Raasay Primary School

Pupils at Raasay Primary School will be performing ‘A Raasay Folktale’ on Friday 15th December at the local community hall. We welcome you all to join us for an evening of traditional storytelling inspired by our Raasay Folklore, Sorley MacLean and our workshops with Lizzie MacDougall and her story quilt. Inspired by nature, mythology and the Well of Understanding, follow our magical journey as it explores the importance of trust, friendship, self-belief, bravery and faith …

Doors open at 6.45pm with the performance at 7pm. Entry is free although there will be  collection towards ‘Save the Children’. Teas, coffees and baking will be served and there will be a free prize draw. We hope you can join us and share in the magic of Christmas!

On Tuesday 21^st November, Mairi Stewart STEM Co-ordinator with the UHI and three S6 pupils from Portree High School held a day of workshops which the S6 pupils had created as part of their Ambassador project. Raasay pupils had the opportunity to create their own ‘hurricanes’ in a jar!, to make cyclones out of paper and to make light and sound using circuit boards. The children worked together in small teams and at the end of the sessions our primary pupils reported back to their S6 workshop leaders how much they had enjoyed the workshops and fed their learning back to the whole group.

As part of our ‘Fairytales’ topic, pupils at Raasay Primary had the opportunity to visit Aros, Portree for a screening of ‘Revolting Rhymes’ by Roald Dahl. They all gave it the ‘thumbs up’ and even had a chance to enjoy the playpark at Aros after the show.

Pupils at Raasay Primary School once again took part in the BBC Children in Need Appeal. As you can see pupils had a non-uniform day and came to school in their ‘spotty’ outfits in return for a donation. They also collected old £1 coins and made some delicious spotty cakes which they sold to mums and dads. All in all, a fantastic effort and an amazing total of £121.03 which has been paid in to the Children in Need bank account. Well done!

Raasay PS – Facilities Assistant

We were delighted that Lizzie McDougall, storyteller was able to visit our school last week for a two day workshop. Lizzie worked with the children focusing on developing the storyline for our Christmas show.

Pupils at Raasay Primary School getting into the ‘spirit’ of Hallowe’en with a party and fun activities in the afternoon.

Police Station Visit

On Tuesday 24^th October, P1-6 pupils attended Portree Police Station where PC Catherine Tindall met the children of Raasay and Struan Primary Schools. She had arranged a mock up crime scene which involved the pupils developing skills in evidence collecting, identifying clues, problem solving and developing the strategies of problem solving. She had organised that the process from crime to conviction would be demonstrated. The ‘accused’ was Marion Mac who was charged with the supply of Haribo contrary to section 4(3) in the Misuse of Haribo Act 2017! The pupils then had the opportunity to ‘search’ for clues and gather evidence and they found bags of Haribo and fifty pence pieces in her possession which led them to believe that she was involved in selling Haribo. Marion was detained in custody whilst the police and the young ‘officers’ raided her home where they found conclusive evidence that she was indeed the perpetrator of the crime.

The case went to the Portree Sherriff Court where Marion Mac stood in the dock whilst David Morton, Procurator Fiscal, examined the evidence from the Police and questioned PC Catherine Tindall who gave evidence on the day. The case was put to Sherriff MacDonald and

At the end of proceedings she asked the young jurors from Raasay and Struan Primary to individually give the court their verdict. The jury was split in their decision with six coming back with a verdict of guilty and five of not guilty. Mrs Mac was then sentenced to 10 years community service with the warning that any further criminal action would result in a prison sentence. The court was adjourned at 1.45pm.

All the pupils were invited back to meet the Sherriff in her court chambers who congratulated them all on their verdict. Pupils got a chance to wear her wig and some were surprised at how heavy and scratchy it was! As court rules do not allow photographs for security purposes we don’t have pictures inside the court house but the ones below will give you a flavour of the day.

On Saturday 30th September, we held our annual Coffee Day fundraising event. This has become a much anticipated event on the island and this year was no exception. Yet again, the community near and far have supported the event and the day would not be possible without the input of staff, parents, Parent Council and the local community, businesses and groups. The incredible total raised this year was £3682.05 which will go towards providing educational opportunities for our youngsters, school resources and the development of specific areas within the curriculum identified through consultation with the Parent Council and Pupil Council.

“On behalf of the pupils, staff and parents of Raasay Primary School, thank you one and all for making the day such a success. Moran Taing! Wilma Duncan, Head Teacher

On Thursday 31st August to Friday 1st September, the whole school embarked on an overnight trip to the Isle of Harris as part of their Social Studies. We have to thank everyone who helped make our trip very special – everyone we met went out of their way to make us welcome and to enhance our experience. During our trip we had the opportunity to visit the Bridge of the MV Hebrides, meet with the pupils at Leverburgh Primary School, visit the historic St Clements Church at Rodel, learn about traditional Harris Tweed weaving, visit a local artist and, of course, run and play on the beautiful sands of Harris. Here are some photographs which will give you a flavour or our visit.