SMART create a Pocket Orchard

April 3, 2019Leave a comment

Our first trees were added to the Gairloch High edition of the Wester Ross Pocket Orchards project by the S1B SMART class this morning, who did an fantastic job despite the rain, wind and cold! We planted eight trees including pear, apple, plum and cherry. A great legacy for them to leave the school and hopefully for everyone to benefit from in the future!

First crop of fruit should be in 2020, with both the school and community able to benefit. A huge thank you to John from the project for his expertise and providing trees.

More photos on Flickr!

S1B SMART visit Shieldaig Lodge

May 10, 2017Leave a comment

What we did

What we did for SMART was we went to the falconry to see and find out other stuff about the different kinds of birds and the baby owl. (Alana)

See more photos on Flickr

What we learned

We learned about different types of Eagles and saw a baby owl. We learned some of the Lodges history and that the lodge was pretty much a hospital for the injured of the plane crash near there years ago and that they have one of the biggest wine/whisky/gin collections and that it would cost you £1,000 to have a sip of their best gin/whisky. Overall we learned a lot about Shieldaig lodge and the eagles and it was really fun and i hope other people for SMART can go there and we can go there again. We learned that Hannah (S4) worked there helping cleaning up the rooms and being a server for food and dining. (James)

Hannah (S4) explains her roles at Shieldaig Lodge Hotel

How it links to the John Muir Award

While we were at the falconry we DISCOVERED all sorts of things about different birds and at the falconry they were CONSERVING certain types of birds and by putting on social media we are SHARING what happened. (Hannah)

Panorama by Ruaraidh (S1)

S1 SMART Orienteering

May 10, 2017Leave a comment

Some of our S1 pupils wrote about their experiences doing orienteering around Flowerdale.

How to understand an orienteering map (by Hannah)

First you need to find out where you are on the map and which direction you are going in. Then, when you have a set place to go to, you need to read the key and find the landmarks you can look for near your destination. Then keep a lookout for the landmarks. You have to remember to look at the date that the map was published though because some posts or trees are no longer there. A good way to tell where you are is the telegraph poles and the electrical lines because they are usually in the same place.

Easy and Hard bits of orienteering (by Alana)

The easiest parts of orienteering is when you look on the map you use the symbols at the side of the map and before you always start find where you are on the map.

The hardest parts of orienteering is using your sense of direction and people in your group not listening to each other.

Teamwork (by Sam)

Today in orienteering we used a lot of team work. Corey looked at the map and Zeke and me looked for the flags.

S1 Beach Clean

April 2, 2017April 2, 2017Leave a comment

As part of their John Muir Award, which has them discovering, exploring, conserving and sharing local wild places, S1 were out in force this week!

We did an S1 beach clean to make it look cleaner for the public and tourists that come and visit Gairloch. (Alana)

More photos on Flickr

We found loads of small bits of rope that had been washed onto the beach. Although they were tiny, they can still be dangerous for birds, so we got as much as we could. (Ruaraidh)

This will help to save the wildlife that lives on the beach and to keep their habitats clean and healthy (Hannah)

SMART collecting Kelp

March 9, 2017March 9, 2017Leave a comment

The S1 SMART group have been working on the conservation part of their John Muir Award. When they returned to the classroom they shared some of what they had done and the reasons kelp is good for many things! Read some of their work below and view the rest of the photos on Flickr.

Corey Maclennan:

Grant Walton:

Katie Rae:

Sam Frost:

Meghan Dillon:

Ellie Watson:

Kirsty MacDonald:

Ezekiel Balanquit:

Elizabeth Mclachlan:

SMART working at the Community Garden

February 1, 2017February 1, 2017Leave a comment

After an appeal from local shop owner David Carruthers, the S1B SMART class headed out to the local community garden (the “Sitooterie”) to help prepare ground for planting a wildflower garden.

The boys hard at work!

SMART sees pupils working towards their John Muir Award to Discover, Explore, Conserve and Share local wild places. Working on the garden contributes to their conservation and will take place over the next few weeks.