Glaitness Class 4 2010/11: June 2011

Sunday 19 June 2011

Another VIP visit!

On Friday 17th June Colin Gregg visited us to talk about the European Jetski Challenge that has just finished. Colin and his team rode their jetskis all the way from Orkney to Monaco in time for the Formula one race. They have raised over £21000 (and still counting!) for Macmillan cancer and Make a Wish Foundation charities.
Here they are leaving Scapa on their jetskis.

Colin had a camera on his jetski which unfortunately stopped worrking before they got to Monaco.
We had loads of questions to ask him - some which he didn't expect!
He described what it was like to travel through the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean sea. Sometimes they didn't see land for over 5 hours which must have been a bit scary at times.
They saw lots of sea creatures including Orcas, dolphins and sharks.
They met lots of friendly people and had a good welcome in most places where they stopped.
We discussed the safety features on a jetski and how important they are should you fall off (which they all did at some point.)
One fascinating coastal feature that they saw is a huge natural arch off the coast of France, called the elephant's trunk. You can see them going through it and another huge arch in the video clip below. You can see why it's called the elephant's trunk!

Some of us were also very interested to hear about the Grand Prix race and the famous people they met in Monaco.
We would like to say a huge thank you to Colin for taking the time to come and speak to us and answer so many questions. It sounds like a great experience and we can't wait to hear what he plans to do next!

Thursday 16 June 2011

Visiting Cosmonaut

On Monday 20th June we had a visit from a real Russian cosmonaut! His name is Colonel Anatoly Artsebarskiy and he spent more than 144 days in space in the early 90's much of it aboard the Russian Mir space station and is in the UK as the guest of the Scotland Russia institute. He has spent 33 hours walking in space and he told us that he wanted to travel in space ever since he was four years old.

We asked lots of questions but he was impressed with how much we knew already.

Typical! Fire alarm in the middle of the visit - and it was raining!

He very kindly left us lots of gifts.

Signing our gifts

During his time as a cosmonaut Colonel Artsebarskiy worked with Helen Sharman who was the first Britiish woman to go into space.

Suited up and ready to go.

Hard at work!

The space station

In space there is no gravity - it looks like fun to float around!

Maybe not so much fun sleeping upside down though!

Helen Sharman

Anatoly Artsebarskiy and Helen Sharman.

We really enjoyed talking to Colonel Artsebarskiy and it was a privilege to meet someone who had actually been into space. We even made it on to the STV news!

Sports Day.

Another active and fun day for all!
The morning started off with parachute games and potted sports.

parachute fun

badminton, football and netball skills

dodgeball

rugby skills

We were a bit unlucky in that our outside activities coincided with the heavy showers but we survived!
In the afternoon we moved outside for the house races. Thankfully the weather improved and stayed good for the rest of the day.

Ready to race!

flat race

Three legged race.

Bib, band and hoop race

Sack race

skipping

In the end the winners were Ayre - but it was a very close contest! Well done Tom and Ellie for making your speeches as team captains.

Football!

On Wed 8th we took part in the Fun 4s Football festival organised by Active Schools and Highland Football Academy. We had a coaching session on Tues afternoon to prepare and had fun learning new skills.
There were primary 4s from all over Orkney and we all practised our skills together as well as playing in mixed teams in fun matches.
Luckily the weather stayed fine and we had a very enjoyable day.