Cullivoe school praised for pupils’ dedication to the environment
Primary receives ‘good’ ratings from visiting inspectors
CULLIVOE school in Yell has been given a positive report from visiting inspectors.
The North Isles primary school was rated as “good” for both its learning, teaching and assessment, and for raising attainment and achievement.
There was also praise from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (HMIE) for the pupils’ dedication to the environment and sustainability, which recently saw the school win a national award.
A team of inspectors visited Yell in May of this year, and found that across the primary school children were “polite, friendly and participate well in their learning”.
“They embody the school’s values very well in the school and local community,” inspectors said.
“Children are supported by warm, nurturing and positive relationships with other children and adults.
“Children benefit from extensive opportunities to learn about sustainability. They experience meaningful learning which extends well their environmental knowledge and skills.”
Led effectively by school’s headteacher, HMIE said that “all staff have nurturing relationships with all children” at the Cullivoe primary.
“They know children and families very well, including their individual needs.
“As a result, children feel safe and supported in school and are ready to learn.”
The pupils themselves had contributed to the creation of a class charter, which displays expected behaviours from all at the school, the inspection team found.
They said that the headteacher had consulted with children and parents to regularly update their positive behaviours policy as well, ensuring everyone knew what was expected of them at all times.
“As a result of the very positive relationships and the consistency of approach, all children behave well across the school,” HMIE said.
“Children are motivated to learn and engage well in learning tasks, particularly when they are well-planned, active and linked to children’s interests.”
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And HMIE inspectors found that all across the school – and the wider Cullivoe community – were “strongly committed to the environment and sustainability”.
“Children describe articulately skills they develop when growing and harvesting produce in the polytunnel,” HMIE said.
“They use the food produced in the garden for snacks and meals. Children proudly enter the vegetables grown at the local country fayre.
“All children participate very successfully in several ‘climate action projects’ throughout their time in school.
“This develops very well children’s awareness of environmental issues affecting their local area and beyond.”
As a result of their efforts, HMIE said Cullivoe primary had won “several national awards for their contributions to their local environment”.
The school picked up the sustainability award at the Assist FM awards in June 2026, and was also named sustainable school of the year in 2022.
HMIE said that all children were making “good progress over time”, but added that a few children were “capable of making even better progress”.
It found that too often learning tasks provided were “low-level” and did not “provide enough challenge to meet children’s needs”.
“To help all children make the best possible progress, teachers must now ensure that all children experience high-quality tasks and appropriate challenge in their learning,” inspectors found.
Teachers were asked to improve approaches to planning children’s learning across the curriculum, to ensure that children build on what they already know and can do.
And the school staff were asked to “track more robustly children’s attainment and achievement across all areas of the curriculum”.
HMIE said, however, that it was confident that Cullivoe primary “has the capacity to continue to improve” on its own.
Inspectors will not make any follow-up visits to the school as a result of the inspection, it said.
Shetland Islands Council will inform parents/carers about the school’s progress as part of its arrangements for reporting on the quality of its schools.
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