Our Achievements – Bowmore Primary School
At Bowmore Primary School, we are proud of the achievements of our pupils, staff and wider community. Our awards reflect our commitment to high-quality learning experiences, strong partnerships and a values-led approach grounded in Ambition, Creativity and Equity.
We ensure children’s rights are at the heart of all we do, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly the right to a quality education (Article 28) and to develop talents and abilities to their full potential (Article 29).
These achievements reflect our commitment to providing high-quality learning experiences within a supportive and inclusive environment. We are proud of what we have achieved together and look forward to continuing our journey as a learning community.
OCTNE Award (Gold) – November 2025
We are proud to have achieved the Gold Award in Our Children, Their Nurturing Education (OCTNE).
OCTNE is an Argyll and Bute framework which supports schools to develop a whole-school nurturing approach, placing relationships, wellbeing and inclusion at the heart of learning.
Through our work in this area, we have demonstrated:
- Equity – ensuring all children are supported, understood and included
- Ambition – striving to meet the needs of every learner and remove barriers to success
- Creativity – developing nurturing approaches that support wellbeing, engagement and achievement
This award recognises our commitment to creating a school where:
- Positive relationships underpin learning
- Children feel safe, valued and ready to learn
- Staff understand and respond to individual needs
Our nurturing approach supports children’s rights, particularly the right to wellbeing, support and education, helping every child to grow, develop and achieve their full potential.
Rights Respecting Schools Award (Silver) – May 2025
We are delighted to have achieved our Silver: Rights Aware Award. This recognises our work to embed children’s rights across the life of the school.
Children understand their rights and are developing the confidence to use their voice, contribute to decisions and support others. This helps ensure all learners feel safe, respected and included.
Reading Schools Award (Silver) – August 2025
Our Silver Reading Schools Award reflects our growing reading culture across the school.
Children are supported to develop a love of reading through choice, discussion and access to a wide range of texts, helping to build confidence, enjoyment and lifelong reading habits.
Social Enterprise Award 2024
We took part in a Dragons Den activity and got a Social Enterprise award.
STEM Nation Award – 2021
We are extremely proud to have achieved the full STEM Nation Award from Education Scotland.
After submitting a detailed portfolio and taking part in interviews, we were awarded all five categories. We were recognised for:
- “the inspiring breadth and depth of learning covering all aspects of STEM”
- creating “rich, engaging and varied experiences of STEM for learners”
- developing “strong and diverse partnerships on the island and beyond”
At Bowmore Primary, we are passionate about STEM and continue to provide engaging, real-life learning experiences that develop curiosity, creativity and problem-solving.
Digital Schools Award – June 2021
This award recognises our effective use of digital technology to enhance learning and teaching.
Children use digital tools to support creativity, collaboration and skill development, preparing them for learning, life and work.
MATHS INSIDE PHOTO COMPETITION 2021
Congratulations to Lola Mackenzie who was awarded the first level prize for the oot an’ aboot category in the Inside Competition. When out on a bear hunt, Lola noted that the grass was so tall, it was taller than her!
We investigated maths in the world around us as we took part in the Maths Inside Competition. We spotted lots of examples of maths in the world around us and we photographed and talked about these examples. Bowmore Primary was commended for it’s high level of participation in the competition.
ECO SCHOOLS AWARD 2020
In March 2020, just at the start of the first Lockdown, we received the fantastic news that we had retained our Green Flag status! Our chosen topics, identified after our Environmental Review, were Litter, School Grounds and Global Citizenship. Our Eco Change Maker group were the drivers behind our Eco journey but it was our whole school approach that was highlighted as being extremely impressive. Eco-Schools Scotland said that it had been a real pleasure to go through our application and to learn about all the fantastic work that had been taking place during the past years in Bowmore Primary School. It was said that we were a very active and involved school which showed a great example of what being an Eco-School really means.
ROBOTICS FUNDING 2020
We are so excited to have been successful at securing The Digital Xtra Grant. The money received will be purchasing robotics equipment for Islay and Jura schools. Through teaching robotics, our children will learn to create algorithms, apply their maths skills, problem solve, use their intiative, collaborate, tinker with new and fun equipment and much more!
Our Creative Coder boxes are ready to be used by all schools across the cluster.
PRIMARY SCIENCE TEACHING TRUST CONFERENCE- PLASTICS 2020
Our whole school focused on a plastics topic to increase our understanding of plastic pollution, we worked alongside Port Ellen Primary School on this topic. We conducted numerous beach cleans, collected data and shared this data with others. We also discussed how we, as a school could reduce plastic waste and we encouraged everyone to use a reusable water bottle and to recycle their plastic.
Following the success of our topic, we were invited to Edinburgh to present our findings at the Primary Science Teaching Trust Conference. Three children represented our school, they spoke confidently and informatively about plastic pollution and they presented the data that they had collected from across our island.
