Our School
Hamnavoe Primary School is situated on the island of Burra. The catchment area for the school is the whole of Burra. The school is non-denominational and caters for pupils of all primary stages. The school has a close relationship with the Burra Playgroup, which provides nursery education for the area, and with Scalloway Junior High School. The current roll of the school is 40.
There are three classes.
- Primary 1/2/3 - 16 pupils
- Primary 4/5/6 - 15 pupils
- Primary 6/7 - 9 pupils
You can learn more about each class, and about staff and the history of the school by selecting from the menu options.
School Aims
- Here at Hamnavoe Primary School we strive to promote high standards of learning and teaching so that all pupils are motivated to realise their potential.
- We aim to provide a happy, ordered and structured environment based on mutual respect and consideration for others.
- We intend to build strong links with parents and local businesses.
Curriculum for Excellence
Our Curriculum is balanced and broad-based and includes the requirements of the National 3-18 Curriculum for Excellence Guidelines (still in implementation stage).
The guidance is structured under the headings of eight curriculum areas: Expressive Arts, Religious and Moral Education, Health and Wellbeing, Sciences, Languages, Mathematics, Social Studies and Technologies.
Social Studies forms part of the curriculum throughout the school and includes a developing awareness of the potential dangers of alcohol, tobacco and drugs, encouraging children to be confident in saying "No!” It also includes Sex Education and Citizenship.
We have individual policies for every curriculum area. These are reviewed and updated regularly.
See Quality and Standards Report on the News Page to read about all the subjects the children experience.
Eco School
The pupils from the School Cooperative proudly showing off the fourth Eco Flag!
The school has achieved its fourth Eco Flag in April 2010! We now have ‘Permanent’ Eco Status. Click on the link Eco Schools for Eco Schools Scotland where you will find our school featured. The site has lots of features including a Pupil's Forum. As part of Eco committments we have two Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSO) in Primary 6. Their job is to promote road safety throughout the school. As part of their duties they will; carry out surveys on how children travel to school, display road safety material on our designated display board, deliver presentations and devise competitions. Read more about JRSOS by clicking on this link JRSO Click on Link to see letter from Mrs Mary Lisk (Eco Assessor) Assessor
Above Litter Project and pupils planting tatties!
Pupils and Parent volunteers weeding the garden in an after school session.
The pupils proudly showing off the home grown tatties and Primary 1s and 2s looking for tadpoles in the school pond! Concrete blocks embedded with shells decorates the pond. These were produced by the children.
Notice the lovely array of daffodils and our compost bins full to the brim with home produced compost used to grow the tatties!
Health Promotion Status
The school has 'Health Promotion Status' and one of the essential elements is its involvement with Active Schools. The children have the opportunity to be engaged in a variety of exciting activities with Active Schools. Click on the link below to find out more. We recently had an Active Day in Bressay Primary School. The children were involved in a variety of activities arranged by Active School. See programme by clicking on the link.
The Voar-Redd-Up April 2010
Every year the whole school takes part in the Voar-Redd-Up. This means that they clear any debri that has been swept in by the sea, or simply blown in by the wind, onto the beaches. They also pick up rubbish from around the village of Hamnavoe.
Visit from Zimbabwe
The children enjoyed a flavour of Zimbabwe when Grass Roots Theatre Group visited the school on Tuesday September 2nd 2008. They experienced the exciting dynamics of Zimbabwean drum, dance and song. 'If you can walk you can dance, if you can talk you can sing' Zimbabwean proverb.
Enterprise in Education
As an Enterprise Project the pupils in P6/7 chose to make 'Reindeer Dust Boxes' (See picture showing display below the Christmas tree).
These beautiful boxes were made from recycled old christmas cards and are fully 'green' as they can be used again for other uses such as sweet or jewellery boxes.
The process involved skills such as; creative writing, collaborative working, design and technology and cost analysis. Placed in each box is a little booklet which has the instructions of how to use the dust.This is in the form of a peerie concertina book. A total of 50 boxes were made and will be sold at the school by the children.
Parent Lorraine Johnson came to the school and helped the children with the construction of the boxes.
Each child then wrote a fantasy story about the Reindeer dust and how it can be used to make dreams come true. These stories will be read out to the Primary 1,2 and 3 children.
The New 3-18 Curriculum for Excellence allows teachers more flexibility to allow pupils greater choice and opportunity to be creative and enterprising. The above is a perfect illustration of this. The purpose of Curriculum for Excellence is to promote a wider sense of achievement. Curriculum for Excellence is firmly focused on the needs of the pupils and is designed to enable them to develop the four capacities. Follow the link to read more: Curriculum for Excellence
Carpet Bowls
The P6/7 are taking part in a 'Carpet Bowls' competition run by John Jarmson. The pupils will paricipate in an after school activity for 4 weeks commencing Tuesday April 20th 2010.
Musical Achievements
We have a lot of taLented musicians here in Hamnavoe. The Primary 4-7 took part in the Music Festival held on March 12th 2010. They achieved a gold and silver award in the choir section. The P6-7s performed in the drumming section and achieved a silver award. Other pupils achieved individual awards in piano solo, flute and clarinet.
