NorwegianEntertainers visit

 Two Norwegian entertainers who were in Orkney for the Tree Lighting Ceremony dropped past Papdale to entertain the children at the weekly assembly last Friday. Not only did they play their violins beautifully but they also surprised everyone by doing some dancing and gymastics which included walking on their hands (not while playing their voilins !) The children really enjoyed the spectacle.

Papdale children shine bright at Tree Lighting Ceremony

A huge thank you to the  P4&5 Tree Lighting Choir who took part in the ceremony at St Magnus Cathedral on Saturday.  Their singing was beautiful and their behaviour impeccable.  
Also the P7 children who did a fantastic job as part of the Santa Lucia procession which must have been very nerve-wracking. They were excellent ambassadors for our school and we are very proud of them all.

Mannequin Challenge comes to Papdale

Following a suggestion at Games Parliament both line ups after morning break and lunch break were turned into a Mannequin challenge. The children had to stay still and in pose right through line up until it was time for their class to go into school.
It was one of the quietest line-ups in living memory!
Good job everyone. Well Done!

Click on the photo below to see the video.

Children in Need Smashes the record again!

A fabulous effort from all our P7s once more with a new record total of  £2056 raised on Children in Need Day. The P7 classrooms were once again the focal point for the activities. All the preparation work certainly paid off with the rooms looking very inviting with a huge range of activities, bakery and games for everyone to enjoy.
It was particularly pleasing to see a good number of P7 parents accepted the invite to come along and see for themselves firsthand what their children had produced and threw themselves into the fun as you can see from the pictures below. A big thanks must go to P7 Class Teachers Mrs Coltherd, Mrs Pinkerton and Mrs Stockan who did an excellent job channelling the children's enthusiasm and creativity to make another fantastically successful Children in Need Day at Papdale.

For more images click this link
   

The Mad rush begins

 Entering into the spirit of the day

Does anyone know who these two are????

Children in Need

In addition to the Grand Fundraiser on Friday the P7 children are being kept busy organising the events and selling raffle tickets and Children in Need goods at break times throughout this week.

Papdale Remembers

At 11.00am on Friday 11th November the school came together to observe two minutes silence in memory of all those servicemen who had given their lives to protect the freedom we enjoy.
To signal the end of the two minutes silence,  Mr. Jones, our Brass Instructor, played the last post.
A special mention must go to all the children who observed the silence beautifully making it a very poignant time of reflection for everyone.

Scrapstore recycles and goes rustic!

After some recent gales one of the trees at the front of the school was blown down. The branches were cut up and put to good use in the Scrapstore. The children had great fun keeping it topical making a giant 'bonfire' with the branches!

Papdale School is on Facebook

In response to the recent survey on how we could improve communications at Papdale we are going to gradually change how we do things to hopefully make them more user-friendly for everyone. 

This should mean fewer letters home with children and email, texts and posts on Facebook becoming the preferred methods of communication.

You can access our new Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/papdaleschool. There are also links to this page from our website:  www.orkney.co/papdale/

To help make sure you are ready for these changes please make sure we have your up to date email address and mobile phone number

Fantastic Response to Recycle with Michael

The huge mound of clothes donated at the end of last term for the Recycle with Michael project was collected from school today. It needed two big vehicles and some extra little helpers to load it all up. By the end there was barely enough room for the drivers to get in never mind the helpers!

A big thank you to everyone who contributed the fantastic 'mound', and to the big and little helpers who collected it.

Finally, a reminder that we are planning to do this all over again in the last week of each term .

The mound of clothes donated ready for collection

30 minutes later and both vehicles are packed to the roof and ready to go. 

Fairtrade School Uniform Options

Fairtrade Papdale School uniforms are now available as an additional option for parents when purchasing school polo shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies. 

To order go to the Koolskools website and click on the Papdale school link. Information and links to this website can also be found on the Papdale school website/About Papdale/ School Uniform tab 

Harvest festival provides a big crop for the Foodbank

For our end of term Harvest Festival Service we decided to support the work of the Foodbank in Orkney by asking for donations of food from families. The picture below shows how much we collected for this very worthy cause.
A big thank you to everyone who supported this cause and contributed to the impressive amount collected.

A moment of peace before delivering all that was collected to the Foodbank

Lost Property

One term into the new school year and lost property is once again bursting at the seams with unclaimed items of clothing, particularly coats and tops left at school by our children. To help make sure any misplaced clothes finds its rightful owner we would strongly advise that you label them with your child’s name. 

Whats in a flag!

You may have noticed that we have different flag's flying from the flagpole in front of the school but you may not be aware why these change every week and what each means.

To find out the answer read on !

The Papdale School flag will
be flying on weeks when
the Pupil Council meets:

The Orkney flag will be flying
on weeks when the 
Games Parliament meets:













The Eco Green flag will be flying
on weeks when
the Eco Club meets:

Kittens have the audience purring with delight!

Several of our P7 girls were performing at a Special concert in memory of local Composer Peter Maxwell Davies at St Magnus Cathedral on Sunday 18th September. 

They were dressed as kittens for their singing and dancing routine which was very well received by the big audience. Well done girls!

Free fundraising when shopping online

If you buy goods online by signing up on the easyfundraising website you will be able to raise funds for your chosen charity /good cause without any additional cost on what you are purchasing. Over 2700 retailers, including Amazon, Argos, John Lewis and Marks & Spencers are signed up for this scheme.

Papdale Primary School is one of the many good causes that you can choose to support so the next time you plan to buy online why not check out the easyfundraising site first and register, then any purchase you make could also contribute funds towards your favourite good cause and hopefully that will be us!

Papdale signs up for "Recycled with Michael"

This week Michael Hutchings from the Salvation Army came to tell the children about the "Recycled with Michael" scheme which Papdale has signed up for.  This is a fun and informative way for children to learn about recycling of textiles whilst raising funds for school projects.

‘Recycled with Michael’ bags will be provided and all children at Papdale will be asked at the end of each term to ask their friends and family for any good quality clothes they would like to recycle. This would then be returned to school for collection. 

The weight of donated items would determine the income paid to the school so the more items collected, the more money raised!

The collected textiles are resold, either through Salvation Army shops or exported overseas for sale in other parts of the world.  The proceeds are returned to The Salvation Army in the UK to fund their works details of which can be found at www.salvationarmy.org.uk. Furthermore, the donations provided to the Salvation Army  are eco-friendly meaning that fewer items are going to landfill.

Information will go home to parents towards the end of each term to clarify arrangements.

P5's Create a Giant Water Molecule!

Once again we played host to a variety of Science Festival workshops with the P7s learning about basic computer programming and radio astronomy while the P4 and P5's had plants and herbs as the topic of their workshop.

Probably the most surreal workshop was the H2O project involving all P5-P7s. The P5s dressed up as quarks and electrons to recreate a giant water molecule in the ballcourt with Mr. Boom and the P6 and 7 classes providing musical backing to the tune of the 'Tizwas' classic from the 1980's, “The Bucket of Water Song”. It was a truly unique experience for everyone!

The "quarks" get in position in the Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms

The P5's celebrate after completing the task 

Mr. Paul Johnson (Director-General for Learning and Justice) accompanied by Wilf Weir (Executive Director of Education, Leisure and Housing) and OIC Councillor Jim Foubister, came for a visit to Papdale School this week. They were shown around by representatives from our Parent Council, Eco-Club and Games Parliament and also spoke to pupils from last years P4 class about their national award winning social enterprise project. The children did a great job and the VIP visitors were very impressed with what they saw. 

Mrs Bruce and the Pupil Council Reps welcome the VIPs

The World War 1 Exhibition created a lot interest  

Eco Club Reps explain all the things they did to maintain Green Flag status at Papdale

Mr Johnson listens and learns about Games Parliament

Class teacher Mrs. Sinclair and the children introduce the Peedie Postcard Company 

School Entrance Changes

Over the summer holidays work has been completed to upgrade our main school entrance to comply with OIC’s School Security guidance. Visitors to Papdale should continue to report to the main reception for guidance. 

There are no changes to existing arrangements for Parents dropping off children at school in the morning or picking up children during or at the end of the school day. The link doors will continue to be open between 8.30 – 9.00pm providing access from the front of the school to the rear playground and nursery entrance. Nursery parents please remember to report directly to the nursery unit at the rear of the school when picking up and dropping off your child for sessions at any other time.

The Class of 2016-17 begins

The first morning back at school always proves to be a busy and frantic time for children and parents, particularly for the new P1s. It is difficult to know who is most excited, the parents or children!

The experienced P3-P7 children line up in their new classes 

A scrum of  nervous parents and children as the new P1 classes
line up for the first time with the P2's

P7 End of Term Review

The annual concert celebrating the departing P7 classes time at Papdale School was held on Thursday 24 June before a large audience of parents in the Infant Hall.
To view video footage from the concert click on the links below

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Staff v Pupils

This years netball match proved a game of contrasting styles. The pupils passing and movement was excellent and they had lots of possession without being able to get the goals their play deserved. On this occasion the more direct approach and good shooting from the staff team won the day.

Staff and Pupil Teams for the annual battle

Pupils go close to adding to their score

Staff team on the attack

Staff Captain Mrs Cotherd receiving the Margaret Hay Plate on behalf of the team

Ex pupil Scott Taylor took charge of the football match with the Pupils team sporting the new 'Argentine' style strip sponsored by Highland Industrial Supplies. Unfortunately, after a spitited display by the boys the staff team proved too strong on the day and managed to retain the title for 2016.

The Pupils team wearing their new strip sponsored by Highland Industrial Supplies with Keith Shirreffs representing the sponsors

The Staff team before that action began 

Still friends after the game?

Mr MacKinnon clears the danger

Goal line technology was used for the first time in Orkney!

 

Staff captain Mr Hill receiving the Margaret Hay  on behalf of the team from Mrs Bruce