Events

IMS Music sessions (by Dexter P5, Xanthe P5 and Zachary P6)

We have been learning to play the clarinet with Mr Renwick every Tuesday. I enjoy that we can learn new notes on the clarinet and it get harder because we have to focus on breath marks and take a breath really quickly – Dexter. Reading the music is easier than I thought and we have been learning to play D and C – Xanthe. We think more people should learn to play an instrument as it is fun and it can be easy once you learn to know how to play –Xanthe. I am enjoying learning all of the different notes because it is really cool and soon I hope to play a whole song – Zachary.

Read Write and Count – P2 and P3 Family Engagement/Learning Event 

Thank you to everyone that attended our Read, Write, Count Family Engagement/Learning Events for Primary 2 and Primary 3 this week.

The aim of the Read, Write, Count Campaign delivered by the Scottish Book Trust is to encourage families to include reading, writing and counting activities in their everyday lives and become actively engaged in their child’s learning journey.

We held a mini gifting event where families had the opportunity to sit with their child and together explore the contents of the bag and get ideas on how everyday activities can be used to enhance and celebrate our children’s literacy and numeracy skills.  For pupils whose parent/family members were unable to attend, do not worry, a Primary 7 pupil explored the items in the bag with them.

This was a wonderful opportunity and I was delighted to see so many of you there.

Author Visit – Matt Goodfellow – Assembly and Workshops

Mrs Robinson and our Primary 5 Languages Committee have been fortunate in securing an author visit for the whole school. Therefore, on Monday 18^th November, welcomed author, Matt Goodfellow, to St Michael’s Primary School where he had an Assembly with the P1-3 pupils and an Assembly for our P4-7 pupils, followed by creative writing workshops for each of our P4 – P7 classes.

Christmas Fayre 

Hallowe’en Disco – 30th October 2024

School Garden Competition – Competition Winners

As you know a few weeks ago we ran a competition to design our new ‘School Garden’ which was given a fabulous make-over by a team of local ‘Sky Engineers’.

As we have come to expect here at St Michael’s Primary, the standard of entries was extremely high and it was incredibly difficult to select our winners from the 78 entries.  Thank you to everyone who took part!

I am pleased to announce that following judging, we had 3 Overall Winners, then a further Winner from each of our 7 classes:                                   

     P1 Rowan, P2 Abbie M,  P3 Erin, P4 Andrii, P5 Anna, P6 Abbey P and P7 Maeve

 The overall initial design of the garden took many of the ideas from the following

three Overall Winning Designs, so congratulations to:

P1 Fatima      P3 Jessica      P5 Georgia

Thank you so much everyone for all your hard work.

St. Michael’s School Garden Make-over

Well today saw a flurry of activity in our school garden, with 13 members of the Sky Engineers Team giving the garden a very much needed makeover.  They did an amazing job and our garden is now ready to use for supporting pupils in a wide range of curricular areas linking to Outdoor Learning.

As well as providing all the labour the Team also donated some artificial foliage and provided much of the equipment. We also have to thank Kenny Urquhart for kindly loaning us his cement mixer for the day, JJ Currie for their incredibly generous donation of soil, railway sleepers, brackets and screws, Jewson’s for donating the slabs, cement and chippings and finally The Range for donating a range of new planters and some artificial foliage.

As nearly all of our Eco-Committee had entered the Garden Design competition, they were not keen to judge the competition, so our visitors helped out at the beginning of today by judging the competition and using these winning entries to help develop the vision. Certificates and prizes will be presented next week at assembly.

Garden Makeover

A huge thank you to JJ Currie for their donation of soil, wooden railway sleepers, screws and brackets to help with our garden makeover. It is very much appreciated by all of our staff and pupils.

Whole School – Garden Design Competition!

We are delighted to share the very exciting news that our School Garden is getting a makeover by the fabulous team from Sky TV.  Mr Gilmour and his team of 14 individuals will be coming to give our garden a much needed makeover on Friday 4^th October, giving up their time for free, through their community initiatives.  We are aware that this is a very tight timescale for us to get everything prepared for their arrival, however as they say it is a day of free labour and we ‘cannot look a gift horse in the mouth’!

In order to make sure our garden is designed with our pupils’ ideas and suggestions in mind, all pupils are invited to enter our School Garden Design Competition.  This has been organised by Mrs Alston and our Eco Committee members: Peyton & Joey (P1), Amelia-Grace & Isla (P2), Archie & Agatha (P3), Chimmy & Sophie (P4), Georgia & Jack (P5), Joel & Kaitlin (P6), Maeve & Zayna (P7).  Pupils should return their design to school by Wednesday, 26^th September so that prizes for great design ideas can be awarded before our garden makeover. A huge thank you also goes to Mrs Robinson for creating a template of our garden to help the children put their garden design ideas down on paper for our competition, you’re a star!  Today, each child has been issued with piece of A3 paper with the template design which they are more than welcome to use for their competition entry.

Open Afternoon

Thank you to all those who were able to attend the Open Afternoon which we held yesterday.  In our aim to continue to strengthen home/school links, I hope you found the Open Afternoon, with the option of additional times after the school day, valuable in terms of seeing and discussing with your child what they are learning in school. This opportunity should be a good prerequisite to our 3-Way Learning Conversation Evening, on Wednesday 9^th October 2024.

Royal Scottish National Orchestra Concert Trip

On Thursday 12^th September, Primary 4 and Primary 7 attended a concert at The Bridge in Dumfries, held by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. The children had the opportunity to listen to songs played by the orchestra, as well as join in with some singing! They learned about the various sections of an orchestra and the names of instruments which are played alongside each other. Both classes had a great time and if any of the children are feeling inspired by their morning out of school, lessons for various instruments are available. Please see a selection of photographs on our Primary 4 and 7 class pages on the school website.

Primary 6 Bikeabilty Sessions

All Primary 6 pupils completed their Level 1 Bikeability session this week, so pupils will all receive a certificate and badge following the completion of further sessions.  Well done Primary 6, Mrs Alston was very impressed with your cycling skills!

Those pupils who were assessed as being competent enough to cycle on the roads will now take part in Level 2 sessions in the coming weeks.  If your child is taking part they may come to school in sports clothing, but please ensure that your child has appropriate clothing for the weather e.g., waterproof jacket, gloves, etc.  Please note the remaining session dates are Thursdays 19^th September, 3^rd October and 10^th October.

Primary 5 and Primary 6 Ewart Library Visit

Primary 5 and 6 attended a Mostly Ghostly story-telling event at the Ewart Library on Monday. This was held to celebrate the 120^th anniversary of the library. The children had a fabulous time listening to a variety of ghost stories based on Dumfries and Galloway folklore. There were also some colouring activities to enjoy. The children all behaved impeccably and made St. Michael’s proud!

Dumfries Carnival

Our Primary 5 pupils had a wonderful time on Thursday, engaging in the first of their dance workshops, in preparation for their participation in the Dumfries Carnival, which is being run by the Big Burns Supper Team and will take place on Saturday 18^th January 2025. The instructors were delighted with the enthusiasm and hard work all of the pupils put into the dance and are very much looking forward to returning soon for their next workshop.  Well done Primary 5, we are so looking forward to the next workshop, when you will further progress with your dance!

Euro Quiz

Very well done to our Primary 6 Euro Quiz team – Valencia, Tatiana, Jigme and Kayda who attended the magnificent McEwan Hall in Edinburgh on Monday 10^thJune to represent both St Michael’s Primary School and Dumfries and Galloway, at the Euroquiz Final. Although not placed, they did extremely well, answering very challenging questions while the P6’s were cheering them on watching the live link in class. They battled teams from schools across Scotland in the final to test their knowledge of European history, cultural and political affairs, sports and foreign languages. I can report that they all had a wonderful day and it was a great experience for them all.  We are so proud of you all for getting so far in the competition!

Guid Nychburris Annual Handwriting Competition 12/06/24

We also had some fantastic news when the Queen of the South visited on Wednesday as she brought with her a list of the winners from the handwriting competition. We were delighted when the Queen of the South presented special prizes for six of our pupils who had excelled in the annual Guid Nychburris Handwriting Competition.  Firstly, congratulations to Annie who was the overall GOLD medal winner for Primary 1 pupils and congratulations to Naomi who was the overall GOLD medal winner for Primary 6 pupils.  Finally, big congratulations to Isla (P2), Yeva (P2 absent from picture), Daisy (P2) and Avah (P5) who were all highly commended! Considering there were 2319 entries, this is a wonderful achievement for them all, we are so proud of you……………keep up the beautiful handwriting!

Guid Nychburris – Queen of the South Visit 12/06/24

On Wednesday morning the Guid Nychburris Principals visited our school and were presented with framed portraits by Logan P7, Isla P1 and Summer P7 and a book of their own portraits from Primaries 5, 6 and 7. Summer, our elected Primary 7 attendant was also presented with a gift from the school.  We hope to be out supporting the festivities and parade on Saturday and that the weather stays dry.  Good Luck and best wishes Summer in her role as attendant. Please see pictures on our school website.

Euro Quiz

Best of Luck to our Primary 6 Euro Quiz team – Jigme, Kayda, Tatiana and Valencia, who are heading to the magnificent McEwan Hall in Edinburgh on Monday 10^thJune for the Euroquiz Final. They have been busy ‘swotting up’ on their European and General Knowledge and we wish them all the very best, knowing that they are not only representing St Michael’s Primary School but also Dumfries and Galloway! Today at assembly, they were all, including Callum our reserve, presented with their certificates and a £10 gift cards for book as recognition for winning the local heats.

St Michael’s Parent and Carer Group – Shorts ’n’ Shades Disco

The Parent and Carer Group would like to thank everyone who attended their annual Shorts ‘n’ Shades disco.  It was lovely to have our first disco in the school hall and even though it rained throughout the day it was so nice to see so many of you in your shorts and shades. THANK YOU again to all members of our Parent and Carer Group who give up so much of their own time to organise, shop for and plan for these events, it wouldn’t happen without you. Thank you also to all the staff and parents/carers who volunteered their free time to supervise the disco.

Guid Nychburris football

03/06/274 – 07/06/24

Well done to everyone from P5-7 who participated in the Guid Nychburris Football Tournament – see team lists below.  I am delighted to report that pitch etiquette and good sportsmanship was evident in all our teams.  Well done to you all, you were a credit to the school and we are proud of all your efforts!

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mr West for organising our school’s teams, training and supervising also to Mr Goudie for kindly giving up his time to come along every Friday after school and coach the teams this term, it has been greatly appreciated.

27/05/24

A huge thank you to M and M productions for coming and sharing their production of the Railway children with us. The performance was well put together and involved audience participation with clapping and singing along. A production like this would cost the school many hundreds of pounds so we are incredibly grateful that they gave our children this opportunity free of charge. We hope to have them back in our school again sometime in the future.

16/05/24

Primary 6 and 7 Nithsdale Sprint Relay Competition

A very big well done to our Primary 6 and Primary 7 Sprint Relay teams who participated in the Nithsdale Active Schools event at the David Keswick Centre this week. The P6 team were Jeffrey, Jigme, Mohammad, Perez (P5), Naomi, Freya, Tatiana and Maeve. The P7 team were Rami, Mujtaba, Jake, Beck, Rhaymmie, Blessy, Amelia and Miram.  They all worked very hard against stiff competition and although they were not placed on this occasion we are super proud of your efforts – you are all St. Michael’s stars!

16/05/24

Staffing Update

After 21 years and 7 months as Catering Assistant at St Michael’s Primary School Mrs McGill retired on Wednesday. To show their appreciation for her many years of service to the school and to say thank you, the children gifted her with a personalised chopping board with a recipe for a happy retirement, along with a beautiful orchid and a scented candle for a relaxing evening at home! We will all miss Mrs McGill but wish her a long and happy retirement.

09/05/24

Eric Liddell Assembly -Thursday 9^th May

Today, we welcomed John MacMillian CEO of the Eric Liddell 100 Community.

In 2002 Eric Liddell was voted the most popular sporting hero Scotland had ever produced. The story of Eric Liddell is important not only because of his sporting success but also his values and the good he brought to those he met.

On the 11th July 2024, it will be 100 years since Eric became Olympic champion at the 1924 Paris Olympics. With the 2024 Olympic Games also being held in Paris, we have a great opportunity to engage young people in Eric Liddell’s story, the values he led his life by, and the inspiration that comes from being exposed to the daily decisions and choices he made. The children thoroughly enjoyed John’s presentation and some created posters showing Eric Liddell’s values which were passion and integrity and others designed posters showing the qualities of other inspirational athletes.

02/05/24

Today, we had a visit from Helen Maynard who is an Education and Community Officer with the Dogs Trust. She delivered a whole school assembly and also two workshops for P2, 3, 4 and 5. These workshops and assembly were well received by all the children who thoroughly enjoyed developing a realistic understanding of what is safe and appropriate behaviour around the dogs they share their homes and communities with. Helen’s very realistic and very large ‘stuffed dog’ called Magnus who was a hit with everyone! If you would like to know more please see the link below for their website.

https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/life-with-your-dog/at-home/dog-and-child-safety

25/04/24

This morning we were shocked to find some visitors in the school playground. This wild duck and her 12 little ducklings were rounded up and put safely in a box. Mr Rivero, Mrs Thomson and some of our pupils carried the box down to the Dock Park while mummy duck walked closely behind. They were released on to the water and safely swam away 🙂

19/04/24

Yesterday, we held our Open Afternoon event. It allows families and carers, together with your child, to look through their work so that you can chat about your child’s work and their learning.  We have always had very positive feedback from this event and it was lovely to see so many of you there allowing you the opportunity to be aware of anything you wish to discuss during the ‘Learning Conversation’ Evening. We also hope you got a opportunity to sample some of our on-site made school lunches that the kitchen staff kindly prepared for you to sample. We were also very grateful to Tesco for their large donation of clothes, which were free for you to help yourself to over the course of the afternoon.

12/04/24

Well, it is the end of an era! After 31 long and happy years as Learning Assistant at St Michael’s Primary School Mrs McGaw retired today.  To show their appreciation for her many years of service to the school and to say thank you, the children gifted her with a personalised planter with plants for her garden, along with items for when she is relaxing doing gardening at home, rather than in school! They also presented her with a beautiful bunch of flowers and a wee bottle of fizz to celebrate this momentous occasion.

Today we also said farewell to our Senior Clerical Assistant of over 14 years, Mrs Gibson who has been successful in being appointed the position of School Support Manager at Wallacehall Academy. To show their appreciation for her many years of service to the school and to say thank you, the children gifted her with a personalised planter with plants for her garden, along with items she will be able to use in her new job! They also presented her with a beautiful bunch of flowers and a wee bottle of fizz to celebrate this momentous occasion.

We are all very sad to lose such valued members of our staff, whose knowledge and experience has benefited so many pupils, staff and families throughout the years.  We are sure you will all join us in wishing Mrs McGaw a long and happy retirement and Mrs Gibson all the very best for the future as she moves on to the next chapter in her career.  I am sure they will both continue to ‘Reach for the STARS!’

08/03/24

Today was extra special at Assembly for us, as the pupils and staff got the opportunity to say a massive THANK YOU to Mark Jardine (People’s Project), Paul Williamson (Vigilant), Andy Ferguson (Cleanmasters) and James Hallam Insurance for very kindly donating the funds to buy all of our new chairs – which many of you saw on Wednesday evening.

Also, another massive THANK YOU to Anne Simpson from the People’s Project who managed to source the funds for our lovely new Hi-Vis Vests and to Carol Gass for kindly stitching the class colour codes on to the HI-VIS Labels!

Here are two of our past pupils Paul Williamson and Andy Ferguson ringing the same school bell they rang as pupils.

04/03/24

Today, Primary 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 children were invited to watch a live performance of the dramatic production “Going for Gold” in school. This was a true story about one girl’s journey to Olympic success. Vicky had always dreamed of being an Olympic Star and although she was not able to succeed as an Olympian she was able to become involved in the Olympics in other ways and was given the opportunity to carry an Olympic torch. The children all seemed to enjoy the production. A huge thank you to Miss Urquhart for applying for funding to enable us to watch this production at no cost.

PLEASE SEE INFORMATION BELOW ON OUR FUN FAMILY BINGO NIGHT BEING ORGANISED BY OUR PARENT AND CARER GROUP