This year, as last year, pupils in P7 from across Skye and Raasay schools will be coming together for a four day residential at Raasay House which forms part of their transition to High School.
Pictured below is Ethan waiting to welcome P7’s from across the area to Raasay. We wish them well for a fantastic week!
A huge congratulations to Nelly and Thomas who performed so beautifully at the recent local Mod Competition. They came first and second in their group – bringing home gold and silver medals which you can see them proudly wearing in the photograph below. Despite very strong competition from other Skye Schools, Nelly and Thomas gained very high marks which resulted in Raasay Primary retaining the Oban Rose Bowl trophy for the second year in a row! This trophy is awarded to a non-Gaelic Medium School with the most overall points. Pictured below are Thomas and Nelly with the trophy.
On Wednesday 24th May, the annual Carbost/Struan/Raasay Sports Day took place at Carbost playing field. This is an event which brings our three small schools together and gives pupils a chance to partake in some competitive and fun sports events and to form friendships with pupils from other schools. As you can see from the photographs of the day, the pupils didn’t let a little rain or midgies put them off their stride and all partook enthusiastically in what was a great, fun event. Thanks to parents and families who came along to support the children on the day.
Walk4Wildlife
On Friday 19th May the school took part in a unique event whereby hundreds of primary school around the UK took part in a sponsored walk in an attempt to create a new Guinness World Record for the most children walking at the same time in a sponsored event. Schools were able to choose which wildlife charity they would like to support and we chose the International Otter Survival Fund based in Broadford. We were very lucky that the sun shone for us and lots of friends and family turned out to support us and, as always, the Raasay Community were extremely generous in helping us to raise a fantastic total of £96.83.
Today as part of the Walk 4 Wildlife we went on nature walk to spot animals.The areas we searched were the woods and the seashore. We managed to observe herons,woodlouse, hooded crows and other small creatures.We also put posters up for the Walk 4 Wildlife event on Friday 19th May. If you would like to join us please meet at the school gate at 2pm. This is part of a Guinness World Record attempt to get as many school children walking together as possible. We are raising money for the International Otter Survival Fund which is based in Broadford. Below are a few photos of us on our wildlife walk in the woods and at the beach. Report by Ethan Carslaw P7
Hairdressing and Journalism took centre stage at the hall as our Week of Work drew to a close.
We were again very lucky with the weather as today was very much an ‘outdoor’ day. Norman Gillies, Civil Engineer and Colorado Builders were presenting workshops on Roofing, Engineering and bricklaying while Hector Nicolson from Sconser took a workshop on dry stone wall building.
Pictured below are the pupils with Hector building a small dry stone seat around the base of our flagpole. Pupils learnt about the different kinds of stones required and their properties – there were foundation stones, packing stones and heart stones and all had to be carefully selected. Hector hopes to come back to help us to finish off the seating area.
Pupils had the opportunity to learn about roofing from Colorado Builders – laying the membrane onto the sarking and then the cutting of slates, making a hole for the nails and the fixing of the slates.
Norman Gillies, Civil Engineer, gave the pupils the opportunity to learn what his job entails. There was a lot of maths! – angles, measuring, scale – pupils made a plan of the shelter, the shed and the school.
There was also a workshop on bricklaying by Colorado Builders. Pupils had the opportunity to see what skills were involved in laying bricks, measuring the wall to be made, making sure the levels were correct and checking the final result.
Thank you once again to all our contributors – your time and efforts to make this project a success are very much appreciated.
We had a visit from Mairi Stewart, UHI who presented a workshop on coding using tablets and laptops. The children were able to see the techniques involved in basic coding and making computer games.
Mr Olli Blair presented a workshop on architecture sharing examples of interesting buildings – the children had to identify specific design features and this was followed by an opportunity to design a building for a fellow pupil.
In the afternoon pupils went to ‘The Silver Grasshopper’ to learn from Fiona what skills she had to have in setting up her own business and jewellery making. The children had the opportunity to make some earrings using some of the tools Fiona has in her workshop.
Ann and Donnie Oliphant very kindly hosted a workshop on their croft where pupils learnt about the production of Dexter beef from croft to kitchen. They learnt about the tagging system and the importance of a paper trail for animal traceability.
Thank you to all our contributors who have volunteered of their time to make this project happen.
Pupils had the opportunity to learn about the work of the paramedic with a visit from the Scottish Ambulance Service. They learnt the skills of CPR, recovery position, defibrillator and how to lift a patient safely supporting the head, body and feet.
We also welcomed Sam Crowe, Personal Trainer, who very kindly gave of her time to come and tell the pupils all about her job and demonstrate some of the skills required. Sam shared a typical day from her week with a powerpoint presentation which was then followed by some outdoor physical fitness activities which included boxing, running with weights and balance boarding and slalom.
Mr Duncan McLardie, Manager Scottish Co-op Portree presented a workshop to the pupils which included pricing, product placement, shop layout, stock control and customer service.
Pupils then had a yoga workshop with Tekela. This covered some basic yoga moves as well as the skills involved in being a yoga instructor. We hope to have a short video clip to share with you and we will upload as soon as possible.
We also had a visit from Suzie McAllister, Dental Nurse who took the pupils through the skills involved in her job. This involved keeping our teeth and gums healthy, how to check teeth and gums and the hygiene aspects of health and safety. They also got to experience using the discolouring tablets which would show up areas which haven’t been brushed properly. Pupils also had the opportunity to find out about all the various equipment used in the process.
Day One
Our ‘Week of Work’ got off to a fantastic start with workshops from BBC Alba and Raasay House. Pictured above are P4-7 pupils with Richard, chef at Raasay House learning about the skills required to be a chef. Richard emphasised the importance of health and safety in the workplace and had also very kindly prepared some cup cake and burger making activities. In their evaluation of the session, pupils identified lots of skills required in the job of chef including maths, communication, creativity, leadership and physical stamina to name but a few!
P4-7 and Nursery to P3 pupils also had the opportunity to learn about reception duties which focussed very much on customer care and setting up the dining room for formal evening meals with Chloe.
Nursery to P3 pupils learnt about the job of Housekeeper with Ann – it was hard work sorting and washing all the laundry and then making up the rooms with everything having to be just perfect. We think they did a good job!
Day One for the P1-3 finished with a workshop in the Walled Garden. Graeme and Kate had very kindly set up lots of activities and skills identification activities. What a perfect day to be in the garden!
Our final session for P4-7 was with Zeemon, learning about the skills of being an instructor. Zeemon took us through the health and safety procedures which are paramount when undertaking such activities and it was clear, once again that there were a lot of skills involved in the job.
We also enjoyed a fabulous lunch at Raasay House – with the burgers and cakes made earlier by P4-7 – yum! Mr Bruce, QIO, had to rush for the ferry but enjoyed his take away none the less!
Raasay Primary School 