Welcome to Dunrossness Primary School! Our school is situated in the South Mainland of Shetland in a rural setting on the east coast of the island. Our catchment area includes the communities of Levenwick, Bigton, Quendale, Boddam and Virkie.
We are fortunate to be set in beautiful countryside with excellent amenities close by. We have wonderful beaches and a variety of places to visit, including Jarlshoff, Old Scatness, Sumburgh Lighthouse, Quendale Mill and many more . There is a rich variety of wildlife to be seen in the local environment, including sea birds, otters and if you are really lucky you may even spot a whale.
The school is non-denominational and caters for pupils from nursery to Primary 7. Our roll at the beginning of this academic year was 95 pupils in primary and 20 in nursery. Secondary education for years S1-4 is provided in Sandwick Junior High School, Sandwick from where pupils transfer for the last two years of secondary education to the Anderson High School in Lerwick. The school has a nursery with provision for up to 30 children in each day, offering the full 1140 hours Early Learning and Childcare. Our nursery is currently staffed with a part-time teacher, a senior practitioner, 2 part-time practitioners, a full time early years support worker and a part-time early years support worker.
There are 4 classes in the primary department; P1/2, P2/3/4, P4/5/6 and P6/7. Additional classroom support is provided by an additional support teacher and three Learning support workers as well as a part-time learning support assistant. Peripatetic specialist teachers in PE, art and music visit all classes every week as do a number of instrumental instructors who teach individual music tuition to pupils from P5-7.
We have a breakfast club that runs every school day and an out of school club that runs each afternoon after school and some days during the school holidays.
Also employed in our school are the head teacher, clerical assistant, playground supervisor, head janitor and four part-time cleaners. School meals are prepared on the premises by our catering staff.
The school has an active Parent Council that meets each term and represents the wider parent body.
Our school has links with local businesses including Ness Engineering, Mainlands Shop and the Sumburgh Hotel.
Hello. I’m Susan Hurd. My son Michael was one of your first pupils. I was there on the day the queen opened your school. Also present, was my father Harry Turner, who was Officer in Charge , at R A F Garthsness. Many happy memories of Quendale, Dunrossness, and beyond. Kind Regards,
Thank you for getting in touch! It is always lovely when families remember us. We recently celebrated our 50 year anniversary. It was so interesting hearing everyone’s reminiscences.
I used to attend this school and it is still my favourite out of all the schools I attended. In my first year, the P4 class was full so I was put into the P3 class. I believe the teacher was called Ms Moss. After that, in P5, I was put into Mrs Hay’s class. The head teacher was Ms Simpson and I think the Primary 7 teacher was also called Ms Simpson. I do not remember all the teachers names, but I hope they are all doing well. I also hope the students are doing who I was with are doing well now as well.
A bit late to reply, and sorry that I don’t know who I am replying to.
Hope you enjoyed your time in my class (Mrs Hay). Just to let you know I am doing great, retired now, but still miss my classes…especially at Christmas 🎄