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Jobs at Aberdeenshire Council

Head Teacher – Aboyne Primary School and Nursery

Aboyne, the heart of our community

Aboyne is set in an attractive rural location approximately 26 miles west of Aberdeen. The spectacular beauty of the surrounding Royal Deeside area – captivated and popularised by Queen Victoria and her love of nearby Balmoral Castle – is reflected in the charming character of Aboyne village itself.

Aboyne can trace its roots back to 1671, when Charles Gordon, 1^st Earl of Aboyne, founded the village. However, the name Aboyne itself dates back centuries earlier and is derived from “Oboyne”, first recorded in 1260. This in turn was derived from the Gaelic words “abh”, “bo”, and “fionn”, meaning “(place by) white cow river”.

The village and its surroundings are hugely popular with tourists all year round. Outdoor pursuits include golf, walking, cycling, mountain biking trails, kayaking, canoeing and even gliding from the airfield just outside the village.

Primary School

Aboyne Primary School provides education for children aged 3–12, with classes from ante pre-school nursery to Primary 7. The current school roll, including nursery, is 315, served in the primary school in session 2022-23, by 11 classes. Aboyne prides itself on being a fully inclusive learning community: we are proud to be the Community Resource Hub and Enhanced Provision school for the Aboyne Cluster. Our recently redeveloped CRH facility offers bright, modern accommodation for children with severe and complex needs, while also providing opportunities for enhanced provision pupils, who are able to access an enhanced level of resources, such as our state of the art sensory room and life skills area, as well as support for learning staff who have an enhanced level of expertise to meet a range of needs.

Across the school, our vision is to Aim for Academic excellence, wider achievement and personal development for all, at the heart of the community. There is a relentless focus on our values: honesty, respect, responsibility, happiness, achievement and kindness. All of this feeds into our aim for Aboyne Primary School, to work in partnership with pupils, parents, staff and the wider community and other agencies to ensure that every learner can be safe, healthy, active, nurtured, achieving, respected, responsible and included.

Our Nursery

The nursery is led by an Early Years Senior Practitioner and staffed by two Early Years Lead Practitioners and six Early Years Practitioners. The nursery operates full days (8am-6pm) on an all year basis allowing for 1140 hours of provision.

The cluster

The school works closely with other schools in the Aboyne cluster for shared experiences and staff benefit from opportunities for collaborative working across schools. We are fostering ever more close links with Aboyne Academy also, to ensure joined up approaches to learning and transition, as well as support and advice, wherever possible.

The children

Our children are of course at the heart of all we do. Their eloquence, their ability to articulate their thoughts and feelings, their passion for their school consistently shines through, as can be clearly seen in their comments about the school and the person they would like to see leading it.

“I want someone to be Head teacher who will take a lot of interest in what is going on in the classes.”

“Someone who knows that every pupil is different and has their own interests.”

“People learn in different ways and it is important that everyone working in our school understands that.”

“They are nice to pupils and staff and they make people happy when they are upset.”

“I want the Head Teacher to meet everyone’s needs and believe in them.”

“They should have a great imagination to come up with new ideas for the school.”

The Parents

Aboyne Primary School has a very supportive Parent Council who work closely with the Head Teacher and the wider school community.

There is a very strong feeling among the parental body that Aboyne Primary is unique both in its beautifully diverse location and its rare ability to support such a wide variety of needs, both of which provide an abundance of opportunity.

“We hope that our new head teacher will bring creativity and leadership as well as provide a supportive and strong foundation on which our children can thrive.”

“We are looking for a head teacher that is collaborative, open minded and committed to excellence for each and every child.”

“As a rural school, with a wide range of needs, it is important that our head teacher can be adaptive, transparent and nurturing to the community of children, staff and parents. We are looking for someone that is passionate about inclusion and keen to ensure that every single child reaches their fullest potential. “

“Aboyne has the potential to be a school that others look up to with the right leadership and we as parents are committed to supporting the school in making this a reality.”

Moving forward

In January 2023, Education Scotland visited Aboyne Primary School and worked closely with the new Senior Leadership Team to identify areas of development and shape the direction for the next phase of our school improvement journey. Already, robust measures are driving forward that school improvement and significant progress has been made in the weeks and months since publication, with all stakeholders committed to the strive for improvement.

This position offers a perfectly timed opportunity for a talented individual to fulfil the role of Head Teacher at Aboyne Primary School and Nursery. An exciting, hugely promising prospect of leading a dedicated and caring staff, a cohort of children who are ready to soar and a supportive parental community awaits the right candidate. If you believe you have the required skills and experience, we would love to hear from you.

For more information or to discuss this opportunity, please contact  XXXX, Quality Improvement Officer XXXX@aberdeenshire.gov.uk 

To apply click HERE