The Rainbow Light School

Monday 25th

The pier at Uyeasound is in full production. For the last few months we have been watching it grow. The new pier is huge and is being built alongside the school. It is hard to concentrate with diggers, trucks and cranes flying about outside the windows.

Mrs Irvine the outreach teacher from Bell’s Brae School was here to help with one of our pupils.

Tuesday 26th August

Library day. Carol , the librarian comes down to school now. We change our books with her on a Wednesday but on a Tuesday afternoon we investigate books in depth and listen to stories. This week she brought story tapes for us all to listen to.

Wednesday

Baltasound day and a new timetable. Some new staff too. Miss Massey is now our P.E. teacher. Netta does the little ones swimming. French with Miss Mc Cormack and Learning Support with Mrs Priest. Mrs Pennington gives extra help in computing to one pupil.

THursday Mrs Priest is in all day as Mrs Coutts has to go to the head teachers’ meeting in Lerwick. All about HMIe and new inspections. We had a much better day here as one of the pier trucks carrying a big crane went off the road and got stuck. This caused a traffic jam in Uyeasound for over an hour..  It was all go for a while but they eventually got out of the drain and back on the road.

Friday

Robert was back to help out. Mrs Nelson got us to help her clean all the Art cupboards. A man was here to survey asll the insulation in the school. Mrs Coutts was under the floor and in the loft.

Hello there and welcome back to the Rainbow light School

We opened on Wednesday August the 20th. Due to strike action we could only open in the morning which was a nice easy way to start off the term. We have 8 boys and 1 girl at the school this year.

21st August

We had 3 lady visitors. Two of them returning from a few years ago. They brought us some Terry Pratchet books to add to our library. We will make good use of them during the winter months. 

Our Music teacher Miss Dobson was here as usual and we all had music in the afternoon.

Teenie has joined us. She is on work experience and will be with us 3 days a week to help out wioth things. She goe to the Baltasound School.

22nd August

Mrs Nelson our new Art teacher arrived today. We have been really looking forward to her coming. Robert also joined us. Robert is on work experience too and goes to the Mid Yell School. It is good to have a big boy around the place.

The first half week was over before we knew it and we still haven’t got the timetable worked out yet.

We have decided to take a year out. We will resume our blog in August 2008.

Yes, session 2007-2008 has started with great enthusaism – three boys in P1 replacing two girls in P7!  Learning the dynamics of the new group is a learning experience for all of us! So far, so good.

Just a few days to round everything off for the year before going on holiday on Wednesday. The highlight of the week was a visit by the Tuesday Day Care club from Nordalea Care Centre. Usually we visit them and tend one of their gardens. This time they came to us with a story sack they had made to contrast school life from their childhood and the present day. It included a play mat, knitted and sewn characters and the houses and had all the suitable toys to tell the story. The model lobster creel and the tractors were a great hit with the boys. The book and CD of the story were also very popular.  After story time and an opportunity to play with the toys and mat, we showed them our school, including the greenhouse and the work done for the stained glass project.  It was a great afternoon and enjoyed by young and old alike so we hope it will be the first of many visits.

School restarts for the pupils Wed 22nd August.

Monday 25th – Visit for an Active Schools Co-ordinator today but the school was empty of pupils. They were all being extremely active up in the Galley shed soldering, puttying and cleaning their stained glass windows. Yes, the final week has arrived with the return of Fiona Foley and baby Gwen. What a delight to have them both back bring so much the school.  Poster for Thursday have been made ready to be pinned up around the island.

Tuesday 26th -Boiler-suit day. That was the answer to the messy job of blacking and polishing the lead on the window.  Fiona warned us it would be hard work and it was but what a finish!  Music for Thursday  delivered to Mrs Priest in the evening on a CD.  Composed by the older pupils and recorded by the younger ones and their teacher, it certainly gives a feel for the old derelict house in a slow, minor key followed by a brighter jig for the house with the stained glass.

Wednesday 27th – Three older pupils off to Lerwick for the County Sports. The others went swimming  and handed in library books. Belated birthday bake for Marcus – chocolate crunchies.  Preparing check lists, boxes, jars with crushed glass and candles, batteries for the tape player, fused glass panels, grassy heads etc, etc and stained glass installed by Fiona ready for tomorrow.

Thursday 28th – The big day. Took everything to the old croft house in the morning and had a look at the windows before covering them with cloth. Shona and Micheal’s names came out of the hat for unveiling the windows. Back to the school for lunch. Best wishes for the afternoon from Mrs Coutts who is on her way back from ‘sooth’.  Family and friends gather for the unveiling to the pupils’ music  ‘Vision for Valsgarth’.  Everyone was very impressed.

Monday 18th – With the younger pupils at Baltasound after breaktime for sports day, the paln was to start on a presentation for our stained glass project. That plan did not get very far because the photo file was empty. All our photo files on the Mac were empty on taht computer. With the help of the technician we were able to print off a couple from the PC for a national competition.

Tuesday 19th – More sports, this time the older pupils. Well done Emma who won the 800m and the high jump. She’s off to the County sports next week.

Wednesday 20th – Lerwick Day. Mrs Coutts attended meetings while the rest of the school had their photograph taken, visited the new Shetland museum and went swimming at the Clickimin Liesure Centre. The museum was amazing, we’ll be back.  Mrs Coutts looked in on us at the swimming pool and  used her influence to open the flumes and the rapids for us.  As we headed home, Mrs Coutts went to receive GTC recognition for her Coaching and Mentoring work along with 20 other Shetland teachers.

Thursday 21st – P7 were practising being S1 for the day. The QIO came calling to review our school development plan for next year. In the afternoon, music was in the recording studio in Baltasound where tracks were laid down for the stained glass music.

Friday 22nd -  P7 were practising being S1 again. Marcus had a birthday bake. Mrs Priest in Lerwick vsiting another school. No Art, finished a busy week

Monday 11th - Visiting professionals, SLT and ASN co-ordinator – It must be near the end of term. Mrs Coutts back in school.

Tuesday 12th – Practised for cycling proficiency badge out on the road. Mrs Priest out with a check list. French teacher now coming on a Tuesday but it feels like a Thursday.

Wednesday 13th – Rehearsed music for ‘Valsgarth’ day when our stained glass will be presented to the public. Tune written by the girls. With change of timetable, up the road to Baltasound after morning break but it feels like a Tuesday.

Thursday 14th – Another visitor, this time the Educational Psychologist.  P7 up to Baltasound for Social Education. S1 beckons.

Friday 15th – Well done, cyclists! All the practice has paid off and they each got a really good bag of goodies with everything necessary for maintaining their bikes and their certificates. Elaine, the road safety officer, will be back next week to check the younger pupils’ bikes.

Transported flower plants from our greenhouse to Nordalea, the care centre, where we planted up our flower bed. Looked in to say hello to the old folk.  They always like to work out the geneology of the pupils.

Finished the week with Art, the same day in the new timetable!

Monday  -  While Mrs Coutts was in Perthshire taking part in  an EEBL (Excellence in Education through Business Links) event, the rest of us were preparing for an Enterprise in Education Showcase  at the Baltasound Junior High School the next day. The younger pupils prepared posters of our involvement in the community, Up-Helly-Aa and Palm crosses for Easter. The older girls had been working on a big powerpoint presentation about our greenhouse at the end of last week on laptops and pcs. When they tried to open it on the laptop, it wouldn’t! They have learned that powerpoint needs to be saved in a certain way. Fortunately, we still had a few slides on the pc, enough to get started again.

Tuesday – Up to Baltasound earlier than usual to set up for the showcase. Only two of the older girls went to the netball tournament in Lerwick so we had an extra pair of hands to help. We were the only school from the North Isles to have a powerpoint running on our table. It certainly attracted attention. We made time to look at what other schools had been doing before taking part in the challenges for the day. Each school was given a new camera. It did not stay long in the box. We were the only school to have the batteries charged up and the camera in use before the end of the showcase before lunch! How’s that for enterprise!

 This was the final day of Ydance. It has been declared a great success by pupils and teachers alike.  Afterwards, we found an abandoned balloon buggy from the enterprise challenge in the school hall and a great time was had by all until it was time to go home.

Wednesday -  Busy in the garden and greenhouse planting out cabbages in the raised beds and lettuce under the cloche.  Next years, P1 in for the afternoon.  Assessment is for Learning phone survey at morning break and an ICT audit in the middle of lunch time.

Thursday -  ‘The bestest day ever’ was the comment from our P1 girl as we started back up over the field from visiting the Iron Age archaeological dig on the edge of a beautiful sandy beach. She would have loved to have removed the shells from the exposed midden! The experts have taken the level down another foot so we saw the hearth in the round house and all the bits and pieces removed from the dig this year so far.   Juice and biscuits disappeared in no time at all before playing on the sand and  playing hide and seek in and around the Viking house further along the same beach. 

Friday – The Cycling Proficiency lesson had to be classroom based because it was misty outside. And not just outside. An early call from Mrs Coutts to say the the planes were delayed due to fog.  The plane landed later at the diversionary airport.

In the afternoon, some of the pupils went to Baltasound School to take part in a jewellery workshop. The rest went trout fishing with Mrs Priest. No fish but we were away from the fog on the coast at the school and a good way the finish the week.

Monday  Relatively straight forward day with the Speech and Language Therapist and the boys for P1 next year here in the afternoon.

Tuesday  Strong northerly wind meant that the older pupil’s sailing was cancelled. Everyone did have the second session of  YDance- seriously good fun!   Had a guided tour of the polytunnels at the Baltasound School and came away with cabbage and cauliflower for our raised beds. Real Growing Together. After school the older girl’s headed off on the ferry to play netball in Yell.

Wednesday  Sailing  today in the afternoon. Exciting but no mishaps.  Really good practical maths working in two groups measuring wood for edging the path to the greenhouse. Everyone was convinved their measuring was correct but the wood was too short! Fortunately we had plenty of wood.

Thursday A P7 day. Our P7s were at Baltasound  for Social Ed. Meanwhile, we were playing host to P7 from Bressay School and their teachers. After breaktime, they headed off to Muness Castle. Music in the afternoon. Busy composing for the old croft house stained glass window project.    

Friday  Summer has arrived!  Great day for cycling proficiency, gardening and going for a walk with the Art teacher.  We had a visit from Labhaoise McKenna for SCAPE Trust to tell us that the work had started again and to give us excellent leaflets about the dig. She also reminded us about the photo competition. http://www.scapetrust.org/ctc