Sanday Community School is at the heart of the island, both geographically and metaphorically. It is a very successful school in a spectacular island setting, working with an extremely supportive community. Sanday is a family-centred community providing a culturally rich and physically safe environment for children and represents, therefore, an ideal setting for a school. The links between the school and the wider community are particularly strong through parents, the community association, the community council and the island development trust and they are manifested in numerous joint projects a few examples of which include musical enterprises, youth projects, community sport and the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.
As part of an all-through school from age 3 to 16, pupils in Sanday learn quickly to be caring, responsible contributors who both formally, through projects like a “Buddy” scheme, and informally develop a truly positive ethos of leadership and mutual support. The total roll of the school fluctuates between 80 and 100 pupils. At age 16, most pupils transfer to Kirkwall Grammar School where they lodge for the week in the Papdale halls of residence.
Small, composite-age classes and an innovative approach to learning and teaching have supported excellent attainment in the school which is consistently well above national averages. Lots of planned, integrated learning opportunities and special projects enable Sanday’s pupils to connect their learning across the curriculum, and develop the skills of collaborative learning to successfully achieve the key outcomes of developing into successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens.
As a School of Ambition, Sanday has been at the leading edge in Orkney of extending learning through partnership and collaboration. The beautifully tranquil, rural setting of the school may suggest an educational backwater – in fact the national recognition Sanday has achieved for its international links, film-making and musical excellence as well as its central involvement in developing ever more effective approaches to learning and teaching make it a modern, forward-looking school, albeit in an idyllic setting.
The school underwent a full inspection by HMIe relatively recently (September 2007). The report was extremely positive and the key strengths of the school were noted as:
• The many examples of high quality learning experiences for pupils, particularly in the secondary department.
• Pupils’ wider achievements within the school community.
• The quality of pastoral care for all pupils and inclusion of pupils with additional support needs.
• Productive partnerships and very effective links with the community of Sanday.
• Strong staff commitment and teamwork and the very positive relationships within the school.
• The leadership of the head teacher in successfully developing shared leadership, and the contributions of the principal teacher.
There are excellent facilities to support learning including a swimming pool, an IT/Media suite, generous playing fields, a school plantation, dedicated art and music rooms, a fully equipped craft workshop and home economics lab, a science lab, a purpose built nursery and a play park. The school is well staffed with a stable and very experienced team of qualified teachers most of whom are resident in Sanday, but two of whom fly in once a week to cover the specialisms of music and home economics.
The school follows the Scottish 5-14 curriculum and post 14 is able to offer a wide range of subjects across the sciences, humanities and expressive arts. Most secondary pupils learn towards eight standard grade outcomes by the end of S4, with some pupils attaining standard grade (especially mathematics) earlier. A lot of store is put by organising innovative, inter disciplinary learning activities at both primary and secondary stages. Recent projects have included mixed-age groups working across the curriculum on gender issues, developing school ethos, poetry and HIV and Aids.
The wider curriculum in Sanday is extensive and vibrant and includes an impressive range of sporting activities (with particular specialism in swimming and fencing), music, drama, technology, the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, film-making and outdoor education. Participation in out-of-hours learning is pretty much universal right through the school. All secondary pupils benefit from an entitlement to a four-year residential trip cycle including a local trip within Orkney/Shetland, an outdoor education trip, a trip to Edinburgh and a trip to France. Staff at the school also recognise the rich learning opportunities presented by the island environment itself and many activities take advantage of this strength.
Some of the school’s special projects recently have included working towards curriculum transformation through Orkney’s Schools of Ambition initiative, the production of an award winning claymation film, “Lights Out!”, a project in partnership with the islands development trust and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama to support instrumental music tuition for all pupils, the development of a school plantation and a very strong partnership (including reciprocal visits by pupils and staff) with Minga secondary school in Malawi.
The school is also the island’s community centre and its facilities are available to and often used by the community. These facilities include high speed internet access and video conference technology. The community dimension also gives the island a profound sense of pride in the school and a feeling of shared ownership which is a treasured support. You will never, for example, see any examples of vandalism at the school and members of the wider community are frequent visitors to support learning. All in all, Sanday’s school provides a safe, child-centred, stimulating environment in which children can learn, without most of the distractions that often disrupt schools in more urban settings.
Sanday Community School web site: www.sanday.orkney.sch.uk
