The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
The oar-inspiring class helping dreams set sail
Not many high school pupils can count building a working boat as one of their school highlights, but Plockton students can.
The innovative Am Bàta project sees pupils work with local boat-builder Mark Stockl to design, build and deliver traditional boats.
It all started in 2007, when the owners of nearby Duncraig House offered to donate a large pile of larch timber to the school.
However, they didn’t want any old project. They wanted something big and meaningful. And from that, Am Bàta was born.
Now 15 years on, it continues to inspire pupils and forge stronger links between the school and the community.
Some pupils choose the course just for the experience. With everything made by hand, it’s a dying art.
For others, it helps to open doors into a range of
different careers. One pupil hopes to apply her boatbuilding skills to make musical instruments.
Another says it will help him pursue his trade as a joiner.
Either way, it’s a unique opportunity, described by tech teacher Neil Jardine as a “privilege”.
Am Bàta is an SVQaccredited course that runs annually at Plockton High School, on the north-west Highland coast.
Working from a special boat shed on the school grounds, Mark Stockl teaches pupils to craft
boats the old-fashioned way, primarily relying on hand tools.
“You spend a lot of time with a chisel, rather than just putting it through a machine,” says pupil Sandy MacInnes.
“I want to be a joiner when I leave school, so I think it will be helpful to practise wood work.”
Mr Jardine says the project delivers a range of skills for the youngsters.
“The whole experience is really useful,” he says. “It’s about time management – meeting customers’ needs and working to deadlines.”
Plockton’s very first boat project now has a new life with Plockton Small Boat Sailing Club.
And their latest creation, Eilidh, was custom-built for a family in Broadford and launched at a community event in September.
The annual boat launch has become a staple in the local calendar.
Neil says the course attracts a broad range of students. Many go into skilled jobs such as joinery and engineering. It’s also popular with pupils attending the National
Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music.
Many of these pupils are academic high-fliers and see Am Bàta as an important part of their cultural heritage.
Pupil Isabel Maclean says it’s an exciting prospect. She hopes to make musical instruments, and has a particular interest in the clarsach, a Celtic harp.
“The makers I’m interested in have all previously been boat builders, and they say you can learn a lot of the skills that you need from boat building,” she says.