Raasay Primary School

Raasay Primary Pupils took part in Highlife Wildlife Week which ran in conjunction with the Countryside Rangers. Pupils studied various aspects of of wildlife in the environment here on Raasay. They looked at trees in their locality, the bone caves at Inchnadamph and what they can tell us about life in the past. They also looked at re-wilding and debated what this would mean for the environment and, as part of this, created their own bug hotel in the school grounds. Finally, they studied the rocky shore with a field trip to the local shoreline where they looked at the upper, middle and lower shoreline and what different seaweeds, creatures and shells they might find there. They brought their collections back to the school where they used identification sheets to identify the various different species.

On Friday 12th November, pupils from Raasay Primary School attended ‘The Newton Rooms’ – a STEM Challenge and Skills Workshop where pupils learnt about the principles of Robotics linked to perimeter and circumference.

Pupils from Raasay Primary School paid their respects at the local War Memorial on Thursday 11th November. Pupils had made two wreaths to lay at the memorial – one with the red poppies to remember the fallen and one with purple poppies to represent the animals who lost their lives in the war. The white poppies are to symbolise peace.

On Friday 5th November, Michelle Randall from RAF Youth and STEM team visited the school to deliver a STEM Challenge Day. Pupils were challenged to problem solve various engineering problems, investigate the aerodynamics of making paper aeroplanes and also had the opportunity to learn some basic coding.

The pupils all rose to the challenges placed and Michelle was very impressed with our budding ‘engineers’!

On Wednesday 3rd November, pupils at Raasay Primary undertook a day of activities delivered by Spors Gaidhlig. The day involved paddle boarding at the Home Loch, followed by an archery session at the Hall. This was an excellent opportunity for the pupils to hear the language being spoken and used in the context of outdoor and adventurous activities. Thank you to the team for a fantastic day – the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the experience and we hope to welcome Spors Gaidhlig back for another session in the spring.

As part of our charity work this term, pupils have taken part in the Blythswood Shoebox Appeal. Items for the boxes were kindly donated via a collection box at Raasay Community Stores, filled shoebox donations from members of the community, parents and staff. Pupils stayed on after school on Tuesday 26th October to fill the shoeboxes with all the items that were donated. Before they did so they watched a short video about the work of Blythswood and the impact of the shoebox donations to families in Eastern European countries. The boys carefully chose appropriate items for their intended recipient and we are sure that they will be gratefully appreciated. Well done boys for your fantastic charity work and bringing joy and a smile to children and families who you have never met before and to whom you will be making a big difference this Christmas. A total of 10 boxes will be sent on to the Blythswood Distribution Centre, with extra left-over items also being sent on. Little ACORNS (All Children Of Raasay Nursery and School) making a big difference!

As part of their ACORNS Enterprise for this term, pupils ran a Pop-up Jam and Jelly Stall. Using locally sourced ingredients – rowans, brambles and apples, pupils made a selection of jams and jellies to sell at the stall. P5-7 pupils also wrote their own ‘Rowan Tree’ poems as part of their literacy lesson to tie in with the enterprise project.

A very big thank you to Ann McGowan who worked with the pupils to produce the fabulous jams and jellies. Thank you also to everyone who turned out to support us and buy our produce – we hope you enjoy it!

Pupils at Raasay Primary School decided to raise money for the JIA Charity. JIA stands for Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis which causes inflammation in a child’s joints. It refers to a number of different types of arthritis that occur under the age of 16 and it appears to affect about 1 : 1000 children, with 1 : 10000 children being diagnosed each year – that would be about 1500 children diagnosed with JIA in the UK every year!

Pupils chose to do a Charity Walk/Run with the theme of ‘Wear Purple for JIA’ to raise money and awareness of JIA. Despite the weather they all successfully completed the run and, in doing so, raised a fantastic £341.90!

Thank you to everyone who donated and turned out on the day to cheer us on our way. The money has now been donated to the JIA Charity.

This session, pupils at Raasay Primary School will be studying the life of Calum ‘The Road’ MacLeod. As part of their topic, they decided to have an end of term trip to the road to see what Calum achieved over a number of years. The pupils enjoyed walking the road and exploring various places of interest on the way – including Brochel Castle and the cairn in memory of Calum. The day was finished off with a fish and chip take-away from Raasay House – it definitely got a thumbs up!

A word from the school kitchen – “the Walled Garden are now supplying the school with a box of their fabulous vegetables every Monday. The children get to see the fresh vegetables as they arrive and then eat them raw and cooked at lunchtime. A huge well done to the kids for their enthusiasm – they are eating twice the amount of super healthy vegetables now!” Annabelle, School Cook

“This is marvellous news! It is heartwarming to see local produce on our pupils’ plates and also to see the uptake in school meals increasing and with that there seems to be an increased consumption of vegetables too which is excellent. Thank you to Annabelle and Tekela for encouraging the healthy eating ethos in our school whilst also supporting our Eco aspirations and to The Walled Garden for their wonderful local produce which now has pride of place on our menus.” Wilma Duncan, Head Teacher

The pupils sent a thank you letter to the Walled Garden to thank them for all their hard work and wonderful produce.