Author: Mrs Baillie

Barbara our school cook invited grandparents of the school to come in and enjoy a haggis lunch with their grandchildren, last week.

Rhian Palmer in p4 said the Selkirk Grace before Callum Cumming in p7 addressed the haggis.  The company then sat down to enjoy a traditional plate of haggis neeps and tatties together.  Much chat took place, between the invited guests and their grandchildren.

Later, as teas and coffees were served the children performed some Scots poetry recitations and singing of Scots songs to the grandparents. and visitors.

The afternoon was a great success, making all feel very patriotic .  The visitors left the school, happy after a hearty meal the pupils

Primary 7 recently enjoyed a full morning at Stranraer Ice Rink, where they were given lessons on the sport of Curling. Once pupils had experienced coaching of the basic game, they were able to take part in a competition against other Primary 7 pupils from other local Primary schools.  At the end of the event the p7 pupils enjoyed lunch at The North West Castle , before being presented with a certificate and returning back to school. 

Stranraer Ice rink has long been associated with many championship curlers…….I wonder if any of our pupils will go on to the success that former Portpatrick pupil, and Olympic medal winner, Vicki Adams has had?

In January the Portpatrick Primary has a Scots language focus.  This is an interdisciplinary learning approach to Scots poetry and our Scottish culture and heritage. The  focus on Scottish poetry incorporates learning in literacy, expressive arts, health and well being and social studies. 

As part of this work, each year group focused on a different poem.  This culminated in a celebration assembly to which parents and friend of the school were invited.  The following children received certificates in recognition of all the hard work they had put in;

Poetry recitations

P1- 1^st Maya Mc Neil         2.  Ruby Rankin     3.  Ava Lily Orr Ewing

P2/3 1^st Mackenzie Collins 2.  Jack Cloy        3.  Abbi Jonstone

P4 1.  Rowan Harbottle    2.  Rhian Palmer     3.  Myles Hine and Olivia Cumming

P5. 1.  Lachlan Ross         2.  Jenna Marshall  3.  Innes Mc Clurg

P6. 1.  Tilly partington     2.  Amelia Currie  

P7. 1. Lara Cole                2.  Finn Marshall    3.  Magnus Ross

 

Handwriting

P1 – Maya Mc Neil

P2 /3 Abbi Johnstone

P4 Rowan Harbottle

P5 Jenna Marshall

P6 Amelia Currie

P7 Lara Cole and Finn Marshall

 

Artwork

P1 Ava Lily Orr Ewing

P2/3 Abbi Johnstone

P4 Olivia Cumming

P5 Jenna Marshall

P6 Tilly Partington

P7 Kelsey Stevenson and Isla Carter.

 

Portpatrick Primary footballers  are delighted that they now have a new football strip, sponsored by Mr Phil Newall of the Portpatrick Hotel.  For some competitions the team play with friends from their partnership school of Leswalt.  Leswalt have red sweatshirts, and Portpatrick have blue.  This new strip combines both school colours, so they can play together as one united team – but still have their own school identity with the school badge and own sponsor evident.

Mr Newall came into school to get his photograph taken with some of the footballers from Portpatrick – and if you look closely you can see the Portpatrick Hotel in the background. 

 

Portpatrick Primary were out and about walking in the local community, this week,  as part of their “Daily Mile” challenge.  The route they took on Monday led them round the harbour towards the park.  At the park there was a lot of activity,  as Mr Harbottle was there helping as the former play equipment was being taken away to make way for the new equipment.  The school children were very excited to see that new play equipment was arriving and that the village play park was about to undergo a transformation, in memory of young Euan.

It just so happened a photographer was there to capture the start of construction work for the local paper –  it was nice  to see the school on the front page of the Wigtown Free Press this week, along side Mr Harbottle.

 

Every year the Rotary Club of Stranraer extend an invitation to Primary 7 pupils from all Primary schools to their annual lunch.  This year the guest speaker was Richard Arkless MP.  Portpatrick Primary was represented very well by Callum Cumming and Finn Marshall, who were very mannerly and chatted away to the Rotarians.

Well we’ve kept to our New Year Resolution!

The pupils and staff of Portpatrick Primary have headed out for  a daily walk, every day so far this term. The pupils have been down School Brae , past the Harbour House and round by the putting green  for the last few days .  Tomorrow they are going to head in the opposite direction,  up past the Beachcomber.

It’s a chance to exercise those legs, get the heart pumping, enjoy a sociable chat and let the local villagers see lots of wee, smiling faces! We then come back to school invigorated and ready to crack on with our  work.

Give us a wave if you see us out and about!

All the children from Portpatrick Primary enjoyed a fantastic party buffet lunch before getting into the party spirit and enjoying some traditional party games and social dancing.  The afternoon concluded with the arrival of Santa, who was kind enough to bring every child in the school a gift.

Primary 1-4 have recently had a 6 week block of African drumming in school.  The children learned some traditional chants, beats and dances from Ghana.  The learning culminated in a performance to the whole school – in which they told the story of some animals in Africa and showed off their chanting and dancing skills.  P5-7 responded by chanting back and learning an African dance along side their little friends.  It was a confident, fun performance which was enjoyed by all.

Have a look at the fun they had drumming!

Primary 5-7 took their Outdoor maths to a new level today when they headed up to Low Auchenree farm, by kind permission of the Ross family, to do some real life maths.  While at the farm they;

* estimated and measure distances in metric units – including the circumference of the base of the wind turbines.

* used trigonometry and angles to calculate the height of a wind turbine.

* measured the r.p.m, of the wind turbine blades, using a stopwatch timer.

* Used formulae and pi to calculate the speed of a wind turbine blade

* estimated quantity and visualised 3d models to count bales

* calculated costs and VAT using multiplication and percentages

* used formulae to calculate areas and perimeter of a poly tunnel.

 

It was a whole lot of maths in one morning at the farm!  Many thanks to Miss Whorlow and Mr Ross for organising this very worthwhile exercise.