Mrs Hamilton:

My book recommendation would be The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  The book is narrated by death and tells us the story of Liesel a girl growing up in Nazi Germany during World War 2.  Liesel is sent to live with a foster family after the death of her brother to avoid persecution.  Liesel’s foster father teaches her to read and she develops a passion for books; Liesel begins stealing books to pursue her passion.  The story explores the relationship between Liesel and her foster parents, the relationship between her and her best friend Rudi and Max – a Jewish man that they are hiding in their basement.  This books leads you to explore the power of words, friendship, love and loyalty.  I challenge you not to need a tissue when reading this story!!

Mr Healy:

I’m currently reading ‘Habits that make a champion’ by Allistair McCaw. I’m reading this book for enjoyment but also for personal development. The book is divided into 50 easy to read 5 minute chapters. I normally try to read two chapters a day in the evening time. The book is written by a sports coach who has worked with many of the world’s best tennis players, footballers, golfers etc. It gives an insight into how they plan and prepare for big moments and big events. It also gives strategies on how to deal with setbacks and moments where things don’t go your way. Really interesting read and the third book of Allistair’s that I have read.

Miss Holzheimer:

I’m currently reading In the Company Of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith. It’s the 6th book in his No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series. When I bought the first book in October, the lady in the Shetland Times Bookshop said it’s her favourite and I would love it and so far she’s right! I’m totally hooked and I’ve even ditched knitting on the ferry because I want to keep reading to find out what happens next; the characters are really likeable and I feel like I know them really well now. As the name suggests, the books are about 2 ladies doing detective work in Botswana and there have been quite a few twists in the story that I have not seen coming. Some pupils have been wondering why I’ve been smiling while I was reading my book during library period and that’s because they’re also super funny. There are 25 books in the series and I really look forward to reading the rest of them!

Ms Wilson:

The Wonderland Series

I read A LOT for enjoyment and would be lost if I didn’t have a good book on the go. I am currently reading the fifth (and final) book in the Wonderland series by Irina Shapiro. I came across the series when the first book (The Passage) popped up on my Amazon recommendations. The books are ‘time slip’ novels and the story of Neve and Hugo shifts between the 17^th and 21^{st centuries}.  A perfect mix of history and drama!

The Passage (book 1):

In the first book the main character, Neve Ashley, visits historic Everly Manor. Touring the elegant Tudor mansion, she’s intrigued by the local legend of Lord Hugo Everly, who vanished without a trace over three hundred years ago. Neve thinks nothing more of the story until, exploring the ancient church crypt, she discovers a mysterious passageway. Stone steps climb up to a heavy wooden door. Hesitantly, she pushes it open…Suddenly, Neve is in 1685 and directly in the path of Hugo’s galloping horse……

I was instantly gripped by the storyline and characters and have read the first four books in the space of a couple of weeks. I would need to turn off my light earlier at night but then I think “just one more chapter”.

Comes the Dawn (book 5):

This book started in the 17^th century; Hugo had been imprisoned for treason and Neve accused of witchcraft! Although I only started the book the other day I find it hard to put down as the characters’ fight for survival will alter not only their own future but THE future too! I am currently half way through the book and Neve and Hugo have escaped to the 21^st century. What will the result be? I can’t wait to find out what happens but I don’t want this series to end either L

Mrs Carr:

I am reading The Lion above the Door by Onjali Q Raúf. It is about two friends who are looking forward to a class trip to the RAF Museum and Rochester Cathedral as they have been studying WWII. Although the friends know that they are the only ones in the class that don’t have a personal connection to anyone who fought in WWII, they are excited about seeing the planes and buying sweets! A surprise discovery that a war hero has the same name as Leo Kai Lim sets him off on an exciting adventure to discover his own heritage. A wonderful learning experience no doubt and a chance to share in the richness of other cultures and their significance to history that is all often told from a western white male perspective. I chose to get this children’s’ book to read as it was mentioned on a course I attended looking at how to decolonise the curriculum and antiracist education.

In English we have been learning about Shetland dialect.  The Picts and the Vikings were the first people that lived in Shetland. Some Viking words still exist in Shetland dialect today. Then Shetland became part of Scotland in 1469 and the language changed even more.

We learned about Shetland names and families, then we compared Shetland dialect and English and we also learned a secret language, the International Phonetic Alphabet.

At the end of the unit, everybody has chosen a topic and is making posters. Harry Bruce and Henry are doing pelagic boats, Sandy and John James are doing Shetland recipes, Kristopher and Sam are doing the Serene and the Antares, Lola and Geordie are doing family trees, Una is doing Shetland recipes, Alyshia and Mollie are doing family trees and Morgan and Bella are doing animals.

By Sam and Kristopher

S3 Graphic Communication pupils have been learning about, using and comparing: 2D computer aided drawing, 2D manual drawing and 3D computer aided drawing techniques.

The pictures show some of the 3D CAD models they have created and rendered. CAD features used include: line, circle, extrude, revolve, fillet, decal, mate, align, centre axis, material, lighting, shadows and reflections.

S1 have used thinking and sketching skills to create keytabs that are designed to be easy to recognise and suitable for their chosen user. They have learned about safety in the workshop and tools for working with plastic, and have used this knowledge and practical skills to make their keytabs. We have also been working on listening and decision making skills alongside working with determination and paying attention to detail.

The Whalsay Secondary School maakers joined in with the Wool Week Celebrations in the Symbister Hall last Friday.  Knitters from all over the world attended the hall to see the beautiful display of local knitwear and quite a few stopped for a chat with the girls.   We were treated to cups of tea with brilliant homebakes and a great time was had by all.

European Day of Languages

To celebrate European Day of Languages last week, S2 and S3 spent some time in class to research a few of the more than 225 languages that are spoken on our continent. Some of these languages are spoken by millions of people, others are used only by a handful and are sadly close to dying out.

Everybody in Secondary 2 and 3 got to choose a language and then found out facts about it, for example how many native speakers there are, in what countries the language is spoken and they also learnt how to say a few things like “Hello/How are you?/Thank you” in their language. The pupils created a poster about their language to display and share what they had found out with the rest of the school. Some pupils chose languages like Georgian and Greek and were shocked when they realised that those languages don’t use our Latin alphabet, so making their poster was surprisingly hard. Others noticed that some languages like Spanish and Italian are closely related to French, which we learn in class, so they could understand a lot more than they thought.

Here are a few photos and a video of a few S2 pupils saying “Hello. How are you?” in the languages they researched. Can you guess the languages they’re using? Thank you to Brooke in S3 for putting the video together.

On Wednesday 18^th September S1 visited the Croft House and Shetland Museums. This gave them a brilliant opportunity to see what Shetland life would have been like in the Nineteenth Century.

We started our day by visiting the croft house museum; where the bairns got a chance to see inside the house, hear about the history of the building, find out more about Shetland history in general and to ask the curator their questions. Due to the super weather, we also got a chance to walk down to the mill.

Following our visit to Dunrossness we then travelled up to Lerwick to visit the Shetland Museum. Ailsih Goodlad gave a very interesting talk to the class and the bairns got the chance to handle the items from the resource boxes. This proved very popular, as they were able to try out a kishie, try on a Skekler’s hat etc.

We then had a look at the Croft House reconstruction, the crofting and fishing displays and the sixareen in the boat hall. On the way back out to the bus we also had a quick look at the sixareens in Hays dock.

We all had a fantastic day and the bairns were a credit to the school. Well done S1 J

Sumdog is a games-based adaptive-learning app that tailors curriculum-aligned questions to each child’s unique level and is widely used by learners in different phases of Whalsay School.

Students from P4 through to S2 have been taking on their counterparts across different schools in Scotland and have achieved some very impressive feats. Of the 4,279 classes who took part, our classes finished in the following positions:

P4/5/6 – 285th place (278 points)

P6/7 – 58th place (468 points)

S1 – 51st place (493 points)

S2 – 48th place (500 points)

My thanks to the supporting teachers and congratulations to the students for working so hard to develop their mental mathematics skills

S2 students had a really great trip to Cunningsburgh last week in glorious September Shetland sunshine! Students worked in pairs and in teams as they learned some hugely important techniques and strategies on how to enter the water safely. Activities for the day included a mixture of hiking, climbing, swimming and entries to the water from different heights and angles. The students were hugely supportive of one another and helped each other out at various points across the course. Each student pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and fully embraced the experience. The behaviour and resilience of Whalsay School students was commended by the activity leaders and we look forward to embracing further opportunities for learning with the Outdoor Education team.