Nesting Primary School gets £5,800 Lottery grant towards pupils’ history project

A Nesting Primary School project has been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund “All Our Stories” grant of £5,800.

“The Thing of Nesting in Nesting Primary School” project, led by pupils and staff, has been awarded the money to create a Viking Thing [ancient parliament] within the school and school grounds, which will capture the stories of the Sons & Daughters of Nesting.

The school is one of the first groups in the UK to receive money from this fund. All Our Stories is a brand new small grant programme, launched earlier this year in support of BBC Two’s The Great British Story, designed as an opportunity for everyone to get involved in their heritage.

The Nesting pupils will work with the local community and Shetland Amenity Trust to create a visual and physical record of the culture and heritage of Nesting. Their school grounds will contain areas relating to trows, Vikings and boat builders, while inside the school a permanent exhibition will capture the Sons & Daughters of Nesting and their impact not only on Shetland culture, but also further afield.

Head teacher Kate Coutts said: “This is a tremendous opportunity to create a project that will capture Nesting’s story and will provide wonderful learning experiences, not just for the pupils but the whole community.

“We hope to create a themed garden that will encourage people to visit our community and learn about our culture and heritage. We are all really excited and can’t wait to get started”.

Television presenter and historian Michael Wood said: “It is really tremendous that the people of Nesting have been inspired to get involved to tell their own story and to dig deeper into their own past.”

Heritage Lottery Fund Scotland head Colin McLean said: “Clearly the success of All Our Stories has reinforced the fact that we are indeed a nation of story tellers and that we want to explore and dig deeper into our past and discover more about what really matters to us.

This is exactly what the grant will do for the ‘Thing of Nesting in Nesting Primary School’ project as they embark on a real journey of discovery.”