The alpacas will form a huge part of the guidance and wellbeing initiatives at the school over the summer, especially for our pupils taking part in exams. They also provide children from across the school with the opportunity to learn more about caring for and respecting animals.
We have sought advice from the SSPCA to ensure the best interests of the animals are met and several staff have been on an introduction to alpaca keeping course. We understand that Robert, Paul and Odin will be popular additions to the school campus and whilst we welcome visitors to their enclosure, we ask that the following rules are adhered to:
- Please do not feed the alpacas – they have a carefully planned diet and are well fed with appropriate food. Feeding them extra snacks could cause them to become unwell.
- Please remember these are very calm creatures so try to stay nice and quiet around their enclosure.
- Please do not drop litter near them. We make regular checks, but we do not want anything blowing into their enclosure.
Many other community groups benefited from spending time with the alpacas last year, and we hope to build upon our community offering this summer. Pupils from Seamab School visited last year and built special memories, and we had the Primary 7 pupils at Strathdevon take part in alpaca trekking. The Dollar Scouts came along to learn more about the welfare of the animals and also loved every second of their time walking with them, and our friends from Ukraine also developed new vocabulary and gained in confidence from the conversations that took place around handling the alpacas.
Please do make time to visit Paul, Odin and Robert and enjoy watching these amazing, curious animals.
