The trip - exploring the others islands

The bairns were huddled together wet, chittering and sick on deck while the Head Teacher lay huddled on the wet decking, her head on a soaking, coiled-up rope, unable to move because of the cold and sea sickness. She raised her head occasionally to count the children but everyone was securely attached by safety lines and the crew and accompanying - seafaring - parents were doing the necessary with the buckets!

After the six hour sail in the heavy swell, we reached the first island, Sanday, and went ashore. From then on, we had a great time. On the last day we visited a similar school to our own on Papa Westray where we had lunch and joined its school bairns for a game of rounders (see Picture E). We have kept in touch and Papa Westray School plan to visit us on Fair Isle next summer, hopefully in better weather. We visited the main island of Shetland for Schools Environment Week, two staff flying over with ten pupils. It took two runs, as the Islander plane is a seven-seater (a pupil's drawing to the right). The older pupils always help the wee ones on trips like this (see Picture F). After an enjoyable stay, one teacher flew home with the younger group home but the other group couldn't get back that day because of fog. Despite the risk of being 'stuck over', visiting Shetland is important for preparing our young people for what is a very difficult transition for children and parents.

At the end of P7, our children leave the island to attend Anderson High School on Shetland's main island. They stay in a hostel, do their own washing and only get home one weekend each month so may feel quite homesick and bereft of the close family and community support they have had, despite kindly hostel staff. In November this year we stayed there for a week when we flew the six oldest children over for a course of intensive swimming lessons, so the children became familiar with the place and routine before their turn comes to leave home. They met up again with friends and siblings from Fair Isle who stay in the hostel. A Science and Technology Week was on that week, we joined Scalloway School for some of their lessons, all our six pupils got their first swimming certificates and they could practise crossing busy streets too - quite a week!

Learning about the wider world

Unlike previous generations of islanders, most of our community's children have relatives in mainland UK or in Scandinavia with whom they spend some holiday periods. This is really important developmentally. We have exchange visits with a school in Norway. Wind power allows families to have both television and computers with access to email and the Internet. These are all used extensively within the curriculum as well. We often participate in Channel 4's 'First Edition', a current affairs quiz, and have won several times. We prepare the front page of the Fair Isle Times and the pupils must bring in a piece of national news to include and discuss.

We welcome visitors and 'use' anyone we can get, be it the electrician sent in to check the appliances and who agreed to be interviewed by the pupils, or the German visitor from a cruise ship who sang Hansel und Gretel for us. We get monthly visits from the home link teacher who provides additional specialist support for the nursery child with special needs. Another valuable visitor to the school is the Dental Education Nurse.

Helping create a sustainable future

We investigated the ECO School project and decide that we should aim for recognition as an ECO School before next Easter. A committee has been formed comprising the Head Teacher, lunch supervisor, a parent and four pupils, but the project requires pupils themselves to be the driving force.

For many years both the primary and the nursery bairns have taken part in Da Voar Redd Up when there is an island clean-up of the roadside verges, ditches and beaches. Bottle banks and aluminium can collection has been established for a while and we now collect empty ink cartridges and small batteries. The children have sent out a questionnaire to every household on the island about the 3 Rs: Reducing, Reusing and Recycling. All the school bairns will be involved in the project. They are very keen and will only access adult support when it is needed. The island is committed to sustainable resources so this should be a project dear to all our hearts.

The future

We have moved a long way towards our goal of achieving an inclusive school - a school where mutual respect allows pupils to make some decisions in the running of the school and take more responsibility for their own learning and for helping fellow-pupils learn. There is talk of various forms of new technology on the island. This would allow video conferencing and open up opportunities for shared learning opportunities with other schools far from Fair Isle and Shetland. We are open to the new ways and we will do all we can to ensure a positive future for our bairns in tomorrow's world. However, we hope that they will appreciate and carry throughout their lives the durable values that come from living in a distant small community.