Sciennes' Boys at Academic Parade

Thank you to parent (and former Sciennes colleague), Greg Dimeck who is now Headteacher at Gracemount Primary School for sending us these lovely photographs. Greg attended an annual Academic Parade on Sunday 30th October at the City Chambers and St Giles Cathedral representing Gracemount with some parents and pupils from his school and sons Ollie and Alfie, looking very smart in their Sciennes uniform in the parade!

The parade, service and civic reception form a traditional event for the city to say a big thank you to educators who make our city so academically successful. Primary schools, colleges and Universities were all represented and the Lord Provost and Director of Children and Families were also present at the event.

Catchment Primary Open Day November 2nd

Sciennes will hold a City of Edinburgh 'Catchment Primary School Open Day' on Wednesday 2nd November 2016  for our new intake of Primary One pupils in August 2017. Pupil led tour slots are available between 9.00am and 11.30am and then again between 1.30pm and 3.00pm.

P1 Registration for August 2017 is next week on Thursday 10th November between 9.30am and 3.30pm.

http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20074/schools/1147/primary_schools_open_day 

Starting Primary School in City of Edinburgh
http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/info/20256/school_places/1372/start_primary_school 

Happy Diwali

Happy Diwali to all our families who are celebrating.

JGHS Open Morning Sat 5th November

James Gillespie's High School is holding an informal Open Morning on Saturday 5th November from 1000 - 1300 to celebrate its official opening last week.

This will be for the local community, families of pupils and staff and for primary pupils, staff and their families to have a look around the new campus.

Callum Skinner, former pupil and Olympic gold and silver medallist in track cycling, will formally open the new fitness suite at 1100 which will be named after him.

There will be refreshments available (soup and home baking) from 1000 - 1200 in the dining centre, and tours around the buildings by Pupil Voice reps.

There will also be photo slideshows and clips from school concerts and shows in the theatre.

The official flyer/poster (above) was designed by S6 pupil Naomi McGuire.

Poppies on Sale from Monday 31st October

P7 pupils will be selling poppies (stick-on rather than pin) from Monday 31st October and will accept any donation amount.

P3 Led Foodbank Harvest Appeal P1-3 Assembly

Thank you to all our families for such generous support of the P3 led whole school Central and North West Edinburgh Foodbank Harvest Appeal. Ewan Walker (Co-founder, Trustee and Operations Manager) gave a presentation to pupils at both the P1-3 and P4-7 Assemblies on Friday 28th October, explaining how the donations will make a real difference to families across Edinburgh.

P3 pupils, their teachers and Ms Anstruther are congratulated on a hugely successful project which allowed all the P3 pupils to plan, lead and organise the whole school event.

 

 Article 27

The right to have a good enough standard of living.

P3 Led Foodbank Appeal WE Scare Hunger Assembly

Sciennes WE Scare Hunger Foodbank Assembly 28.10.2016 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 28th October, Ewan from Edinburgh Central and Northwest Foodbank thanked all the pupils and families for their tremendous generosity in donating non perishable food items in response to the P3 led whole school Harvest Assembly. Ewan explained to the pupils how their donations will make a real difference to families across Edinburgh. P3 pupils, Ms Anstruther, Mr Scott and Mr Reid helped Ewan and his team load up their van at the end of Assemblies.

WE Free the Children is a charity sponsored by the Queen's Trust that we have been working with and the P3 Appeal linked very well with their 'WE Scare Hunger' Halloween Foodbank campaign.


Parent Kirstin Unger contacted us to let us know about the 'Carve A Heart' in a pumpkin campaign for Syria. Families wishing to take part can text HEART to 70060 to donate £3 and can use the hashtag #carveaheart to Tweet their support.



Pupils sang along to a Spanish song "Los Monstruos" suggested by Miss Stewardson and learned a new song about self belief by Will.i.am.






We were delighted to see that even more pupils have taken up the challenge of joining a library and we continue to aim for all our pupils to become library members as part of the First Minister's Reading Passport Challenge.

We shared exciting news that Google Expeditions will visit school on Wednesday 30th November with special Virtual Reality Google Goggles!

P7 will begin selling poppies to classes on Monday 31st October for the next two weeks and will accept any donations offered. (Our poppies have stickers rather than pins.) Mr Howie told everyone about white poppies and explained how money raised in our poppy appeal will help ex-service people, as well as showing that those who lost their lives in war are remembered.

Article 27

The right to have a good enough standard of living.

Carve a Pumpkin for Syria

International children’s charity World Vision is asking people across the country to ditch carving a scary face in their pumpkin this Halloween and carve a heart shape instead.

The charity wants people to  share a photograph of their pumpkins on social media using the #carveaheart hashtag and donate £3 to the charity by texting HEART to 70060.

The money raised will be used by the charity in war-torn Syria where millions of children are growing up knowing nothing but conflict.

Latest estimates show that over 2 million kids are out of school in the country with thousands facing violence, kidnap and malnutrition.

A spokesperson for the charity said the aim is to turn a “night of fear into a night of lasting hope”.

“As children across the UK prepare to head out for a night of ‘fun’ fear on 31 October, millions of children in Syria live in real fear every night of the year,” he said.

“Join us this Halloween to take one simple action. Carve a heart in your pumpkin as a symbol of hope for children living in fear. Then text HEART to 70060 to donate £3 to World Vision’s work, and turn a night of fear into a night of lasting hope.”

http://www.worldvision.org.uk/get-involved/carve-heart

http://thirdforcenews.org.uk/tfn-news/carve-a-pumpkin-for-syria-challenge-launched

P4-7 Foodbank Assembly

P4-7 Foodbank Assembly 14.10.2016 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 14th October Mrs Noble led the P4-7 Assembly and told everyone about the forthcoming P3 led whole school Foodbank Appeal. Our Harvest Assembly will take place on 28th October when representatives from the North West Edinburgh Foodbank will collect donations of non perishable food items.

Ms Owen was congratulated on her seconded appointment to City of Edinburgh's 1+2 Languages team and everyone wished Ms Gaffney well as she begins her maternity leave.

Safe and happy holidays to all our families and we will welcome pupils back to school on TUESDAY 25th OCTOBER.

Ski and Snowboard Instruction in the Highlands

 

http://www.free-ski.co.uk/

Ski and snowboard instruction in the Highlands

Free Ski is a small, friendly business formed around the concept of enjoying winter sports safely.
We work with fully qualified members of British Association of Snowsports Instructors so you can be assured of top quality at all times. We have experience, expertise and enthusiasm; fully committed to giving top quality instruction.
We offer tailor–made ski and snowboard lessons for individuals and groups with competitive prices available on request.
We are based in Aviemore, in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park but are happy to travel.

FREE-SKI Autumn Dry Slope Courses 2016

The popular Pre-Season Dry Slope Sessions will be run by FREE-SKI at Glenmore Lodge.

We are running several courses for various ages and abilities.

Primary School Skiing
November, over 4 x ½ day sessions and is open to primary age children.
Course dates are as follows: 5th/6th, 12th/13th, 19th/20th, 26th/27th
Sessions run 10:00 - 12:00 or 13:00 - 15:00.
Cost £99
Arrival no later than 30 minutes before session time to allow for kit fit up.

Primary School Snowboarding
November, over 4 x ½ day sessions and is open to children over 8.
Course dates are as follows: 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th
Sessions run 10:00 - 12:00.
Cost £99
Arrival no later than 30 minutes before session time to allow for kit fit up.

Pre-School Skiing
November, over 4 x ½ day sessions.
There is only one course available so spaces will be limited.
Course dates are as follows: 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th
Sessions run 10:00 - 12:00.
Cost £99
Arrival no later than 30 minutes before session time to allow for kit fit up.

Adults
November, over 4 x 2 hour sessions and is open to adults.
Course dates are as follows: 10th, 17th, 24th and 1st December
Learn to Ski or Just Ski
Sessions run 19:00 - 21:00.
Cost £80
Arrival no later than 30 minutes before session time to allow for kit fit up.

COMEDY QUIZ NIGHT Fri 28th October 7-9 pm

Posted on October 6, 2016 by jsanthan

 

SCIENNES PARENT COUNCIL is proud to welcome back

A COMEDY QUIZ NIGHT
SCHOOL HALL from 7-9pm

Hosted by our very own Richard Melvin (of the Stand, BBC and hot from the Edinburgh Fringe ) and his dynamic Dads Stuart Sheehan, Ian Hogg and Jack Cadell!

Come and join us for a fun sociable quiz night with drinks and laughter!

Raffle prizes and plenty of surprises.

Bring Your Own Bottle (glasses provided)

Tickets £5 – book now on wisepay

P2/3 AND P6/7 Girls Retain Meadows Autumn Cup!

 

Very well done to all the football teams, including three Sciennes teams, who took part in the Girls' Autumn Cup on a beautiful morning in the Meadows today, Saturday 8th October, and thank you to the many helpers who came along to support.

Lovely news that our P2/3 Girls Team and our P6/7 Girls Team retained the trophies from last year. Congratulations! Thank you to parent Jack Cadell for sharing these super photos.

Christmas Cards - Order by 25th October

Once again Sciennes Parent Council is delighted to offer you the chance to buy unique Christmas Cards! Samples have been sent home this week of your child’s artwork. Please order your child’s Christmas Cards online in Wisepay. Prices start from £6.00 for 12 cards and £1.50 for 16 gift tags. 

Orders will be accepted until NOON on Tuesday 25th October. 

Please ensure you select the correct child’s account to order cards as once the order is placed in Wisepay, no further changes can be made. The Parent Council accepts no responsibility for errors made in the ordering process. 

If your child’s name is misspelled then please order as normal in Wisepay and return your card sample to the Parent Council with the correct spelling. These should be handed in at school reception by Tuesday 25th October. 

We can still accept cash/cheques if you do not have access to a computer. You can still use the on-line payment system by coming into school and accessing Wisepay from a computer in school. Please contact Angela Christie, Business Manager in the first instance. 

No orders will be accepted after above date via Wisepay or manually. 

All profits go to Sciennes Primary Parent Council.

Challenge Yourself! P4-7 Assembly 7.10.16

Sciennes P4-7 Challenge Yourself Assembly 7.10.16 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 7th October we issued the First Minister's Reading Challenge Passports to P4, P5 and P6 and reminded pupils what is involved in the Reading Challenge. P7 pupils have already received their passports and have begun using them.

One of the entries in the Reading Challenge Passport asks pupils to name their local library and librarian and we again encouraged all our pupils to join their local library. There are many free resources to pupils and families through the Library Service via the Overdrive app - eBooks, audiobooks, free Mathetics maths resources and games, language resources. Not signed up yet? A great challenge to complete in the Ocober holiday!

Ms French's Reading Challenge continues to be a great success with many more of her pupils achieving Gold awards for reading 15 books!

We congratulated many pupils on recent achievements and enjoyed a wonderful, confident performance on guitar from Kevin, Riley, Hannah and Eloise.

Our P3 whole school led Harvest Appeal for Foodbank launches next week and the P3 teams are busy organising. A collection will be made on Friday 28th October and ties in with international charity WE Free the Children's 'Scare Hunger' campaign. Free the Children will visit school in December and we are looking forward to welcoming them back again to help us with pupil led social action.

P7 will be at Lagganlia Outdoor Education Centre next week and we watched a video to help us think about how team work, belief and encouragement can help us achieve!




Class Teachers in P4-7 will inform pupils if and how their classes will celebrate Halloween this year.

Free Conflict Resolution training event for Parents and Carers of Teenagers

To access Parent and Carer Programmes, Activities and Groups Booklets in Localities across the city please click in this link and select the area you are looking for   www.edinburgh.gov.uk/pacs

Please also see information below regarding conflict resolution training for parents and carers of teenagers

Recognise, Reflect and Resolve

Free Conflict Resolution training event for Parents and Carers of Teenagers

Wednesday 9^th and 16th  November 2016,

6.30-8.30pm,

Southside Community Centre, 117 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9ER

We are delighted to be able to offer another Conflict Resolution Courses for parents and carers of pre teen and teenagers (11-18 years). Please find attached a posters for the 2 session course. The course which will be delivered by SCCR (Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution) will provide an opportunity to reflect on what it’s like for teenagers growing up and the potential triggers of conflict in families. Discussions will help parents and carers to reflect on the different ways to resolve conflict in different situations.

If you would like to book a space please email me at  jillian.hart@edinburgh.gov.uk or call 07860 736129 and provide a name, contact telephone number and if possible an email address. Participants must be able to attend both sessions.

Kind regards

Helena Reid

October Multi-Sports Holiday