Diary dates:

April: 16th – Start of New Term

30th - Pri Hockey Festival at Brae

May: 15th - Pri Rugby Festival at Clickimin

16th - S3 Parents’ Evening

June: 10th – Sports Day

13th – Alternative Sports Day

Whalsay School Newsletter

March 2013

Welcome from the Head Teacher

It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of another term in the Whalsay

School. Again, there has been so much going on in the school and this is reflected in

another action packed Newsletter. Thanks again to Amanda and Caroline for their

efforts putting this edition together. We know parents and the wider community enjoy

reading our newsletters and seeing what the pupils have been up to from Nursery

through to Secondary Four.

This term, we have welcomed Caroline Arthur into the school as our temporary clerical

assistant covering Leona Sandison’s maternity leave. We have said goodbye to our

Modern Languages teacher, Christian Baert, who has left us to take up a two year

secondment at Scotland’s Centre for Languages based at the University of Strathclyde

– we wish Christian all the best and look forward to working with him again in the

future.

Lynsey Irvine leaves us at the end of this term and returns to Sound Primary School.

Lynsey has been an excellent, calm and hardworking influence within the school,

establishing strong relationships with pupils, staff and parents. We look forward to

welcoming Zoe Emmett back from her maternity leave and Matthew Moss, who returns

from his four year secondment as a Quality Improvement Manager with Children’s

Services, as our Principal Teacher of Curriculum and Business Studies teacher.

As I write this piece, our S4 pupils are busy preparing for their final exams and making

big decisions about their future options, S5 at AHS, apprenticeships, or college

courses. This is an important time and I, along with all staff, wish them all the best

with their exams. Meanwhile, our S3 pupils will shortly be moving into S4 and formally

embarking upon the new National Qualifications. As a school, we have worked hard over

the last year to ensure that we are fully prepared for our first cohort to go through

the new assessment arrangements.

Painting to Snowy Music

A Cross Curricular Activity in Nursery

During the colder, frosty weather, the nursery bairns were finding out about “In the Cold”.

The bairns got opportunities to engage in an expressive arts based activity where they

listened to a piece of music titled “The Snow is Dancing” by the composer “Debussy”

through their headphones – while listening they painted along to the mood and tempo of

the piece and used a selection of “cold-coloured” paints in their pictures. Sometimes the

music was soft, gentle, quiet and slow and at others the tempo was quick, loud and lively.

This was reflected in the different pictures produced. This was a good example of how

learning takes place across many curricular areas – music, art, listening/talking, technology

and fine motor/mark making.

A Nursery visitor.

Our most recent visitor to the nursery was

Nancy Nicholson who has worked for “Celtic

Connections” as a writer, singer and storyteller;

she is also a member of the Scottish Storyteller

Forum.

She was keen to share her wealth of Traditional

Scottish materials with us while on a short stay

in Whalsay.

We heard some wee Scottish songs and stories

and enjoyed listening to tunes played on her

mouth organ (Harmonica) which she preferred to call her “moothie!”

Feeding the birds in Winter.

The nursery has been helping to care for the environment and other living things.

The bairns helped to fill up our bird feeders and put food out on the bird tables in the

nursery garden.

They were then able to observe the different kinds of birds that came to feed and were able

to record their findings on simple check lists and tally charts.

Our binoculars and bird books proved to be very useful in helping us to identify our garden

visitors!

We then made a display to brighten up the nursery.

Literacy/Co-operative Working in Nursery

As part of a literacy theme on “The Gingerbread Man” the nursery bairns worked on a story

sequencing task. They were working co-operatively with a partner to cut, correctly

sequence the story/pictures and colour the finished story. It proved to be a very profitable

activity with all the teams able to successfully recreate the story.

This term P1/2’s topic has been ‘hot’. We have found out about

hot/dry and hot/wet places in the world.

Camels can close their eyes and still see. Camels can balance. A camel has 4 legs.

Cara

Camels have huge feet. Camels use their tails for balance. Don’t let a camel’s nose in

your tent. Mackie

A camel can go for 1 week without food or water. Jenny

Camels can walk for miles. Camel’s humps go floppy when empty. Alice the camel has 5

humps. Ian

Camels can see with their eyes shut. Camels are 7 feet high. Camels have white

babies. Greig

You can chop down cactus and get water from it. Connor

Cacti can grow 67 feet tall. Maya

You can drink water out a cactus if you chop it down. Jack

Cactus are really, really tall. They have prickles. Ella

A trip to the rainforest. They finally saw a big elephant trying to

catch a parrot. Floppy was scerd becose the elephant was

chaynormes. The parrot was flying reely fast the parrot was reely

prity. Kipper was so ameyst about the elephant becose he was big.

But when Kipper turend arawnd. Floppy was not there. He had

runaway to a boosh. Biff was sad. Sanna

One day Biff and Chip and Kipper and Floppy went to the Congo to see Eismba. They playd games and music then they cacht crickets then they climd up a tree. Next they met Eismbas frends then a ratl snake was cumeng. Evreywan hid in the booshis. Hunters came then one ove the men shoot the ratlsnake the evreywon was sef then they playd. The end. Faye

Floppy, Chip, Kipper

and Dad went to the

rainforest. Floppy was

drinking out of the rifer

a eleefent cam and

nipt Floppys tail.

Harry

Biff, Chip and Kipper

and Floppy went to a

savannah. They saw a

leopard chasing a

gorilla. Biff took a

photograph of the

gorilla and the

leopard. Chip saw a

parit in a tree. He

asked Biff if he cood

boroe her camera to

taick a photograph of

the parit. Biff sead

yes you can boro my

camera. The parit

looked reele

beautiful. Aaliyah

The family went to the rainforest

on holiday and they saw a leperd

chasing a gorilla. The leperd

grawld at the gorilla. The gorilla

ran out of a tree. All the animals

was fierce. The eliphnt was

sceard beacos it was not fierce

the family was sceard too.

Lori

Biff and Floppy went to

Africa. They campt in a

tent among the trees.

They hed a good time.

Kyran

Primary Two imagined what it would be like if Biff, Chip and Kipper went to a

rainforest or savannah. They wrote stories...

Last term P2/3’s topic was heat. We looked at Up Helly Aa and the Tar

Barrels. Volcanoes are always interesting. We looked at diagrams of how

volcanoes are formed. Here are some of

our stories and ICT work.

We made volcanoes. I loved making the

volcanoes. The best bit of all was

watching the volcanoes erupt. It worked

All the family were gowing

to a rainforest. They were

going to meet people in the

Congo. Biff saw a snake.

Biff was amazed. Floppy

saw a Butterfly he jest it.

Jolene

Dad and Mum were going too Africa. A snake with red eyes strangled Dad. Mum ran away. Scott

on a funny mixture of stuff. It was erupting hot burning lava. Eleanor.

My favourite hot thing was the fire festival. I saw a clip of the fire balls

at the fire festival at Stonehaven. Men were swinging fire balls around

their heads. Sparks of fire flew around the dark sky. By Ava

My favourite thing was burning the galley at the Brae Up Helly Aa. The

men carried around hot burning torches and they threw them into the

galley. The galley went on fire and it lit up the water. Annie

There are different animals that live in hot places. Red ants live in Corfu

and wasps can fly. I saw lizards under bins hiding from the sun, so they

don’t get burnt. Emma

I really like volcanos. Big volcano’s have rocks on the outside. These

volcanoes have lava inside. The lava is really hot. Willam P

I enjoyed making the volcanoes. We got a plastic bottle and a bit of

cardboard. Then we scrunched up newspaper and sellotaped it on. Next

we covered it in tin foil and we got some sellotape and wrapped it around

to hold the newspaper in place, so it stuck onto the cardboard. One of

the volcanoes exploded not very good. Then the next volcano was really

good because we added lots of vinegar and baking powder, we also added in

some glitter and food colouring. Our volcano was erupting cold lava but

real volcanoes have hot lava and if you touch it you may die! Isabelle

I like Up Helly Aa because the Vikings carry hot torches. They throw

blazing hot torches in to the galley. Simone

My favourite hot thing was fireworks. You need heat to light it. The

fireworks shoot up in to the sky and explode. Glittery colours flutter in

the dark sky. It’s beautiful to watch up in the sky. Kirsty

Lava is hot, very hot! The rocks melt and then it turns into lava. The

volcano erupts and lava bursts out. When the lava touches the outside of

the volcano it dries up and turns into rock. Callum

They are lots of people

watching the tar barrel.

They all have on warm

clothes because they are

having the tar barrel

early in the morning.

They are having lots of

fun and they look very

happy. Cara

They are bright fire in the tar barrel.

The men are holding flaming torches.

Their suits are reflecting in the fire.

Christopher

I like this photo because it looks all fiery.

All the fireworks are exploding with different colours.

The fireworks look like they are making a crackling sound. Grant

I like this because the fire looks like it

is jumping out of the barrel. Burning

sparks are going on the road. Lots of

men are wearing oil skins with

reflectors on them.

Krissie

The men are lighting the

wood with their torches.

The darkness is going because

the blazing red fire is

lighting up the dark black sky.

James

They are lots of sparks coming out of

the tar barrel. Lots of people with

reflectors are standing watching the tar

barrel. Jasmine

I like this because it looks fun.

The fireworks are exploding

and blazing in the air. They

leave sparkly trails in the dark

sky. Joe

Somebody is holding a fiery torch

ready to put on the fire. They are

lots of fire in the tar barrel. I

love the tar barrel. Katie

The sky is dark because it is early

in the morning. Three men are

pushing the Tar barrel. The fire

is lighting up the road. The fire

looks hot. Sparks are

everywhere. Lauren

The torches look very fiery

and hot. People are holding

the flaming torches. It looks

hot and cool. It is amazing.

They are going to light the

wood. Magnus

The people are smiling. They are wearing suits to keep them warm. It is early in the morning and it’s dark and cold. Nina

I love this photo because the fire is

blazing hot. Sparks is coming out of

the barrel. William

Someone dropped a fiery torch

on the ground! Their

reflecting suits are shining in

the dark and a peerie bit of

light. The tar barrel is

glowing like mad! There is a

peerie bairn standing next to

the barrel. They are wearing

suits because it is cold.

Rhiana

In our Language work P4/5/6 have been trying to add interest and detail to our

imaginary stories. Our focus this week was to include as much direct speech as

possible.

Getting into Trouble: The children were given six pictures each and once they were in order, had to write the story to match the pictures using some direct speech for each one. All of the children wrote far more than they would normally and there were a lot of good quality pieces of work. Mrs Emmett marked the work and she had to write lots of positive feedback. Brilliant effort by P4/5/6.

Getting into trouble

One beautiful morning at Harbison Park Billy and Sam were walking happily. They

were talking about their big game tomorrow.

“I can’t wait” said Billy excitedly.

“I know” said Sam.

Billy was playing happily but Sam tried to take the ball but Billy sliced Sam up.

“Aaaahhh” said Sam as she turned over on her ankle. It was a very bad tackle.

She fell over badly. Sam was mad. She got up ferociously. Sam said “Ohw. Why did

you do that?”

“It’s football,” said Billy angrily.

“This is all your fault. If it wasn’t for you I would not be hurt! And now it’s all broosed

thanks to you.” Sam said ferociously. And they leapt on each other madly.

“I don’t like you Sam,” said Billy ferociously.

“I don’t like you either,” said Sam angrily.

The coach saw them fighting madly. Billy pulled Sam’s hair aggressively and Sam pulled

Billy’s hair strongly.

“I’ve had enough of your fighting,” said the manager. “If I see you two fighting again

you will not be playing in the match.”

“Yes coach,” said Sam and Billy shyly.

Ellis

Getting into Trouble

One sunny day in the back garden the grass was growing green with the

sun. Rhea and Jon were in the garden. Rhea was a funny little girl. Jon

was cool, he went with the flow. Jon said, “Do you want to play football?”

“Yea sure,” Rhea nodded.

They started to play. Then Jon kicked the ball over the fence. So he went

to get it, they started to play again.

Rhea and Jon were enjoying themselves until Jon went for the ball but

Rhea had gone for it already. So Jon kicked Rhea in the leg. “OWW!”

shouted Rhea. “You don’t kick your best friend Jon!!” Rhea said madly.

Jon said “Sorry” sadly but Rhea took no apologies.

Jon kicked Rhea again but this time he meant it because he was mad

because Rhea took no apologies. Rhea ran and fell flat on her face.

“Here let me help you up,” said Jon ashamed of himself.

“NO!” yelled Rhea. “I have had enough of you. Go away.”

Rhea was very cross so she ran away. She said “I am never coming

back.”

Jon said, “I don’t care.” He really did.

She came running back and they started fighting.

Jon started pulling Rhea’s hair. So Rhea started pulling Jon’s hair.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” screamed Jon.

“OWW,” rumbled Rhea.

Then Rhea’s Dad, Bill came.

Bill gave Rhea and Jon big trouble so never fight or you will get in

trouble. Do you learn your lesson?

Amy

Getting into trouble

Russell and Sophie were walking on a lovely day. They went walking to the

Harbison Park to play football. Russell said “I hope we win today’s match.”

“Yeah that’s the same as me,” said Sophie. They were still walking to Harbison

Park. “This is taking a while,” they both said.

When they got to the big huge Harbison Park they went down to the pitch.

They suddenly tried to get the ball from each other. Russell said “give me the

ball.” He went in for a tackle and hurt her ankle. Sophie said “Ouch! What was

that for?” They started a fight trying to get the ball. Russell did the biggest tackle

ever!

Sophie started rolling all over the place.

“Give me the ball now!” she said.

They started rolling up the big Harbison Park. Then they got up and started

pushing each other around the place.

They furiously started arguing over the ball and calling each another silly

names like “you silly billy”.

Sophie said angrily “You really hurt me!” She glowered at Russell and they started

saying “it’s all your fault”.

They both reached for each another’s hair and began pulling it. And they

started arguing at the same time. They started nipping and lots of stuff like that.

Dad came over and said “stop it at once or you will both be banned

from football for 2 months!” So they both stopped it and had a good time.

Joe W

Whar duy you maak at?

Lisa - I maak at Granny’s ur aald Granny’s, duy help me if it’s an urgent

emergency, lik if aa my loops hav been slipped. I maak at styül trow my denner

brak on Monday. I dyen ti da History Group maakin on Saturay efternoons.

Catherine - At heem, at Granny’s, da styül un da History group.

Ellie - Mest o my maakin is dun in styül but I also duy a lok at Grannys.

Irena - I maak at heem, at Granny’s, on da ferry, at styül, at da History group un

sumtimes tak it ti my cousins ur aunties.

The group have been involved in filming a

programme for the BBC on lace knitting in

the Victorian Era. They have looked at

lace knitting and practised knitting the new

shale pattern. They also had a visit to the

wool brokers where Oliver Henry told the

group all about sheep fleeces and the

processes they go through before being

spun into yarn or made into mattresses,

quilts, pillows or carpets.

Following these experiences Mrs Pottinger interviewed Lisa Anderson, Catherine

Williamson, Irena Polson and Ellie Sandison to find out their thoughts.

JRSOs are a very important part of the primary school as they help

raise road safety awareness and promote road safety issues to

everyone in the school. We have a JRSO display board in the

Primary School which we make sure has up to date road safety

information on it. Photos can be viewed on the school website.

Why did you want ti start maakin?

L - I tocht it wid be sumtin different. Whan I wis up at Granny’s aa night, she wis

maakin un I wanted ti try it.

C - I saa different fok maakin un dat med me want ti duy it.

I - I saa mam maakin un windered whut she wis döin un toucht it wid be interestin.

I sat on her lap un she wid sha me how ti maak. Mam hed a big maakin basket un

I saa aa da colours un toucht it wis really cool.

E - I wis starin at Granny un axed her whut she wis haadin in her hands un she

sed it wis maakin wires. I liked aa da yarn colours un axed her if I cood start.

Whan did you start maakin?

L - I started ta maak at heem wi Granny, whan I got a maakin set, I wida been

aboot 6.

C - I wis 6 or 7 whan I wanted ti maak sumtin. I tink dat wis at heem wi Mam.

E - I started whan I wis 4 un I med wi Granny fae Saltness.

I - Whan I wis 3 I started ti maak wi Mam.

Why duy you want ti learn Fair Isle

maakin?

L- I want ti learn becis I huy family wha

maak Fair Isle. Its better ti learn whan

you’re young un dan you dunno huy ti

ax fok ti help you whan you’re aalder.

C - I want ti duy Fair Isle becis its mare

challengin un I want ti tyeep da

traditional maakin goin.

I - I had done it afore un I wanted ti

duy it at styül un be able ti maak wi

different colours un alang wi lots o

idder lasses. We nevir hed a chance ti

duy maakin in styül as da maakin

teacher had stopped un I wanted ti be

able ti maak in styül.

E- I hed med Fair Isle wi Granny afore

but I toucht it wid be a good change ti

duy it wi da idder lasses at styül.

Foo did you feel aboot bein filmed fur a BBC Learning programme?

C - I wis kinda shy da first day un wis unsure whut ti say becis I wis nevir been

properly filmed (idder as dad budderin you!) I wis axed ti dyeen to the History

group on da Sunday ti duy mare filming aboot da history o lace maakin in Whalsa.

I wis still shy but da mare Aidan axed I got mare used ti it un enjoyed mesel.

L - Da first day I didno huy a clue whit ti say un it didno help huyin fok sittin next ti

me gigglin. But whan we dyud doon ti da Wool Brokers on Monday I still didno

tyeen whit ti say but whan we wir maakin on wir lace in da shop I hed mare

confidence un didno feel as nervous.

I - I felt braley excited but whan I hed ti spek ti da camera mesel I didno lik it dat

much. I worried I mite mak a föl o mesel.

E - I felt scared and kinda nervous dat I mite duy sumtin weird on camera.

Whut wis your first impression o da wool brokers?

C - Whan duy took wis inta da shed; it wis foo o sheep fleeces. It wisno da best

smell but Oliver Henry tald wis a lot o da history o how da fleeces got sorted un

whut duy got used fur. Fok used ti weave da fleeces un med dem inta rugs.

L - Whan we dyud inta da shed it wisno whut I expected un it didno smell da best.

C - I expected ti see a peerie room, foo o yarn wi fok spinnin it.

L - I expected a class size room wi wan ur twa waas foo o wool un I didno expect a

shed foo o sheep fleeces. Dan I tocht duy wid hav a peerie door un you wid go inta

annider room un see how duy span da oo un you wid dyet a shot o spinnin.

E - I tocht it wis goin ti look different but whan I got in I wis very surprised. I wis

surprised becis I toucht it wid look really cosy but it wis actually pretty cowld. I

didno lik foo da Americans wis copyin da Wool Brokers name un motto un saying it

wis 100% Shetland wool whan it wisno. I liked da hoose cushions Ella Gordon had

med un I liked aa da different colours o yarn in da shop.

I - I expected it ti be fine un lovely but da place smelt o sheeps oo. It wis cowld

becis duy hed ti tyeep da room cowld becis da oo wid have dried oot in da het un

duy needed ti tyeep it alive. I liked goin doon ti whar duy kept da beds un whar we

learned aboot da prison. A peerie room doon stairs wis da first prison cell in

Shetand. Da shop wis warm un hed a heater, it didno smell un aa da knitted

shawls un dresses wir on display. We learned aboot clees med fae Shetland wool

which hed been ta London fashion Week.

Did you enjoy da filming un learnin aboot Shetland lace maakin un oo?

L - It wis a different experience; it wis different fae da fishing topic we did at styül.

I did enjoy it; I tyent aboot da fleeces but didno tyeen aa da processes it hed ti

go trow afore it wis spun inta yarn. I didno realise duy wir suy mony different

colours o Shetland oo dat cam fae Shetland sheep.

C - Definitely. I enjoyed a lok o things, I really enjoyed doonstairs i da Wool

Brokers. We saa Shetland wool carpets, door mats, a mattress, quilts un pillows

stuffed wi Shetland oo. I liked seein da shop becis I’m nivir been in it afore. It

wis a lok prettier dan I tocht.

I - Yes. Learnin aboot aa da oo wis very interestin, I realised I didno tyeen

onything aboot lace maakin un also Shetland wool.

E - I loved it becis I learned loks o new stuff but there is wan thing I did tyeen un

dat wis dat oo cam fae sheep!

The Whalsay School and Parent Council held its annual Winter Warmer music and games night in the Primary

Department on Valentines Night. Over 130 tickets were sold and the packed audience was entertained by individual

and duet pianists, fiddlers and accordion players,

showcasing the musical talents of our pupils and

underlining the hard work of our music instructors

and teacher. Kari Williamson and Chloe Irvine

bravely sang solo songs and the P7 Play: the Curse of

the Baskervilles along with the P4/5/6 Rap were

popular additions to the evening’s entertainment.

With Bingo, home bakes, refreshments and a raffle,

it was a busy night, impressively compered by the

Ant and Dec of the Whalsay School, Robbie Eunson

and Brendan Mair. As Brendan later commented

“the event has given me a lot more confidence to

speak in front of people.” Huge thanks go to our

pupils, staff, parents and the community more

generally who supported our Winter Warmer, which

took in over £800 for the Whalsay Parent Council

funds.

P7 pupils entertain the audience with their version of The Curse of the Baskervilles.

A full list of pupil performances is as follows:

P7 Play “The Curse of the Baskervilles”

P4/5/6 Rap

Piano Soloists:

Clive – Fugue or Chatanooga Choo Choo

Lisa – Bells are Ringing

Ross – O’Reilley’s Whistle

Amber Eunson – Wilder Reiter

Karis – Valentine’s Greeting

Piano Duets:

Lisa and Ross – Donkey Ride

Scott and Ross – Radetzsky’s March

Cally and Conner – Irish Washerwoman

Amber Eunson and Clive – Canary Walk

Emma and Karis – Stepping Stones

Magnus and Davy – I’m a Pop Fan

Duane and Ellis – Big Ben

Amber Paton and Mairi – Frere Jacques

Individual Singer: Chloe Irvine

Individual Singer: Kari Williamson

Fiddlers:

Primary: Emily Johnson, Lianne Jamieson, Catherine Williamson and Theo Polson

Secondary: Peter Kay

Mandolin:

Secondary: Rhona Polson

Accordion Players:

Arthur Poleson – Princess Accordion

Brendan Mair – Bonnie Lass of Fyvie

Robbie Eunson – Cuckoo Waltz

Mark Johnson – Sporty Boys

Scott Johnson – The Headland

Gardening Club Update

We are doing great in the gardening club.

We have got somewhere to plant flowers and vegetables. We would like to grow food for the

canteen to include in our dinners for everybody to eat and be healthier than ever.

Some bad things have happened because we bought gloves but they are sadly a bit too peerie.

The younger classes will be able to wear them when they help us out.

We all love it in the gardening club. We have been really busy digging over our patch and

designing how we want the patch to look. We’ve got a busy time ahead of us!

By Ewen and Duane

SUMDOG

There is a website called Sumdog, where the children get to try out games involving number

work. There was a contest launched on the 8th of March inviting Shetland schools to take

part. Each child was allowed to answer 1,000 questions and here are the results below.

Shetland Islands contest - 8 Mar to 14 Mar

This contest has now finished. Congratulations to all those who took part!

5 Schools played

176 Students played

74,461 Questions answered

64,640 Correct answers

Top 10 schools

Overall school scores are the average number of correct answers out of the students in the school. At least 15 students from the school must have played in order to get an average score.

Position School name Score

1st Whalsay School 875

2nd Dunrossness 382

3rd Scalloway Primary School 360

4th Mid Yell Junior High School 240

5th Tingwall Primary 208

Top 10 students

Top 10 students based on the number of questions answered correctly in the contest so far.

Position Name School name Score

1st Duncan B Dunrossness 996

2nd Connor E Dunrossness 941

3rd Sarah A Dunrossness 933

4th Stuart E Dunrossness 926

5th Ryan I Whalsay School 915

6th Angus I Whalsay School 908

7th Anya W Whalsay School 902

8th Jenny S Whalsay School 900

9th Jodie S Dunrossness 896

10th Brendan M Whalsay School 893

As you can see, we have students in the 5th, 6th, 7th 8th and 10th place within the whole of Shetland. We also were the winning school overall.

Its life but not as we know it!

This term Mrs. Stevenson P6/7 teacher and Mrs Hull from the secondary science department have

been working together on “Our Solar System” and “Are We Alone?”. Pupils have used their knowledge

of the Solar System (and beyond) together with the basic needs of living things to produce a

reasoned argument on the likelihood of life existing elsewhere in the Universe. They have worked in

groups and each group member chose a specific role; biologist; UFO spotter; astronomy expert and a

reporter who collated the evidence for the presentation of the groups’ argument for or against the

existence of alien life.

Here are some comments from all our researchers:

I am the astronomy expert because I like space and it is very interesting to research. I haven’t had a

chance to go on the laptops so I have to look in books which is just as fun.

I liked being the UFO spotter. I had a look at the area 51 sightings and FBI sightings, and a lot of

them looks fake.

I am doing well as biology expert, I am finding some good facts that could help with our

argument about life on other planets. I have found out that everything needs water, air, food

and finally oxygen.

As biology expert I thought my roll was half hard half easy because I had to find out five basic

needs.

Was it an easy role? Astronomy expert?. No, I thought it was hard because I had to find out about life on other planets.

We have included photos of aliens designed by our pupils, truly life but not as we know it!

At a recent Primary assembly the achievements and hard work of the pupils were celebrated. The

Primary teachers selected pieces of work that they felt had been completed well and which met

the given targets.

From Primary 1/2 Greig Williamson and Jolene

Anderson had both written fantastic stories on

volcanoes. Greig told the assembly about his

picture and Jolene very confidently read her story

to the rest of the pupils. She told the assembly

that she had learned about commas in her

reading and had used them in her story.

Katie Sandison from Primary 3 was congratulated

for a piece of work on the tar barrel that she had

completed in ICT with Mrs Stevenson. She

inserted a picture into a Word document, changed the font, colour and size of her text and inserted

a border. Katie has been supporting her peers in ICT as well.

In P6/7 Ian Poleson has been working hard in maths on their fractions, decimals and percentages

topic. He told the assembly that they were learning to multiple and divide decimal numbers by 10,

100 and 1000. Although maths isn’t Ian’s favourite subject, he managed to focus to get all 78

questions correct!

Mrs Stevenson has introduced ‘Comic Life’ to the upper stages pupils and it is proving to be very

popular. Ewen Sutherland was praised for his imaginative comic strip on the ‘Adventures of

Jaffaman’ which is still work in progress. Ewen has worked hard searching the Internet for

suitable images to use. He said that he chose to base his comic on Jaffa Cakes as they are one

of his favourite biscuits.

All pupils received a copy of their work and a ‘praise pad’ to take home and share with their

parents. Their work has also been displayed on the achievements board in the Primary. Before

the end of term, there will be another achievements assembly and the opportunity for more pupils

to share their work with the school- keep up the great work!

Christmas Success

We were entertained by our primary pupils at their Christmas Concert’s on

Thursday 13th and Friday 14th December; there was a great range of performances

from primary classes and individual pupils with group and solo musical acts,

along with some comedy sketches, impressively narrated by Robbie Eunson and

Brendan Mair in P7. Thanks to all the pupils and staff for their hard work at the

concerts and in the build-up.

We were also able to raise £1881.00 for Parent Council funds through ticket sales and the raffle

Nursery Performance:

Our Nursery pupils admirably performed the “This is the Star” nativity on Monday 17th December morning.

Secondary Party:

Our Secondary Christmas Party took place on Monday evening with a Hillbilly theme. Our S4 pupils, with

the support of their ASDAN teachers, organised the event with games, food and dancing.

Christmas Dinner:

On Wednesday pupils and staff thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas lunch together.

Christmas Cards and Calendar

The Christmas Card Delivery scheme has also been a huge success with a record number of cards delivered

and funds raised for the 2013 School Trip to London and Alton towers. Pupils and staff going on this trip

have also put together a School Calendar, which has been very well received from within the community

and further afield.

My Hand Washing Experience.

Today I put special cream on my hands and looked at them under an Ultra Violet Light. This light reacted with the

cream and showed up how much cream was on my hands.

I had to wash my hands and check with the machine how much cream I had managed to get off.

Here is my experience......

The machine was bigger than I expected. I thought that the ultra violet light was really cool. I was actually excited to

use the machine.

There was this weird cream called glitter bug cream and Mrs Stevenson squirted a dollop on my hands. I rubbed it in

till you could not see any cream left. After Mrs Stevenson had turned on the machine I put my hands in. The cream

on my hands reacted with the ultra violet light and glowed dark blue. The cream was supposed to represent the

germs on my hands, and I was amazed at how much dark blue there was on my hands. Next Mrs Stevenson told me

to wash my hands, and it was harder than I thought. I turned on the hot tap and squirted some soap on my hands, I

got under my finger nails, scrubbed my knuckles rubbed my palms together. And when I put my hands under the

machine I was absolutely astounded, there was still loads of dark blue on my hands. So I went and washed my hands

again, I got under my finger nails, scrubbed my knuckles and rubbed my palms together. I washed my hands for

about two minutes till I finally thought it was enough. So I went and put my hands in the machine again and still

there was some dark blue on my hands. From this experience I have learned that germs are hard to get rid of. Ian

Poleson

Recently some of our pupils have been working hard to sit

their music grade exams. Chloe, Amber and Ross passed piano

grades and Peter, Caitlin, Jenny and Lianne passed their fiddle

grades. Mr Calder handed out their certificates at a recent

assembly. We would like to congratulate them on their passes.

A P7 pupil’s illustration of

keeping warm was

included in the 2013

Health Improvement

Calendar for November

Both Secondary and Primary pupils have competed in various inter-house sporting events

this term. Secondary took part in badminton and Primary pupils took part in swimming and

uni-hoc. The points to date are:

Tirrick- 63 points Maalie- 54 points Shalder- 72 points

Well done to the captains for organising their teams and good luck for the final events next

term!

Primary Pod Casting: Three of our P6 Pupils set the

P4-5-6 class a series of Maths challenges to do over a

couple of weeks on learning pods. The pupils really

enjoyed solving the Maths problems.

By Laura Polson, Anya Hutchison and

Caroline Irvine.

R.E.

The Buddha

By

Rhona Polson

Maths Challenges

2012

Whalsay School pupils have once again done very well in the UKMT Junior and

Intermediate maths challenges this year, run by the University of Leeds.

Congratulations to all of our pupils who took part.

Pupils are required to answer problems of increasing difficulty, and the top 40% in the country receive either gold, silver or bronze certificates.

Vocational Pathways Taster Day

Construction Craft

On the 26th of February, I went to a Construction Craft Taster Day at

Shetland College.

We did various things on the taster day, like wiring a socket, driving a

digger, etc; we had dinner at the college canteen, since it was a taster

day, they let us have it for free.

Overall I had fun at the taster day, and I would go again.

Ronnie Simpson

Intermediate Maths Challenge Certificate Winners (S3-S4) Junior Maths Challenge Certificate Winners (S1-S2)

What’s happening in ASDAN?

S2 have shared some of their experiences:

In ASDAN we worked in small groups and prepared a meal for

the class, Mrs Wilson and Mr Bard.

We went to the shop to look at foods from around the world

and the prices.

Anna, Bobby and Maria made a chicken korma with garlic

bread and poppadoms with dips.

Amber and Arthur made chicken and bacon noodle soup.

The class liked the dishes we prepared for them.

The other half of the class made fancies then sold them at

break time for 4 weeks they made roughly £100 but have not

decided what do with the money.

Anna

We were split up into two groups in ASDAN for two

separate tasks, we chose to bake things to sell at

break time. We made roughly £100.00 and are still

deciding what to do with the money. We enjoyed it a

lot.

Ian and Robbie

We are doing a fitness course in ASDAN at the moment we have done bleep test to see how

fit we are, I didn’t like doing the bleep test but everything else has been good.

In ASDAN now, we are doing exercise, the first week; we did a beep test to see how far we

could run and if we could pace ourselves well. Some of the people who didn’t take part kept

the score and saw who ran the furthest.

In ASDAN we also surveyed foods around the world and then we made a curry at home for a

few guests.

We looked at natural disasters and made a PowerPoint on a recent natural disaster, it was

very interesting and I found out a lot more facts.

Bobby and Maria

Visit to Anderson High School and Hostel

On Thursday 28 February, our class visited the AHS and hostel. The day started with us

being shown around the hostel; the canteen, gym, recreation rooms, and the room where

we would be sleeping. Then we went down to the history and library part of the hostel, we

got showed old photos of previous residents, all the way back to when our parents were at

the hostel.

After this we went to the Anderson, got shown around some classes then had lunch. In the

afternoon we went to a careers convention

which had lots of different representatives

explaining career options and providing

information.

I went with Maria to the Shetland College

table and asked about social/care work. We

talked to a woman who was the head of Care

and Social Work. This gave us lots of useful

information, including the training that they

can provide.

It isn’t long until we will be at the AHS and staying in the hostel. I think my main worry is

getting lost and I was surprised to find out that there will be about 200 people in my class in

5th year compared to only 17 pupils in S4 at Whalsay. I am looking forward to sharing a

room with Maria. I’ve shared a room with my sister Audrey at home for the whole of my

life, so it will be a bit different sharing with someone else.

Alison Irvine S4

On our visit to the Anderson on 28 February, we first had a look in the

Hostel and they showed us around the rooms and the recreation rooms. I

thought the hostel looks good, and am looking forward to staying there.

They then showed us around the Anderson High School. We saw some of

the classrooms such as history, art, English and music. We also went to

see where you can get lunch, next to the main hall.

We had a chippy for lunch, from the street, before returning to the AHS

for a careers convention. I talked to the head of care at the Shetland

College to get information on apprenticeships for when I leave school at

the end of 6th year. She told me that I could chose where my placement

could be and they can provide training to get the proper qualifications.

I’m looking forward to having the

opportunity to stay away from home. I’m

also looking forward to sharing a room

with Alison in the Hostel.

I was surprised to find that it actually

isn’t that hard to find where your classes

are because all you have to do is know

what block it’s on and the number on the

class door. I am looking forward to

starting at the AHS.

Maria

On the 28th of February 2013 all the S4 pupils from Whalsay went to the Anderson High School

and Janet Courtney Hostel. A highlight for me was getting shown around the Hostel as we got to

see where we may be staying and it seemed like it would be a good place to live through the week

as it has many rooms to socialise and keep your-self entertained.

After being shown around the hostel we had a tour of the Anderson. I wasn’t surprised by the size

of the Anderson. What did surprise me was the amount of people who flood into the corridors

when the bell goes; they told us that at the current moment there are more than 900 pupils in the

whole school.

Later in the afternoon we went to a careers convention

where there were many organisations giving out

information on how we could get in to certain careers. Most

of the stalls were about apprenticeships.

I am mostly looking forward to the hostel, as it will be good

to stay with my friends. Peter Kay, S4

This week in S.E. we have learned about THINK U KNOW and CEOP (Child

Exploitation & Online Protection centre). THINK U KNOW is a website that

contains information about how to prevent cyber bulling or abuse.

We watched a presentation about ‘THINK U KNOW’ and it shows you how to

keep safe on the internet.

There was a couple of films of young people being targeted through the

internet and abused or told to do something they don’t want to do. One was about a boy who thought it

was a girl he was talking to and they arranged to meet up but it was a man who had pretended to be a girl

online, and then he abused the young boy. Another was about a boy who knew a girl and where she lives

and goes to school and forces her to take pictures of herself if she didn’t do what he said he would put

them online and show her friends. She didn’t know what to do and then she remembered a website from

school called ‘Thinkuknow’ and she reported him and he got arrested.

The presentation gave lots of information about what was safe to have in your online profiles and photos.

All you have to do is not meet up with anyone you don’t know unless you take your Mum or Dad with you

and to report any abuse, go on the website THINK U KNOW and click the sign to report

The website has lots of information for Parents and carers too.

www.thinkuknow.co.uk

William and Scott S1

A numeracy working group has been

established in the school which aims to build on existing good practice in

nursery, primary and secondary. The group is currently developing a

numeracy

resource for

staff and

parents,

full details

will be

provided in

the summer

term.

School News

School Motto

At the moment the school is trying to come up with a motto that sums up what the school is about and what we are

inspiring to, and to give us a common goal, the motto would sit underneath our school logo

We have been speaking to pupils, staff and parents at our Information Evening about this

Ideas for a motto, slogan, key statement emerging from consultation so far:

- Educating today for a better tomorrow

- Respect for yourself, respect for others, respect for learning

- Hand in hand we all learn

- Dare to be excellent

- Providing opportunities for all our pupils to achieve

- Providing a learning environment for all our pupils to achieve

- Together everyone achieves

- Respecting us all as individuals

- Learn to live, live to learn

- Working together for the bonny isle

- Proud to educate the bonny isle

- TANGU- Try Again Never Give Up

E-mail the school with your ideas: whalsay@shetland.gov.uk

Following on from the Parents Information Evening in January, the information below clarifies where we are at in relation to the Refresh of the Blueprint Report, which is current SIC Council Policy for delivering education between 2012 and 2017, and also the savings that must be found from the Children’s Services Directorate and the Schools Service within the Directorate, during the next financial year.

A series of reviews are taking place into all aspects of the schools service, refer to below, tasked with contributing to the overall level of savings. As the outcomes of the reviews become public, we will gain a stronger understanding of the implications for our school.