Fair Isle Primary School, Shetland

News from Britain's most geographically isolated school

World Water Day

March 26, 2024 by Mrs Maxwell | 0 comments

It was World Water Day on Friday 22nd March.  We know that water is vital for life and we use it every day for drinking, washing, brushing our teeth, cooking, gardening and for farming.  We know how privileged we are in our country to have an abundance of clean, safe water straight to the taps in our homes.  This is not the case around the world. Unfortunately 2 billion people drink unsafe water and this needs to change as every child should be able to access safe water for their health.  We learned that some children even have to miss school in order to travel long distances on foot to collect water for their family. This impacts on their right to education.

We learned more about groundwater and aquifers.  Groundwater slowly filters underground to join aquifers that provide a source of water.  This can be accessed by building wells.

We appreciate how precious water is for life and survival. We decided to create a poster to display around our school and in our local community to encourage everyone to do their bit to save it.

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Residential Trip to Lerwick

March 21, 2024 by Miss Stout | 0 comments

This week the children of Fair Isle Primary went on a trip to Lerwick for two nights, staying at the Anderson High School Halls.   The plane was delayed on Monday so unfortunately we missed our first swimming lesson but we made it in time for dinner then went to Clickimin Pool for an evening swim.

The following morning, we went back to the pool for an hour’s swimming lesson. After a well-deserved snack then an early lunch, we headed into town to visit Harry’s toy shop to spend our pocket money and have a play at the park.

After that, we visited Lerwick Police Station and met Sergeant Alan and Constable Anya.  We had a tour of the police station.  We learned about the equipment they carry and were able to try on Alan’s vest – it was very heavy! Next we met Bravo the dog who works for the police.  We learned about his job to sniff out illegal substances.  He was very friendly and enjoyed some belly rubs.  One of the most exciting parts of the visit was exploring the prison cells!  There was only a toilet and a mattress on the floor! We could see our friends on the cameras.  We had our custody booking photos taken and some of us had our finger prints done too.  Anya showed us the police van that had a cell in the back.  She switched on the lights and sirens!  Lerwick police station was definitely a highlight of the trip!

Shortly after that, we made our way down to Aa’ Fired Up for a pottery session.  Freyja designed a coaster, Harris a trinket pot thing, Heidi a unicorn, Luca a sign and Ander a racing car.  They will go into the kiln in the next week so we will get them another day.  We enjoyed some fudge and a drink too.

After dinner, we went to Fjara for ice-cream and met Luca and Ander’s dad, Guillermo, who was in Lerwick training to be a retained firefighter for the isle.  After that we went back to Halls to watch a movie then bed.

The following morning, we were up early and packed as we had to be in Aith for 0930 for our climbing wall session. We met Kevin who showed us the equipment and some techniques then it was time to climb up to the top.  Everyone, except Heidi and Gillian, had a turn (we were very proud of Hollie too) or two.

It was a lovely day so we explored Michael’s Wood which is a fabulous place with trees and fun trails to follow!  We loved it so much we stayed there for a picnic lunch and another play before heading to Tingwall Primary School for an afternoon visit.

A very friendly welcome party was there to greet us for a play at lunchbreak then it was time to go to class for a lesson.  Freyja met other Primary 7s who were also transitioning to AHS after the summer which was very exciting for her!  It was brilliant fun to experience a bigger school and to make new friends.  Shortly after, it was time to head to the airstrip and make our way back to Fair Isle. We had an amazing trip!

   

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March 18, 2024
by Mrs Maxwell
0 comments

LGBTQ+ History Month

February was LGBTQ+ history month.  Over the past year, we have learned more about the LGBTQ+ community and how attitudes have changed over the past 50 years.  Last month in class, we learned about the discrimination suffered in the past.  Some young people were bullied in school and it was something people didn’t feel they could talk.  In the past, the LGBTQ+ community was not represented on TV programs.  This made people feel isolated and sad, or even scared to reveal their sexual orientation.  People even went to jail like Alan Turin who broke the enigma code during the Second World War!  At FIPS, we believe everyone is equal and should be treated fairly.  In school we learned about the different flags and what they represent.  We painted some flags in school (progressive pride, lesbian and bi-sexual) and displayed them on our windows to show our support.  By writing this blog, we are also sharing our support further afield. The more we talk about LGBTQ+ and raise awareness.

March 17, 2024
by Mrs Maxwell
0 comments

Comic Relief Fundraiser

We decided to hold a coffee morning for Red Nose Day on Friday 15th March.  Luca and Harris designed a poster to put up in the shop.  We came up with a couple of games to play.  The first was pin the red nose on the clown.  Pat won that and the prize was a box of chocolates.  The other game was guess how many mini eggs in the jar.  Robert won that game but gave the jar of mini eggs back to be shared between all the children.  We baked cookies with Hollie and George.  There were other cakes too.  People put a donation into the box at the door.  We raised £380 in total and we want to thank the very generous people of Fair Isle! It was a lovely morning that brought our community together for a great cause.

In class, we learned more about Comic Relief and how the charity helps other people.  The money raised is used to help people in the UK and around the world to access food, safe housing, education, health and special service or support. We are learning about Children’s Rights in School.  In Fair Isle, we are fortunate to enjoy all our rights and every child in the world deserves the same.  We know that the money we raised will help other children around the world to access their rights.

We asked people to design some red noses of their own to add to our display!

Pop Art

February 27, 2024 by Miss Stout | 0 comments

The children have studied the artist Andy Warhol this term with their art instructor, Fiona. They have developed their understanding of Pop Art and worked on various pieces. We are very impressed with their colourful vibrant work and also their attention to detail in the Campbell’s Soup tin drawings. Their eye-catching work has certainly brightened up our classroom!

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Rights Respecting Schools – Our Class Charter

February 16, 2024 by Mrs Maxwell | 1 Comment

As part of our journey towards becoming a Rights Respecting School, we explored the ABCDE of Children’s Rights.  Through this process, the children now understand that their rights are always there no matter what (unconditional) and that they apply to every child without discrimination (universal). We made a classroom display to remind us.

Our next step was to develop a charter for our school/class.  We started by exploring the UNCRC (Convention or Rights for Children) articles to decide what rights felt most relevant within our school environment.  Through discussion, debating and voting, the children agreed to incorporate 4 rights:

Article 12  –  Respect for Children’s Views – Our children’s views will be sought on all matters concerning them.  Their views will be taken seriously and considered.

Article 13 –  Freedom of Expression – Our children have the right to share their views and opinions freely.

Article 29  – Aims of Education – Education should develop the personality,  talents and abilities of all our pupils.

Article 31  – Rest, play, culture, arts – Our children have the right to play and rest.

A summary of Children’s rights can be found here:

https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNCRC_summary-1_1.pdf

We then explored each of our chosen articles in turn to agree on actions for pupils and adults to uphold within each right.  Together, we decided on a display to represent our Charter.  The petals on the flowers are our 4 chosen rights.  The leaves on the left are pupil (Duty Holders) actions and the leaves on the right are adult (Duty Bearers) actions.  The roots represent the pupils and adults in our school community.

 

 

Duty Holders (pupils) will…..                               Duty Bearers (adults) will

(31 – Play and rest)

(29 – Aims of Education)

(13 – Freedom of Expression)

(12 – Respect for children’s views)

We included Article 12  in our charter which is one of 4 Guiding Principles of the CRC.  We wanted to include the other 3 other in some way too so Article 2 (Anti-discrimination) is the rain, Article 3 (Best interests of the child) is the sun and Article 6 (Life, Survival and Development) is the soil.

 

Our final task was to ask every pupil and staff member to agree and sign our Charter to show our commitment to uphold it.

 

 

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Christmas Lunch

January 9, 2024 by Mrs Maxwell | 0 comments

We really miss Sue who was our lovely cook for 20 years before leaving the isle last summer.  As we approached the end of term, our fantastic Parent Council volunteered to cook the pupils and staff a delicious Christmas lunch on 15th December to keep the annual tradition going. Many thanks to Susannah and Eileen for the fantastic meal!  They even used up the rest of our home-grown school tatties! The children wrote and sent lovely invitations to our guests and made Christmas card place-cards.  Well done to Freyja for making the placemats for her final FIPS Christmas lunch!

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A Fair Isle Nativity

January 9, 2024 by Mrs Maxwell | 0 comments

The children and staff of FIPS thoroughly enjoyed performing their Christmas Concert to our isle community on Thursday 14th December!  It was great fun to make, and a real team effort from all staff and children.

It all started after the October holidays.  We brainstormed a Fair Isle version of the Nativity.  Instead of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth, we had Magni and Merron in Lerwick who were expecting a baby.  Even though it was 2023, there was a National Census requiring everyone to return to the place of their birth.  Back to Fair Isle for Magni and Merron . Instead of travelling by donkey on the long and dusty road, they travelled ferry on the rough and choppy sea, as there was no chance of flying from Tingwall due to full planes or ice on the runway (common at this time of year).

We met many Fair Isle residents along the way, from the boat crew, Jimmy and Glen Dog, to three ‘wise’ crofters, Ian, Deryk and Marie, bearing gifts of lamb, veg and knitting!  Magni and Merron tried different B&Bs (Burkle, South Light and Springfield – all full) before settling in Steven’s byer.  The baby was named Nick – our nature-expert isle-resident Nick Riddiford was born on Christmas Day!

Fiona and the children made all the set pieces and backdrop in Art lessons.  Pat and the children rehearsed the singing and chime bar accompaniment to our Good Shepherd song (to the tune of Little Donkey).  With so few pupils, Hollie did a brilliant job playing herself, Josie, Steven and Marie with extraordinary quick changes in between!

We received excellent feedback from all in the community who thoroughly enjoyed the performance and the tea and mince pies afterwards, served up by our Parent Council.

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Christmas Jumper Day & Blythswood Care Shoebox Appeal

January 9, 2024 by Mrs Maxwell | 1 Comment

As a Rights Committed (UNICEF Bronze Award) school, we are generating awareness of children and people in the UK, and around the world, whose human rights may not be met for a number of reasons.  This can range from natural disasters or war, to poverty and other events that can affect lives.

In addition to our UNICEF and Children in Need Coffee Morning Fundraiser in November, the pupils and staff of FIPS decided to support two further charities last term.  We took part in the Blythswood Care Shoebox Appeal.  Each of our families filled one or two shoeboxes for children of different ages.  The boxes included a toy, toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, sweets, socks, hat, scarf and gloves.  Our pupils appreciate that every day items like these can make a difference to the lives of children who cannot always afford such items.

On Thursday 7th December, we took part in Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day.  The children enjoyed wearing Christmas clothing that day. This event introduced the children to another important charity that helps children around the world. We raised £30 which we think is brilliant for a tiny school like ours!

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FIPS Fundraising Coffee Morning!

November 23, 2023 by Miss Stout | 0 comments

Last week was Children in Need week, so we decided to host a coffee morning for the isle on Friday 17th November.  We decided to raise money for two charities:  Children in Need and UNICEF.  We are learning about children’s rights this year. Through no fault of their own, children’s rights are not always met around the world.  This might be because of war, natural disasters or poverty.  The situation in Gaza/Israel is devastating. UNICEF is one of many charities helping to bring aid to people who need food, water and medical supplies. We are proud that we can do something to help.

For the coffee morning, we designed games such as: guess how many sweets in the jar, guess Pudsey’s birthday, an IRN BRU coin slide and an amazing raffle! Lots of people in the community gave us raffle items. Staff and parents made mouth-watering cakes and we made some tasty shortbread in school. The day before the coffee morning, we walked to the shop to buy all the ingredients plus some prizes, some raffle items and sweets for the jar. Later on, we made up the mixture and baked it in the oven. It was delicious!

On Friday morning, we set up the hall with UNICEF posters and pictures of Pudsey, along with all the tables and chairs needed.  We got to wear our fantastic Children in Need T-shirts which were special because… we got to colour them in which was fun, although we don’t know what will happen to them when we wash them!

As it was Triona’s birthday, the whole hall sang happy birthday to her and she had a little cake with a candle to blow out.  She turned 79.

Ander won the coin slide (again as he won this at the Harvest festival one).  Neil got the closest answer for the number of sweets in a jar (96 when there were 94). Andrew won ‘guess Pudsey’s birthday’ and got a box of chocolates. Many people won raffle prizes.  Eileen and Amy got huge boxes of school veg.  Luca won the Fair Isle knitted hat.  Gillian won the Shetland tea towel (that she put in!) and Dave and Elizabeth seemed to have very good luck!  Some BT workmen came along too which was nice of them and one of the workmen won the Terry’s Mint Chocolate Orange – he kindly gave it to the school kids to share between them… yum yum!

People bought many raffle tickets and gave generous donations on the door. Thank you to Ross Thomson for his amazing donation from afar.  In the end, we raised an incredible £600 that we split between the charities!  What an amazing community!

 

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