School Trips Supported by Cooke Scotland

31 pupils and three teachers joined the crew on board for three days of sailing around the westside coastline. This ongoing, valuable, support from Cooke has enabled around 200 school pupils to take part in day sail experiences over the past 5 years.

The on-board experience is something that cannot be replicated in a classroom and is valued by those taking part. This is understood by school staff, with Head Teacher, Michael Spence commenting "Despite residing in Shetland, some pupils have never set foot on a vessel. The Swan, a heritage boat, serves as an educational platform where students can grasp the essence of working and sailing on a traditional fishing vessel. The wealth of knowledge and experience gained in such an environment is invaluable. Our aim is to challenge students beyond their comfort zones, fostering the development of crucial skills like teamwork, communication, and confidence."

The pupils themselves provide excellent feedback on their experience.

"I enjoyed Steering the boat, and the views. The rope parts where fun as well.
I felt we worked well as a team, and learned a lot about sailing boats. Overall it was a very fun experience that I would love to do again. I would love to be a sail trainee when I turn 15."

"I enjoyed working as a team to sail the Swan. I feel it has opened new potential carer options for me I learnt about the history of the Swan. I found it had an interesting past it made me feel interested in the Swan as a whole. I liked the manual feel of the Swan and it wasn’t all machinery. It made me think how it would have felt in 1900 when it was first built and how people would have fished on it. I also enjoyed being just out for the day on a boat like the Swan I find the tall ships interesting as it is not something you get to do every day."

"It was great experiencing something completely different then a normal school day and a chance to socialise with Swan crew members and schoolmates I don’t have many classes with.
The two things I enjoyed most was learning about different facts about Swan and helming. This trip made many of us consider applying for Tallship races, my brother did the Tallship races and he said it was the best thing ever.”

"It was fun and cool because I have never been on the swan before. I enjoyed sailing and looking at the sea. Learning how to put sails and masts was fun too. It was also something I would usually not do so it was a nice change."

"I enjoyed taking part in sailing the boat and getting a shot steering the boat. I also liked how they made sure everyone got to take part in something and we were all kept busy, they always had jobs for us to do. We learned about the history of the Swan like how old it is and where it was built and it made me feel glad that I took the opportunity to go on it."