Children ‘thriving’ at Fair Isle school, ‘tremendous’ report finds

ONE OF Shetland’s smallest schools has been given a “tremendous” report by inspectors following a visit in September.

His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland (HMIE) inspectors travelled across to Fair Isle to talk to school staff, pupils and with parents/carers about the settings.

The team found a number of positives at both Fair Isle primary school and pre-school, awarding both one “excellent” and one “very good rating” each.

Inspectors said that both the primary school and pre-school were “excellent” at ensuring the wellbeing, equality and inclusion of its pupils, and rated them as “very good” for their learning, teaching and assessment.

Currently there are five pupils on the primary school roll, and one child in the pre-school.

The inspection team found there were “very strong, positive, nurturing relationships” between all the staff and children, and that pupils were “thriving” as a result.

“They feel understood, valued and very well supported,” inspectors found.

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Children “demonstrate a rich knowledge of their island environment, culture and heritage”, inspectors said, adding there were “outstanding collaborative approaches to working with the island community”.

“All children benefit greatly from authentic and purposeful learning experiences across highly engaging contexts and projects.

“Their learning is extended further through well-considered partnerships staff develop across Shetland, Scotland and internationally.”

HMIE found that across both the school and nursery “all children achieve outcomes of a very high quality”.

“Supporting children’s wellbeing during times of transition is an outstanding feature of the school’s work,” it added.

One area for improvement was identified, which was for the Fair Isle primary school headteacher to continue to design and embed high-quality approaches.

Shetland Islands Council’s education and families committee chairman Davie Sandison called it a “tremendous report”.

“I am very impressed at the achievement of an excellent grade, which is a much sought after accolade,” he said. “Inspectors made very positive comments around the school’s relationship with its community, and I’m particularly pleased to see they highlighted the support given to children during times of transition.

“Well done to everyone involved.”

Inspectors said they were confident that the school has the capacity to continue to improve and no more visits will be made in connection with the inspection.