Brilliant Beginnings

2008-05-21T22:30:00.002+01:00

Leodamus Beach Clean

On the 2nd of April the whole school went down to our local beach, Leodamus, to give it a clean...and clean it we did! We went down to the beach with our buddies so P6/7 and P3/4 went down together at 1.30pm and then P5/6 and P1/2 followed at 2.30pm. When we arrived at the beach we could see lots of rubbish and plastic bags sticking out of the sand. We got bags, gloves and litter pickers from Rejig. We found lots of rope, plastic and paper. There were lots of dogfish on the beach too. We even found a bike and an old dingy. We had lots of fun and we did our community proud.

2008-03-12T12:55:00.003Z

We are looking for new parent members. We have been busy making posters to encourage lost of people to join in.The posters are colourful and catchy , you will see then all over the village.

2008-03-04T15:53:00.001Z

Today we are having a Brilliant Beginnings meeting.

2008-03-03T21:19:00.005Z

Bird Feeders P1,2
P1,2 have been working hard to help the birds on this cold weather by making different kinds of bird feeder for the garden. Here is how we did it:

Apple Seed Feeder
We got an apple and we put a hole in the apple. Then we put string through the apple and we put a pencil at the end. We put sunflower seeds in it. Then we hung the bird feeder on the tree.
By Connor

Pine Cone Bird Feeders
First we got a pine cone. Then we got lard and seeds and raisins. Next we mixed raisins and sunflower seeds and lard. Finally we got a handful of the lard and put it onto the pine cone. Then get string and tie it onto the pine cone. Then tie it onto a tree.
By Emily

Seed Cake Feeders
First of all we put the fat in the bowl. Before you put the seeds in the bowl you mix it. Then put holes in a pot. After you put holes in fill it up. Then you put it in the fridge. When it is all frozen you hang them on a tree.
By Ellen

Bottle Bird Feeder
First you get string and a bottle and scissors. You get the bottle and get the scissors and make a hole in the bottle. Next you tie string round the lid. Next you fill it up. Next hang it up.
By Eilidh

2007-06-12T13:57:00.001+01:00

Port Ellen Primary have made a school pond so far ther is water in it and ther is some wildlife in it like water scorpions and whirligig beetles.Mr and Mrs Jackson came over and gave us some plants from ther pond.Jeremy Hastings comes over every tuesday for a survivel club and after he checks the pond.

They have also been making a roundhouse from the stone age.So far yhey have made the frame and the windows.They have still got a bit to do but not much.

2007-05-17T13:47:00.000+01:00

On the 17th May a man called Mr Hastings came to speak to us. He told us what houses Bronze Age people lived in. we had a colouring in sheet which he gave us and we are not quite finished it yet. He went to P6/7 as well to speak to them about their pond.
By CM & PF

2007-05-17T13:42:00.000+01:00

Hello and welcome. We are here to update you on our round house project. We have dug the foundations out and now we are ready for building. Mr Freeman and Mr MacDonald came in and cut the turf for the roof. The walls are going to be made of wood and willow. Now we are going to work in groups to build the walls and roof.
By IS & NC

2007-05-17T13:32:00.000+01:00

This term P5/6 have planned to do a major topic in our school grounds - we are going to build a round house! To prepare for this topic first we found about round houses then we planned it out. Then we marked out the area for the round house in our grounds. The photo you can see is where we are going to build the round house. We are very excited!
BC & BF

2007-05-02T12:56:00.000+01:00

P5/6 did a clean up of the school grounds last week. We were supporting Bowmore Primary who are trying to encourage everyone to keep Islay clean. We sorted the litter and counted it. There were 100 pieces of plastic, 80 sweety wrappers, 4 pieces of rope, two glass bottles and 5 aluminium cans. We were very surprised at the amount of litter and the different types. Most of the litter came from the school fence where the winter's rubbish had gathered, and this litter was not from the school but from all over the village and farmland. However, there were quite a few bits of plastic from crisp packets and that came from our playground, so we told everyone to put their crisp packets in the bin, and not in pockets where they can blow away.

2007-03-28T13:10:00.000+01:00

PORT ELLEN PRIMARY ECO DAY
We had an Eco Day on Wednesday 14th Febuary 2007.We all had to take a clean plastic milk bottle into school to design and make the bottle into something we could reuse. At the end of the day we showed them to the whole school to see what they thought of them. Primary 1/2 sang us a song called ‘Reduce, Reuse Recycle’, it was very good. They also drew posters to tell the story of King Wastealot and gave the wormery a spring clean.
Primary 3/4 made up posters for our Walk on Wednesday project. We are now a WOW school and everyone tries to walk or cycle to school on a Wednesday.
Primary 5/6 did another ‘Fruit and Veg Mania’ tuckshop, with lots of healthy and tasty snacks on offer for us.
P6/7 designed an Eco Board Game which was absolutely brilliant!
We all carried out an environmental review of the whole school using survey sheets. Each class chose one of the surveys to do. We had to choose from water, waste, transport, health and well being, school grounds, energy, litter and bio diversity. The Brilliant Beginnings Committee use this information to tell us what we need to work on to make our school better over the next year.
The school had to make eco banners for its eco code. Everybody worked hard to finish off the banners and Mrs Onions sewed them.
We had a good day and got lots done. P1/2 did a survey to find out if everyone enjoyed the day. Almost everyone did, so we plan to have an Eco Day every year!

2007-03-21T13:48:00.000Z

In Port Ellen we have been busy making some fantastic Eco School banners to repersent our Eco code. Each class did a different part of the code. They where displayed in St. John’s Church on Mothers Day and were blessed by Mrs Stather in a school assembly.They are now hanging in Port Ellen Primary School and they look fantastic!
by Craghopper and Rau

2007-03-21T11:33:00.000Z

DEAR OLLY
Dear Olly is really good book and I enjoyed reading it.Dear Olly is about a girl called Olly and she has a brother called Matt,who wants to go to Africa to be a clown. Dear Olly is good to read and it is really emotional. The book can bring lots of emotions.If you want to find out more you’ll have to read it !!!

by muffin

2007-02-07T13:04:00.000Z

Eco School Code
Our Eco School Code helps keep our school green. Why don't you have a go? All you have to do is Reduce, Reuse and Recycle! It is as easy as that - 3 simple steps. Go on, three simple steps to save the planet from extinction!

Our Code-

Walk to school when you can
Turn off the light when it is bright
Eat fruit every day
Water - save it, don't waste it
Reduce, reuse and recycle

2007-01-31T13:18:00.000Z

We have had a visit from Constable Mitchell on Monday 15th January. He brought with him high visibility waistcoats for all the children to use walking to and from school. These have been purchased by Argyll and Bute Council.We asked him some questions and here they are.
Why is it a good idea?
So people can be seen.
Do you think children will like them?
Yes, because they look cool and groovy.
Do you think it will encourage children to walk?
Yes because it is new to people and they will be into them.
Do you like the idea of the visability waist coats?
Yes because small people will be seen in all weathers.
Do you think it will make children healthier?
yes because children can walk or cycle to school with them on.

So look out for school children walking or cycling to school in our new waistcoats.
by Lulu & Lisa B

2007-01-24T12:55:00.001Z

Last year we achieved our goal of getting enough money to instal our allweather pitch and timber trail for the pre5 unit and primary 1/2. We are hoping to get them built for the Easter or the Summer holidays. We will keep you posted - watch this space!

2006-05-10T14:01:00.000+01:00

Here is cogs and fluff,we are here to tell you what has been happening with the Brilliant Beginnings team and what is going to happen! First of all we are going to tell you how much we made for the Beach clean,Bingo and ebay.For the Beach clean we raised £900. We a great time, weather was good and we did a very good job. For the bingo we raised roughly £150 and we got a very nice donation from the Port Ellen Bowling Club for £500. So far on E-bay we have raised over £300 which is FANTASTIC!

We have lots of exciting ideas, like, P.7 are making a float for the Feis and the theme is Boats and Buses. That will be held on the 3rd June. Also on the 3rd June there is a shinty Tournement.

Mrs MacDonald and Jeramy Hastings have been working on a pond. They have made the test holes and the test holes are three feet deep and two feet wide.They made the test holes to see if
the water would rise by its self and if not we would have to put lining down in the pond.
On Monday test hole 1 got 13cm,test two got 9cm and test hole was damp.
Then on Tuseday in test hole one was 1cm,test hole two had know water and the same with test hole three.
Then on Wednesday all of the test holes had no water in them.

On Friday the 12th all of the classes are making eco banners.They will be going up all over the school.That will be fun for everyone to do and will remind us of the eco school code.

We'll keep you updated on more BB news!

2006-03-21T14:15:00.000Z

Brilliant Beginings On the 15th/3rd/06 we had a meeting and at the meeting we talked about fundrasing for our all weather pitch and right now we have £15 000 and we need £32000 in total !!!! In Port Ellen the Royal Bank of Scotland we might be putting collection buckets in the bank because we raised quite alot of money last time . Next week we are aiming to do a beach clean on the 30th of march. There will also be a bingo night in the Lodge that will take place on the 28th of April the night the french trip people come back.As you already know we are selling things on Ebay and we have made £50 but we have a request to sell things like clothes from the distilleries e.g.caps, jumpers, tops and everything because they are easy to post. So thats all for now thanks for reading.
By Cogs,Dee and Fluff