Monday

Upon arrival, we had a quick lunch at the hostel flat then headed to Clickimin pool for our first swimming lesson. Afterwards (following a well-earned snack of course), we walked to Bolts to collect the minibus then had a fun time playing at Hayfield Park before nipping to Tesco to stock up on more snacks and goodies for the week ahead.

It was so lovely to sit with Freyja and Grace at dinnertime and catch up.  As this was our only decent day of weather, we decided to visit Meal Beach in the early evening for some fresh air and fun. It didn’t take long for socks and shoes to come off for a chilly paddle in the sea!  Back at the flat, we ate a healthy supper of fruit before bed.

Tuesday

As forecasted, the weather was horrendous but luckily all activities today were indoors!  The rain was so heavy we even used the mini-bus to get to the pool (just around the corner) for our lesson!  Our next stop was UHI for some STEM activities.  We explored the senses box – everyone loved the upside-down glasses! We did some coding with Botley, the programmable toy, and had a turn using the VR headset!  We were also given a tour of the building to learn about different careers studied like nursing, teaching, construction, art, textile, hairdressing and cookery!

Our final activity for the day was a trip to the dentist!  On our previous trip in May, we visited Montfield for Child Smile classes and for the dental nurses to apply fluoride varnish.  This time, we had full examinations, and the dentist was delighted to report that everyone has healthy teeth, and they are all brushing thoroughly.  Harris had a couple of x-rays in the practice then we went to Gilbert Bain for Luca to have a proper x-ray to check on a tooth yet to appear.  Freyja joined us after dinner for a trip to Magnos for ice-cream (some of us were defeated by two scoops as they were colossal).  Back at the flat, we watched a movie.

Wednesday

We had a relaxing start to the day with a visit to the library – it was very peaceful! Afterwards, we visited Scalloway Museum.  The children spent most of their time in the children’s area, playing with the castle and Viking toys.  Outside, Heidi met Heidi the Shetland pony!

After lunch we spent the afternoon at Hamnavoe Primary (Harris and Heidi’s new school after October).  Mrs Robertson, the head teacher, met us in the playground and showed us around and introduced us to the pupils. They have climbing frames, a tree garden, some hens and new swings. The children played until the end of lunchbreak then Heidi and Ander joined the P1/2 class, and Harris and Luca joined the P5/6 class.  Afterwards, we went to Harry’s toy shop to spend our pocket money then in the evening, Freyja, Luca and Harris went to the pool for ‘free’ swim. Heidi and Ander watched a movie and relaxed at the flat.

Thursday

The children spent the morning at Hamnavoe Primary and joined the literacy and maths lessons followed by break. Then it was back to the flat for lunch before our final swimming lesson.  As the flights were cancelled, we had a relaxing evening before heading home on Friday morning.  It was a fantastic school trip all round with happy, tired children (and adults)! I am really going to miss school trips – it is one of my favourite things about this job!