esme, Kaicie, Layo, Josh, Ella, Adam, Louise and Carter

Digital Leaders: Arran and Adam

STEM leader: Louise

Library Monitors: Louise and Lacey

Dinner Hall monitors: Freya, Louise and Josh

Playground monitors: Carter and Lacey

Cloakroom monitors: Harry and Freya

It was great to be back at Portpatrick school seeing all the pupils’ faces as well as meeting three new children! We had great fun settling back into school.

Our younger pupils had some time playing in their new classroom as well as completing some art tasks and showing us how well they know the alphabet!

 Our older pupils logged onto our new education platform – Purple Mash. This can used at home for extra support on various aspects of learning. Parents can also access the platform through a Parent code which will be sent out with homework diaries next week!

Our children played some board games with Barbara and Mrs. Henry. This will be available for children to participate in more this year as the school looks to further our childrens ‘meta-skills’. These skills include developing abilities such as self-management – focusing, integrity, adapting, initiative and Social intelligence – communicating, feeling, collaborating, leading.

Keep your eyes on the blog for all the updates of the fun activities we will be getting stuck in to! 

Here’s some photos of our Portpatrick pupils from our first day back…