Whalsay School enjoyed a week of celebrations for World Book Day with a focus in Scots including the Shetland language.

Paired Reading

Following the success of previous years, secondary pupils were paired with lower stage classes for reading sessions. It’s lovely to see the nurturing side of our secondary pupils towards the younger ones who really enjoy the paired reading and would like them to have stay longer. Secondary pupils also took part in book speed dating activity during lessons.

Parent Library sessions

Parents were again invited in during class reading session this week to join in with reading and take part in some of Shetland activities. Pupils enjoyed having parents in to read with and take part in activities including guessing Shetland words and checking the meaning using the Shetland dictionary app, reading Shetland stories, playing games using Shetland word cards and having a go at translating a story. Some pupils thought they had to use a lot of brain power because some of the words were tricky!

Around the classes

P67 enjoyed the Drop and read in class was good and would like it to continue in class. They also had an opportunity to work in groups making movies retelling traditional tales in Shetland which they will show to the younger classes.

Classes also took part in the BBC Live Lesson , P5 in particular enjoyed the live lesson as well as an Author’s Live with Jamie Smart.

As the focus this year was Shetland and Scots, Miss Irvine spent time with each class and read Julia Donalson’s The Troll translated into Shetland, Da Trow. All pupils listened well and had good guesses at what words meant in the story. Classes drew their own Trows and described them using a bank of Shetland words with P12 having to listen to instructions in Shetland and draw. Some pupils thought it was good to learn Shetland words and it would be good to have some Shetland words in their word banks for writing. Willa even took time to write her own story in Shetland about a Trow and a peerie dug. Well done Willa!

P1/2 enjoyed reading ‘Peerie Mootie and her muckle boots’ and ‘Bobby and the Burland Pearls’ in class and P3/4 read Bruce da Moose before adding their own illustrations to the poem. It was also good to celebrate other Scots languages with Anne bringing in from home ‘Aul Macdonald hid a fairm’ written in Doric to show her class. Miss Irvine tried her best to read it to P34 and they did really well at guessing the different animal names such as puddocks and grumphies! They also discovered that crabbit was used in Doric and Shetland.

Competition

Well done to everybody who took part in guess what the staff are reading competition. It was a popular activity across primary and secondary. The winners are as follows. Miss Irvine will be in touch about claiming your prize!

Secondary

Staff – Miss Holzheimer

Pupils – Effie and Louis

Primary

Staff – Miss Hutchison

Pupils – James W and Bobby W

World Book Day

Many pupils and staff came to school dressed up for World Book Day, P1/2 thought it was fun to see everybody dressed up. Well done to all pupils and parents for putting in the effort with their costumes!

It was a busy week for the bairns and staff with so many ways to develop reading skills. From paired reading and ‘Drop Everything and Read’ to the online lessons and Shetland-themed activities, it was great to see everyone get involved. We know not every activity clicks for every child—and that’s okay. Every reader is different. The most important thing is to keep turning pages; reading doesn’t just boost vocabulary and communication skills, it’s also a powerful tool for reducing stress, building empathy, and supporting mental health.

If you need any support with your child reading at home, please contact the school.

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