Full week on Lewis and Harris

Our return visit to the Outer Hebrides saw us visiting five schools across the Isles of Lewis and Harris. After sailing out of Ullapool on the Sunday, we positioned for an early start at Uig Primary School on the west coast of Lewis, close to some of the finest beaches in the whole country. We only had until lunchtime with Uig pupils, so the two of us tried to cram in as much as we could during the morning before heading 30 miles to the Isle of Bernera to run a packed and extended afternoon programme at the island’s small school. Day two saw us head to Sgoil nan Loch, a few miles south of Stornoway, where we ran parallel sessions to try and accommodate the whole of the school’s 100 pupils. We had a day’s rest on the Wednesday to explore and relocate down to Harris. The following day (Thursday) was spent at the modern Sir E Scott School in Tarbert, working with both the P4-7 Gaelic and English taught classes. Thankfully, the Gaelic speaking children have an excellent grasp of both languages, and were kind enough to teach us a word or two. The final day saw us head down to the south end of Harris, where we joined the pupils of Leverhulme Memorial Primary School for another full programme of activities. Sadly we had to finish a little early to ensure that we made the afternoon ferry from Tarbert back to the Isle of Skye and then home through the highlands. A huge thanks to all the primary schools that hosted us this week, and kept us well supplied in tea, biscuits and lunches. We enjoyed a friendly welcome and stunning scenery.