Rhunahaorine recognises star students
Bubbles blew across tables of shields, certificates and other rewards as Rhunahaorine Primary School and Nursery children gathered in the playground to celebrate their end-of-term prizegiving.
In her welcoming remarks at the June 30 event, head teacher Catriona Brown praised the children for their resilience throughout the difficult session and thanked the staff for being ‘the best team in Scotland’.
The achievements of all the children were recognised and rewarded with certificates and rocket blasters.
This was apt reward as the school had just heard that P4 pupil Stuart Byers had been awarded a prize in the Machrihanish rocket logo design competition.
The pupils had taken part and enjoyed a Google Meet session on space facts the previous week.
Following submission of the school’s recent study of the local beach and watchtower to the John Muir Trust, the P4 to P7s gained the prestigious John Muir Discovery Award for which they received certificates at the prizegiving. The younger pupils received a certificate of participation.
Mrs Brown said she felt the trust had been an excellent support and its planning framework had given depth to the project. As well as submitting information to the Shark Trust and The Natural History Museum during the project, the children were interested to learn that the Women’s Royal Navy Service observed and recorded the accuracy of practice bombs at the watchtower during the Second World War.
The nursery children each received a certificate from the Marine Conservation Society for their dedication to cleaning up Tayinloan beach.
Every nursery child received a bucket and spade for their achievements throughout the year. Heather Gorman and Kirsti Paisley, child development workers in the nursery, kitted the three children graduating on to primary school with mortar boards for the prizegiving ceremony.
Arianna Gilchrist, Eilidh Parkhouse and Naeve McNeill proudly came forward for their tap on the hat and gift.
Unfortunately, parents weren’t allowed to attend the ceremony but everyone clapped a bit more robustly to cheer each other on in their absence.
Having successfully gone through his primary/ secondary transition on Google Meet sessions set up by Campbeltown Grammar School, Logan O’Hanlon is looking forward to secondary school and, amongst the starter pack he was presented with, was an Oxford pencil case tin.
Logan was awarded the Jack Barrett Memorial Trophy for his leadership skills in Information Computer Technology.
Throughout the session, the school’s values of kindness, happiness and responsibility are embedded in the school's everyday life.
Awards for students who do particularly well in their areas were presented to: Lochlen Gibbs for always being happy while learning; Kieran Hurd for always showing kindness and including everyone in play; and Logan O’Hanlon for being a responsible role model. The Rhunahaorine Shield was presented to Craig Hurd for his positive attitude and leadership in outdoor learning.
Cheers
The nursery children, accompanied by Mandy Beveridge on guitar, ended the ceremony with a goodbye song to which everyone gave three loud cheers.
During the event, school chaplain Marilyn Shedden gave a short address. She shared the story of a little girl who collected 100 shells, then lost one.
This was linked to Jesus’s story in the Bible about lost sheep and the children were told that each and every one of them is unique and loved by God.
Speaking to the Courier after the ceremony, Ms Shedden thanked Mrs Brown and the school’s staff for their commitment and dedication during what has been a very difficult year. She added: ‘Mrs Brown has endeavoured to ensure that, with the support of the parents, education did not suffer and that, above all, the children felt happy and secure.’