schools & clubs

clubs & schools

Bridge of Weir Primary

Who Wants to be a Word Millionaire? By the News Team Bridge of Weir Primary loves reading and loves to celebrate those who give their time to reading. Each year we set a challenge to P4-7 pupils to see who can read a quarter, half or three quarters of a million words. This year we already have many award winners in these categories. We also have two ‘word millionaires’ and we’re not even halfway through the year! In some years pupils have become ‘multi-word millionaires’ and have read an astounding two million, three million, or even a whopping four million words! These words are counted through the Renaissance reading programme. On it, pupils can read a book then take a quiz to see if they have understood what they read. Not all books are on Renaissance, so the school encourages pupils to tell the depute head about those they’ve read at home The school will happily count that word total towards the pupil’s total amount. Maybe this will be the year YOU could be an award winner. All you have to do is read a book or enjoy an audiobook or someone reading to you – a great way to spend a wintery evening! Bridge of Weir Primary Saves Christmas! This year, unfortunately, we have had to cancel the Nativity and Christmas Celebration due to COVID-19 crowd restrictions but, fear not, we are still going to be spreading Christmas cheer. Each class will be carrying out a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) challenge called ‘Chaos at the North Pole’. I think - by the end of it - Bridge of Weir Primary will have helped save Christmas! This will be quite different but is promising to be a lot of fun, and will create a great Christmas memory of 2020 to look back on.

Kilmacolm Playgroup

It has been lovely being back at Playgroup seeing the happy, smiling children enjoying themselves. We have been very busy welcoming our new boys and girls to playgroup life and they have all settled very well. Our themes we have been exploring have been Autumn, Halloween and fireworks. Lots of fun crafts and busy tuff table sensory play has kept the children very busy. The children have also enjoyed plenty of physical play in our large hall upstairs playing on the trikes and bikes and practising our balancing skills on the stepping stones.

Duchal Nursery

We have been making the most of our park location taking walks around the local green spaces, collecting leaves and being creative in our outdoor classroom, whatever the weather the Duchal children love being outside! Thank you to Colin Cox Fitness for running a personal training session for us in the park, the children were so engaged and loved all the activities, a fabulous way to introduce them to the benefits of exercise. We’ve been using our outdoor space for creativity and messy play, there has been plenty of time at the mud kitchen and painting autumnal images using broccoli paint brushes!!! Inside as well as imaginative play, there has been an emphasis on team work and interactive learning. Our pre school year are flourishing and progressing so well with their fine motor skills and learning preparing them for starting school. They really benefit from the quiet space which allows them to work separately from the younger children, making the most of our 3 separate classrooms. We are currently taking registrations for August 2021, Duchal is an independent nursery with our children moving on to various local schools in Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and Glasgow. We are open daily until 6pm during term time and offer free funded hours. If you would like to find out more, please get in touch and we can arrange a visit the Nursery to meet the teachers and see our facilities. Email info@ duchal.com. Visit our website www.duchal.com and our Facebook page for further information.

Gryffe High News

GryffeStyles Week – 3K Fun Run Our annual 3K Fun Run, which has been running now for over 20 years, was brought into doubt this year with ongoing restrictions, particularly with mass gatherings. Not to be defeated, an adapted VIRTUAL 3K Fun Run was organised to take place over our September weekend. This allowed our pupils and staff to continue to experience this annual event, whilst also being able to extend this out to families and our wider community and of course raise money for our chosen charity – Beatson Cancer Charity. This event was the climax to our healthy lifestyles week – GryffeStyles – with all departments contributing to our healthy lifestyles focus on week beginning Monday 21st September as well as our S6 Citizenship and Wellbeing committee delivering lesson to S1 on LGBT, Resilience, Black Lives Matters and By-Stander Approach. With money still coming into our Just Giving page – www.justgiving. com/gryffehs3kfunrun - we have now reached a total of £2110 to be donated to this great cause. Amazing!!

Our pupils have also been busy in the kitchen, making delicious treats for their families from our very own fresh produce, grown in the school garden. Well done to all of our keen gardeners and chefs!

St Benedict’s High School

St Benedict’s High School, and in particular Project Leader of Employability Jonathan Cook, were thrilled to see the pupils committing to learning outside the classroom during these unprecedented times. They have managed to form and keep external partnerships, most recently with Law firm DYW, who has set up a four-part programme via microsoft teams. The pupils have not let the pandemic nor the usage of ICT dampen their spirits as they progress through the course which focuses on their skills and employment prospects. PL Jonathan Cook said he was very proud of the pupils and was inspired by their courage, positivity, and togetherness during such hard times.

Brookfield Bowling Club

Brookfield Bowling Club members stand socially distanced on the green at Closing Day Sunflower Competition During lockdown, pupils from our school gardening club planted sunflowers in their own gardens. They cared for them during the summer months, to see who could grow the tallest sunflower. Mac from Primary 6 is absolutely delighted to be the winner. His sunflower reached a whopping 2.1m! Ben the Builder! Primary 7 pupil, Ben Stewart has always been a keen builder and has continued to develop his skills over the years. His latest project is making squirrel benches from wooden pallets. Mrs McPherson placed an order and Ben got to work during his October holiday. Outdoor Learning Primary 3 pupils have been learning about woodlands this term. Mrs Thomson and Miss McCafferty taught their pupils how to use a flint and steel to create a spark to start off their campfire. It was a ‘cosy’ afternoon outdoors.

Ladies Section Old Ranfurly Golf Club

Old Ranfurly golf club ladies section have now completed their trophy competitions and medals for this season. We may have started late due to golf club closure until 28th May but our enthusiasm more than made up for lost time. This was thanks to the efforts of Jennie Scott and Fiona Daly who were committed to making the season as competitive and enjoyable as possible in-spite of the late start and the other restrictions that have unfortunately been part of all our lives this year. This includes some very challenging weather conditions!! Due to their efforts all went ahead smoothly attracting the biggest turn out of ladies ever over a summer golf season. We are now embarking on our Winter Competitions and although these are reduced this year, they offer ladies the opportunity to continue to play competitively through the winter season. The highlight will be the Santa Swing, always a very popular event. However its unsure whether this can go ahead this year due to the developing situation. Unfortunately this year there was no captain’s dinner and prize giving. Some of our successful trophy winners included: Sandra Bell -Anne Lavety Memorial Trophy.: Suzanne Smith - Wilma Aitken Birdie Trophy: Linda Anderson- Mary Simpson Salver: Stephanie Watson- Wilma Aitken Rose Bowl & Centenary Trophy: Paula Adam & Gillian Lavety- Grace Campbell Salver. The club championship this year was won by Marilyn Muir. Congratulations to her and all other ladies who were successful this year!!! Let’s hope next season we are all in a better place.

Regular Meet Classes

Move it or Lose it

Sadly, we have not been able to restart any of our classes, we look forward to brighter days ahead. Sending best wishes to all class members for Christmas and wishing you all a healthy and happier new year. Take Care and stay safe! Fiona

Zoom Pilates classes

Mondays at 9.30am - 10.30am & 7pm - 8pm

Tel: Yvonne 07786 224367 or yvonne@ clydephysiotherapy.co.uk Jennifer Sloan Physiotherapy Led Pilates

Kilmacolm Community Centre, Wednesdays at 6.15pm - 7.15pm & 7.30pm - 8.30pm For more information or to book a class call Jennifer 07731 303709 or email: jennifer-mcghee@hotmail.co.uk Zumba Light St Fillan’s Church, Kilmacolm - 07811 766672

Mondays at 10am

All the fun and energy of Zumba but at a lighter pace! Fabulous music, full of fun - a fantastic class for for all levels. Contact Mo 07505 126416.

Rebok Step Class

Freeland’s Church Hall, B of W Tuesdays at 10am - all levels Tuesday at 6.45pm - all levels

A brilliant new Reebok Step class. Lots of fun, fab music and a fantastic workout. Why not come along and give it a go? Booking essential. Contact Mo 07505 126416. Due to current government advice many of the classes which usually feature in this section have been unable to resume for the time being. Check out previous Advertizers on our website for various class details and contact information.

Kilmacolm Golf Club

Above: Lady Captain’s Day Winner 2020 Below: KGC New Golf Studio

The addition of a new state of the art indoor studio providing two bays will be a welcome addition to golfers this winter. The studio is available for tuition, practice and fun rounds of golf, and will add to the already great facilities on offer at the club. Members can book sessions via the App or at the pro shop. The ladies’ section rounded off the season with a final flurry of competitions. Lady Captain’s Day saw members young and old, with a range of handicaps, taking part in the tri-am competition over 9 or 18 holes. Winners of the 18-hole competition were Stella Bowie, Shelagh Palmer and Ann Tanner with a great score of nett 66. The 9-hole competition was a family affair with Clair Barclay, Lesley Handley and young Lucie Barclay taking home the prize. A delicious afternoon tea was enjoyed afterwards. 39 ladies also turned out for the Ladies Final Swing competition to mark the end of the season. Winners of the fun 10-hole Texas scramble competition were Ladies Captain, Jackie Sayers, Maura Whyte and Janette Dunsmore. Congratulations too to Nicky Stirrup and Lucy Woods who are through to the second round of the national Daily Mail Foursomes competition after a close match against opponents from Gleddoch Golf Club. Good luck in the next round. The season may be over but there’s still plenty of opportunity to get out on the course as we look forward to our winter knockouts. The Jack Frost singles and the Winter Foursomes are now underway so hopefully the weather will continue to be kind to us. For those looking to play social games, the Tuesday morning Winter Ball game is an informal opportunity for ladies to play 10 holes throughout the winter. Simply book on the App or in the pro shop by 9am on the day. The winter season is also a perfect time to work on improving your game and demand for the ladies coaching sessions has been high with sessions running on Tuesdays and Fridays. If you are keen to improve your game over the winter months, our club pro Stuart Roberts will be running a variety of sessions so please do get in touch. Keep up to speed with the latest news and events - follow us on

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Ranfurly Castle Golf Club

In addition to all the other finals played at the end of August, we tragically omitted to mention the Junior Club Championship Final in last months Advertizer. It will be remembered as a tussle between two very keen golfing brothers, played in the best spirit of the game. Gregor Rawson(16 years old) against his younger sibling Lorne(13 years old).Gregor got off to a good start over the 18 hole final and was 3 up after 4 holes, but Lorne then replied with a great run of 3 wins on the trot of his own! The comeback was short lived however and Gregor went on to win fairly comfortably. We are sure that Lorne will have other opportunities in the future!.The other main talking point was the fact that almost the entire Rawson clan were spectating and all of them found it difficult to take sides! We must also mention that not only did Gregor win the Junior CC at the Castle ,but he also defeated Lewis McIlvar in the Junior Club Championship Final at the Old Course Ranfurly! A rare feat indeed and all our congratulations go out to him. WELL DONE Gregor! The Men’s October Medal, played on a particularly unpleasant day, was won by Allan Hughes in Div 1, Jim Park in Div 2 and Reece McGillian in Div 3.Congratulations to all for getting out there in the first place! Gregor Rawson receiving his trophy from Captain Eunice Muir and referee for the day, Mr Andrew Biggart

With the final divot repair session having now taken place for this season,(thank you to all the volunteers!) we look forward with renewed vigour to 2021.