The schools taking part
Aviemore
The awe-inspiring mountains of the Cairngorms form the backdrop to Aviemore Primary School, the main school serving this bustling highland town in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park. This area boasts a wealth of special highland wildlife including important populations of the red squirrel as featured on the school badge. The welcome return of the red kite to this area would add on yet another important native species to the list of abundant wildlife already here.
Avoch
Avoch Primary School is situated in the picturesque fishing village of Avoch on the southern edge of the Black Isle. The name Avoch (pronounced Och) comes from the old Scottish gaelic language and translates as ‘mouth of the stream’, the stream in question being the Killen burn which flows into the Moray Firth here. Red Kites may be seen frequently round these parts, particularly from the A832 which winds its way off the A9 traversing through the villages of Munlochy, Avoch, Fortrose and Rosemarkie before reaching Cromarty on the very tip of the Black Isle.
Beauly
This lively Primary School is situated on the north bank of the river Beauly, serving the village which originally built up around the historic Beauly Priory dating back to 1230. This ‘beautiful place’ was once a key staging post for anyone travelling to the far north and west of Scotland before the Kessock Bridge was built across the Moray Firth. It remains to this day an important route not for human explorers but this time for red kites, which may expand their population westwards in this direction from the Black Isle.
Carrbridge
Carrbridge Primary School sits within the small but lively community of Carrbridge, an historic village nestled within the boundaries of the magnificent Cairngorms National Park. The school logo features the famous ancient packhorse bridge from which this village gains its name, the oldest stone bridge in the highlands, which straddles the river Dulnain. Red kites have occasionally been spotted this far south from their Black Isle heartland.
Culbokie
This brand new school replaced the former in 2007 and serves the growing village of Culbokie, which boasts beautiful views across the Cromarty Firth and the hills of Wester Ross beyond from its enviable position on the north side of the Black Isle. Culbokie Primary School, located 12 miles north of Inverness, features the red kite on its school badge, an indication of just how frequently these graceful birds of prey soar above the playgrounds here.
Daviot
Daviot Primary School is a small primary set in a scenic rural setting within the beautiful Strathnairn valley, just 4 miles south of Inverness off the A9. The placename Daviot is Pictish in origin deriving from the word Deveth meaning ‘sure or strong’. Red kites are occasionally spotted roaming in this area and as the placename suggests, this spot with its mosaic of open fields and woodland could well become an important stronghold for red kites in the future.
Dingwall
Dingwall Primary School is located in an attractive woodland setting to the north of the Burgh of Dingwall, a busy market town 15 miles north west of Inverness dominated by the green sloped mountain, Ben Wyvis. Red kites are a familiar sight out of the classroom windows here, spending much of their time quartering the fertile valley linking Dingwall to Strathpeffer.
Farr
The small Primary School of Farr is set in the tranquil surroundings of the Strathnairn valley a mere 9 miles south west of Inverness and tucked off the A9 on the quiet Fort Augustus road. The attractive scenery of this valley is wedged between Scotland’s best known loch and the Monahdliath mountains and features many hidden wildlife delights not to mention ancient stories amongst a landscape of rocky hills, lochs and woodland. Red kites are occasionally seen in this area, which lies to the south west of Daviot.
Grantown
The popular and charming tourist base of Grantown on Spey is the capital of Strathspey and home to Grantown Primary School, 14 miles north of Aviemore. Ancient woodlands abundant in wildlife surround this town and the famous River Spey courses through it, in doing so connecting it with the wider villages and landscapes of the Cairngorms National Park of which it is an integral part. Adventurous red kites from the recently reintroduced Aberdeen population have been spotted out and about in Grantown on Spey. This could prove to be an important meeting place for members of the Black Isle and Aberdeen populations in the future.
Merkinch
Merkinch is a long established school operating since 1876 in the city of Inverness itself, bounded on one side by the River Ness and the Caledonian Canal on the other. This is one of the city’s oldest areas, historically being home to Inverness’s shipbuilding industry and close to the site of the old Kessock ferry, an integral link to the north in the days before the Kessock bridge spanned the Moray Firth. Nowadays, the Merkinch area has its very own Local Nature Reserve, a hidden oasis in the heart of Inverness featuring a diverse set of habitats including reed beds, bog, salt marsh and scrub and woodland. Ospreys are occasional visitors to this part of the city and it is hoped that red kites may be another bird of prey to be enticed back to a city way of life in the years to come.