Orkney and Shetland for the new school year …

The first trip of the new school year saw the team travelling up to the northern isles of Orkney and Shetland. The trip started on the 17th September, where the Chris and Scott met in Aberdeen to catch the overnight ferry to Lerwick. An early morning arrival allowed us to be set-up for 9am at Sandwick Junior High School. THis was our biggest school of the trip, and saw us running a full day of activities for the 94 pupils in the P6-S2 age range. The day started misty, but cleared for our trip up north to the Hillswick area of the mainland. The second day saw us receive a warm welcome at Urafirth primary school, where we worked with all of P1-P7 … some 24 pupils in all. With two of us on the trip, it meant that we could give the children plenty of attentions, and cover the topics in a little more depth than we are able to in bigger schools. We were certainly looked after by staff and the school cook, and were impressed by the facilities and stunning location for this small primary. At school-end, it was a mad dash back to Lerwick to catch the 4:30pm ferry down to Orkney, which proved to be a rather lumpy affair, with the large ferry bumping southwards in severe gale force 9 conditions. It didn’t help that we got talking to a local fisherman on deck, who shared many a tale of high seas, dangerous rocks and sinking vessels.

Having survived the crossing, the team then split up, with Scott returning to Aberdeen, and Chris staying overnight in Kirkwall. The ferry to Westray wasn’t until the afternoon, so there was ample opportunity to explore the rich history of Orkney, including the Broch of Gurness (pictured above), which was an impressive iron-age coastal complex from around 500BC. The weather had calmed by the afternoon, and allowed for a less exciting crossing to the northern island of Westray. The following day saw Chris working with all 67 pupils (P1-S4) at the island’s junior high school, who was very impressed by the enthusiasm and the level of knowledge of some of the pupils. There was a couple of hours to explore Westray before the evening ferry back to Kirkwall and later on to join the large ferry back to Aberdeen for a successful and safe end to the trip.