Stromness Primary School Nursery was inspected in Sept 2024 and received 5 stars / very good across the broad!
In evaluating quality, the Care Inspectorate use a six point scale where 1 is unsatisfactory and 6 is excellent: This is how we scored….
How good is our care, play and learning? 5 – Very Good How good is our setting? 5 – Very Good How good is our leadership? 5 – Very Good How good is our staff team? 5 – Very Good
Key Messages from the report:
Children were very well nurtured and supported through their daily experience by kind and caring staff.
Staff’s understanding of child development, differing learning approaches and children’s right to play supported the provision of high-quality experiences.
Children benefitted from a very good range of open ended, natural child centred resources, enabling them to explore their creativity, imagination and problem solving skills.
Children’s play and learning was enhanced through strong connections to the wider community.
Playrooms were homely and fostered a welcoming atmosphere for the children.
The manager encouraged and motivated everyone involved in the nursery to feel confident in initiating changes.
A shared vision across the nursery created an inclusive ethos.
Children benefitted from a happy, caring and committed staff team who knew them well and were passionate about providing high quality care and support.
Nursery Manager Caroline Easton said “The staff are very proud of our setting and always strive to provide high quality ELCC”.
OIC Education Committee expressed “their appreciation to the staff team and manager at Stromness Nursery and their praise for such an outstanding inspection report. They are delighted that the children are having such a high-quality experience”.
It’s a privilege to introduce myself as the headteacher of Stromness Primary School. Our fantastic team are committed to the children and community of Stromness, where we welcome children from Primary 1 to Primary 7.
At Stromness Primary our children are treated as individuals and are valued and supported to be the best that they can be. Our children are encouraged to become confident and independent young people, who thrive on challenge and are motivated to learn. We support and encourage our children to be independent and take responsibility for their learning and behaviour, whilst also having an important role in our wider school and community.
We are located in a beautiful and bright, modern building which overlooks the beautiful Stromness harbour. All of our classrooms have fabulous views of the sea, which complement our commitment to providing our pupils with a rich and varied curriculum, which reflects our Orkney heritage.
I am extremely proud to lead a team who are committed to children’s well-being and who strive to provide the very best opportunities for all in our care. Our staff team work hard to prepare our children for their future in education, through to their world of work. We aim to help them acquire the skills and enthusiasm needed to embrace the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. We also try to ensure that we all have fun along the way!
To find out about our school, we encourage you to come and visit, to see us in action and meet staff and children. A call to the school office on 01856 850544 is all that is needed to arrange this.
We look forward to welcoming you to our school, and to a happy and successful partnership with all our new children and families.
Mrs Bruce, Acting Head for Stromness Primary School, had a chat with Dan Lee, chair of the Parent Council, about how she got here, her thoughts on the school, its links with the community and congas in assembly.
Mrs Bruce
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I have taught all my teaching career at Papdale Primary School in Kirkwall, starting off as a class teacher. I never thought about moving up the promotion ladder, however from class teacher I eventually became the Head Teacher for 15 years! Then I took early retirement, but wanted to get back into the classroom, so have taught in class and support for learning teaching almost full time since then. This year I was asked if I would consider being Acting Head at Stromness Primary School. I had a think and thought why not, I’m not ready to fully retire just yet! I came for visits in June, met the staff and children, and thought this would be a good experience. So that’s how I got here.
What are your impressions of the school and town?
Well, as a former Stromness Academy pupil myself, I felt I knew Stromness quite well, with fond memories of my time here. So I had a wee bit of knowledge about the town, but not of the school until I visited, and WOW! Its in such a perfect location, overlooking the town. It’s a relatively new build, and quite stunning in fact; the layout of the school for the children, the classrooms and the space making it a great learning environment. The potential for outdoor education is great too.
I really like how friendly everybody is – children, staff and parents. I’ve been made most welcome. I’m also meeting parents who happen to be children of people I went to school with or should I say grandchildren! So that’s been lovely. I really enjoy working with the children, for example having time at assembly with them and trying to have a wee bit of fun and enjoyment as well, I think that is important for the children. We’ve even done the conga at assembly after the children have been sitting listening for a time – we need a bit of activity! Much to the amusement of some of the staff I think.
How important are the links between the school and community?
These links are quite key to the benefit of the school, which holds the future of the community. The community feel is very positive, particularly links with parents. I’ve enjoyed meeting parents in the mornings as they come in and at other times too. That’s been so nice. It’s a chance for them to come and speak if they want to or just a wave and hello. I would like them to feel that I am approachable and happy to talk regardless of what it’s about.
I recently attended the Parent Council AGM and was impressed with how dynamic and active they are. At the heart is this desire to help the school, which is such an important link. I think it’s important to reach out to and be involved with the various organisations and businesses in the community, whenever possible such as Stromness Museum and the Pier Arts Centre, which we are very fortunate to have on our doorstep and some of the renewables industry, such as EMEC. There are a lot of resources out there in the community whose input can be so valuable. It’s great to foster these links for the benefit of the children.
Parent Council
If you could choose one word to describe Stromness Primary what would it be?
One word would be inspirational, but it’s also vibrant, energised, there’s a buzz here, a feeling of positivity. All schools have challenges, and here folk want to overcome them, and they do pulling together. There is a can-do-attitude with children and staff working together. So more than one word!
A warm welcome back to everyone at the start of the new school session 2023/24 and an especially warm welcome to our new Primary 1 children beginning their primary school years.
I am pleased to be here at your school as Acting Head Teacher and look forward to getting to know and working with the children and staff, as well as yourselves.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or would like to speak to me.
Welcome to the new Stromness Primary School website! We hope you enjoy exploring and find the information you require. We will update the main pages when required with new information and post updates on the news page. Seesaw will remain the usual day-to-day contact for teachers and parents.
Please get in touch if you have any feedback on the new website!
