Plant Sale in the Polytunnel

Tomorrow, Friday 6th June, we’ll be offering our first plants grown in the polytunnel for a peerie donation to our gardening fund. We’ll be in the polytunnel between 1 – 2:15 pm and would be delighted if you came for a look around. We’ve got the following plants, both flowers and veg, in peerie pots to take away and grow on at home:

  • lupins
  • parsley
  • cucumber
  • dill
  • nasturtiums
  • marigolds/calendula
  • savoy cabbage
  • Brussel sprouts
  • zinnia
  • morning glory (a blue climbing flower)
  • hollyhock.

We also have a huge rosemary bush and would be happy to cut off bits for you to take home. Rosemary is delicious on focaccia!

We can advise you on where to grow your plants and how to look after them.

Here are some photos of the plants we have available:

 

S2 fish and wool Trip

The final topic covered in HE for S2/the new S3 was fishing and agriculture. In class they learned the different species around Shetland and about the seafood sector as well as looking at wool and the Shetland dairy for agriculture. They looked at the huge range of jobs available in each sector and the personal qualities required to be successful in these careers.

On Monday they had a visit to the fish market, Pelagia and the Wool broker in Lerwick organised with support from our work experience organiser Emily Von Tonder who also arranged funding for the transport. It was a great opportunity for the pupils to see the importance of fishing and wool to the local economy and learn about their recognition and impact worldwide.

Our first stop was the fish market, Norma Anderson explained the dutch auction to us and how the fish was auctioned around the world. The bairns could watch the auction take place through the window and on a screen. Norma also spoke through the timeline of fish being caught and brought to market. Miranda took the bairns through to the market to see how fish was landed and with plenty of landings in, they saw a range o species including monkfish, haddock, cod, lemon sole, halibut as well as different sizes.

It was interesting to hear about the different jobs in the market, the competition between boats and buyers and the importance of working hard and having pride in your work to build up a good reputation for your boat.

Next was a whistle stop tour of Pelagia, with herring and mackerel being out of season it was a good chance to have a look around the empty factory and machinery used to process fish. Three of the four adults accompanying the trip were former fish factory workers and were surprised at the changes inside factories and the increase of machinery and technology over the years.

We had a quick look in the -20 cold store before going outside to see where the fish is pumped ashore, see and hear about the factory in Bressay as well as future expansion works.

We had time to walk around the piers and look at the different boats berthed at the piers before having lunch back at the fish market in the auction room. Norma kindly provided the bairns crisps and a twix and pupils enjoyed having their own mock auctions, you never know, some might end up back working in the fish market in some capacity in a few years time!

After lunch we headed up to the wool brokers and had a fascinating insight into the history of Jamieson and Smith’s. Oliver Henry spoke to the bairns and showed off various fleece colours and grades before going through a timeline of wool products, each with a story to tell.

It’s been a really interesting day and certainly makes you feel proud of our world famous produce and appreciate even more the fish on your plate and the wool in our jumpers.

Some comments from the bairns.

It was cool to see inside Pelagia.

I enjoyed looking at the fish in the fish market.

It was good going for a walk around the pier to see the boats.

I thought the way they did the fish auction was interesting.

Hearing about the history of the wool broker was interesting.

Celebrating Wider Achievement

A quick selection of photos from a tour of the different Wider Achievement groups this afternoon. What did I see? Firstly, happy and engaged pupils. That’s always number 1! Enjoyment and taking pride in your work is always so important

Creativity? Absolutely… from works of art to knitting to our sports stars on court.

Teamwork? 100%. I spoke to all Secondary pupils this week about the power of teamwork and looking out for each other. Lots of really great collaboration on show this afternoon.

Community – Wider Achievement offers us a great opportunity to engage with members of our community. To develop skills that can be passed through the generations. To celebrate what is unique about Whalsay, our community and where we are in the world. Our net mending group are a perfect example of this. Kudos to Mrs.Hamilton who was developing her skills too!

STEM visit – Drones

S1 and S2 were visited recently by Emma Chittick from Skills Development Scotland, who delivered a Drones Workshop to engage pupils in STEM subjects by applying them to the world of work. S2 pupils commented that “we learned teamwork/communication skills and being observant along with being able to drive the drone” and learned “what jobs were involved with drones.”

All participants thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the challenges and activities! Most of the pupils had never tried flying a drone before and all agreed they’d definitely like to do it again. An S1 pupil commented “my brother has a drone and I’m going to ask if I can have a go flying that now”. Another said “I really enjoyed it, it was so cool especially when we got the drone to do flips”.

An S2 pupil commented that “We learned what drones can be used for, and how they help us.” After the session the classes had a discussion imagining all kinds of handy uses for drones in the future – the most popular one being the delivery of Chinese take-aways to Whalsay!

Special thank you to Emma for visiting with the drones and delivering a fun and engaging lesson to promote STEM skills and careers.

Junk Kouture

Junk Kouture is an International Sustainable Fashion Competition using 100% recycled materials to create a design for the catwalk.

We are learning new skills, experimenting with different materials, being creative and working in teams. Pupils are designing outfits based on the fishing and seas around Whalsay. One pupil is basing her design on the Shetland Salmon Farming and another is designing and creating a dress based on pollution in our seas that affect our island. Last year the pupils had a Team meeting with one of the Junk Kouture staff and she gave them great tips and advice, she was very enthusiastic about their ideas.

“I’m am really enjoying taking part of Junk Kouture. I am learning new skills and getting to show off my creativity with my designs.”

 

experimenting with their Shoard “finds”.

 

sorting materials.

 

making a paper model of the design.

Can you help?

We are needing specific recycled materials and would appreciate any help: Fashion Magazines, plastic bottle tops and metal caps, ring-pulls.

Thank you!

Wider Achievement: Enterprise

Over the last term our enterprise group planned to make and sell little trinkets and decorations.

We needle felted with Ann Marie Anderson, making lots of little trinkets, like gonks, Christmas tree ornaments. Most of us loved them so much we took them home. We also made decorations, like balls of wool with knitting needles which we sold at the Whalsay Wool Week “Makin and Yakin” for £3 each. We even got a commission for some more. We made £80 towards materials for further enterprise opportunities for next year. Some people made fairies with pipe cleaners and fabric; little hats with carboard tubes and wool and Christmas cards

Pupils enjoyed the needle felting, making and selling the yarn balls!

The needle felting was considered the best, enjoyed the most and pupils hoped to do it again!

Crochet in Wider Achievement

In the last 2 terms in Wider Achievement, we learnt how to crochet. Some of us already knew some basics, others had to start completely from scratch. At the beginning, we all made the same kind of bunny. They all turned out different. Some bunnies were small, others were really big. It depends on your personal style of crocheting and also what wool and hook you use. Some of use decided to leave away arms, tails, or bunny feet, others stayed closer to the original pattern.

Once everybody had finished their bunny, we looked on a pattern website called ravelry and we found things that we wanted to crochet. We made snakes, jelly fish, pigs, mushroom, granny square blankets, birds, beans, frogs and lots of other things. Some of us even managed to make things without a pattern.

After a few weeks, most of us were good enough that we could help others in the group when they had problems. Some even taught their relatives and friends at home how to crochet.

Here are a few statements from some of us:

Annie: “I’ve practised remembering different kinds of crochet stitches.”

Lola: “It’s better than just sitting on devices.”

Morgan: “I have made lots of cool things.”

Bella: “The crochet toys we made are really good to throw at your brothers and sisters. They also make really good gifts – I made 6 gifts for people.”

Geordie: “It get’s easier the more you practise it.”

Neve, Brooke and Flora: “We got to be creative.”

 

Crochet skills can help with counting, maths, art, hand and eye coordination and lots of other things. Quite a few of us want to finish our crochet projects at home.

 

 

National Sumdog success

Delighted to share the outcome of our recent participation in Sumdog challenges; a national initiative where pupils answer questions to consolidate and further develop their knowledge in Mathematics.

Of the 2,944 nationwide that took part,

Our S1 class finished 63rd

Our P6/7 cohort finished 119th and our

S2 cohort finished 122nd.

This is a huge success for our school and testament to the hard work and dedication of our pupils to their learning in Mathematics. I’d like to extend thanks to teachers, parents and support staff who provided encouragement and support along the way.

Well done, Whalsay School!

Mr.Healy