As you may know (or may not know if you are new to our blogs), one important element of life at Fair Isle Primary School are our trips to mainland Shetland. These are hugely important to us for a whole range of reasons: the children gain familiarity with the halls of residence where they will eventually stay when they move from primary to secondary, the trips give us chance to take part in all those exciting activities that we do not have access to here in Fair Isle and we now (through our wonderful shared headship with Sandwick) have the chance to go and spend time in bigger classes with more peers of our own age.

So, put the kettle on, sit back and read all about the Spring trip we embarked on this week. We warn you, there are thirty photos and lots to read about but (given we had to rearrange it three times due to the weather) it was definitely worth the wait.

Day One – Wednesday
After keeping our eyes on flight radar, it was time to head to the airfield, wave goodbye to our parents and leave Fair Isle behind us. Touching down at Tingwall after an exceptionally bumpy flight, we collected our hire car and dropped our suitcases off at the halls of residence. We then wandered into Lerwick for some retail therapy. This included exchanging our World Book Day tokens at the bookshop, spending our pocket money at Harry’s Deparment Store and even being offered some free samples at Island Larder. There was time for a trip to one of Lerwick’s fabulous playparks where a P6 pal met us too. On the way back to the hostel, we stopped at the Clickimin running track for a 400m dash, earning our macaroni cheese that evening at the halls of residence. In the evening, we headed out to beautiful Hamnavoe for a playdate with our friends who used to live in Fair Isle. Those friendships are super important to us and we had a great time (thank you to Gillian and Tom for allowing us to invade you for the evening).

Day Two – Thursday
We were up and raring to go on the Thursday morning! This was going to be a busy day. After breakfast, we were kindly given a tour of the Anderson High School by deputy headteacher Mrs Jamieson. Again, gaining familiarity with our surroundings when we eventually make the step up to High School is invaluable to us. Also invaluable to all of us are our swimming lessons and that was where we headed next. A whole hour in the pool with different instructors meant we certainly earned those baguettes that the Halls of Residence supplied us with. We munched on them after driving out to Aith, on the west side of the mainland for a lesson at the climbing wall. Our instructor, Andy, was fantastic and made sure we tackled some hard climbs. Even Hollie and Jonathan made it all the way to the top after being challenged by our speedy gladiators. It was then time for a well-deserved hot chocolate in The Dowry with our Headteacher, Christie, who came to meet us from Sandwick. The marshmallows went down a treat. After a delicious evening meal of fish and chips and pizza at the Halls of Residence, we wandered around Clickimin Loch and Broch with two past pupils from Fair Isle who always take the time to come and see us when we venture out and it was lovely to see the children of Fair Isle (across the ages) reunited together.

Day Three – Friday
This was our day to head to Sandwick Junior High School. Bacon rolls awaited us for breakfast before we jumped, once more, into the hire car. Our Headteacher Christie was there to warmly welcome us all and take us to our classes. It was so fantastic to see our children, from P1 to P6, spending time mixing, mingling and learning with peers of their own ages and many more friendships were made and strengthened throughout the day. A big thank you to the teachers for having us in your classes. It is so lovely to see the shared school model in action in this way and we left full of smiles. Then, it was simply a case of back to Tingwall airport and a beautiful flight back to Fair Isle on the late afternoon flight where our parents were waiting for us.

And breathe! There are so many people to thank for making the trip so fun. Jonathan and Hollie want to praise all three of the children, especially our youngest P1 who spent all that time away from home with us – looked after by our two older children who are not only increasingly familiar with trips but also nurturing and caring as well. The Halls of Residence staff and kitchen for making our stay so comfortable and feeding us scrumptious food. Amy, our clerical “back at base” for helping Jonathan with all the bookings, flights and car hires. Talking of flights, the staff and pilots at Tingwall airport deserve a huge high five for being flexible and getting us out and back safely. Bring on the summer trip with further adventures to come!