Lionel School Primary roll
SSFA Coca Cola sevens The Lionel School boys were winners of the Western Isles section of the Scottish Schools Football Association Coca Cola championship held at the Nicolson Institute on Friday 7th March 2008. This was an excellent achievement, with teams ranging from six year schools like Castlebay in Barra, Sir E Scott in Harris, and four Nicolson teams, to teams from two year schools like Daliburgh in Uist, Back, Bayble, Lochs and Shawbost. The boys did not concede a single goal during the entire tournament, and had wins as high as 7-0.
The team then went on to the next round of the tournament at the Ross County ground in Dingwall, but failed to qualify. The less said about the bus journey from Ullapool to Dingwall, the better ……!
A Curriculum for Excellence This new curriculum for schools is in the process of being launched over the next few years. There have been delays as regards the original launch date, but some schools have begun to trial some of the ideas in the Curriculum for Excellence, and we at Lionel School have decided to dip our toes in the water and try one of these new initiatives out during the last fortnight in March 2008. This new idea is called an ‘Interdisciplinary Project and Study’ and our project will focus on ‘The Sea’. Pupils and staff have already exercised personalisation and choice for their project theme, and done quite a bit of work on different aspects of ‘The Sea’. Strands of the project will focus on themes as varied as the historical fishing industry which thrived in Ness well over a century ago, to futuristic ideas associated with renewable energy systems such as wave and tidal power. We would very much welcome interest from the public in ‘The Sea’ project, and to this end the Lionel School PTA has arranged an open coffee evening from 7.30-9.30pm on the night of Thursday 27th March to invite the community to see one aspect of the ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ working in the school. We hope to see as many people as possible at our event, and would like to thank the PTA very much for all the hard work done on behalf of the school.
Future of Lionel School The future of S1/S2 secondary provision at Lionel School is one of the items scheduled for debate soon by the Education Department of Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar, along with a review of Primary schools. Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar voted at a full Council meeting in February 2008 to close the S1/S2 departments in Bayble School, Lewis, and in Daliburgh School, South Uist. As Daliburgh School is more than 10 miles from Sgoil Lionacleit in Benbecula, which the nearest receiving school, the final decision on possible closure rests with the Scottish Government. In March 2008, public consultation on possible closures took place with regard to the futures of the S1/S2 departments at Sgoil Nan Loch, Lewis, and at Paible School, North Uist. The futures of two Primary schools at Craigston School, Barra and at Cliasmol School, Harris has also been discussed. At the time of writing this newsletter, neither the Education Committee or the full Council have met to decide on the futures of these schools. No firm date has been given as yet for the public meeting to debate the future of the Secondary department at Lionel School, but a date in the summer term appears likely at this juncture.
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children £367.20 was raised by Class 2B (Spendaholics) by holding a fun morning for NSPCC on Friday 21st of December. The picture below shows all the pupils gathered in the canteen for the prizes for various activities and the raffle. The Spendaholics would like to thank all the teachers and pupils that were involved.
Margaret Mary Macleod 2A.
Christmas Concert Our Christmas Concert was played to a full house on Thursday 20 December 2007. Thanks very much to everyone who contributed in any way at all, to all the parents and others in the community who attended on the night, and especially to all the pupils and staff who worked so hard to make the evening a success.
Homework Club Our Homework Club ran very successfully over the month of November, with a record 53 pupils attending one of the sessions. As well as homework, we also offer art, computing, and indoor football activities after homework. The Homework Club will resume from January 2008.
Staff changes Some recent staff changes throughout the school are:
Morag Maclean - P6,7 Primary teacher Kenneth Smith has been seconded by the Education Department to do Gaelic development work for much of this session, and Mairi Maciver began work in Stornoway Primary School. We wish them well in their new posts.
Sale of Work The annual Sale of Work to raise money for school funds took place this year on Saturday 3 November, raising £845 for school funds. Thank you very much to all who were able to help with the fund-raising, and for their cooperation and support.
Lionel School Pupil Council Towards the end of the autumn term, two pupils in Primary and two pupils in Secondary get the opportunity to be democratically elected onto the Lionel School Pupil Council. Pupil councillors are consulted about many different aspects of school life, are entitled to forward the views of other pupils, represent the pupils of the school on formal occasions and help to organise events such as school trip itineraries. All eligible pupils are encouraged to run for the Pupil Council. The pupils elected were Laramie Finlayson
Lionel School Parent Council The draft constitution for the Parent Council was submitted before the end of last session, with between three to five parents agreed as being a good working number for a council. Possibly added to that number at meetings may be a teacher representative, up to two co-opted members, four CNES councillors, possibly a clerk and the Head Teacher, making the new Parent Council quite a large representative body. The members of the Parent Council are: Christina Finlayson Feonna Mackenzie
Raising money for school funds The PTA organised bag packing in the Coop store in Stornoway on Thursday 30 August, with £609 raised for PTA funds. Thank you very much to all who were able to help with the fund-raising, and we would also like to thank the Coop for their cooperation and support.
Sponsored Walk The annual Sponsored Walk to raise money for school funds took place this year on Tuesday 28 August, raising £1170 for school funds. There is a prize for the pupil who collects the most sponsorship money every session, to be presented at the annual School Prizegiving.
Lionel School Secondary Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar debated a paper which outlined options for strategic school closures, including the prospect of closing Lionel School Secondary department in 2012. The main outcome of the CNES deliberations was that all schools would now be scrutinised, pending a possible rationalisation programme beginning in 2009.
Cabinet Secretary for Education and Life Long Learning We were very pleased to welcome Mrs Fiona Hyslop to Lionel School on Thursday 23 August. During her time in Lionel, she was given a tour of the school, met Primary pupils in the Gaelic-medium unit and answered questions from Secondary pupils in a discussion forum. Mrs Hyslop also had a meeting with the local media and press at the school, met some of the school staff, and had a tour of the new Sporsnis building.
Staff appointments We would like to welcome Mrs Morag Maclean as a permanent Primary teacher, Mr Ian Macrae as a probationer Primary teacher, Mrs Mary Macarthur as a itinerant Home Economics teacher, Mrs Mairi Maciver as a supply Primary teacher, and Mrs Mina Shephard as a supply Science teacher, as they work at Lionel School this session. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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