Author: laurahendersonsite

The Sports Achievement Cup, donated by Tom Connelly, is voted for by all the pupils in the School. This year’s winner was Murray Robb, who had demonstrated a high level of skill in Kayaking and has recently been promoted into Division 1, which is a great achievement for his age. Murray was part of a duo alongside Ross Claydon who earned Kippen a remarkable 2^nd place in the Scottish Schools Slalom Kayak/Canoe Championships in June.  Murray has also been a member of the School’s football team and a great ambassador for sport in general. A Highly Commended certificate was awarded to Caitlin Bradwell in recognition of her achievement in Cross Country, where she has competed at Stirling, regional and national levels, as well as being an integral part of netball and lacrosse teams in School.

By Primary 1/2

We invited parents, family and friends to a ‘Maths and Mingle’ open afternoon. We wanted to share our maths learning and to show our family the different kinds of activities and games we use to help us.

In the afternoon we were working in groups and playing lots of different games. When our visitors arrived, we explained what we were doing and invited them to take part in the different activities.

“I really liked it because we got to show our visitors lots of different types of maths and activities.” Tilly P2

“I liked it because we got to do lots of activities and we could ask the parents to join in and help us with the different tasks.” Harry P2

“I though Maths and Mingle was very, very good because it showed lots and lots of people lots of different maths at once.” Ella P1

“Everybody was calm and relaxed during the ‘Maths and Mingle’. It was nice to chat calmly to our visitors and show them what we’ve been learning.” Heidi P1

We took part in the annual Small Schools Football and Netball League and Tournament this year alongside Gargunnock, Fintry, Buchlyvie and Drymen Primary Schools. Our football team this year has been well supported by parent volunteer Mr McPhee, who took over from Mr Goodwin. The football team continued their successes from last year by retaining the Football League Trophy and were unbeaten in the league. The netball team, coached by Miss Alexander, put in some impressive performances to come 2^nd in the league, with the winners Drymen proving to be a very strong team.

Kippen Primary hosted the annual tournament on 19^th June where Buchlyvie won the football and Drymen won the netball. Thank you to Miss Alexander for organising the tournament, and to all the parents who baked and donated cakes and supported the players. Well done to all the players who trained hard and showed enthusiasm and good sportsmanship throughout. A special thanks to Neil and Angus from Active Stirling for their support with everything, from driving minibuses to away games, to refereeing.

Both our teams looked fantastic in the new strips which were donated by the Parent Council.

We have been working with local artist Sandra Morris to design and create a mural in one of the outdoor sheds in the playground. Each class had the task of designing a symbol for one of the School Values and these have been drawn on the shed wall by P5-7 pupils and then painted. The background will be the hills after which our houses are named, Ledi, Lomond and Nevis.  The side walls have been painted by pupils and have handprints on them in our house colours. The new P1 pupils got the chance to put on their handprints when they came for their transition afternoons in June. Thank you very much to Mrs Morris for her creativity and support to transform our shed. She has managed to fit in all this work alongside doing a dissertation for her degree. Pupils have already started discussing what they’d like to do with the other shed. Watch this space!

Primary 5 pupils recently took part in a ten-week block of swimming lessons at Balfron High School. As well as sharpening their skills on various swimming strokes, they were made aware of vital safety skills in case they had to survive in water unexpectedly. Wearing t-shirt and leggings, they jumped into the water and immediately made themselves float for 60-90 seconds on their backs to acclimatise to the cold water. Then they treaded water and created buoyancy aids using their clothing whilst alerting rescuers for help. Cody MacPhee (P5) explained, ‘I learned how to make a buoyancy aid out of my pyjama bottoms-this was tricky the first time but the second time I got it done really quickly!’  Useful advice for Senior Primary pupils on ‘Float to Live’ can be found on www.respectthewater.com

Elma Leith and Anne Lindsay came to visit Kippen Primary pupils during assembly to show us some of the quilts they have made and to tell us more about quilting. We had lots of questions for them about the skills they needed to use when making quilts and the different designs and patterns.

We then had the chance to make some paper quilts by all working on a square using the media of our choice. We used a variety of media such as crayons, oil pastels, felt tips, pencils and collage materials. The quilters joined our pieces together to make quilts and had them on display during their afternoon tea in the Village Hall in May.

We then had the quilts on display in our school so that pupils and visitors could admire our work. I’m sure you’ll agree that they are very colourful and creative. Thank you very much to the Kippen Quilters for sharing your work with us.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for a sunny and enjoyable sports day, held at Kippen Sports Field. Miss Campbell, with support from Neil from Active Stirling, had organised a fun and varied potted sports circuit, which included shotput, hurdles, javelin, balance beam, long jump, hockey, an obstacle course and an egg and spoon station. It was lovely to see teammates showing enthusiasm, inclusion, encouraging each other and enjoying the different sports on offer. Following potted sports, pupils participated in class races and again it was fantastic to see the fair play and honesty from pupils when confirming the places in some very close races! All pupils participated in running races, whilst p1-2 also competed in a bean bag race, p3-4 competed in an egg and spoon race, and p5-7 competed in a skipping race. Well done to all who took part and tried their best, especially those who placed. In the end, Ledi 3 were third out of the house teams, Lomond 1 placed second, and Lomond 2 worked hard to come first, congratulations! Pupils and teachers would like to give a big thankyou to all the invaluable parent and Active Stirling helpers, and to Miss Campbell whose planning ensured that the day ran smoothly and was enjoyable for all. Hopefully we get as lucky with the weather next year!

P7 Leavers’ Ceremony

The Kippen P7 Class celebrated their Leavers’ Ceremony on the 21st June. They worked hard over many weeks to produce a wonderful afternoon of entertainment for the gathered parents, teachers and school community. The class had worked with the BBC and Sky throughout the year, to develop their skills in front of and behind the camera, so they decided to bring their skills to the forefront when presenting their Leavers’ Assembly.

The theme decided on this year was ‘The Oscars’, so each group produced films, trailers and adverts that reflected on their time at Kippen. They used the iPads and green screen apps to really bring their experiences to life. We even managed to create our own ABBA music video filmed in the halls of Kippen! The final assembly performance was a great hit with all the parents and friends that were invited, giving the P7 class time to reflect on the amazing journey they had taken during their years at Kippen. During the slideshow cataloguing their years at Kippen, as well as the heartfelt thank-your letters read out to the parents gathered, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house! We wish them all the best in the next step of their learning journey!

The class reflected on their experience said:

‘It was very emotional but so uplifting!’ Charis P7

‘I was so happy looking back on all my experiences at Kippen’ Ava P7

‘Everybody worked hard!’ Ewan P7

‘It was very emotional, but amazing!’ Kherys P7

As part of the Kippen Street Fayre, T & R Skinner, the local butchers, ran an Invent a Sausage Competition.

Charlie Sullivan in P3 won the Invent A Sausage Competition with her pork, rhubarb and lime sausage. Runners Up were Niamh Fenwick P1 and her sister Muireann who invented a breakfast banger with egg, beans and bacon.

Charlie’s sausage recipe was made by the butchers and she had a chance to taste it. She says it tasted delicious. P5 pupils Fyndlay Skinner and Calum Beeley had the chance to taste Charlie’s recipe and they both agreed that it was very nice. Thank you to everyone who supported the competition.