Port Charlotte Primary School

I just wanted to write a short note of thank-you on the blog I started last year at the start of my time as a probationary teacher at Port Charlotte Primary. 

I was one of the first teachers to train long distance for the PGDE, and along with 5 others from around the island we pioneered the course for non Gaelic training here on Islay.  I want to thank those at Strathclyde University, especially Linda Keith, for their hard work and vision in setting up this course, as well as those at the local Gaelic college who gave us a home and mostly successful video conferencing facilities for a year!  To be able to train as a teacher, a challenging and rewarding profession, which I would not have been able to manage under normal circumstances living on an Island, has meant a great deal to me.

I was especially lucky to be placed at Port Charlotte Primary for my final year of training, a fantastic school, and would like to thank all the staff, children and parents who have helped me develop as a teacher over the year.  I have many fabulous memories to take away with me, and hope to continue to be part of the school community as a parent volunteer.

I hope the school blog will continue, as a place for children to record the details of school life that are important to them, to share with the outside world what it is to be a pupil at Port Charlotte Primary School-Lucky them!

Mrs Clark

Friday the 29th of June was the end of year assembly, traditionally led by the leaving P7’s, reflecting on their time in the school.  This year we had something different, a film premier! The P7 movie was an instant hit, filmed, presented and starring the P7’s, with help from Mrs MacLellan.  It was a montage of interviews of children and teachers discussing their memories of Port Charlotte Primary, discussion of what they most enjoy now in school and hopes and dreams for the future.  With a soundtrack that included classics such as ‘I’ve got a combine harvester’ and ‘School’s out for summer’, and the inclusion of some old black and white video footage of the first day at school(!?), parents and children were riveted to their seats.  It was a fitting goodbye to the P7 group, Anna, Andrew, Cersty, Kieran, Katie, Scott and Meghan.  Good luck for the future guys!

Picture of the P7s as they started out in P1(aah, they’re sweet) , starting and finishing with the same teacher Mrs MacLellan!