Raasay Primary School

This term the pupils are learning all about ‘The Human Body’ and were thoroughly engaged during the ‘Bodyworks’ workshop by Glasgow Science Centre with lots of hands-on, interactive activities.

The P.E. focus this term is Shinty and pictured are the boys during their P.E. session at the pitch.

We are delighted to be back for the new session and this year, not only do we have a new P1 pupil but we also have a new P2 pupil who has moved to the area. This term, pupils will be focussing on angles, symmetry and transformation in Maths and in Mental Maths, the four operations of multiplication, division, addition and subtraction. In Numeracy – number processes – addition and subtraction. We will be continuing with our daily wrap around spelling lessons and we will be having a focus on Imaginative Writing specifically relating to Fairy Tales. In Health and Wellbeing we are learning all about People who Help Us and we hope to have some visitors to the school later in the year to tell us all about what is involved in these jobs e.g. Firefighter, Nurse, Paramedic, Police Officer etc. The boys in P3-7 will be continuing with their weekly music sessions with Eddie on chanter and tin whistle. In P.E. our focus will be shinty and where possible we will be using the community pitch for these sessions. Our science topic this term is The Human Body and in French and Gaelic our focus will be on numbers. Our Social Studies IDL will be ‘Castles, Kings and Queens’ to link in with our preparations for our Royal visit in a couple of weeks. This term in RME we are learning about Judaism and our Creative Friday afternoons will have an Art/Technology focus, directly linking with our Social Studies IDL. There will also be visits to the school from Anne Martin, Gaelic Singing input, Childsmile, Bodyworks (Glasgow Science Centre), Blythswood Shoebox Charity information workshop, Climavore Beach Study with a Marine Biologist, Bikeability with Bill Ross (whole day sessions developing on skills taught last year) and we are also lucky to have some extra swimming sessions timetabled in this term. As well as having lots of visitors – some more famous than others! we will also be heading out and visiting Eilean Donan Castle as part of our Social Studies topic. Pupil Council identified that a trip on the Glass Bottomed Boat on Kyle would be a ‘cool’ way to end the term as a reward focus. So – a busy time ahead in learning in a variety of contexts.

Pupils enjoyed the annual School Summer Picnic prepared by our cook, Annabelle. As it was Annabelle’s birthday and also one of her last days with us – pupils presented Annabelle with cards which they had made themselves. We are sorry to see Annabelle leave us but we wish her well in whatever she does next and look forward to her popping in to visit when she can. We are delighted that Ann McGowan will be taking up the post of cook after the holidays.

For the first time in three years, pupils and staff at Raasay Primary were delighted to be able to welcome parents into the school for our end of term Celebration Assembly. Joining us as our special guests for the day were Anne Martin who has been working with the children this year on the Treoir Project; and Eddie Seaman, Chanter tutor. Eddie very kindly piped the children in – to the tune of Scotland the Brave. During the assembly pupils were presented with various certificates, trophies and reading books and their hard work and successes throughout the year were shared and celebrated. Pupils performed their Gaelic poems from the Mod, songs from the Scottish Opera event and played ‘Lovely Stornoway’ on the Chanter. A highlight from the day was Anne Martin and the pupils performing the beautiful Gaelic song which they had composed as part of the Treoir project. This song is now part of Anne’s repertoire and she hopes to perform it one day in Raasay at a wider community event. Our school leaver and nursery pupil were both ‘graduating’ in different ways and this was recognised with a ‘Mortar Board’ and Graduation scroll. Our P7 pupil was also presented with a beautiful cake which was specially made and personalised for him. Annabelle, our cook, also made traditional Breton Cake and Breton Madeleines – recipes which were given to us by our Breton visitors who were here earlier in the term.We wish our P7 pupil all the best as he moves on to High School in August and we look forward to hearing how he is getting on. Happy Holidays to everyone from all in Raasay Primary School. We hope you have a lovely summer.

On Monday 27th June, Raasay pupils enjoyed their annual Sports Day – with parents and community members being invited to come along for the first time in three years! The pupils had decided on a ‘Roman’ theme for their Sports Day and lots of fun was had by all. The sun shone for us in the afternoon despite it being a damp start to the day. It was wonderful to have the support of parents and the wider community after so long. There were a range of challenges which the children planned for the day e.g. toss the Roman sandal, olive and spoon race, gladiator challenge, ‘Romans on the Rampage’ obstacle course, to name but a few!

Over the last term, our nursery pupil has been forming friendships with the pupil from Glenelg Nursery. At first, this was done online over Google Meets but they enjoyed meeting up on an outing to Kyle. Glenelg School then came to Raasay for a day out which provided another opportunity for a meet up. They have now had two outings to Kyle – and, as you can see are now firm friends! They hope to keep this up next session with lots more opportunities for joint activities. On their last outing to Kyle, they enjoyed finding out about the train and how it works – they even got to go on the train at the station (thanks to the rail strike!). The boys enjoyed spending time together visiting the playpark, cafe, Lifeboat Station and Train Station.

Pupils at Raasay Primary School enjoyed a beautiful afternoon to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. The highlight had to be the delicious Jubilee Pudding prepared by our amazing cook Annabelle! With our ethos of ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ we reused and recycled the Jubilee hats, cups, plates and bunting which we had used 10 years ago for the Golden Jubilee! We had put them away in the cupboard in the hope that they would come in useful again – and they did..

We thought it might be fun to have a look back at the celebrations from all those years ago – so pictured below are our Platinum Jubilee Day photos along with a blast from the past which we hope you all enjoy.

Raasay pupils participated in the recent local Mod, held in the Gaelic School in Portree. The three boys who took part in the Gaelic Learners’ Poetry Recitation Competitions all came back to Raasay with medals.  They were delighted with the comments from the judge who praised them for the quality of their Gaelic at such a young age from an English Medium School. The entries from the three boys ensured that the Oban Rose Bowl, which is the trophy awarded to the English Medium School with the most points, is returning to Raasay for the fifth time in recent years!

Mrs Duncan, Head Teacher said “it was wonderful to be able to work with the boys in preparing for the first face to face Mod in two years. They were conscientious and dedicated in their preparations and it was pleasing to see it recognised on the day by way of the points and comments from the judge. Whilst we are an English Medium School we have a very strong commitment to the Gaelic language whether it be in the performing arts, drama or in a day to day basis within our school setting. A special thanks to our parents for supporting their children with practices at home and attending on the day. Congratulations to everyone involved in the local Mod this year, participants and organisers – it’s great to have it back in the school calendar again.”

Over the last two years we have been corresponding with a French School in Brittany – their teacher Bea has taken some time out to sail to Scotland and visit us here on Raasay. Their voyage has an Eco focus and a cultural exchange. Pupils were delighted to welcome them to Raasay and to our school and our first day of meeting together involved a trip out onto the beautiful schooner, The Bilbo. The children had a wonderful time learning about the boat, the journey, Breton culture and language. The pupils and staff were treated to delicious organic apple juice from their farm in france and traditional nougat. We also met the school mascot – Cookie the sheep who has been travelling with them. Tomorrow we look forward to welcoming them to our school where they will share with us pictures from their blog and voyage before joining us for lunch. The children look forward to sharing their Gaelic poetry which they are learning for the Mod and holding a ‘lesson’ for our visitors on local history and culture.