Isle of Skye School Wins Scottish Education Award With Enterprise Project

15th June 2009

A primary school in the Highlands collected a prestigious accolade at the Scottish Education Awards today (Tuesday 16 June 2009), which is sponsored by the Scottish Government to celebrate success and excellence in Scottish education.

Portree Primary School on the Isle of Skye won the Best Enterprise Award after it was nominated by the island's local radio station, Cuillin FM.

The "De an Diugh" business enterprise was created following a discussion between the Gaelic P6 and P7 pupils and their teacher at Portree Primary School. They identified a gap in the market for age-appropriate Gaelic resources for junior and pre-school children and decided to produce and sell their own song and dance DVD. Their enterprise ran for 14 months and has successfully sold around 400 DVDs, with a profit of approximately £3000.

The pupils took a business-like approach to their enterprise, researching products currently available, investigating what would engage young children and even consulting with a local production company to explore the feasibility of their project.

They initially aimed to raise money towards a new school mini-bus but pupils decided they wanted to support a charity too, so produced a lyric booklet to accompany the DVD, with the profits from the sale going to Children in Need.
As the potential market for the DVD and booklet was wider than Skye, pupils at Portree Primary School decided to extend their distribution network. They designed order forms to ensure efficient distribution, including a refund and replace policy to ensure good customer service.

The pupils also hired professional camera operators, an editor, a choreographer, a music adviser and equipment, arranged photography for the cover and secured the services of a publishing company to design the sleeve. The film premiered at a local theatre where it was played to a packed house.

Keith Brown, Minister for Schools and Skills, said: "Across Scotland our schools have many exciting and innovative initiatives underway, which are all contributing to an enriched learning experience for pupils. It is important that we recognise this hard work and dedication, which is why I'm pleased to congratulate Portree Primary School l for winning the Best Enterprise Award category at the 2009 Scottish Education Awards."

Councillor Drew Millar, Vice Chairman of The Highland Council's Education, Culture and Sport Committee said: "This year's nomination for the best school enterprise reflects the good work being done at the school in terms of supporting the Determined to Succeed and Curriculum for Excellence agendas as well as showcasing the tremendous support the school gets from the local community generally and the business community in particular. The development of the De-an-Duigh enterprise to create a dual disc to help young pupils learn Gaelic songs saw the pupils recognise a gap in the market and then develop a unique, high quality product to fill that gap. Orders for the disc have been sent to all parts of the globe and the feedback received about it has been very positive."

The winners from each category were announced at a glittering awards ceremony in City Halls, Glasgow. All of the successful schools received a trophy, certificate and £1,000 cheque.

People in Highland are thanked for pledging their support to local schools and individuals who have shown great commitment and dedication to pupils and the community.

The Scottish Education Awards, now in their ninth year, showcase local schools and reward the hard work and commitment of all education staff in Scotland, including teachers, head teachers, learning assistants, administrators and janitors. The Scottish Education Awards are open to all publically funded schools, including nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.

For further information on the awards or to register your interest for the Scottish Education Awards 2010 visit http://www.scottisheducationawards.org.uk/CC