For those of you who have been following the progress of our playground Bahama Woodstar hummingbird, here is an update.

Sadly, her first two eggs never hatched.  The mother had incubated them well past the average 14-19 days, but nothing emerged.  Mysteriously, we discovered that the eggs had disappeared last week, without a trace, and we were left to ponder as to whether they had been eaten by a predator or whether the hummingbird herself had disposed of them!  The hummingbird was still around and we wondered whether she was going to use the nest again.  Sure enough, a few days later, an egg appeared and this morning there were two!  See in the photo, proud mum and her fresh new eggs.   Why the first eggs didn’t hatch we will never know, were they unfertilized or did something go wrong?  Hopefully, all will go well with these two eggs.  At least with it now being the summer holidays, she can look after them in peace.  Watch out for our next update and keep your fingers crossed!

On Thursday 1st July, our seven Year 6 students graduated from Providenciales Primary School.  Each student made a personal speech highlighting memories of their time at the school and they were presented with a diploma.  We wish them all well with their future endeavours and hope that they will always keep in touch.

School is nearly over, but the fun with friends, doing exciting activities doesn’t have to stop!

We are offering Summer camps for all children ages 2 through 12 years of age.  The camp runs from 5th—16th July (Monday—Friday).  It is a morning programme from 8:30—12:00 noon.  Depending on attendance there will be three age groups:  2 – 4 year olds, 5 – 7 year olds and 8 – 12 year olds.  The cost is $30 per day / $125 for a week.

Under the themes of Drama/Performing Arts, Hands on Creativity, Thinking Skills and Sports, there will be a selection of fun activities planned throughout the week   Activities will include pantomime performances, skits and dance,  arts and crafts, cooking, computers, beach trips and nature walks, and  Mini-Tennis and Cricket workshops (with trained coaches).

See further details, download enrolment forms and register your child today:

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Individual tutoring will also be available in the afternoons.  Prepare your child for their class next year with qualified teachers supporting them with  aspects of their learning highlighted as needing development in their end of year reports.  Available throughout the Summer.   Please ask about this in the office or give us a call on 649 941 5638 for details.

It was another exciting day of sailing and beach fun at the 20th Annual Fools’ Regatta.  A great community event with proceeds from this year’s event going to the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association Youth Programme.

Our Steel Band entertained the crowds with the caribbean sounds of the steel drums.  It was a first community performance for some of the children although the school band has participated for over 10 years.  Everyone did really well and enjoyed playing on the beach.

The Great Raft Race was a highlight for many, with Provo Primary entering 2 rafts.  The ‘Dragons’ and ‘Poseidon’s Vessel’.   Spirits were high and everyone rowed their hardest in the gusty winds and choppy waves.   We once again we won the Vindaloo Cup for best overall team spirit and design.  Great participation, well done everyone!

A big thank you to the raft team mentors for coaching and guiding the teams through the raft building process, sourcing materials, and their much needed technical support.  Also to everyone who helped transport the steel drums to and from the event.

Until next year!

Year 6/7 thoroughly enjoyed an exciting end of year adventure field trip. The day started with a ‘Big Blue’ expedition to Little Water Cay to study the local rock iguanas in their habitat. There was also the opportunity to snorkel in our beautiful turquoise ocean to observe the underwater wildlife, and to kayak in the mangroves to see the many juvenile species living there. The day ended up with a fun time playing on the beach. A few downpours didn’t dampen any spirits and everyone enjoyed this special day together.

On Monday, Years 3, 4 and 5 excitedly headed down to Big Blue Dock to meet Chris, Laura and Ben, our ‘Big Blue’ happy tour guides and boat captain, for our much awaited summer field trip!  After being fitted with fins, life jackets, and after a formal introduction to the boat and water safety, we set sail for Little Water Cay.  The signs were there that we were going to have a remarkable day as we saw a little sting ray before we had even left the dock!

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The Preschool Fathers’ Day Bear Hunt was a huge success, with a great turn out of “daddies” for this interactive event!   They were all good sports, taking their shoes and socks off and joining their child in a tactile journey of fun… tracking through a playground scene recreating a grassy lane, river, mud swamp, forest, snow storm that lead to a bear cave!  I think the dads liked the cotton balls flying around in the snow storm the best!  Thanks again for great enthusiastic participation.  It was lovely to see.

Junior Kindergarten created an under the sea theme for their Fathers’ Day celebrations last week.  Each child wore a sea creature mask, and dads came fishing and caught their sons and daughters!   The children sang under the sea songs and presented their dads with ocean gifts that they had made.  There was also a delicious fishy feast to eat on their own specially made fish plate:  fish sandwiches (with herbs straight from our garden), fish decorated cakes, cookies and jello, all washed down with a special homemade iced tea brew.  Thanks to all the dads and visitors for coming.  We hope that everyone enjoyed this special time together and had a ‘whale’ of a time!

Today, we were very pleased to discover a second hummingbird egg in the nest in our playground.

By our calculations, the mother hummingbird must have laid it 3 – 5 days after the first.  We knew that the Bahama Woodstar usually lays 2 eggs so we have been looking out, and hoping for a second egg to appear.

There had been much discussion by the children, parents and teachers alike as to whether we thought she would lay 2 eggs in succession, on the same day, or if there would be a gap between lays.  Our close observations have answered our theories.

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Year 2 have been really busy in Science this half term looking at ‘Plants and Animals in the Local Environment’ .

They were very lucky to be invited to the Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort to explore the many plants they have in their garden nursery and throughout the resort.

Did you know that the resort recycles all their used water and uses it to water the plants on the Resort? Did you know that a banana tree only flowers and grows bananas once?

The trip provided an opportunity to compare the vegetation at the resort, which is very much landscaped and irrigated, with the predomintely native bush that we have in our playground.

What a fabulous morning it was… A BIG thank you to ‘Beaches Turks and Caicos’, the children really learned a lot!

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We are eggs-tremely egg-cited to see that our little hummingbird has laid an egg!

Having finished her nest a couple of days ago, we have since been waiting patiently, and checking the nest every time she has flown off for food, to see if she had laid an egg or two.  To our delight we saw one this afternoon.

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Three ships from the Dominican Republic Navy made an official visit to the island on Monday June 14 for three days.   The vessels were crewed by more than 40 sailors.   Year 3/4 accepted an invitation from the Dominican Republic Naval fleet and headed to the Turtle Cove Marina for an exciting tour of one of their ships.   The children were escorted around the boat by naval officers who kindly answered all their questions.

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We have continued to record the hummingbird’s progress as she builds her nest in our playground. Take a look at the video highlights from day 2 and 3 and see some of the amazing behaviours we have observed as she creates her home.

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On Tuesday morning we had a special visit from some musicians down on island for the Amanyara Music Festival.  The children from Year 3-7 were involved in a mini workshop conducted (pardon the pun!) by 6 professional musicians.  The instruments we heard and learnt more about were the basoon, clarinet, double bass, cello, viola, and violins.  The theme of the workshop was “An Introduction to Cuban Music” and we learnt about different styles of Cuban music, how it sounds, where it comes from and how it has influenced other styles of music.  We also learnt about the Cuban sound “SON”, “RUMBA” and the “CLAVE” rhythm which holds the rhthym together in Afro-Cuban music.

At the end the musicians also played Michael Jackson music for us.  Read on to watch a movie clip of this and see if you can recognise which song it is.

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What an amazing little hummingbird!  While we were busy doing our school work today, she was hard at work building her nest.  By sundown a distinct nest was taking shape and off she flew for a well deserved night’s rest.  I’m sure she’ll be up at the crack of dawn and back to continue her efforts tomorrow.  Be sure to arrive early to school in the morning to see further footage on the computer screen in the walkway.  
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Provo Primary’s 2010 yearbook was released yesterday, much to the joy of the children, parents and staff of Provo Primary School. Krys Mann is the amazing person responsible for producing this truly incredible 6th edition yearbook. We would like to take this opportunity to thank her for all her hard work, her wonderful creativity and for the endless hours she has spent choosing from thousands of photos and producing the pages. She has certainly captured wonderful memories for us to enjoy today and to reminisce over in the future.

Our yearbooks provide a great insight into the many and varied educational opportunities that our children at Provo Primary School have experienced over the years.

Read on and see a sneak preview of some of the amazing pages…
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Provo Primary School will be hosting a play morning on June 12^th between 9.30 and 11.30 am for prospective Preschool families. Come along with your child and experience for yourself the unique qualities of our school and what we can offer your family.

Please contact the Principal, Sian Jones, at 941 5638 or principal@provoprimary.com to reserve your play day place or to schedule an individual appointment to view the school.

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Swimming lessons set off to a great start this week and, with the weather heating up at this time of year, this is a welcome, refreshing experience for all involved.

Living in an island environment, we feel that confidence in water – and ultimately the ability to swim – is an essential life skill.  We therefore endeavour to impart the necessary water and swimming skills in a positive and fun way, while at the same time, furthering, recording and assessing the progress of each individual.

We would like to thank KH Capital and the homeowners of our neighbouring Flamingo Park residences who have very kindly agreed to us using their pools.  Their community support with this programme is invaluable and much appreciated.

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Our tomato plants are thriving in the school garden and excitement is in the air as our first tomatoes are spotted.  Our radishes, lemon grass, rosemary, basil, mint  and peppers are also doing well and some banana and papaya trees have also been recently planted.  Our squash was doing fantastically, but unfortunately some bugs discovered them and enjoyed a weekend of munching them all up!  Birds, butterflies, frogs, crickets, lizards and a baby preying mantis have all been seen enjoying our new garden environment.  Don’t eat the tomatoes though guys!

We often see and hear Cuban Tree Frogs at the school – they like to find their way into our water tank and croak away!  So it was a treat to observe some different frogs in the school garden last week.   We think they were Cuban Greenhouse Frogs.

These frogs are tiny, typically under an inch long.  They are similar in appearance to tree frogs in that they have a compact body, strong limbs, and sticky toe-pads to help stick them to most surfaces. They are typically subtle shades of brown and tan for camouflage, and they move quickly in long, fast leaps.   Most frogs require fresh water in which to lay their eggs so their tadpoles may grow. However, Greenhouse frogs have adapted from their original state, with the tadpoles remaining in the egg until they hatch as frogs! Read the rest of this entry »