June 13, 2023
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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
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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
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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
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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.
May 31, 2023
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As part of their YPI project Aaron, Carla, Poppy and Summer organised a collection of food for the Shetland Food Bank. Last week, they sent their stuff down to the collection centre in Lerwick. On Friday they will be presenting their case for a £3000 grant from the Wood Foundation to be given to the Foodbank. Other groups in their class will be advocating for Alzheimers Scotland, Clan Cancer Support and Dogs against Drugs. Parents of S4 pupils are welcome to attend to see the presentations on Friday morning at 9am in the School Canteen.
May 30, 2023
by Mrs Irvine
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A group of pupils from Primary 6 and 7 travelled to Brae yesterday for the annual Primary Hockey Festival. This is a fun tournament that allows them to compete against other schools across Shetland and enjoy the experience of practising their hockey skills. Thank you to Mrs Shearer, Miss Robertson and our parent helper, Gemma Priest, for accompanying the group.
May 25, 2023
by Miss Irvine
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Whalsay Primary took part in the Voar Redd up last week between the school and Fernlea. Pupils collected around 28 bags of the usual bruck but also more unusual items such as half a golf club, a nerf gun, dvd cover and a broken sledge.
We would like to say well done to the bairns for doing such a good job cleaning the beach and roadside, thank you to the parents who volunteered to help and local drivers for taking care when going past the groups on the road.
May 24, 2023
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Well done to the Whalsay Secondary football team who have won the Shetland Secondary Schools Football competition this afternoon. The team were unbeaten throughout the competition and did not concede a goal until the penalty shoot-out in the final.
In the group games there were 0-0 draws with AHS, Brae and Sandwick and a couple of narrow 1-0 wins over Aith and North Isles with goals from Aaron Robertson and Robbie Leask. This was enough to qualify comfortably in second place for the final against AHS.
Their group game had ended in stalemate so it was no surprise when the final developed into a close-fought game. Both sides were well organised and managed to restrict each other to a few half chances.
In the penalty shoot-out, Whalsay went behind on the third penalty when Greig Williamson skied his effort after successful penalties from Robbie Leask and Andy Leask. Tom Montgomery and Ian Johnson held their nerve to convert their penalties and put pressure on the fifth AHS penalty taker who also skied his effort. In the sudden death, Mackie Reid scored what proved to be the decisive penalty.
A delighted captain, Greig Williamson, collected the trophy on behalf of the team.
