Raasay Primary School

On the last afternoon of term, pupils invited members of the community for Easter Afternoon Tea as part of their Citizenship project work. Earlier in the term, pupils in P2 ,3 & 4 wrote letters of invite to some of our guests as part of their writing. They were delighted when they received special letters and cards in the post accepting their invitation. Pupils wrote Easter poems, learnt an Easter song and developed their skills in hosting and serving. There was also a focus on fostering inter-generational relationships. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to talk to their guests about what life was like in school when they were young. We enjoyed it so much that we hope to host events such as this more regularly. All of us  at Raasay Primary School wish you all a very Happy Easter!

What better for Mothers’ Day than some hand-made scented bath bombs! Pupils used a recipe to create their individually crafted bath bombs using bicarbonate of soda, citric acid, scented oils and dried flowers. They created some beautiful scent combinations which they thought would best suit their mums.

Pupils’ STEM challenge was to create a structure that was strong and stable with a particular focus on building from a good foundation. They used a variety of materials to test out their theories.

On Friday 22nd March we were really pleased to have the opportunity to visit the chicks again to check on their progress. Quite a lot had changed since we last saw them – in that there were two new additions to the ‘chick family’! Ann and Donnie have kindly offered the pupils the opportunity to name the chicks – meet MacDonald, Chirpy, Tamsin and Tabby!

Raasay Primary School has signed up for Sustrans’The Big Pedal’ which is running from 25th March to 5th April. This is the UK’s largest interschool’s cycling, walking and scooting challenge. This is a nationwide initiative whereby children, parents and staff are encouraged to cycle, scoot or walk  to school and information is inputted daily to the website. On each day of the challenge schools compete to see who can record the greatest number of pupils, staff and parents cycling, walking and scooting to school. We are currently featuring on the National Leaderboard and will update you once we have the final tally at the end of next week. On Tuesday 2nd April, we are going to take part in the Sustrans Super Hero Day – by wearing our Super Hero masks and dressing in our favourite Super Hero colours. We will put up photos next week. Well done to everyone for making such a fantastic effort!

On Tuesday 19th March we were pleased to welcome Otto, Ebba and family for an afternoon to meet us all and get familiar with the school and its surroundings. Otto and Ebba will be joining us for term 4 and we look forward to welcoming them next week for some transition days before we go on holiday.

On Friday 22nd March, pupils were invited to plant some of the fruit trees in the new Orchard section of the Raasay Walled Garden. As you can see – the Garden was a hive of activity. Pupils were also able to plant their own pumpkin seeds and enjoyed some well-earned refreshments after all their hard work!

The focus for letter writing this week in P2-4 was to write a letter of invite, applying the skills of letter layout, structure and handwriting. Pupils decided to invite some community members to the school for afternoon tea on the last day of term to share their experiences of school life when they were young.

Pupils in P4-7 were focusing their letter writing on writing a letter of complaint and how to get points across clearly and politely through the medium of formal letter writing. They decided to their MSP, Kate Forbes to complain about the lack of 24/7 nursing care on Raasay, the need for re-surfacing of the roads and the lack of street lighting in some areas. They also invited Kate Forbes to the school to discuss their concerns.

The photos below show the pupils posting their letters in torrential rain and strong wind – making sure that they definitely reached their intended recipients!

Every morning pupils in P2-4 start the day with a ‘Finger Warm Up’ activity which helps to warm up their motor skills and prepares them for the day of learning ahead. The activities include lacing, peg boards, threading, cork board designs and playdough modelling to name but a few. Alexander has now started to join us for Finger Warm Ups and we will be looking to develop the range of activities through discussion with the children.

Pupils at Raasay Primary School supported Red Nose Day by buying Red Noses and donating to the charity. Lots of fun activities were held throughout the day.