The end of last term also saw us celebrating the success of our pupils. Parents, friends and families all joined us for a wonderful afternoon sharing in the achievements of their children. Pictured below are all our Nursery to P7 pupils with their trophies and certificates – congratulations to all! We were very sorry to be saying farewell to Ethan, our fantastic P7 pupil who will be moving on to Portree High School. We wish him all the best and continued success in the years to come.
This year our summer outing was to our neighbouring island of Rona. We chartered the ‘Spindrift’ from Portree and were extremely lucky with the weather as it was an absolutely stunning day.
Our pupils took a lead in their own learning as part of Curriculum for Learning by organising our annual Sports Fun Day. Following curricular work on the Greeks earlier in the year, our pupils decided that this would be their theme for this year’s event. As a class they decided what events they would like to hold, the layout of the sports field and liaised with the Parent Council on how they could support the event. Pupils dressed up for the occasion by creating their own toga outfits, Greek headdresses, torches and banners and had organised the menu to fit in with the theme. Pupils created a running order with a fantastic line up of events including: grape and teaspoon race, Greek archery supported by Raasay House, javelin and Minotaur Splat! This was a joint event with the Parent Council and was well attended and supported by the local community. Special thanks to all involved – the Parent Council, School staff, Raasay House, the local community and all our ‘willing’ volunteers for participating so enthusiastically in our toga challenge and Minotaur Splat! A fun day was had by all.
On Thursday 22nd June, Mrs Duncan undertook the Cycling Scotland one day Cycle Training Assistant (CTA) course which is aimed at instructors delivering the Bikeability Scotland Training Programme at National Standards 1 & 2. This is an intensive course which then allows instructors to deliver Bikeability courses to students of any age. Here at Raasay Primary this will open up the opportunity for children to undertake activities both in the playground and on the road which develop basic bike control, setting off, pedalling, stopping, using gears, balance and control. Pupils will learn how to safely share space with others who are walking and cycling whilst also being great fun and a learning experience for all age ranges. As pupils move on to level 2 they will learn and practise skills they need to make long journeys such as cycling to school or their local shop. This includes skills and manoeuvres including: learning where in the road to cycle, communicating with other road users, passing parked cars and left and right turns. The training is mostly aimed at children between the ages of 7 and 12 although in our small school setting, after discussion with the organising body, we are delighted to share that we hope to deliver aspects of the training with the younger children too within the playground. This is an opportunity for all children in Raasay Primary School to gain vital cycling skills whilst also having fun in the process. We hope to run some training sessions during school time in our P.E. block and also extend it to some after school sessions in the new session.
Pictured below is Mrs Duncan with the other instructors after completing their course successfully.
On Monday 19th June, Raasay Primary and Nursery pupils visited Lochcarron Weavers and the Smithy Heritage Centre. On our way, we stopped at the Kyle Co-op to buy some additional picnic goodies for the day ahead. Joy who runs the Weaving shop organised a presentation explaining the processes involved in weaving, followed by a visit to the old loom, housed at the back of the shop. The children also learned about the work of Lochcarron Weavers and the variety of tartans that they produce and their visit was rounded off with a DVD explaining in depth the processes involved. Joy kindly arranged for all the pupils to receive a pack which included a swatch of tartan associated with their surname and some other goodies. Our visit to the Weavers was followed by lunch in a treehouse situated in the grounds of the Heritage Smithy Centre. The treehouse was very posh indeed – it included a stove, tea and coffee and an outside veranda overlooking the river. After a hearty lunch in beautiful surroundings, we visited Kim at the Lochcarron Pottery who demonstrated the skills involved in making pots, vases, jugs and cups. Some of our pupils were so inspired that they are keen to return to try their hand at it themselves during the summer. We ended the day by visiting Terry the Woodturner who produced a beautiful vase on the lathe from a rough block of wood in front of our eyes! The vase now has pride of place in our classroom with some flowers from our garden. All the children had the opportunity to buy something to remember the day. On the way home we took the opportunity to stop at the MUGA playpark at Broadford Primary to try out the new equipment there. The pupils returned to Raasay full of new experiences to share with their families.
After our recent fundraising efforts we are delighted to be featured in the Team Otter website – check out the link above for information.
Pupils recently had the opportunity to visit Skye Seasalt at Cuidrach on the road to Uig. It was a beautiful day which meant that the 10 min walk from the end of the road was spectacular with fantastic views over Loch Snizort. Pupils enjoyed having a tour of the facility and learning about the production of seasalt using only seawater. The water was pumped from the bay up to the large polytunnels where it dried out naturally. We would like to thank Nanette at Skye Seasalt for a very interesting visit – and all agreed that the salt made everything taste delicious!
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.
