Good afternoon,

I want to pass on a message that I shared with those in attendance at yesterday evening’s Parent Council meeting. It is a simple but heartfelt ‘Thank you’ for the warm welcome which I have received since joining the Whalsay School community. As I often share with students, starting out in any new role or entering a new environment brings a natural mix of emotions; excitement, nervousness etc.

What often provides a level of reassurance is meeting supportive and helpful people and that has certainly been my experience since taking up my post. It has been a pleasure to teach P.E. and Wider Achievement lessons as well as observing many other lessons in different phases of the school. I thoroughly enjoyed a quick trip to visit our students in the Nursery this lunchtime; our youngest learners were having great discussion about the food that was being served and the different types of fish that they know – how appropriate for where we are in the world! I was also lucky enough to observe and hear about the process of cooking garlic bread in an S4 lesson.

Seeing our students so well engaged in their learning and listening to their lovely manners has made me a very proud Head Teacher over the past few weeks. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our teachers, students and support staff as the Academic Year progresses.

Best wishes,

Niall Healy