Council / Safety of pupils ‘of paramount importance’ during Dunrossness term-time demolition works
SIC says project will ‘accelerate overall refurbishment’ of school
CONTROVERSIAL demolition work at Dunrossness Primary School will start in January to “accelerate the overall refurbishment” of the school, Shetland Islands Council has said.
Parents from the school expressed their anger on Tuesday afternoon at news that the council will demolish two ‘temporary’ huts – built in the 1970s – during term-time.
One parent has said they will keep their three children, one of whom has high-level additional support needs, off school if works go ahead due to fears about noise, disruption and safety.
And another group of parents started a petition calling for wide-scale changes to Shetland’s education system, which they have said is negatively impacting their children’s futures.
Concerns have been raised with Shetland Islands Council about heavy machinery operating next to classrooms, and about the impact that noise, dust and traffic could have on pupils.
However SIC learning estate manager Neil Beattie, in a written statement provided to Shetland News, said they wanted to reassure parents that the safety of pupils was “of paramount importance”.
Construction work will begin a week later than originally planned – on Monday 12 January 2026 – to allow for some more preparation time, Beattie said.
“We understand some parents would have preferred the demolition to take place entirely during the school holidays,” he said.
“Beginning this first phase earlier will help accelerate the overall refurbishment programme for the school.
“The contractor has extensive experience working on live school sites, and the arrangements in place are specifically designed to minimise disruption and to ensure pupil and public safety at all times.”
Beattie said the working area will be “completely sealed off from the school” with fencing at a minimum height of 2.4 metres.
And deliveries of plant and materials will “avoid school pick-up and drop-off times by at least 15 minutes, as agreed with the school”.
However, the learning estate manager admitted that “some noise is unavoidable”.
“The temporary units are lightweight structures and will be dismantled rather than mechanically demolished, which significantly reduces impact,” Beattie said.
“Any particularly noisy activity will be scheduled outside school hours wherever possible.
“The contractor’s working hours will be 8am–6pm on weekdays, and 8am–4pm on weekends.”
Beattie added that a full update on the work has been shared with parents, carers and staff, and said anyone with any concerns should contact the SIC directly.
Parents at Dunrossness reacted strongly to the news that work on demolishing two temporary buildings was set to start in early January, when children returned from the Christmas break.
One parent told Shetland News they had been given assurances previously that the work would be carried out during the school holidays.
Another wrote on social media that parents have had enough after the news of the Dunrossness demolition, and that there were “very strong feelings across Shetland on da state of wir bairns’ education”.
“This has been a particularly difficult term for wis at Dunrossness and new information ower da past few days has tipped a lot o’ wis intae fury and disbelief so we’ve decided tae setup a public petition,” she wrote.
A statement of concern was also shared by the Dunrossness Primary School parent forum, who said they “should not have to fight the local authority on this”.
“It is exhausting, it detracts from other ways our energy and commitment could be used and, ultimately, the local authority is here to serve communities and has a duty to consult with us.”
They said they had spent the last 14 months flagging concerns related to the demolition of the huts.
“We no longer feel able to say nothing and keep the matter private,” the parent forum said.
“It has been exhausting and deeply saddening to watch standards slipping in a school that so many of us care about”.
A petition calling for a total overhaul of Shetland’s education system wrote that teachers were being “stretched to breaking point” and that students were “not receiving the attention and resources they need to thrive”.
You can view the petition, which has over 160 signatures, here.
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