What a great time we all had. We danced, we sang, we played games and we ate all the goodies

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The Eco-Committee and the Community Council have worked together to ensure that plant tubs were placed around Ballachulish to brighten up the village. They also agreed to plant bulbs around the village hall area and beside the new monument. Each class has responsibility for two tubs and all the pupils were actively involved in planting the bulbs at the hall area. Primary 4/5 were so keen to get to work that they forgot to take their camera and pose for the blog! However, they worked just as hard as the other classes.

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What a great day we had in the P1 class. The nursery children, who will be joining the school next year, came through for their first visit. We have been to visit them all last term, once a week, to share stories and play. They were delighted to pay us a visit today. It was brilliant fun!

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Hello everyone! Welcome back to Term 2. We kicked off the term with a brilliant Halloween  party. Thank you to all the parents who contributed the goodies for the party.

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Mrs Lathe came into P4/5 class to talk aboutIndia. She brought in a D.V.D. of her daughter’s wedding. Her daughter Anna married an Indian so we were able to compare the differences between an Indian wedding and a British wedding. One difference is that in India they do not wear a wedding ring instead they are given a necklace. It was very interesting and we really enjoyed it.

Pupils from P6/7 visited Kinlochleven Library and the Leven Centre to learn how the library operates and then try their hand at archery. The pupils were joined by the P7s from Duror, Glencoe, Kinlochleven and St. Brides.

Everyone had a great time. Highlights of the day were travelling on a service bus to Kinlochleven – the first time for 10 of our pupils! We were shown round the Primary school in Kinlochleven and tried archery in the Leven Centre.

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What a celebration we all had on Friday after assembly. We were delighted to receive official notification of our Green Flag award last week and even more delighted to get the new flag in the post. We all celebrated by having an Eco Party. Fun games, music and healthy snacks were enjoyed by all. The work now begins again for our next upgrade.

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Cameron and Olivia our JRSO’s organised a competition in the school to promote cycling to school. The competition was to design a cycle helmet. Alpine Bikes in Fortwilliam kindly donated two top quality cycle helmets for prizes . Sam in P3 won 1st Prize for his design in the P1-3 Category with Cali P2 being the runner up. Rhiona in P7 won first prize in the P4-7 Category with Jaden being the runner up. Some super designs were entered and the JRSO’s found it really difficult to pick a winner. Well done everyone who entered and a huge thanks to Alpine Bikes.

Welcome back after the summer break. The school now has 64  primary pupils now divided into three classes:-

Miss Divers in Primary 1/2 has 22 pupils.

Mrs Milne in Primary 3/4 has 19 pupils.

Mrs McSorland + Mr Clark in Primary 5/6/7 have 23 pupils.

The nursery has a total of 25 children this year.

22 attend the English Medium under the care of Sheena, Louise and Carol.

3  attend the Gaelic Medium under the care of Maisie and Kate.

We harvested our own crop of potatoes, leeks, onions, courgettes and peas. We gave them to the school cook, Gina. She turned them into a delicious vegetable bake for our lunch. It was very tasty and well earned.

Stage 1:- Cleared by George Bryson. Edging wood and bark has arrived.

Primary 1 boys and girls have settled in so well. We are all really proud of them and the hard work from the nursery staff  has helped them cope with school so well! Here they are with their first reading books.

* Edging and sheeting down.

* Bark has been delivered and we have started to put it down.

Again many thanks to George Bryson

You will have received a letter and a black bag home from the school. You will also have noticed the Rag Bag Bank in our school grounds. The Eco Committee have arranged this as we work toward our second green flag. The clothes and shoes that go into it are redistributed to poorer countries and what can’t be worn again will be recycled. Primary 1/2 went out for a look at the new bank when it arrived.

All of the

Curry Makers

Would like to thank

Everyone who helped us

To raise

£994

For the victims of the floods in Pakistan

Thank You

The gardening group went out to pick brambles this week. We collected lots and have frozen them as we plan to make bramble and apple crumble pudding at a later date. This will be a lovely way to warm up as the days are getting colder.

Each class had to draw a particular book cover or character. The winning pictures were chosen for the great effort and detail that went into the pictures. The three lucky winners got a £5.00 gift voucher to spend at the fair.

The whole school were entertained at assembly today when the Primary 1 boys and girls showed off all the sounds and actions that they have learned in their phonics.

The SSPCA came to visit the school to tell us all about the work they do in the area. They visited  each class and showed us a slideshow. After that we played animal Top Trumps and got a chance to look at and try out all the equipment that is needed in their job.

Our Eco Committee were proud to hand over  £200.00  from the school to go to school children in Nepal. It was made especially poignant by the fact that one of our Primary 6 girls will be handing the monies to the school in person! She and her family are off to Nepal for a month long trip and will have the opportunity to see and report back what benefits these poorer children will get from our donation. To help towards this the Eco Committee have organised a non- unifom day and a cake ‘n’ candy stall on Friday 1st of October. We hope that there will be many busy bakers in Ballachulish on Thursday evening!

Primary 1/2 and the Nursery have been involved in active play twice a week and take turns of visiting the Nursery and Primary 1/2 class to share play together. We are all learning and having fun together through Construction, Small World, The Writing Table, The Activity Table,  Sand, Water, Jigsaws, The Shop and much, much more. The staff and the children are all enjoying this and it is hoped that the transition and links from Nursery to Primary School will be made much easier through these planned sessions.

We have been learning all about light and sound in Science with Mrs McSorland. We made our own instruments from junk materials to create various sounds. It was great fun!

Thankyou!!

£163.40

Is the total that was raised from the Cake & Candy stall & Non-Uniform day on Friday.

We took the children up the road to collect brambles  ( photo 1 & 2)

We stopped to speak to Billbo the horse and Amanda the pony (who is 43 years old) on our way back down the road.(photo 3 )

We used the Brambles to make Banana and Bramble muffins  Photo (4 & 5)

They tasted really good  (photo 6 & 7)

Quotes from children

“ You had to watch out for the jaggy nettles cause they hurt you”  Sandy McNeill

“I liked the wee horse best, it’s very very old”  Bradley Bryson 

“I picked lots of berries”  Ava Bathurst

“You can only pick berries when you are with your Mummy cause you might pick bad ones that make you sick”  Olivia Price

We walked down to the Isles and saw the slate boat houses. We also spotted the boat that recently sank here. We came back through the underpass to the ‘Witches Stone.’ Finlay couldn’t resist climbing the tree at the Visitors’ Centre.

Pimary 3/4 had a visit from Edinburgh Zoo staff. They gave a talk about beavers and we got to do lots of hands on activities such as making a beavers dam, looking a skins and skulls.

Here’s what some of the children said.

“I found it very very exciting and I liked the fur the best.” Jayden

“Extreme.” Zac

“It was fun, I liked making the dam.” Sophie

“It was exciting.” Hope

“It was really good and gave us lots of experience.” Mark

Pupils from Ballachulish, Duror, Glencoe & St Brides met in our school hall on Tuesday 2nd November for Save a Life Training. This programme has been running for nine years. The pupils learn about first response strategies, mouth to mouth, chest compressions and choking. The training is delivered by the Scottish Ambulance Service. The day was great fun and it was good to be hosts to the pupils from the other local schools.

We had a brilliant time at our halloween party. We all dressed up, played games, danced and ate loads of cakes and sweets. The best part was when we all got a chance to to tell a joke or sing to everyone.

Our Gardening Group made Blackcurrant and Apple Crumble from the fruit we picked on our walk. Each class were given a dish to enjoy. It was Yummy!

We went out walking it was very cold .There was lots of ice near the shore.

We walked through the underpass and screamed as loud as we could to hear the echo.

After that we were trying to break the ice by throwing stones at it and it was so hard the stones just bounced off it.

Then we went through the field at Croft Road. The little ones were hiding in the grass.

We went to the Witch’s Stone near Croft Road.

When we came back we were all cold and had rosy cheeks but it was fun.

By Aela and Emma  J

P3/4 visit to Kinlochleven Primary School

When we went to Kinlochleven it was fun.

When we went to Kinlochleven primary school it was exciting.

By Louise and Jayden

Thank you for looking after us thank you for all the food

By Abbie and Hope.

We made new friends. They were very

kind to us and help  us  to .

By   Dawn and Shanna

When we went to Kinlochleven I loved it

and when we to did the Quiz I thought it was

tricky.  I made lots & lots of friends. The

food was lovely and can’t wait till they visit us!!!!!

By Holly Baldwin.

The Playtime Games Group had a great time on Thursday playing Giant Jenga. We made a tower of 25!  We wonder if anyone can beat this record?

The Eco committee ran a raffle in school for 2 bikes that they got for collecting points for ECO activities through Generation Green Web Site. The draw was made at assembly on Friday 4^th February. The green bike was won by Hannah McFatridge P5 and the red bike was won by Joshua McFatridge P5 !!!!! Happy days of cycling in the McFatridge ahead.

It was National Storytelling Week and we had many visitors who came to the Nursery and Primary to read and tell stories. Some of the pupils even read to their peers.

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Primary 5/6/7  are doing a topic called Kidnapped in which two children have been Kidnapped. The story starts with Mr Alan Green head of Green Technologies building a new wind farm in our area for renewable energy and a greener Scotland.

So far we have completed 10 missions and are close to finding the kidnapped children. We have made eye witness reports, finding foot prints and watches and tyre tracks. We have a total of 6 suspects and have already ruled out 2 of them and are on our way to uncover the truth.

Today we were doing an experiment to find out where the children are being held.  We were separating earth and water and when we have done that we will post it to police HQ.

Most of the class are really enjoying the topic and the story so far.

Written by Mike P7

On Thursday Primary 5/6/7 started paired reading with Primary 1 /2. Some of the children went up to the big ones end of the school. The bigger ones read to the Primary 1/2s and when finished asked questions about the book. Everyone really enjoyed it and would definitely do it again.

Rhiona said that she really enjoyed getting to know the little ones better and reading to them. It was a good experience and she would do it again.

Emma said That it was fun reading to the little ones and would definitely do it again.

Brione said that it was really fun and she had a good partner for reading and she will do it again.

Ross said it was fun and enjoyable to get out of class and work with other pupils in the school at work .He would like to do it quiet a lot and it looked like the P1/2s really enjoyed it.

Craig said it was good.

Jasmine said It was really good.

Ruairidh said that it was really, really good.

The paired reading is going really well and the children are enjoying working together.

The P5/6/7 ‘s took part in a Dodgeball Competition with all the other local primary schools at Duror Village Hall. It was great to interact with all the other children.

We had a super day raising money for Comic Relief. We had a non uniform day with various activities. Parents sent in home baking to sell on our cake and candy stall, Primary 1/2 made red nose biscuits to sell, the nursery made things to sell and had lots of fun craft activities, the older children organised a variety of games and tasks in the hall for the whole school to take part in. We were very pleased to raise  £360.00 pounds.  Thankyou to everyone who helped towards this.

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The children from the Nursery and P1/2 shared a morning in our school hall along with the Nursery and P1/2′s from St Brides. Mr Boom a children’s entertainer treated them all to songs and laughter. It was great fun.

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Mark, Aaron, Zak, Jodie, Dawn, Abbie, Daniel and Ruaraidh represented P3/4 at the annual rugby tournament. They had a great day out and met Max Evans and Hefin O’Hare

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Primary 3/4 finished off their Viking topic with a parade through the village. They made their own Viking ship with the help of local craftsman Brian Dickie. The ship was taken down to the Slate Quarry and ceremoniously burnt. The children made viking hats in class and as part of their homework tasks thay designed and made swords and shields. Many of the parents came to see the children off at the parade and watch the ceremony in the quarry.

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On Friday 6th May the school had to close because the  over head power lines in the playground were being up graded. We thought that there would just be no power in the school. However it turned out to be a huge job and our playground was full of machinary and vehicles. It was a beautiful day and we were glad to be off as it would have been unpleasent being stuck indoors all day with no power and no use of the playground.

This trust is a charity involved in the study of whales and dolphins found off the west coast of Scotland. The Primary 3-7′s were very lucky to get the chance to visit the yacht ‘Silurian’  whilst it moored in Kentallen.

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Our Eco Week got off to a good start today despite the wild weather. Primary 1/2 and the Nursery children all took part in a variety of activities. Everyone had the chance to enjoy the bouncy castle, create sunflowers or scarecrows in craft and get to listen to some lovely Eco themed stoties. It was great fun and the children  all enjoyed getting to mix with their friends.

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The whole school had a fantastic and busy time during Eco Week. The previous post shows Monday’s events in the infant and nursery rooms. Throughout the week P3-7 did orienteering with the P.E. Teacher Mrs Wilson. The National Trust for Scotland came to visit and did some fantastic activities i.e. growing plants with P1/2 and The Water Cycle with P3-7. Mr Fairburn from Kinlochleven Secondary School came in to teach all of the pupils about healthy eating and he taught us all how to make delicious smoothies. They were yummy!

On Wednesday we were not to be beaten by the weather and although our sponsored walk was cancelled Primary 5-7 did a sponsored silence, which Mr Clark and Mrs Mc Sorland enjoyed very much! Primary 3/4 did a sponsored skip and Primary 1/2 took part in a mixture of sponsored skipping, bench stepping and walking laps round the gym hall. Overall, the week was great fun and we all got the chance to understand the benefits of being eco friendly. We shall post info on the total amount that our sponsored activities have raised as soon as we have collected in all the forms.

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What a great start to the Transition week for everyone. All the children are excited about moving on and there is a real buzz around the school. The Nursery children have settled in really well and are enjoying being ‘Big Grown Up Primary 1′s’.  Next sessions Primary 2 children have been excellent hosts in the classroom and are helping all the younger children to feel welcome.

The Infant Class has had some very strange things happening this week. We have had some twilight visits from a friendly dragon who has asked for their help to create Fairyland in the classroom. The friendly dragon has left letters and special gifts. The children have worked really hard to recreate some Fairyland characters and have even written letters to the friendly dragon, which they have left in the spacial D-mail box that the dragon placed outside our classroom. Everyone in the infant class is really looking forward to coming in tomorrow to see if our special visitor has left another letter. We will keep you updated on our progress.

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When the new Primary 1 & 2 children came into school today they were delighted to see that the Friendly Dragon had paid them another twilight visit. He left another letter thanking them for their letters and super pictures. He also left some flowers, fruit and the story of Red Riding Hood. We discovered that Red Riding Hood took a basket of fruit and some flowers to her Gran. We got to work quickly and made some tasty fruit salad. We also made flowers and some boys and girls made castles from the construction toys so that the Dragon didn’t feel homesick. The Friendly Dragon also told us that he might not make it for a visit tonight as he had to go and find the Gingerbread Man to warn him about a nasty fox. We are going to make Gingerbread Men tomorrow for our snack.

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P1/2 Transition ended last week with a letter from the Friendly Dragon telling us that he found the Gingerbread Man. They are off to see the Wizard of Oz to get his help. It will take all summer to get there so he promised to pay a visit to the classroom in August when school starts back. It was a super week and the new Primary 1′s enjoyed themselves. Many thanks to Ellie P1 for being the class photographer.

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What a treat we had on Monday with our visitors from Edinburgh. Enjoy the video of the pupils having a great time!

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What lovely weather we had on Thursday for our school picnic. We all brought in our favourite teddies and some of us brought in picnic blankets for to sit out in the sun with. Gina and her staff made some delicious food. Many of us went back for seconds. The strawberries were so lovely, they looked even better than the ones at Wimbledon!

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Sports day on Friaday 24th June was a wonderful day for weather. No rain and no wee biting insects. The children all had a great time followed by an extended playtime at school which soon seen the lunch time bell ringing. ‘They earned it!’

Thanks ever so much to budding local photograher-Shelley MacColl-for letting us have her sports day photos for the Blog after a certain teacher deleted a whole day’s work of photos in one fail click!!!!

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Welcome back to school and our blog. We have all settled in to the new school year and look forward to keeping you updated about what we are doing in school!

The classes this year are:-

Primary 1       16 Pupils Miss Divers

Primary 2/3  22 Pupils Miss Mathieson

Primary 4/5  21 Pupils Mrs Milne

Primary 6/7  18 Pupils Mr Clark

Mrs McSorland will be working with all the classes in the school this year

Staffing:-

Mrs Sutherland and Mrs Clark Learning Support Teachers

Mrs Wilson P.E. Primary 4-7

Mr Duggan Music Primary 1-7

Maisie & Victoria G.M. Nursery Sheena & Louise E.M. Nursery (Mrs Shepherd Nursery Co-ordinator)

Mrs Lear L.S.A  &  Mrs Cooper C.A

Mrs Young Secretary

Gina and Jean Catering Staff & Carol Cleaning Staff

Here is a sneeky wee peek at what the New Primary 1 children have been doing so far.

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