Active Schools work very closely with us at Benarty, offering our children a wide variety of additional opportunities and extra curricular activities. Currently our children are participating in a girls football lunch club, after school football for all, curling lessons, floor curling lunch club and have also recently run a very popular Together We Can course, which is designed to support children to get active and build their confidence and self esteem. These are running with the support of some Sports Ambassadors from Lochgelly High School. We also had children who participated in the Scottish Schools Orienteering Competition with the support of our Active School’s coordinator.
“I thoroughly enjoy working with the staff and pupils at Benarty PS. Pupils have enormous amounts of enthusiasm and creativity when it comes to any physical activity opportunity. The staff here are so dedicated to their role and provide more extra curricular opportunities than any other cluster school”.
– Simon Warren, Active Schools Coordinator
Brag Enterprises supports the children at Benarty PS by encouraging and participating in our Healthy Eating Programme and also our Developing the Young Workforce Programme. We currently have children attending Brag Enterprises for fortnightly cooking lessons in their newly refurbished training kitchen and also working in their Food Pantry.
“We have had the privilege of spending time with a group of P6 pupils taking part in a joint venture with Brag Enterprises and Benarty PS called Healthy Eating Programme. The pupils come down to Brag every fortnight and make some delicious easy recipes and cook for themselves and their families. The pupils are understanding how to follow recipes, measure out ingredients, work out quantities of ingredients required for some recipes and they are also leaning to adapt recipes by adding or leaving out ingredients that they do not like. We are extremely proud of the achievements so far and are looking forward to continuing working with the school throughout the following months”.
– Ann Moodie
Childsmile visit Benarty PS regularly as part of the Toothbrushing and Fluoride Varnish programmes, and also to provide educational talks to the children.
“I am one of the Childsmile team and I regularly visit Benarty PS and nursery to help the staff and children follow the Childsmile programme. I have actually been visiting the school for over 14 years. The staff always make me feel welcome and do their best to accommodate whatever activity has been planned. The toothbrushing programme has been very successful at Benarty PS and when I do educational talks the staff encourage the children to listen and ask questions. They are very good at running the toothbrushing sessions and when I monitor the brushing the staff always adhere to the toothbrushing standards. The fluoride varnish programme is also taken up by the school and in past years the nursery also helped the children to be at ease when getting the varnish applied to their teeth. Hopefully soon we can return to seeing the nursery children for this as we return to normal services post pandemic. I can honestly say I feel part of the team when I visit Benarty PS and I’m welcomed in the staff areas as if I am one of them”.
-Hazel Mathie
The Outdoor Education service work with Benarty PS to provide opportunities for our children to lean in a different type of way, developing life long skills in addition to having lots of fun and learning to love the great outdoors. We have engaged with this service to provide water sports, sailing and kayaking, mountain biking and hill walking experiences for our learners.
“The children and staff at Benarty PS engage with the Natural Connections Programme with great enthusiasm for learning outdoors. They utilise the local outdoor spaces around the school in a creative way to maximise the opportunities for the children”.
– Tony Credland, Natural Connections Project Officer
Following an intensive increase in the variety and frequency of sporting opportunities that are offered at Benarty PS, in partnership with Active Schools Fife, Fife Outdoor Education and Lochgelly High School Sports Ambassadors and Junior leaders, Benarty PS has recently been awarded a Silver School Sport Award and are currently working towards achieving the Gold Award.
Benarty PS is proud to host the Cafe Inc Lunch Club which provides a much needed and valued service to the surrounding community throughout school holidays.
Benarty PS engages with a wide array of Supporting Learner Services such as the English as an Additional Language Service and Sensory Support Service to provide what ever support the children in our care need at any given time.
“I work in partnership with the staff and pupils at Benarty PS as a Teacher with Fife Supporting Learners Service. I work with children who are learning English as an Additional Language. We also work with teachers to help them support the children. The staff at Benarty PS really care about the children they work with. They take time to get to know them and their families and go the extra mile to meet their needs. I have found them professional, approachable and keen to learn and they are always happy to take advice. It is a pleasure to work with the children and staff at this school”.
– Beverly Clunie, EAL Teacher
Police Scotland are regular visitors to Benarty PS, ensuring that our children are up to date on Internet Safety, Stranger Danger and being street smart in the school holidays. We are always happy to have our local community officers and cyber specialists in school supporting our learners.
The team from Lochgelly Fire Station are regular visitors to Benarty PS. They are always keen to remind children about fire safety, water safety and civic responsibility at key times in the year such as around Bonfire Night and the school holidays.
Fife Young Carers work closely with Benarty PS to ensure that the children who are engaging with this service are given all the educational support that they need. The Education Officer is in school regularly to meet with the children, provide staff training and information and is more than happy to engage with parents who think that their child might benefit from their support. If you would like further information about this service, please contact your child’s teacher or FYC directly.
I thoroughly enjoy coming into Benarty Primary, the staff and young people are always very welcoming and polite. I have been lucky enough to come along to the young carers club, this allows young carers time to chat and have time for themselves. During my time in Benarty Primary School I try to raise awareness of what a caring role could be and to highlight how some of our Young Carers are impacted by it. This hopefully lets their peers be more mindful of what others might have going on at home. Through conversations with a young carer, they said, “I enjoy coming to school because I feel safe and get some peace and quiet and time for me”. As an education worker this is one of the greatest things to hear that a school is a safe place and that they feel supported. I look forward to continuing my visits to Benarty Primary School.
– Hannah Blackwood, FYC Education Worker (Lochgelly & Kirkcaldy Cluster)
In conjunction with Benarty Community Council, Ventient Energy is a strong supporter of Benarty PS. They have facilitated the purchase of an indoor Floor Curling Kit to diversify the opportunities for fully inclusive sport in school. They have also engaged with Benarty PS in our intergenerational project with Avondale Care Homes by sponsoring the purchase of new board games and jigsaws for out children to use to interact with the residents.
“Benarty Community Council has worked with Benarty Primary School over the years and in various forms. We are delighted to acknowledge all the good work that Benarty Primary School does outside of schooling and the Community Council is pleased to be involved. We know that Benarty Primary School is passionate about supporting the pupils and also the local area, and the Community Council helps when and where we can. We know that all the staff at Benarty Primary School have the pupils best interests at heart and are also engaged with the wider Benarty Community. Benarty Community Council is proud to be associated with Benarty Primary School and happy to help when we can”.
– John Purdie, Secretary, Benarty Community Council
The Scottish Mountain Trust
Working in partnership, the Scottish Mountain Trust and Edinburgh International Climbing Arena are working with a group of our children to develop their confidence, self-esteem and empowerment through rock climbing to improve their over all self image and develop a love of the great Scottish Outdoors and the sport it provides, which will support them and their mental health throughout their lives. The children are working on their National Indoor Climbing Award Scheme (NICAS) qualification which they can take with them as they progress to high school.
The Ecology Centre, Kinghorn
This term, the Ecology Centre was very pleased to be able to work with Benarty Primary School on a series of Family Outdoor Play sessions for a group of children from P2 and P3.
Funding from Inspiring Scotland meant we could run 8 afternoon sessions on Wednesdays, using school grounds and other local green spaces. We were also able to provide waterproofs and wellies, which were much appreciated this term! Children and adults set up ‘camp’ each week, with a shelter if the weather was wet, and we had lots of fun playing games, exploring, and making things. We learned about some of the animals and birds in the local environment, and noticed the seasonal changes all around us (although the weather hasn’t been very Spring-like yet!). Children enjoyed using simple tools to make things out of wood, such as streamers, walking sticks and beads. And of course, there was also plenty of time to have a cup of hot chocolate or relax in a hammock!
I’ve really appreciated the school’s enthusiasm about this project and hope we might be able to work together again sometime.
– Sue Proudfoot, Education Officer, The Ecology Centre, Kinghorn
Benarty is a friendly school environment where I am warmly welcomed in each week to teach woodwind. The pupils are enthusiastic to learn and build a range of new skills which will assist in enhancing their learning experience. They have had opportunities to perform at the school Christmas concerts and other events which always seem like a real team effort. I look forward to further engagement with Benarty Primary School.
– Stephen Rankin, Visiting Woodwind Instrument Teacher
I visit Benarty Primary School twice per week and visit the p6 and p7 classes to provide chanter/ bagpipe lessons to a group of selected pupils. I am welcomed each day by the fantastic office staff, who are always on hand to support me with the work that I do. The primary 6 and 7 teachers are really helpful, with good communication regarding individual learners and their needs. The school as a whole are always keen to showcase the pupils achievements and success, and they strive to include our chanter players in school events. I often play the pipes at the school Burns night, and I encourage pupils to perform in front of their peers to show off the recent tunes they have been learning. Many pupils who continue on with bagpipes at Lochgelly High School go on to become integral members of the High School pipe band, and this is all thanks to the fantastic environment in which they learned their fundamental skillset at Benarty Primary.
– Greig Canning, Bagpipe Teacher
In conjunction with Active Schools Fife, all P6 pupils are given the opportunity to attend a free Curling’s Cool two hour taster session at Kirkcaldy Curling School, Fife Ice Arena. This session allows the children to challenge themselves to try a new and less widely participated sport, which is fully inclusive and can be enjoyed by all Benarty PS pupils.
“It is so exciting to have so many children who have been inspired to take up a sport that they had never heard of and be so engaged with it. Some of the children from Benarty PS have been coming to lessons for two seasons now and are improving in their skill and confidence. They are totally engaged with the sport”.
– Bill Creevy, Kirkcaldy Curling School
In partnership with Scottish Curling and Active Schools Fife, we have a group of children who, following a Curling’s Cool session, wanted to keep curling. Active Schools Fife sponsored this initiative which is in it’s second year. There are currently 12 young people for Benarty PS who are regularly attending lessons and are looking forward to starting to compete next season.
Scottish Curling are also supporting Benarty PS this year by providing us with two indoor Floor Curling Kits as part of their Additional Support Needs Curling Project, in addition to the one that was sponsored by Benarty Community Council, which is allowing us to have an entire class at a time participating in both PE lessons and also in our lunch club on a Monday.
“We are delighted to be working with the teachers and pupils at Benarty PS as part of the ASN Schools Floor Curling Project. The ambitions we are hoping to achieve with this project include increased participation in curling by children with and without a disability as well as to raise awareness of participation opportunities within the sport. We are delighted to already see so many pupils enjoy floor curling and are excited to welcome more into the sport. Thanks to funding from the Peter Harrison Foundation, we have been able to provide Benarty PS with FloorCurl kits to give children the opportunity to partake in floor curling sessions within their school day. With curling being such an inclusive sport for all ages and abilities, this project is a great starting point for each and every individual ahead of trying curling on the ice also”.
– Rhiannon Butterfield, Disability & Inclusion Development Officer, Scottish Curling
Fife Flyers players were in school recently to talk to Benarty PS classes P4-P7 about the sport of Ice Hockey, the challenges, the benefits and the teamwork required. This was an inspirational session where the children had the opportunity to meet these international sportsmen, try on their kit and ask lots of questions about their sport
P6 pupils from Benarty PS take part in this annual competition run to help children learn about the European Union and how it runs and influences language, politics and legislation in Europe. This is run as a lunch club which the children choose to engage with. In 2023 our team came second in the Fife regional competition, missing out on the national finals by only 1 point. 2024 has an equally dedicated group of young people to compete with their peers in primary schools across Fife.
