Earlier in May, our P7 pupil took part in the annual Interschools Cross Country, held at the King George V Playing Field Portree. The weather held out for the runners and it was a thoroughly enjoyable day for all. This is our P7’s last time participating in the Cross Country Championships and he put in a good performance.
Earlier in May P4 and P7 pupils took part in a Creative Coding workshop with pupils from Portree Primary School. This was a great opportunity for the boys to work alongside pupils of the same age, creating and building friendships and joining in other curricular learning opportunities throughout the day. Raasay Primary School has established links with Portree Primary over the last few years whereby our children join classes regularly to support transition.
Janet Ulman from Amphibian and Reptile Conservation visited the school to undertake a pond dipping exercise with a view to engaging the pupils in the promotion of amphibian conservation by surveying our school pond. The pupils dipped using nets and tubs and surveyed what they had found. Among other things, they recorded finding: newts, palmates, waterslaters, frog tadpoles, leeches, sludgeworms, diving beetle nymphs and water beetles. Our school pond is not only a good breeding site for amphibians but also an important habitat for many other species. It is aptly named the ‘Dragonfly Pond’ and it provides the perfect location for a wide variety of animal and plant life from very small invetebrate species to larger pond animals such as frogs and toads. We hope to continue to work closely with the SSAAR Education Officer (Janet) to get an overview of our pond life over the course of the year, collecting data and recording our results. Some of the work will cover the eight curriculum areas and in a relevant and enjoyable context.
At a recent Pupil Council, pupils expressed a wish to have an After School Modelling Club making Airfix models. They decided on an airfix model of a WW2 tank and this tied in with their recent classwork topic on WW2. The club was led by our P7 pupil and all enjoyed the experience of following the instructions, glueing and painting their model. This was a huge success and the pupils may wish to develop this further in the future with more clubs tailored to their interests. Already in the pipeline for term one session 2024/25 is an After School Science Club and preparations are in place for resourcing this after the holidays.
Pupils in Raasay Primary School undertook an overnight residential visit to Inverness and Alness. Pupils had been studying World War 2 as a topic and therefore the first visit was to ‘Behind the Radar’ in Inverness. This is an amazing underground bunker system which was designed to house 40 people for three months in the event of an attack. The bunker was a radar filter centre during the war and later was adapted for the Cold War and possibility of Nuclear attack. Pupils were given an extremely informative tour of all the various rooms – complete with authentic artefacts and exhibits. One of the most exciting aspects was the tank and helicopter situated outside which were very popular with the boys! After spending the afternoon at the bunker, pupils then ‘let off steam’ at the Infinity Trampoline Centre, followed by a meal at Frankie and Bennys. The overnight accommodation was in Alness and all were pretty tired after a very full day. The next morning a visit to the Alness Heritage Centre had been arranged. Alness was a very important area during both wars and thousands of American and British troops were stationed there – mainly to be trained in flying the Catalina and Sunderland aircraft which could land on the water. Una, our tour guide, was very informative and the boys had a chance to see lots of artefacts as well as trying out the morse code signalling machine. We were extremely lucky with the weather which was very warm and sunny for the whole time – the boys then had a chance to explore and run around in the gardens – trying out the old fashioned tricycles, before heading home to Raasay. We are extremely grateful to Dr Iain Maoileoin at Behind the Radar and Una at the Heritage Centre for giving of their time to provide the boys with a wonderful and informative experience. As always, the boys were a credit to the school, their families and themselves displaying exemplary behaviour and manners throughout.
Pupils were learning some valuable skills with the sewing machine while repurposing old pillow cases. Ms Duffus obtained some pillow cases that were no longer being used and pupils helped to sew them into usable bags which could help reduce the use of plastic bags.
Raasay Primary School was recently awarded the Sportscotland Gold School Sport Award for 2024 – 2026. The school community is delighted to have received this award which recognises the school’s achievements in putting sport at the heart of school planning practice and ethos. The award recognised that Raasay Primary School had shown excellent practice across the core areas of the award and demonstrated an ongoing commitment to increase young people’s opportunities and engagement in physical education, school sport and leadership and provide clear pathways to lifelong participation in sport.
Graham Lindsay, Partnership Manager Sportscotland, congratulated the school on its award saying, “It has been excellent to see how engaged the school is in sport and physical activity, particularly with such a small school roll. The school is a real example of how the award can positively support and engage young people through sport and activity”.
Wilma Duncan, Head Teacher said, “We were all delighted to receive this award from Sportscotland – the Pupil/Sport Council were able to identify and articulate why they thought that they met the criteria for Gold through the application process. Pupil voice has been very much at the heart of our P.E. planning. The school has always been committed to developing sporting opportunities within the curriculum; making use of the school’s unique island setting. In recent years, as the pupil roll decreased, we have endeavoured to adapt the sporting provision in our school to reflect this. We have had to be creative in how we enable pupils to achieve their P.E. outcomes given the small roll and the wide range of age and ability.”
The school was celebrated for engaging in a wide range of school sport activities at school level, across the Associated School Group and with third sector partnerships including Highlife Highland, Raasay House, Whitewave Activity Centre, Cuillin Ridge Climbing and Bord na Gaidhlig with the continued support of the Parent Council.
Wilma Duncan, Head Teacher said, “The Sport Award recognises the sporting achievements of the school to date, and we will continue to develop our Action Plan targets going forward. This term, we have added kayaking to our curriculum, thanks to the support and generosity of our island community, with pupils successfully fundraising for buoyancy aids and safety equipment. Pupils are now undertaking weekly kayak sessions as part of their P.E. with class teacher, Ms Duffus, who is a qualified Kayak instructor. Our boys are delighted, and it is wonderful to be able to offer this as an island school, where knowledge and skills in kayaking can be useful and relevant within skills for learning, life and work, with the boys working toward two accredited qualifications before the summer.”
On receiving their award the boys said the following:
“We are very lucky to have kayaking on our school curriculum. It is fun, educational (because we develop lots of new skills) and it is healthy”.
“I loved doing the racing and going backwards – it is great fun learning all about it”.
“I am excited to learn about capsizing”.
“To get the flag is such a big achievement and we are looking forward to flying it on our flagpole in the school grounds”.
Pictured are the pupils, Head Teacher Mrs Duncan and class teacher, Ms Duffus, displaying their Gold Award flag and certificate.
As part of pupils’ P.E. lessons, they are now undertaking Kayaking at the Home Loch with teacher, Kate Duffus. Using the Kayaks that we acquired through HighLife Highland and our new safety equipment purchased through the school fundraising, pupils thoroughly enjoyed their first session. This will be a regular part of the summer term P.E. and they will be developing their skills over the coming weeks.
For an end of term treat pupils undertook an Easter Egg Hunt around the school and grounds. Each pupil had their own clues to follow and find the treats which were hidden indoors and outdoors. From us all at Raasay Primary we wish you a Happy Easter and holiday.
Our P7 pupil was selected to play for the Skye Camanachd Under 12’s team which played at Drumnadrochit against various schools from Highland. Pupils are selected from Skye and Raasay schools so it is a fantastic achievement to be chosen to take part. Well done to all!
