P6 Benmore - Thank You

 

Thank You

Thank you from all of us to all our P6 families for working with us to provide the children with such a memorable, beneficial residential trip together to Benmore Outdoor Education Centre. It was a genuine pleasure to escort 91 tremendously positive, caring and well behaved pupils and we all thoroughly enjoyed their company and conversation. We hope you notice at home how well they can do household chores and keep their rooms tidy, because all scored very highly in daily dorm inspections! It was wonderful to witness P6s extend friendships and make lasting bonds with each other, as well as with the staff. Everyone managed to take on many new challenges throughout the week and supported one another with patience and kindness.

The Sciennes staff also gave it their all and sustained the 24/5 duty by working very closely as a team. We took lots of photographs but always struggle with trying to get a signal and with very slow upload speeds. However, we hope you enjoyed the updates and we will continue to publish more photos on our Benmore blog in due course.

Thank you to P6 teachers Mrs Maguire, Ms Gaffney, Ms Sellar and Mr McKenna for devoting their time, energy and above all care to their children. Mrs Cave has enjoyed keeping up to date with all the adventures back at home. Mrs Maguire knows the year group extremely well and all five P6 teachers have been highly effective in preparing the children for the trip and making sure all the pupils had the best possible experience.

It was wonderful to have seasoned camper, Ms Anstruther, on the team and she was superbly supportive of all the children day and night. Grateful thanks to the entire team and also to the extended team back at Sciennes, particularly Mrs Noble, Ms Christie and Mrs Ellis who have an even busier week than usual without us. Mr Scott and Mr Reid also deserve a thank you for helping us get safely on and off the coaches.

We are indebted to all the magnificent staff at Benmore who go out of their way to make our stay with them as comfortable as it can possibly be, always going the extra mile to accommodate our needs, and for the great skill, expertise and dedication of the Instructors. We consider them not only trusted, respected colleagues, but also our dear friends.

All pupils who took part this week will receive the 'Adventure' certificate; one quarter of the way towards full JASS Bronze award accreditation, and a Benmore Certificate.

Thank you to Mrs Nowell and all the staff back at school who ensured that the six pupils who remained also had an enjoyable and interesting week.

Thank you most sincerely to all the families who support us, not least of all financially, in providing what we believe to be an invaluable educational opportunity for our children.

We hope you have a wonderful holiday and we look forward to building on the success of the trip. Well done, Primary Six!
Ms Gallagher

Group One

Group Two

Group Three

Group Four

Group Five

Group Six

Group Seven

Group Eight

Group Nine

Playground Officially Opened! - A Message of Thanks from our Headteacher

Official Playground Opening Ceremony

Youngest pupil David and oldest pupil Liza with David Ewart, SportScotland and Alison Noble, Headteacher

Thank you to everyone who came along on Saturday 31stOctober 2015 to mark the Official Opening Ceremony of our amazing new Playground. Many thanks to piper and drummer who provided us all with a warm welcome, lending to the sense of occasion. Liza, the eldest pupil, and David, the youngest, performed their honorary duties superbly by cutting our official ribbon. It was an absolute pleasure to be able to give my sincere thanks in public to the parents, children and members of the community who have devoted so much of their time, commitment and resources. Together we believed and together we achieved, raising a truly extraordinary sum to turn playground visions into reality for all our children. 

We are grateful to the parents who worked so hard on submitting funding applications, enabling us to secure match funding from SportScotland through the Commonwealth Legacy Fund. David Ewart, from SportScotland, presented us with a plaque to mark our achievement in creating such a magnificent active space together, as a singly united community. We all enjoyed delicious cake and thankfully the rain didn’t arrive until we were leaving!

Establishing a natural environment which provides endless opportunities for activity and creativity was key to the vision developed by parents and school and it has been an absolute joy to witness that vision come to fruition. The playground supervisors and Senior Leadership Team have noticed a remarkable improvement in the quality of play and behaviour at playtimes. Our accident statistics have dropped and while previously we used to have several children who regularly visited the Care Zone just for some TLC, there has not been one child since August.

The playground has been timetabled for curriculum activities and the Class Teachers are greatly enthused by the opportunities our new area has provided. Fiona Sellar, Class Teacher and Outdoor Learning Coordinator, has inspired all the staff with her presentation on how the play area will support, enhance and enrich learning.

We have been using the strip of land across the road for curriculum activities but recently gave access to the area at lunchtime for play. It is offering a superb space for running, jumping, climbing, building and great teamwork.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the members of the Parent Council Playground Group, who volunteered almost three years ago to support playground improvement. Following a parent survey, the playground was identified as an area causing concern and a priority for action. An exceptional group of people offered their time, skills, talents, knowledge and valuable support, encouragement and kindness to support improvement. At times, as Headteacher, I have felt overwhelmed by their thoughtfulness and dedication. They spent a huge amount of their personal time, in addition to their busy family and work commitments, to help create and develop a shared vision for our playground. The vision has now become a reality and is a true reflection of powerful parental and community engagement to improve the learning outcomes and experiences for the current and future children at Sciennes and in the community. 

The generosity, kindness and thoughtfulness of so many companies, individuals, parents and families have been tremendously valued and appreciated. Particular thanks to Stephen Mozier from Grounds for Learning, Louise Caldwell City of Edinburgh's Play Development Officer, Margaret Westwood Chair of International Play Association Scotland,  Savills and the Grange Association. My most sincere and heartfelt thanks to everyone who has given their support to this vitally important initiative. There is still more to do and the Playground Group will be meeting again soon to take forward our next steps. Parents and carers will be most welcome to come along and support. 

Thank you to Chris Hill for providing us with these photographs of the opening ceremony. We hope you enjoy the photographs that will be posted regularly showing our children having fun and learning. 

Alison Noble, Headteacher 

 

 

Thank you to Business Manager Angela Christie, who has been a driving force in delivering our playground vision

P4-7 One World Week Assembly 25.10.15

On Friday 25th October at P4-7 Assembly we marked One World Week by sharing how our P3 pupils have successfully led a whole school project with Mercy Corps to change 'Hope into Action.'

Sciennes P4-7 One World Week Assembly 25.10.15 from SciennesPS

To date, the P3 Harvest Appeal has raised a fantastic £2100 which will provide SEVEN PLAYGROUNDS in Syrian refugee camps.

Together, we thought about Article 31: All children have a right to play and thanked everyone for their generous donations.



We looked forward to the opening of our new wildlife garden/corridor/strip on Monday 26th October and have asked pupils to give us their ideas for a name for this exciting new area for outdoor learning which will be available between 12.50pm and 1.15pm Monday to Thursday. Only one gate will be used with the adults who will escort and supervise and pupils were reminded that they must visit the toilet before going across.

We will officially open Sciennes' Playground with a ceremony on Saturday 31st October 11.00am - 12.30pm.

The Eco Group gave a presentation about their House Pine Cone competition. They weighed all the collections from each class and announced that Lauder is the winning House. Lauder will have an extra playtime as a reward for all their efforts in collecting cones for the new playground area.

Mr Howie explained the significance of our Poppy Appeal. Donations will be accepted for poppies from next week. P7 pupils will man a stall outside the Hall in the morning and at breaks.

Everyone was introduced to our new P7 House and Sports Captains. They take on these roles alongside the rest of our P7 leaders who are all Prefects within school.

Grange – Lewis, Lily, Chiara, Yash

Lauder – Joanne, Saul, Archie, Lena

Sienna – Ammar, Esther, Milenka, Luke,  

Tantallon – Holly, Shawn, Rose, Matthew C

Bangholm Outdoor Learning Holiday Activities

See Bangholm's Easter 2015 Brochure for details of activities:

• Canoeing & Kayaking
• Multi-Activity Days
• Mountain Biking
• Climbing
• Cycling
• Hill Walking

BOOK ONLINE:
https://www.joininedinburgh.org/Sports-Unit/ 

City of Edinburgh's Sports and Outdoor Learning Unit has a full programme of outdoor and adventurous activities taking place this Easter in the city.  The programme is open to pupils from P6 – S4 and most sessions run from 10am – 4pm.
You can book individual days or a week-long progressive programme.  You may also be able to work towards outdoor skills awards.
Come and join us for an Easter adventure!
Full details of dates, pricing and how to book are available on www.joininedinburgh.org/Sports-Unit.
If you need additional information please contact Lynne Crawford on Lynne.Crawford@edinburgh.gov.uk

Solar Eclipse in the Meadows and Playground

All twelve P4-7 classes set off to the Meadows to experience the partial solar eclipse on Friday 20th March, armed with safety instructions, pinhole viewers of various designs and some colanders. It was great to be joined by so many parents. P1-3 experienced the eclipse in the playground and it was a memorable whole school event. Mr Mark McKenna kindly provided a practical demonstration of the Science behind the eclipse at the P4-7 Assembly, assisted by P7 pupil Zoe.

Now for the Science bit... thanks Mr McKenna!

Mr McKenna's practical demonstrations helped pupils to understand today's eclipse

Mr McKenna answered the question "How can the much smaller moon blot out the sun?"

Pupils closed one eye and then looked at a fingernail to see if it could blot out a basketball hoop.

‘LOOSE PARTS PLAY’ OUTDOOR LEARNING HAS ARRIVED AT SCIENNES!

Update from Kirsten Unger, Playground Group:
What is 'Loose Parts Play'? More open-ended play in the school. Loose parts are materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. They help inspire imagination, problem solving and creativity in play, on children’s own terms and in their own unique way. 

On Friday 6th March we were fortunate to have Steve Moizer, from Grounds for Learning to train the Pupil Support Assistants and meet with the School’s Senior Management Team to give us the best possible start to loose parts play. From March 9th-12th Louise Caldwell,  Play Development Officer, Edinburgh is in school to work with individual teachers and classes using loose parts. 

Parents were able to hear more from Steve Moizer on Friday 6th March and if you want to be actively involved in supporting the ‘Loose parts’ initiative please get in touch. 

Bamboo? Biophilia: Plants make us feel good. We have created some living play spaces, bringing some sensory richness and fun. It has been achieved through generous donations from Jewsons, Homebase, The Range, Morrisons, friends of pupils, skip scavenging, the Council and help from the school budget. If you have ideas or want to donate large pots/soil/plants, please let us know. 
Contact: kirstin_macunger@yahoo.co.uk


Joyful scenes in the playground this week during 'Loose Parts' Outdoor Learning with Louise Caldwell, City of Edinburgh Play Development Officer, and Kerry from Playbox, giving our children the opportunity to express themselves through self-directed play. We have also benefited greatly from the advice and support of Steven Moizer from Grounds for Learning. Ms Christie timetabled sessions for buddy classes and more photographs can be found on the Class Pages. Thank you to parents who have come along to see the sessions. There is still time to catch us at play tomorrow! Wonderful to see the children co-operating so well to construct together with imaginations soaring!