September 7, 2023
by Mrs Kerr
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S3 pupils currently studying the circulatory system in Biology were getting to the heart of the matter this week when they dissected a sheep’s heart. They were surprised to see how thin the heart valves were and how big some of the blood vessels from the heart were relative to the size of the heart. Who knows, maybe there’s a future heart surgeon at work here…!
September 6, 2023
by Miss Irvine
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For the past few weeks Primary 7 pupils have been busy preparing their Team Captain speeches. This afternoon, they delivered their speeches to the younger primary classes before leaving them to cast their votes.
All the pupils should be proud of themselves, it’s not easy to write about yourself or speak to an audience but they all did a fantastic job.
Here are photos of our new Primary House Captains for Maalie, Shalder and Tirrick!
August 15, 2023
by Miss Irvine
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We have had some issues with email this afternoon, please see the links below to a Primary letter and leaflets from the Shetland Oral Health Team as well as a link to the Childsmile website
June 30, 2023
by Miss Irvine
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The end of term has come round really quickly!
This week, we had a whole school Assembly to hand out prizes for YPI, Interhouse, Merits and General Knowledge. Mr Spence played the secondary boys penalty shootout at the assembly and reminded everybody the importance or supporting each other and having a positive mindset when facing challenges. We were also treated to fantastic musical performances from P56 and P67 before Ms Simpson was presented with a gift for her last day.
Yesterday afternoon primary pupils received certificates in their primary classes. And at the end of the day the P7’s marked their moving on to the secondary by the annual corridor run.
Today was Miss Stewart, Dr MacInnes and Mr Spence’s last day at Whalsay School. Staff and pupils had a whole school break at the primary and it was lovely to see the mix of ages enjoying their break outside.
Mr Spence was also presented with a card and gift from pupils and parents as a thank you for leading the school for almost 7 years. P234 drew some wonderful pictures for Mr Spence and he was also gifted those in a book to keep.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Mr Spence, Dr MacInnes, Ms Simpson and Miss Stewart for being great educators and colleagues and wish them all the very best for the future.
Finally well done to pupils and staff for their hard work this year, thank you to parents for the support and we look forward to seeing you in August.
Have a lovely summer.
June 13, 2023
by User deactivated
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– how you think your child has been managing in school this year
– what the improvement priorities for the school should be in the future
– when our school-chosen occasional holiday should be next session
Thanks to all who have completed a form already. Please see link here if you would still like to participate.
June 12, 2023
by User deactivated
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Thanks to all who came to watch the School Sports today. Congratulations to Tirrick who were the overall Inter house Sports Champions this year. Above is the photo of the House captains, Owen, William, Harry and Brenna.
June 9, 2023
by gw19patersonelizabet@glow
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On Thursday, Whalsay School had a visit from Michael, Axel and Thor to talk to us about the work that they do.
We had to think with our feet and decide what would be the best action to take for different scenarios.
Michael also shared with us what we should do if we were ever to find a suspicious package and how we could help if we found someone lying unconscious.
We really appreciated our free rulers but more importantly they contained a useful QR Code.
Once the QR code is scanned it takes you to the Dogs against Drugs site where you can find out more information about the organisation and access useful links to help you.
Thank you Michael, Axel and Thor for coming to see us.
June 8, 2023
by Miss Irvine
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We are looing forward to a visit from Joy Duncan and her friend Sidiki on Wednesday 14th June for African Drumming workshops. In the afternoon (after 2:00 tbc) we would like to invite parents to the canteen to see and hear drumming by Sidiki and some of the classes so make a note on your calendar and we’ll confirm a time next week.
Miss Irvine
June 6, 2023
by User deactivated
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Yesterday classes in upper Primary and Secondary were visited by Hazel Sutherland from the Shetland Amenity Trust. She came in to explain to pupils why the Amenity Trust have cordoned off the Auld Dock and why they are discouraging anyone from going on the pier or diving in from it. You can see more information about this in the attached letter below:
Amenity Trust Letter to Symbister School re Peerie Dock Safety
June 3, 2023
by User deactivated
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Whalsay School held its annual YPI final on Friday 2nd June. YPI stands for Youth and Philanthropy Initiative. The Initiative, which was started in Canada by the Toskan Casele Foundation in 2011, encourages pupils in a whole year group to research social problems in their community. They then identify a local charity that is working to tackle their chosen issue. Contact is made with the charity either by the pupils visiting the charity or a representative coming into school to talk about their work. Pupils then work on a presentation informing their audience about the work of the charity and advocating for it to receive a grant of £3000 which, in Scotland, is funded by the Wood Family Trust.
Friday’s final marked the end of this process for the S4 RME class at Whalsay School. Four groups of pupils pitched for different local charities: Alzheimers Scotland, Clan Cancer Support, Dogs Against Drugs and Shetland Foodbank.
The Final was attended by Lynsey Brosnan from the Wood Foundation who sponsor the YPI awards in Shetland. The three judges were Marie Manson (Chair of the Parent Council), Moira Dally (former school DSMO and current SQA invigilator), and Eyvor Irvine (CDT teacher at Whalsay School). Garry Spence (Head Teacher) welcomed the audience and commented on how well the four groups had engaged with their charities this year.
The pupils in the four groups delivered some very informative and passionate presentation on the work of their charities and explained the impact a £3000 grant could make on their activities. The pupils advocating for Shetland Foodbank spoke about the food collection they had organised for the charity. Alzheimers Scotland had visited the school to deliver training on supporting people with dementia and the impact of this was clear in how passionately the group spoke about this. The pupils speaking for Clan Cancer Support had been the only ones able to organise a visit to the Charity. On the back of this, they had organised a Bake Sale which raised £175 for the charity in about 30 minutes! The Dogs Against Drugs group had to reshuffle their presentation due to pupil absence but the remaining pupils acquitted themselves very well and spoke enthusiastically in favour of the charity.
When the judges had reached their decision, Mr Spence thanked all those involved in the Final and the YPI process. Eyvor Irvine gave feedback to the groups, commenting on how well informed they had been and how challenging it had been for the judges to reach a decision. She then announced that the winners of the £3000 cheque were Brenna, Charlie and Owen who were advocating on behalf of Alzheimers Scotland.
