Port Charlotte Primary School

Dear Friends,

Thankyou for the lovely presents. Here is a photo of us saying thankyou. We were very happy to receive the gifts.
“I felt happy” Shannon
“I thought the keyrings were beastful!” Calum MacL
“I liked the keyring” Lily Ann
“I liked the chocolate coin!” Emma
“I thought it was kind” Emily
“I thought it was so nice” Niamh
“I thought the card and keyring were very good” Molly
“I thought the gifts were awesome!” John

THANKYOU!

love from p1,2,3
x

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!

Simon King came to Port Charlotte School on Friday 1st of June. He gave us some ideas to help us improve the school grounds, to attract nature like birds, insects and things.
We found out Simon was born in Kenya and started his filming career at age 10 and his dad made films too.
We went into the garden and he gave us some points on bird feeders and nest boxes. He told us to make a pond to attract wildlife, but not to put the pond under the trees. I thought it was good fun!
By Kieran

Hi everyone,
P7s are about to go to the High School and I am one of them. We are going on the 6th and the 7th of June. I can’t wait to go but I am going to miss all of my mates here, some will be coming to High School next year. After the summer we will go there every day and there will be new P1s here. It is going to be great fun but I am a wee bit nervous. I am going to be in Winnard house and my friends are in other houses. I might make new friends while I am there I hope!
By Meghan

On Thursday 1oth May we did a beach  clean at Port Mor.  Dave  gave us litter pickers and gloves.  My group cleaned Port Mor beach.  We   found  a   creel, a  tyre, a buoy  and  lots  of  bottles.

by James

On Friday 11th May P5/6/7 went to Port Ellen Primary School to get some ideas for our school and ask about their green flag
     First we asked P5/6/7 some questions about what they have and what they are going to do. Then we went round all the classes asking them what they are doing. We found out that they are going to make a round house and a pond. They showed us lots of games painted on their playground and an all weather pitch.
    We learnt lots of different ideas about what to do in our playground and hope that ours will be as good as theirs.
                       By Anna

On Monday 28th May 2007 we went to the beach and made sculptures
from things we found on the beach. In school we have been learning about environmental artist Andrew Goldsworthy who sculptures things like acorns from piles of stones. I made a garden out of stones and shells.I put a clipping off a tree in it. So our art was based on his work.
It was really fun!
By Rosie

In p5/6/7 sometimes in the week we go out into the garden. We have been doing a lot to help the garden. All of us have been working together to make the garden tidier and we have also been planting,weeding and seeding the garden. It looks a lot better now and we are all pleased with it.

By Helena and Connor

On Thursday 18th May Eco Artist Jane Rose from Colonsay came to our school to teach us how to make art out of beach rubbish.  First we made frames to put our art in.  Second we found stuff that we wanted to put in and then we stuck on the stuff we had chosen.  After we talked about how beach rubbish can endanger animals and the environment.  When the rubbish dried we got string and stapled it into the frame so we were able to hang them on the wall.

By Connagh Fletcher