Moray and Banffshire Heroes: Local community is at the heart of Findochty Primary School’s values
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This winners of the inaugural Primary School of the Year award were Findochty Primary School which has a current role of 58 pupils and 20 preschool children attend the nursery.
Having a big vision and set of values that encourage acts of kindness was central to Findochty Primary School being shortlisted for the award which was presented for the first time this year.
Headteacher Dawn Thomson said: “We do our best to put the local community at the heart of what we do. Our pupils enjoy making Christmas cards or leaving flowers on the doorsteps of the older members of our community so that they feel cared for and know that even if their families live far away, they are in our thoughts.”
On the award she continued: “Before the pandemic, we used to have lots of village elders come in to read, craft or play games with the children and we’re beginning to rebuild those connections now.I'm so proud of all the pupils and the community so I'm really really proud of the award. This acknowledges everything that they do. We may be a small school but we pack a big punch. They're very caring and they think about everyone in their community and they want to do the best for everyone. We do it for the children but we're a team and we're a family so this is for everybody's efforts and it's everybody's award.”
Dawn has been leading Findochty Primary School for 12 years and was originally acting head teacher before taking over the permanent role in 2014: “Whilst completing my teacher training I came to Findochty Primary School for my work experience placement, so it was a real joy to complete the full circle and return here many years later as head teacher.”
