All posts by Mr Hardy

outdoor learning, Social Studies

P4 trip to Vikingar

Last week Primary 4 visited Largs to enrich their learning about the Vikings. This is what they had to say about it:

“It was very cool because we went in a longhouse and we saw a longship. The longhouse was also a bedroom and a kitchen. We got to try the helmets on and they were very heavy. We also went a walk to the Viking village. There were lots of Vikings there and the first tent we went they showed us where the Vikings would have slept. We also got runes painted on our hands we had lots of fun.” 

 

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The Depute First Minister’s First Puzzle

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It’s Maths Week Scotland 2018 and I’m delighted to launch the first of seven daily puzzles that I’ll be sharing this week. Here’s the first challenge.

Good luck!

Stepping Up

Three friends visit a museum and walk up a flight of stairs. Ross goes up one step at a time starting with his left foot on the first step. Elena goes up two steps at a time starting with her left foot on the second step and Tom starts with his left foot on the third step and goes up three steps at a time.

Investigate these questions and explain your answers:

(a) Which is the first step that all three will tread on?
(b) Which is the first step that all three will tread on with their right foot?
(c) Which is the first step that all three will tread on with their left foot?

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Maths Week Scotland

This week in school we will be taking part in the Sumdog Competition for Maths Week Scotland. All the pupils have a username and password and can access this site from home.

Each day the Deputy First Minister will be posing a puzzle which we will put on line – leave a comment on the post if you have solved it.

achievement, global citizens, RRS

Rights Respecting Schools’ Award

I am very pleased to announce that the school was successful in achieving our Gold Award from UNICEF. Everyone worked very hard and the assessors were impressed with the work that is happening around rights at the school. They identified particular strengths of the school as:

  • Strong commitment to children’s rights from the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and a clear understanding of how rights underpin and support other aspects of school life.
  •  SLT constantly strive to find new and innovative ways to embed RRS and include the Convention in all strategic planning.
  • Prominent visibility of rights in vibrant displays throughout the school.
  • Learning connections made across the curriculum, with a solid link to Learning for Sustainability.
  • Children bringing rights to life, demonstrating good knowledge and understanding and making them a part of everyday interaction.
  • Pupils are empowered to take an active role in their school and wider community.

 

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Welcome Back!

It was fantastic to see everyone back after the summer break and to meet our new families. We have an exciting term  planned with Primary 4 off to Vikingar and the Viking Village; P6 off to Culzean and our P7s  to Dolphin House. We will also be starting a project with Southcraig School – initially with our P7 class and then across the school. These are just a few of the events coming up in the next few weeks. An updated ‘dates for your diary’ is available under the school information section.

We hope you will be able to come along and meet the new classes on Friday 31st August from 2.30pm for an informal drop in.

A copy of the August newsletter is available by clicking here.

Article 29
Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people

event

Sports Day and Phones

Please note Sports Day will now start at 1.00pm at Dam Park this afternoon.

There is also a problem with our phones at the moment and we are unable to take external calls. We have reported this fault.

event

SAC ASN Parents Forum Thursday 7th June 2018 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Ayr Academy
Life Long Learning Suite. 

The forum will cover the following areas:

  • Promoting the Rights of Children and Young People.
    The Children & Young People (Scotland) Act strengthened the rights of children and young people in Scotland. This now extends to children over the age of 12. Maria Galli, Child Protection Officer, will explore the impact of the act and the role it will play in promoting children and young people rights.
  • Workshop 1 Sound Sleep
    This workshop will explore how we can establish good routines for establishing positive sleep habits.
  • Workshop 2 Keeping Children Safe Online
    Maria Galli, Child Protection Officer will highlight how we can keep our children and young people safe online.
  • Future Travel
    Consultation and ideas on moving the parents forum forward.

To book your place please click on the link below for details

ASN Parents Forum June

community, creativity, DYW, event, RRS, Social Studies, sustainability

Forest, Farms and Mines Day 6

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Today we met Vicki from the National Mining Museum. She taught us all about how mines have changed of the years and about mining in Ayrshire. We found out how important it is to have our rights as in the Victorian period children did not have these and had to work in dangerous conditions in the mines.

Primary 5 and Primary 6 also visited Belleisle where the rangers taught us about the woodland habitats and the different plants and trees that grow in the park

We also had a visit from Miss Young to tell us all about a day in the life of a farmer.

Article 24
All children and young people have the right to the best health care possible, safe water to drink, nutritious food, a clean and safe environment, and information to help them stay alive, healthy and safe.

 

community, DYW, event, global citizens, sustainability

Forests, Farms and Mines Day 5

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We had lots of exciting experiences today. Every class had the opportunity of being mammal detectives with the Scottish Wildlife Trust.

Some of the classes had a visit from Mr Robertson, the Climate Challenge Officer, from South Ayrshire Council. He told us all about climate change in the local area and the skills you need for his job. He also gave use ideas about how we could make a difference to the climate.

A lecturer from the SRUC, Mrs Gray, taught us all about different plants and trees and how to identify them – this will be useful when we go for a walk along the river!

Mr McLeish, an operations manager from QTS, came to tell us all about  his job of overseeing the de-vegetation of the railway lines across Ayrshire and Scotland.

Article 29
Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.

DYW, outdoor learning

Forest, Farms and Mines Day 4

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Today we visited a dairy farm – Strandhead Farm in Tarbolton. We found out all about the skills needed to be a farmer and work with animals. It was great fun getting to see the cows up close and see where our milk comes from.

Article 29
Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.

DYW, event

Forest, Farms and Mines Day 3

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We had a lot of visitors today including Owl Magic, the Dairy Council and the RSPB. We found out all about the wildlife in our countryside and why milk and dairy products are an important part of our diet. We learned about the various jobs and skills people need to carry out these jobs too.

Article 29
Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.

DYW

Forest, Farms and Mines Day 2

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Today we had a visit from Rheeta the cow. We learned how cows produce milk and even had a go at trying to milk Rheeta! We also got to see a vintage plough and a modern tractor. We found out that you need good ICT skills to be a farmer as many of the tractors can be controlled by satellite.

Article 29
Your education should help you use and develop your talents and abilities. It should also help you learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.

 

achievement, DYW, sustainability

Forest, Farms and Mines Day 1

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Day 1 of our Forest, Farms and Mines themed fortnight kicked off with a visit from the bee keepers. They told us all about their jobs and the importance of bees in pollinating flowers. We got to see how the bees live and also got to taste some of the honey. Yum!

Article 17
You have the right to get information that is important to your well-being, from radio, newspaper, books, computers and other sources. Adults should make sure that the information you are getting is not harmful, and help you find and understand the information you need.

 

achievement, Literacy and English

Bookshop Visit

Mrs Reid took representatives form each class to Waterstones, Ayr to choose books from our World Book Day prize of £1000.  The pupils had consulted with their classmates about the types of books they should choose. The pupils are looking forward to the new books arriving in our library.

Article 12
You have the right to give your opinion, and for adults to listen and take it seriously.