Mòd Ionadail Leòdhais – June 2009
Sgoil a’ Bhac pupils had a particularly successful week at the Lewis Mòd this year with a large number of individual, group and aggregate prizes coming to the school. This picture of all participants with their trophies speaks louder than words.
This success does not happen by accident: pupils, staff, parents and community volunteers such as Catriona (Choileir) Stewart and Norman Smith put a great deal of effort into preparing for the event.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank An Comunn Staff and the volunteers who organise and run the Mòd.
Primary 1/2 Gaelic New entrants
Primary 1/2 English New entrants
S2 Leavers
Gymnastics
| A team of 13 gymnasts from Sgoil a’ Bhac travelled to Perth on Saturday 17th May 2008 to take part in the Scottish Gymnastics Schools Gymfest. The group of children, aged between 7 and 10, joined both Primary and Secondary school groups from all over Scotland in a festival of Gymnastics held at the Bells Sports Centre. The team had the somewhat daunting task of being the first to perform in this fantastic venue in front of a huge audience but all their hard work paid off and they did their very best routine. They were then presented with their medals by the President of Scottish Gymnastics. The team thoroughly enjoyed watching the displays by other schools and have picked up lots of new ideas to try out in the future. |  Gymnastics Team |
Euroquiz
| Following their success in the regional Euroquiz competition the Sgoil a’ Bhac Primary 6 Euroquiz Team represented the Western Isles at the Euroquiz final which took place in the Scottish Parliament Buildings on Monday 12th May 2008. The team performed well and thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Edinburgh. |  |
Scotland's Health at Work
The school has recently been awarded the Scotland 's Health at Work Bronze Award for the second 3-year period in succession.
| Ladies Running Group Every Wednesday a group of ladies from the staff jog, run or walk for 2-3 miles by the beautiful River Creed in the Lews Castle Grounds. In May this year they took part in the Cancer Research ‘Run for Life'. Members of the community who wish to join the group should contact the school. |
 |
ASG/AifL Renewables Project
Sgoil a' Bhac and Sgoil Phabail are two small 5-14 schools on the Isle of Lewis. They cater for pupils from P1 to S2.
During Term 3 of Session 2006/2007 S2 pupils from the two schools worked together to design an innovative and exciting, cross-curricular project on renewable energies. Their particular focus was to evaluate the impact of the proposed ‘Lewis Windfarm' - which will be one of the largest of its kind in the world – on the local community.
The end product of the project was a multi-media, joint presentation on the pros and cons of the proposal and was delivered to an invited audience of their peers and experts in the field.
Watch a clip of the presentation
Royal Bank of Scotland – Parental Support
The school is grateful for all the support it gets from parents. This month we were very pleased to receive two awards from the Royal Bank of Scotland , courtesy of parents Shona Maclellan and Elaine Macleod who work in the Stornoway branch.
Above is a group of pupils receiving a cheque for £1000 for the school fund.
Còisir Og a Bhac
In September the choir participated in a concert at An Lanntair. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and the children had the opportunity of performing with the highly acclaimed Gaelic singer Ishbel Macaskill.
Watch a clip in Real Player
Members of Còisir Og a’ Bhac had a most enjoyable and successful visit to the Royal National Mod in Falkirk. The Còisir members took home 39 prizes, cups, shields, trophies etc and a whole host of great memories. Còisir Og a’ Bhac together with Còisir Sgìre Bhac produced a short CD of 5 tracks which was sold to raise funds for Children in Need. Copies of the CD are available from the school.
 |
 |
 |
 |
Còisir Og a’ Bhac & Còisir Sgir’ a’ Bhac CD in aid of BBC Children in Need
CD is priced £4.00 and is available from the school. Listen to a clip
| Sgoil a’ Bhac Christmas Concert Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat - The Christmas Concert took place on Wednesday, 19th December 2007. All pupils participated in the concert. It was a very enjoyable evening and a total of £620.80 was raised for Bethesda Home & Hospice.. |
 |
Enterprise in Education
At a ceremony and lunch held at the Woodland Centre, Stornoway, recently the school was awarded a Gold Award for Enterprise in Education. Moldova Project
The school collapsed the standard curriculum for a week in November to conduct a detailed project on Moldova. Pupils at all stages, 3-14, took part with children of various ages working together.
The educational focus of the project included:
- developing enterprising teaching
- promoting cross-curricular working
- graining awareness of the draft outcomes of a Curriculum for Excellence
- promoting collaborative working
- focussing on peer and self evaluation
MacMillan Miles
MacMillan Mile Pupils, staff and parents from Sgoil a’ Bhac raised £940.30 recently when they held a lunchtime walk in aid of MacMillan Nurses. Mrs Marion Murray , Chair of the local MacMillan Nurse committee, was presented with cheque from pupil representatives.
Michael Foale Visits Sgoil a' Bhac
Michael Foale, Britain's leading astronaut, visited Sgoil a' Bhac in June 2003. He told pupils and staff about his 4 ½ months in space aboard the space station Mir in 1997 and described his plans to become Mission Commander of the International Space Station when it goes into space in October 2003 for 7 months.The school wished Michael Foale a successful visit to space and a safe return to earth. Sgoil a' Bhac was involved in a very exciting link-up with the International Space Station.
Maintaining his connection with the school Foale and his family paid a surprise visit to the end of session Prizegiving in June 2004. Michael Foale gifted the above picture (view large version) of himself to the school. The picture with its inspirational message is proudly displayed in the school foyer.
Read an article on the National Association for Amateur Radio website about Michael communicating with the school via Ham Radio.
