Dates for your diary: March Fri 30th – last day of term April Tue 17th – back to school Wed 18th – School Photos Thurs 19th- S3 exams begin Tues 24th – S4 Last Day Wed 25th – Pri hockey at Brae Wed 25th – S4 Exams start May Thurs 17th – S1 Parents Evening Thur 24th – S3 Parents Evening Fri 25th – local holiday Mon 28th – local holiday Thurs 31st – Pri Football & Netball at Lerwick June Sat 2nd - Jubilee Fundraiser in the primary school, 11.00am

Whalsay School

Newsletter

March 2012

School Magazine Secondary 2 have been busy compiling a School Magazine in ICT, together with the school library assistant. The magazine will include material from the Nursery through to upper Secondary. So far there is a wide range of material including stories, poems, book reviews, reports, art work, puzzles, facts and interviews.

Secondary 2 have been compiling these pieces in ICT as well as making some contributions of their own The aim is to have the school magazine printed and on sale next term, launching it at the Summer Teas event in early June. Hopefully family and friends will enjoy the magazine. Head Teacher’s Comments, Mr Calder Firstly, I have thoroughly enjoyed my first full term as Head Teacher, pupils, staff, parents and the wider community have been very welcoming and supportive. I have been impressed with the range of activities and learning experiences provided to our pupils, which are discussed in this Newsletter. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all our staff for their hard work and dedication to the pupils and the school as a whole. A special mention should also go to Amanda Pottinger, our Classroom Assistant and Leona Sandison, from our clerical team, for putting this newsletter together. The strong links between the school and our community was highlighted last month when over 200 people attended our Winter Warmer, we all enjoyed watching the children perform, playing bingo and eating all the homebakes! Thanks again for your support.

Meanwhile, our Information Evening in January provided the opportunity to meet with parents and gauge their views on the school, below is a summary of the key points: Parents’ views on the School:

Agree Disagree Not

Sure

1. The school helps my children to become more confident 84% 8% 8%

2. My children enjoy learning at school 87% 10% 3%

3. My children are progressing well in school 68% 11% 21%

4. My children are encouraged and stretched to work at the best of their ability

40% 22% 38%

5. The school keeps me well informed about my children’s progress

71% 16% 13%

6. My children feel safe at the school 96% 4%

7. My children are treated fairly at school 68% 16% 16%

8. I feel that staff know my children well as individuals and support them

78% 11% 11%

9. I am made to feel welcome when I come into school 100%

10. I find staff approachable with regard to any aspect of my child’s education

78% 11% 11%

11. Enquiries are dealt with promptly and effectively 64% 8% 28%

12. Overall, I am happy with the school 92% 8%

At the Information Evening, parents came forward with some ideas for improving the school, including:

More homework, particularly in secondary More report cards / progress reports from the school. More opportunities to view children’s work and their learning.

We will discuss these themes with the Parent Council and build them into our School Improvement Plan for next session. Next Term: We will be busy continuing to implement all aspects of Curriculum for Excellence, which is outlined in our new Guide for Parents document on the school website. One leading area, we are working towards is new qualifications. Our S2 pupils will choose their subjects from all the curriculum areas. They will continue to follow a broad general education in S3 with appropriate prior learning opportunities before formally starting new National qualifications at National 5 (replacing Credit Standard Grade), National 4 (replacing General Standard Grade) and National 3 (replacing Foundation Standard Grade).

Finally, if you are planning to take your child out of school for a non-school based activity (family holiday, wedding, hospital appointment etc.) please complete our new Leave of Absence Form in advance of the planned absence, copies on the school website or from either School Offices.

The nursery has been spending time finding out about volcanoes. We tried our own volcano experiment – first we had to build a volcano model and then we had to mix some special ingredients to make it erupt. We had to make sure that we kept ourselves safe – just as you would do in a science lab, so we wore our protective glasses and Mrs Arthur wore gloves and a lab coat – just in case!

Once the volcano was ready – we carefully poured in the mixture and wowee - it bubbled up and our volcano erupted – the lava poured down the sides. It really worked – a real volcanic eruption in the nursery!

World Book Day 2012 The nursery celebrated world book day by bringing in their favourite books from home. The bairns had a show and tell session – talking about their favourite books.

Everyone received their World book Day token so that they could spend it on a new book of their choice.

Ziggy Competition - Go Safe in Space. Zabby-ding-a-doo The nursery bairns have entered the Road Safety Scotland – Ziggy’s road safety mission competition – Go Safe in Space. They had to create bright, shiny, reflective and fluorescent spacesuits for Ziggy’s earth friends Andrew and Maggie. Their competition entry can be viewed on www.gosafewithziggy.com/competition. Entries close on 23rd March 2012 so fingers crossed for a win!

I like to sledge fast. I like having snowball

fights and making igloos.

Isabelle

I like to sledge down a big bumpy hill.

Aaliyah

I like sledgin. I like going in my igloo. Simone

I like to go sledging.

Callum

I like to maikin snow bowls wiff mi famli.

Ava

I like to slech on my prpl slech.

Faye

I like making footprints with Toffee.

Harry

I like to miak an igloo.

Eleanor

I like to make an igloo. Scott

I like slijeen doon the snoa and I like

watching the snowflakes.

Lori

I like sledging and making igloos.

Kirsty

I like to go fast on mi sledge. Emma I like throwing snowballs.

Kyran

I like makin snowmen. Sanna

I like sledging down the hill.

Willam

I like to sledge down the big hill.

Annie

I like to build snow igloos. Jolene

Primary 2/3’s Compost Report In Primary 2/3 we are making compost. We have a plastic compost bin which sits at the

back of the school. It sits on the grass near the pitch. It is sometimes slippy down there, so

be careful.

To make compost we need a mixture of brown and green stuff. We use different types of

paper such as paper towels and shredded paper for the brown stuff. Old plants, leaves,

fruit and vegetable peelings, coffee grounds and teabags make up the green stuff. The

brown stuff helps the compost bugs, as it gives the compost air and stops the compost

getting gooey or wet. The bugs eat the green stuff which starts to rot down the dry, brown

stuff and the composting process begins.

If the compost gets too slimy the bugs will get stuck and be unable to eat anything. We

put in crispy leaves from autumn, the bugs ate it all. When we were fetching some

compost to plant peas, we found some of the leaves at the bottom of the bin and had to

shovel them up to the top again.

It takes about a year to make compost. There is a little door at the bottom of the compost

bin you can slide open and the compost can be shovelled out. There is a lid on the top of

the compost bin and we lift it off to put back the dry crispy leaves. This mixes the compost

and allows the bugs to breath and puts air back into the compost.

Twa ur tree weeks ago Mrs Anderson fetched compost from the compost bin to fill flower

pots. We planted red tulip and yellow daffodil bulbs. The bulbs had already started to

grow shoots in the bags.

Last year we did an experiment using our own compost and shop bought compost. Our

school compost made the peas grow heavier and there was far more peas. They tasted

very, very yummy (not to brag) but the shop compost grown peas were ok!

You really should compost as it is messy and fun and it helps the environment.

Dance training with Jane Feb 2012

I chose this photo because it’s a good photo of me and Krissie doing good

partner work. Jane McLaren taught us to do dancing. We learned to do

flexible work by stretching our legs and arms. Before we started we did

a warm up so we didn’t pull any muscles. We played a game before the end

of the lesson the game was frozen animals. The next week we played a

game when we guessed the animals that somebody did an animal and we

had to guess we did really good (not to brag). And I think we all had a

great time. And we had to do a game when we could only do three

contacts with the floor and your partner had to fit through the gaps. (We thought it was

funny) but don’t tell Jane. We even went on our sides and we were on our sides and our backs

and bellies and all of those things.

Irena I like this photo of me and Grant because we are doing some nifty moves. I thought it was great FUN! It was very good exercise we were the best (but not to brag)! Mark

I chose this photo because it is a good photo of me and Tom. I like the photo because it was good exercising work. Everybody was making shapes but everybody made different shapes. Then we played a game like charades but it was animals that are all around the world. And it was kind of easy. Michael I chose this picture because me and Michael are doing some

nifty moves. I am making a big shape and Michael is fitting

in gap in my legs. Next time we could only make three

pieces of contact with the floor it was easy. Tom

PRIMARY 4/5 TRIP TO SEE THE ROYAL SCOTTISH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA The R.S.N.O came to Shetland, at the Clickimin to perform Saturday and Monday, playing pieces from Austria to France and Germany including Norway. They played legendary pieces by Mozart and Bizet, Greig and the music of Tam o’ Shanta with instruments from tuba’s to trombones and violins to cellos. Over 700 children came to the Monday performance. Conductor David first conducted The marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This piece was a brilliant piece it just sounded like a replica. Second of all was “in the hall of the mountain king” by grieg from Norway. It was done in piczzicatta. After they played Bizet the French composer, song 1 was “Carmen”, song 2 was “les toreadors”. Last for a treat we travelled to USA for the Simpsons so I guess it was a successful day and a thanks to the R.S.N.O and composer David. Report written by Magnus Polson P5

PPllaayy LLeeaaddeerrss

This year is the second year of the Primary Department running a Play Leader Scheme. This is a project where Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils run activities for Primary 1-3 pupils at lunchtime, encouraging the inclusion of everyone. A friendship stop is also available for anyone who doesn’t have anyone to play with; this is where the Play Leaders will meet pupils and include them in the organised activities. This year the scheme has been more successful than ever with the Primary 6 and Primary 7 pupils, supported by Mrs Stevenson, organising a wide range of activities and promoting an inclusive environment in the school. Very soon the Play Leaders will be starting their recruitment of the new team for next year from our current Primary 5 pupils and it is hoped that the scheme will go from strength to strength. We are extremely proud of how well the Primary 6 and 7 pupils have dealt with the responsibility of being a Play Leader and how enthusiastic they have been in taking on the roles. We asked some of the Play Leaders what being a Play Leader means to them. Here are some of their answers.

I like playing with little ones.

Organising games for p1-3.

It is a fun way to play with the P1, 2 and 3.

Play Leaders is part of my free time but I don’t care. I would give up all my time to make little ones

know we respect them.

I love playing with small children there so cute!

It gives you a great feeling to know that you have made a child’s playtime slightly brighter.

Children can feel that they can talk to the play leaders if they need help

It helps young children’s skills like listening and sharing.

Primary Pupil Council

The Primary Pupil Council Representatives have been working on how to improve the

Primary Department for all of our pupils. They wanted to begin with tackling the behaviour

of the pupils and they therefore came up with “5 Golden Rules for a Happy School” which

they presented to the Primary pupils at assembly last week. They worked really hard

gathering suggestions from their classes and putting together their rules which are:

1. Include everyone

2. No bullying

3. No running indoors

4. Be polite to everyone

5. Look after the building and the surrounding areas

They have also made a “suggestions box” so that everyone can have their say and we

discuss the suggestions every meeting. The Primary Pupil Council Representatives have

done an excellent job this year, so a big well done goes to:

Rhona Polson ( P7), Jenny Simpson (P6), Theo Polson (P5), Bobby Porter (P4), Michael

Poleson (P3) and William Anderson (P2).

SSSccchhhoooooolll LLLiiibbbrrraaarrryyy

To tie in with P4/5’s class topic, Jen Hadfield, Shetland’s Reader in Residence, visited the library to do a session on two characters from Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, Treasure Island. Jen read a description of the character Billy Bones to Primary 4. She then asked them to draw a portrait of him and to imagine Billy Bones had retired to Whalsay and was sitting in their kitchen when they came home from school. They each wrote a poem of this

encounter. (Picture of Billy Bones by Bobby Porter, P4) Again, after a description from Jen, Primary 5 drew a portrait of the character, Ben Gunn, and wrote a poem, describing his life on the island. (Picture of Ben Gunn by Connor Irvine P5) Jen made up posters of their work, which are displayed in the Primary corridor.

Primary 6 and 7

Jen returned to the library to do a voting

session on the Treasure Island poems with

Primary 6 and 7.

Some of P7 read out their favourites to the

class adopting excellent voices for the

pirates.

These poems will be part of ‘Limericks in the Loo’ where

pupils poems from around Shetland will be displayed on

Shetland schools toilet doors. Some of the Whalsay pupils

poems will also appear in the Whalsay School magazine.

Bruce Eunson, Shetland’s Dialect Co-ordinator, visited the

school to do a session with Primary 6 and 7. The pupils

pointed out how some of the words in the Sheltand dialect

poems were spelt differently to how they would

pronounce and spell them. Primary 6 and 7 all had a go

at writing their own dialect poems. Some of these will

appear in the school magazine.

IIINNNTTT EEERRR ---HHHOOOUUUSSS EEE SSSPPPOOORRRTTT SSS

Secondary Inter-House Badminton

Winners: Maalie

Primary Inter-House Basketball

Trampolining Winners: Maalie

Overall Points So Far

Tirrick 92

Maalie 107

Shalder 88

After learning a variety of skills, Secondary 1 pupils planned, practised and performed a routine on the trampoline. Routines were filmed and each pupil had to evaluate their own work and then try to make improvements.

Young Ambassadors The Young Ambassadors programme is a UK wide activity leading up to the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2012. The role of a young ambassador involves increasing participation in PE, school sport and physical activity and spreading the word of the Olympic and Paralympic values which are respect, friendship, personal excellence, courage, determination, inspiration and equality. Mr Calder and Mrs Shearer explained to the S3 class about this programme - Anne, Mairi and Rhona volunteered to be our schools ambassadors. The following week we went down to Lerwick to meet in the Town Hall with ambassadors from schools throughout Shetland. We did workshops about sports injuries, enterprise and the Olympics, International Education and the Olympics, NLP and Personal Confidence and planning a Shetland Youth Sport Event. We were then given the task of planning the fixtures, score sheets and league tables for the Netball part of Sports Relief Event which is to be held in Clickimin on the 25thMarch. In Whalsay School we helped plan and referee the primary Inter-House basketball competition. We enjoyed this experience because it will help us in the netball event happening at the end of this month, in Lerwick. We all managed to keep score and referee the games fairly. The pupils were well behaved and accepted the decisions we made Through our Young Ambassadors experience we hope to gain experiences of organising and refereeing events, such as competitions and activities for young people, both in Whalsay and throughout Shetland. Anne, Mairi and Rhona S3

Trampolining

This year in February fifteen of our S3 and S4 pupils took part in the Intermediate Maths Challenge, run by the University of Leeds. Participants in the hour long paper had to answer a series of maths problems, of increasing difficulty, under exam conditions. Pupils are encouraged to think rather than guess, and they get more marks (and satisfaction) from doing a few questions carefully than by guessing lots of answers. Pupils that qualified for certificates were: Best in School: Steven Anderson Silver Certificate: Steven Anderson Bronze Certificate: Douglas Stevenson, Kristie Hutchison, Scott Hutchison, Rory Irvine, Mairi Polson. They will receive their certificates soon; we will post pictures on the school website after the presentations.

What I did: Acoustic guitar duet and fiddle solo.

Lee and I decided that we would do an acoustic guitar medley for the winter warmer. We met

in the maths room every Tuesday to rehearse the songs. At the first practice we spoke and

jammed to come up with songs for the concert. The songs we eventually picked were Black bird

by the Beatles, Cabron by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and a 12 bar blues guitar tune that Lee

and I composed.

The preparation I did for the fiddle

performance was mostly just play tunes and

sets that I know. The only practise I had

with my accompaniment (Jim Leask) was on

the night, before my fiddle performance

but I played tunes that we knew.

I thought the night was quite enjoyable and

so did the other people there.

Peter Kay S4

In H.E. this term, we found out a lot about the types of food all the classes ate on the Titanic. First Class ate an 11 course meal with the best foods. Second class was typically less well off with fewer courses. Third class food was by far the worst with rice soup as the fanciest course but they still got fed quite well. We also did a food hygiene course and got a certificate. We had to learn how to wash our hands properly, what temperature you should serve people food at, what you should wear and not wear in a cooking place, about hygiene while preparing food and how to store food. Everyone passed and got their certificates. In the Healthy eating topic we learned how to make our everyday meals healthier by changing little bits. We made spaghetti bolognaise, bread rolls and apple and raisin crumble. For example we changed normal pasta for wholemeal and for the bread we had wholemeal flour. By Caroline

Before getting to the Hostel I was un

aware of what it would look like

considering I had never been before. The

outside wasn’t attractive at all, but when

we got inside and sat down, I warmed to

it.

We looked around all the bedrooms, the

place where we would eat and the TV

rooms; I especially liked how homely it

was. I also liked how the Anderson is

really close to the street so you can go

anywhere for lunch.

I didn’t like the fact that the Anderson

pupils come over to the hostel for lunch,

because it’s not a big place and it will be

very crowded.

When we were there we met Mr

McGhee who runs the hostel and a few

more people who showed us around.

We all can’t wait to go to the hostel!

Emily Moss

On Thursday the 1st of March our class went to the Anderson high school and the hostel. I am going to speak about the hostel. The first room we were taken into was the conference room which had big black tables and a piano for some reason; this was where we met the 3 people from the Mid Yell School and the one from Unst. We were showed the recreation rooms and the rooms that residents sleep in. We all thought it was quite nice and are really looking forward to it. We were also shown the gym which was quite cool because it had lots of different equipment including a speed ball used for boxing. We all enjoyed it and saw some people we haven’t seen in quite a long time. -Andrew Alexander Hutchison

On the 1st of March 2012, we went on a visit to the

Anderson High School and the Janet Courtney

Hostel. We had our tour of the hostel first. I enjoyed

getting to see all the different areas of the hostel

and what our bedrooms would be like. I’d been to

the hostel before, and seen most of it, but there

were some rooms I hadn’t been in so it was good to

get a better grasp of where we were going to be

living for 4 days a week. I was quite shocked to see

that there were only going to be 4 other residents

from the North Isles in our year at the hostel.

After this we walked over to the Anderson where Mr

Moncrieff, the deputy head, showed the Whalsay,

Yell and Unst pupils around the whole building. I had

only been in the Anderson once before and didn’t

really see much of it so I liked getting the tour. I

found it very confusing and I know for a fact that it

will take me a while to get to know my way around

by myself. At dinner time, I met up with some of the

5th years and they showed me some short cuts to

get to the classes I was thinking of taking.

In the afternoon, we went to a local opportunities

event along with other junior high school pupils. I

thought it was quite interesting and found out

information on careers that I had been wondering

for a while.

By Kristie Hutchison

On Thursday, the 1st of March,

our entire class got a chance to

see around the hostel and the

Anderson High School, two

places we’re going to see a lot of

over the next year or so. We left

on the 9:15 ferry in the morning

and caught a bus into the town.

For many of us, the hostel,

where we went first, wasn’t a

new sight, but seeing George

McGhee, the hostels manager, is

always a joy. Following this we

got a good tour around the AHS

in which Peter Moncrieff, the

deputy head; let us see the parts

that we wanted to see. After a

take away from the Fort

chippie we met in the AHS

gymnasium and attended a

careers convention. All together

a good and informative day!

-Douglas Stevenson

On the 1st of March our class went for a day trip to the Anderson high school. We visited the hostel first, and we were shown around the rooms and the canteen and social areas. I enjoyed that the most because it looks like it would be good living there. We were shown around the school after that, around most of the classes. It is quite confusing at first, but we should get used to it. I am looking forward to the hostel because I think it will be good fun staying there. Steven Anderson

Visit to Janet Courtney Hostel, 1st March 2012

As you know, since the beginning of January 2012, Primary and Secondary pupils have had the opportunity to discover the Spanish culture and its language. One of the topics that has been covered was Carnival, which is an important festival celebrated in Spain during February. On that occasion it was decided to organise a Carnival week in the Primary School, as if the pupils were in a Spanish one. For that reason, they were asked to dress up with a different outfit every day. The first day, for example, pupils came to school with a cap and sun glasses and the next day they had to wear their pyjamas. During that week they also worked on some Spanish songs with the music teacher. Those songs were practised in the classroom and they also got the opportunity to sing them at the assembly. Pupils also used their art skills to create a mask and discovered a bit more about that event. They even read a tale linked to Carnival. Here is an extract of the tale and some photos:

Tuesday 28th February: coloring our masks

Moi, je mange un petit pain

avec du lard et je bois du jus

d’orange.

Au petit déjeuner, je mange un oeuf et du lard dans un petit pain et je bois du thé.

Wednesday 29th February: pyjama’s day!

Friday 2nd March: fancy dresses

S2’s French topic this term is “My life”. One of their objectives is to be able to describe their morning routine. This includes explaining what they eat for breakfast. To make it as close to reality as possible, S2 asked to cook their breakfast. Before going to the kitchen pupils researched all the ingredients they would need to cook their breakfast, using a French dictionary. They were then asked to write a couple of sentences in French describing their breakfast. Here are a few examples...

Je mange des

crêpes avec du

sirop d’érable et de

la crème fraîche. Je

bois du chocolat

chaud.

Je mange du pain

perdu (French toast)

et je bois du lait.

Alanah Shearer S1 Katheryn Smedley S4

Ruth Simpson S3 Caroline Irvine S2

Additonal Art pictures can be viewed on our website www.whalsay.shetland.sch.uk