November 7, 2023
by Miss Irvine
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Thank you to everyone in the local community who kindly made up a shoebox for this year’s appeal. 77 beautifully wrapped shoeboxes are ready for Roger to deliver to Shetland Aid in Lerwick. These boxes will then make their way to Inverness to be checked before being transported across Europe in time for Christmas.
Thanks again to those who donated a shoebox and to Roger for taking them to Lerwick.
November 1, 2023
by Mrs Kerr
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Whalsay S2/3 Netballers competed in a Shetland Schools S3 competition on Tuesday, 31st October, which was organised by Active Schools.
11 players took part: Megan Sandison (C), Ella Irvine, Leanna Sparrow, Ruby Thomson, Alice Irvine, Ashleigh Anderson, Carrie Lipthorpe, Effie Anderson, Flora Thomson, Brooke Robertson and Neve Smith.
They played in a tournament against North Isles, Brae High School, Aith JHS, Anderson High School, Sandwick JHS. After some well fought games throughout the day, Whalsay were delighted to finish in 2nd place, losing only one game in the tournament to Anderson High School, the eventual winners. Players of the match were voted by each team following every match and Megan Sandison was one of five players who achieved the most votes overall.
Well done to all players, Whalsay played really well together as a team! This was a great day for them to meet and compete against other netballers from throughout Shetland.
Thank you to Marie Anderson for accompanying the team on the trip and for helping with the tournament.
October 26, 2023
by Mrs Kerr
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S2 Pupils in Whalsay school have been celebrating the important and amazing world of the biosciences during Biology Week 2023.
Three questions were posed and various science techniques were used to help them understand the answers.
Why do leave change colour in Autumn? This involved a practical where the pupils used Chromatography to separate the pigments in leaves. The results showed that there are orange and yellow pigments present, as well as the overpowering green pigment, Chlorophyll. In Autumn, chlorophyll disappears first leaving the orange and yellow pigments in full view.
Why do snails and slugs need slime? Snails and slug slime is made of water and glycoproteins which make up a non-Newtonian fluid. This is the same type of fluid as “oobleck” (water and cornflour mixture). When snail’s foot presses down hard on their slime it provides a hard surface to press against; when the foot relaxes the slime turns into liquid, making it easier for the slug/snail to glide across. Pupils had great fun making oobleck and then pretending their fingers were snails.
How do butterflies drink? Some of the pupils already knew about the straw-like mouthpart of butterflies and flies. This practical looked at capillary action, examining how the different widths (or bores) of a tube, affects how high fluid in the tube will rise. The conclusion was that the smaller the tube bore the higher the fluid will rise against gravity. Who knew a drinking butterfly was so scientific?
There are loads of other activities and fun facts detailed on the Royal Society of Biology website if you fancy doing more of these at home J www.rsb.org.uk/getinvolved
October 4, 2023
by Mrs Arthur
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The October break is fast approaching. We are delighted to offer a FREE drop in from 1400-1700 for anyone aged 12+. We look forward to seeing you there!
📍66 / 68 Commercial Road
👈 Press the RING Doorbell to say Hello 👋
🛜 Free Wifi
🍿 Netflix and Disney+
🍕 Pizza and Toasties available
☕️ Tea, coffee, hot chocolate and juice available
October 3, 2023
by Mrs Kerr
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Earlier on in the term, S2 went out on the first of their John Muir Days!
This time it was Coasteering. They had a great day – despite the weather looking like it might not play nicely! Here are some of the comments they made after their experience:
I personally LOVED the coasteering and I would 100% do it again. I felt it was well organised and very enjoyable!
It was amazing but there were a couple in jumps I couldn’t do because they were a bit too high.
I though the coasteering was brilliant, I really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to do it again.
I liked it. It was fun and I need to do it again.
It was really fun!
I liked the coasteering. It was fun to jump in and going in the cave.
The coasteering was fun, especially the end bit. (End bit = the place they could jump together and do different ‘moves.’)
I liked doing the jumps. It was good.
I liked the swimming.
I liked the coasteering because we got to swim in the sea. My favourite jump was the last one because you got to jump with your friends.
I liked the coasteering because it was something I have never done before and now I’m more confident in the water.
I felt that the John Muir trip was really fun because we got to jump in the water and swim.
Thanks to Pete Richardson for the great day out!
The next John Muir Day will be a Wild Ramble on 16th!
September 26, 2023
by User deactivated
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Dawn Manson, Environmental Health Officer with Shetland Islands Council, came to visit our Home Economics class, to tell us a little bit about food hygiene so we can run the tuck shop and to tell us a little about her job.
The first thing we did was to put special gel on our hands that would reflect under a UV light and then we would wash our hands well and see what bits we missed, if any. This will help us to have good hand hygiene when we are working on the Tuck Shop, in Home Economics lessons and at home.
Then Dawn showed us pictures of situations the Environmental Health Team have dealt with in their daily jobs in Shetland, such as pollution from bonfires, needles from drug use, food hygiene problems and bugs.
She talked about qualifications needed to become an Environmental Health Officer and we researched the career on myworldofwork.co.uk.
Dawn and Emily also had a little speak with us about what we would like to do in the future.
Thank you to our DYW School Coordinator, Emily van Tonder, for organising this visit for us.
Alice S2
Environmental Health Officer – What it’s like and working conditions
Environmental Health Officer – Skills and Salary
Environmental Health Officer – Qualifications and useful school subjects
September 22, 2023
by Miss Irvine
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Just a reminder that the Primary are looking for volunteers for Friday fun and for planning a Literacy afterschool event. Thank you to those who have completed the forms so far.
Please take 5 minutes to complete the forms below
Literacy event
The Primary department is planning to hold a parent Literacy event after school on Thursday 2nd November. It is an opportunity for an informal get together between parents, teachers and our Library Assistant over tea, coffee and homebakes to look at resources used for spelling and reading in school and for you to get ideas to support you with homework.
https://forms.office.com/e/ULe76hyAQq
Friday Fun
We are looking for volunteers: mums and dads, aunties/uncles, grandparents to come into school on Friday afternoons to be involved with Friday Fun. Friday Fun has been in place for a few years at Whalsay Primary. It is a good opportunity for pupils to mix with all ages and develop new skills.
If you are interested in being involved with Friday Fun, please complete the form below.
September 15, 2023
by Leona Sandison
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Once again, we have decided to run another Christmas Design Project for this Autumn term!
The Christmas designs can be professionally printed and purchased on a range of products including Cards, Tags, Wrapping Paper and Gift Mugs.
Information has been emailed out to parents/carers of pupils in Nursery and Primary. If any Secondary pupil wants to take part then please contact the school office.
For further inspiration please see links below or visit: https://www.cauliflowercards.co.uk/christmas-gallery
All artwork where orders have been placed must be returned to school by:
FRIDAY 6th OCTOBER 2023
We look forward to seeing lots of creative Christmas designs!
September 14, 2023
by Mrs Kerr
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During their library periods, some secondary 2 pupils have been going down to do some paired and shared reading with primary pupils. This has been a great opportunity for pupils to develop their skills in reading and they have all really enjoyed it!
September 14, 2023
by Miss Irvine
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Yesterday afternoon, Whalsay Primary had a visit from Shetland Aid Trust and Mr Finlay Mackenzie from Blythswood Care to tell us about this year’s Shoebox Campaign. The school and community have supported the campaign for many years and we look forward to collecting boxes again this year.
Primary pupils will take the leaflet home on Monday with their homework and Secondary pupils may take one home sooner. Anybody wishing to take part in this years Shoebox campaign should drop off the boxes at the Primary School by Friday 3rd November
For more information about Blythswood Care and for ideas about what to include in your Shoebox parcels, please click here
