Schools & Sports

Rotary Gryffe Valley

Young Carers Outing

This year’s outing for Young Carers in Renfrewshire was held over 4 afternoons, each taking up to 20 youngsters to the Watersports Centre at Castle Semple Country Park Lochwinnoch

Duchal nursery

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#340 September 2023: 16th August

Term is now over and our young children have performed their hearts out at our Summer Concert. We have said a fond farewell to our older children who are now fully prepared for their next step as they move on to a variety of primary schools. We wish them luck!

We managed to squeeze in as much as possible before the end of term, one of the biggest highlights was definitely our annual summer trip. What an amazing day we had. It all began with the arrival of the bus that took us on a wonderful journey to Pollock Park.

A huge thank you to former Duchal parent, ranger Denise Neely for a fabulous day. We hunted for mini beasts in the forest with our big nets, found centipedes, slugs, spiders and wood lice. We said hello to all of the Highland cows, learned about their horns, their tags, their sense of smell their habitat and their diet. A terrific way to end our mini beast topic!

Dependent on weather, the carers were introduced to watersportscanoeing or trips on the “wheelyboat” donated some years ago by Rotary and on land, cycling around the loch. The afternoon culminated with Fish and Chips and soft drinks. Thanks to the staff at Castle Semple and to the Rotary members who assisted. Young Carers are youngsters who provide ongoing home support to disabled parents or siblings.

Speakers

With holidays the 2 meetings in July featured talks by 2 members. On 12th July Ronnie Mercer spoke about his business and management adventures and on 26th July Graham Murnane’s talk entitled Percy Pig, the Puffin, and the Penguin emphasized the importance of Trade Marks. In August a social night is proposed for the 9th and a talk on Canadian Adventures by Alan Bowie on the 23rd August.

Primary School Quiz

Winners of a dozen Rotary Club Primary School Quizzes in the West of Scotland met on 1st June in Mearns Primary School for the District Final. The furthest travelled were from Campbeltown, with a 144 mile trip each way!

We were ably represented by the Bridge of Weir team of Cameron, Joseph, Imogen and Ciaran. Netherlee Primary took an early lead which they held till the end, followed by a tight pack which included Bridge of Weir who took fourth place in the final reckoning, a creditable result in a high standard, close competition.

Well done the team and thank you to the parents and staff who provided transport and support.

We celebrated our summer birthdays with our annual Teddy Bear’s Picnic unfortunately despite weeks of glorious sunshine we hit a rainy day, but that didn’t deter the children and their teddies having a wonderful time with their indoor picnic.

Over the year we have really enjoyed our football sessions with Morton in the Community, and we had a fabulous final morning with the children delighting in showing off their skills to watching parents and family. A big thank you to Morton.

Finally, a huge thank you to our wonderful teaching staff that make Duchal the truly special nursery that it is. Wishing you all a relaxing summer. New Entries: We offer free pre school education for 3 – 5yr olds every day (during term time) through the funded nursery scheme in conjunction with Inverclyde Council. Open 8am – 6pm. For more information visit http://www.duchal.com/ find us on Facebook or email info@duchal.com to arrange a visit.

Junior Parkruns: A weekly, free 2km timed run held at 9.30am on Sunday mornings at Battery Park, Greenock and Barshaw Park Glasgow Road, Paisley PA1. Please register before your first run.

St Columba’s Learning Beyond the Classroom

Whether it is expanding on class topics, bringing history to life or exploring the great outdoors, all our pupils benefit greatly from getting out of the classroom and enjoying a School trip – with a bumper number taking place in June.

Our youngest Columbans in Early Years had an amazing day visiting the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride where they got to meet lots of animals (and get up really close to them) and learn all about the history of farming (front cover image)

Junior 5 enjoyed a day out to Whitelee Windfarm, which helped them round off the electricity topic they have been working on in class. As well as a bus tour of the wind turbines, they got to carry out their own investigations about wind power.

In Senior School, all year groups from Transitus right through to SVI enjoyed Activities Week. Transitus and SI completed their John Muir Award, while SII enjoyed outdoor activities at Barcaple. Meanwhile SIII choose to either spend the week in Staffordshire or touring the WWI battlefields of France and Belgium.

Further up the School, a large number of pupils in SIV and SV completed their Silver or Gold expeditions for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, walking, biking, canoeing or sailing in particularly sunny conditions.

And for SVI, Activities Week was about making memories before they head out into life beyond St Columba’s with trips to Alton Towers and paintballing.

Whatever the destination, whatever the age group, these trips have provided our pupils with positive learning experiences and a lifetime of memories.

Want to know more about becoming a Columban? Get in touch with our Admissions Registrar today.

You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to keep up-todate with all of the goings on at St Columba’s. www.st-columbas.org | admissions@st-columbas.org

Dragon Post ISBN 9781406389500

By Emma Yarlett | Walker Books Ltd

A delightfully funny, interactive story about friendship and asking for help from award-winning author-illustrator Emma Yarlett. One day Alex finds a dragon living under his stairs, what should he do? He knows just who to ask for help!

Open the envelopes and read the hilarious letters Alex receives from the fire brigade, the butcher and more as he tries to take care of his fiery new friend. Who would have thought that having a dragon for a pet would be so tricky? A joyful, touching and vibrantly illustrated interactive book for ages 3 +

LotTie Brooks’s TotalLy DisaStrous School Trip

ISBN 9780241562055

By Kate Kirby | Penguin Random House Children’s UK

The fourth in the amazingly popular Lottie Brooks series. Lottie continues to navigate the many perils of growing up in this fantastically funny illustrated series for ages 9-12. Filled with friendship, embarrassing moments and plenty of laughs. A whole week away from embarrassing parents and Toby’s tasty air biscuits! But the trip soon turns into a total disaster. The other girls staying at the camp are mega-mean, best friend Jess is spending all her time with new girl Isha, and Lottie’s diary gets stolen! Who knew a school trip could cause so much drama?!

Houston Primary

Eco News

We are delighted to announce that we have received our 8th Green Flag in recognition of all of our hard work. This is a tremendous achievement and commitment over the past 18 years. Our next major project is to improve the school grounds by creating zones for outdoor learning. Works will start in August.

Growing Green: A First Book of GardeniNg

ISBN 9781529509458

By Daniela Sosa | Walker Books Ltd

This simple and easy-to-follow gardening book contains 15 edible projects for keen young gardeners age 5 +. From strawberries grown in wellies to herbs in tin cans, learn all you need to know to grow your own fruit, herbs and vegetables in the space that you have. This fun and stylish collection will teach children how to grow anywhere, be it a windowsill or an allotment. With handy ‘you will need’ sections, bright, engaging illustrations and step-by-step instructions, this is an ideal gift for any young child wanting to find out more about where their food comes from and grow some themselves!

Five Minute Mum: Starting School

ISBN 9780241621325

by Daisy Upton | Penguin Random House Children’s

UK

Getting your child ready to start school can feel overwhelming, it’s a big step for both child and parent! Bestselling author and previous teaching assistant, Daisy Upton is here to help. From uniforms, making new friends and meeting the teacher to learning about letters and numbers and asking for help, this gentle, funny guide has it covered. It’s the perfect book to read and talk through big feelings and hopefully allay some fears for both the child starting school and the parent preparing them to go. Age 4+

New Summer Holiday Kids Club in Kilmacolm

This year all the churches in Kilmacolm are pooling resources to facilitate a funfilled Holiday Club for primary school aged children called “Crossroads Kids Club” on 9th - 11th August from 10am12.30pm at St Columba Church Hall. The last time any of us ran a holiday club it was called “Going Bananas”, and was a collaboration between St Fillan’s Episcopal and Mount Zion churches in summer 2019. The children had a great time playing games, singing songs, making crafts, watching puppet and drama performances, and taking part in interactive quizzes, all with a simple Bible message and in a safe environment. Following the summer holiday club, we held a popular puppet workshop day in the October holiday 2019 and hoped to have another holiday club in summer 2020. We are delighted that we are now ready to run a club again after a few years’ break.

Crossroads Kids Club will also include games, crafts, puppets, drama & quizzes. We will follow the three mornings with an all-age Friday evening event, to showcase what the children have been learning to their families. For more information and to prebook your child’s place please email mountzionquarriers@gmail.com. The club is free of charge.