Ceilidh in the Playground

Pupils returned to school on Tuesday to an activity packed week with a Scottish theme, culminating in a fabulous Upper School ceilidh in the playground on Friday 10th January led by Mrs Walker. Thank you to both our P.E. Specialists, Mrs Walker and Mrs Berry, for providing wonderful Scottish Country dancing for all our pupils P1-P7 throughout Scotland Week. There's still time to pick up your tickets for our PTA Family Ceilidhs!

Zoe and May in P6B wrote:
"Today is Friday 10th January. We had our P5-P7 ceilidh today. We started with the Virginia Reel and soon after the Flying Scotsman. The Flying Scotsman is a train that goes from Edinburgh to London. We then did our school dance and it was really fun."

Thanks to Mr Howie for these super, high resolution photographs.

Instrument Tuition in City of Edinburgh

As a direct result of the School Council's Parent/Carer Survey (conducted in the summer term last session) parents Fiona Denvir and Bethan McEwan (PTA Clubs Co-ordinators) have organised additional music clubs, including Acapella Choir, Guitar, Spanish Guitar, Fiddle, Recorder and a Music Club. See PTA Clubs for more information.

Some families in the survey expressed an interest in receiving more information about City of Edinburgh Council's Instrumental Music Service. Details about Music provision at Sciennes specifically will be published in due course on the school website. Meanwhile here is a link to the Council's information.

James Gillespie's High School has produced a policy detailing instrumental music tuition in the feeder primary schools and high school which can be found in the POLICIES section of our school website or by clicking here.

Secondary Transition into JGHS: Note for Parents/Carers

"Your child will not be required to audition again in S1 for lessons at James Gillespie’s High School if they received lessons at primary school - their lessons will automatically continue with the appropriate instrumental teacher and they will be contacted at the start of S1.

At James Gillespie’s High School, the expectation is that pupils who embark on learning an instrument in primary school should continue this journey into secondary on the same instrument.
The school instrumental policy states that pupils who have learned an instrument for 18 months or more since the first audition process (if auditioned in P. 4 or 5), have thus entered into the agreement of progressing these skills on this instrument and will hopefully benefit from the skills, teaching and  many opportunities available at secondary level.

If a pupil gives up instrumental lessons after 18 months of learning, or during P.7 (unless auditioned in P6), they will not be given priority for auditioning for an alternative instrument at James Gillespie’s High School. They will be placed on a waiting list and, if a place does become available, will then be called for audition.

Please refer to the JGHS school website and music department for more details."

Information about opportunities between the primary and secondary school in Music is also available on the Sciennes school website> Policies.

Edinburgh Young Musicians

It also emerged through last session's parental survey, organised by the School Council Communications Group, that some parents were interested in pursuing music outwith school. Edinburgh Young Musicians offer Saturday morning Music Classes at local high school St Thomas of Aquin's:

http://www.e-y-m.org.uk/index.htm

Benmore 2014

http://www.benmorecentre.co.uk

Looking forward to Benmore 10th-14th February, Primary Six.

Families will be able to follow our adventures on our blog:

http://sciennesbenmore2014.blogspot.co.uk/

Sciennes PTA Family Ceilidhs

Sciennes PTA Family Ceilidh

6.30pm – 8.00pm

Thursday 23 and 30 January

A great family event with children welcome

Ceilidh dancing with the McAlastair Ceilidh Band with Jane Underwood. A fabulous evening for everyone. Tickets on Wisepay NOW and are selling fast! Adults £4 and Children £3 each.(Tickets include a glass of wine/soft drink and shortbread.)

Grace Plays Mandolin

Grace played beautifully when accompanying P7B singing "Caledonia" during Scotland Week.

P7B QR Code Quiz

Great to see P7B using QR Code technology in their learning. More photos on the P7 Class Page.

Commonwealth Theme at Sportshall

 Very well done to our P7 Sportshall Athletics team who came a respectable fourth place in the Edinburgh Final at Meadowbank on Monday 13th January. Congratulations to Bonaly Primary who came first and St Peter's who came second and will go on to represent Edinburgh in the East Scotland event. Mrs Beth Walker, our P.E. Specialist, organised the entire event for the city which this year was themed, with participating teams representing countries within the Commonwealth. Thank you to Jonathan Wallace (Active Schools Co-ordinator) for assisting Mrs Walker with the event and to Mrs Barker,  Lesley Ann Chessor (Active Schools Co-ordinator) and Scott Noble for escorting the team. Great result, P7, and excellent sporting attitudes! More photographs on the P7 Class Page.

PTA Clubs and Active Schools Clubs Now Online

Sciennes' Parent and Teacher Association (PTA) runs a fantastic range of clubs and activities. Click on the link below for the latest timetable and contact info on PTA Clubs:

PTA CLUBS
http://sciennesschool.wordpress.com/pta-clubs/

We are hugely indebted to parents Fiona Denvir and Bethan McEwan for their tremendous - and highly valued -organisational skills and efforts. Thank you also to our fantastic Active Sports Co-ordinator, Jonathan Wallace, who has worked closely with the PTA to align both sets of clubs.

ACTIVE SCHOOLS CLUBS
All Active School Club details, can be accessed via Jonathan Wallace's extra curricular blog http://sciennesactiveschools.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/sciennes-active-schools-term-2-clubs.html

N.B. All Active Schools Clubs continue to be paid for through Sciennes online WISEPAY system.  
For PTA Clubs, contact tutors directly to arrange a place.

School Council Feedback Tree

A wonderfully innovative way of sharing the work of the School Council is being tried out this year. The School Council Feedback Tree has been created by parents Estelle Keller and Misol Bae. Each leaf details a goal met from the School Council Action Plan which was informed by parent feedback. Please take the time to look at the tree when you see it on display – it is informative and a work of art. Thank you Estelle and Misol.

Next School Council meeting is on Thursday 16th January 7.00-9.00pm in the Staff Room. All welcome.

Tuesday 7th January

Best wishes for health and happiness in 2014 to all our families and we look forward to welcoming the children back to school on Tuesday 7th January.


We greatly appreciate pupils arriving fully equipped with a pencil case stocked with labelled sharp pencils, coloured pencils, ruler, eraser and glue stick as well as full P.E. kit which includes a change of clothing and a pair of indoor gym shoes.

Sciennes Mention in Tatler Magazine

The PTA Bike Club run by Ross Crook is mentioned in the February edition of Tatler Magazine.

http://www.tatler.com/news/articles/january-2014/the-tatler-guide-to-state-schools---part-one

"Sport doesn't get top billing, but there are lots of parent-run clubs and great after-school activities - one pupil we spoke to happily skips off to bike club after lessons."

Sciennes Mobile App

Support for Parents and Carers

This leaflet details winter support programmes, activities and groups for South Central Parents and Carers.

Further information from:
Helena Reid
helena.reid@ea.edin.sch.uk
0131 672 2629
Development Officer Parent and Carer Support
City of Edinburgh Council

Festive Fun

A bit of festive fun from Ms Anstruther...

We told the children at the Christmas Assemblies that the staff often wonder why the photocopier isn't working on a Monday morning and Mr Reid and Mr Scott often wonder what has happened to all the recycling. Elves at play when everyone else has gone home...

Try the Elf Yourself app or go online at http://www.elfyourself.com if you want to try it out for yoursELF.


We wish all our families a wonderful, relaxing holiday and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to school on Tuesday 7th January.

Professionally Produced Nativity DVDs

 

We are indebted to Alasdair Allen's grandfather, David Allen, (alias 'Papa David') who professionally filmed and edited outstanding footage of this year's P1 and P2 Nativities. Geoff at Quadrille Media produced the DVDs for us and they are now on sale through WisePay. They can be collected from the School Office.

David Allen worked as an executive producer and director at the BBC for 33 years. As well as making programmes, he was responsible for the BBC Computer Literacy Project before moving on to work on multimedia and production development. Since retiring in 2002 David has produced videos for organisations such as the BBC, Historic Royal Palaces (Kew Palace and the Tower of London) and the Bluebell Railway.

We humbly thank utterly charming David for his time, effort and great expertise.

JGHS Christmas Concert

Primary Seven pupils from each of James Gillespie's High School's feeder primary schools - Sciennes Primary, Tollcross Primary, James Gillespie's Primary, Preston Street Primary and Royal Mile Primary - performed magnificently at the superb Christmas Concert in the Usher Hall on Tuesday 17th December. Thank you to Deirdre O'Brien and Richard Deasley for organising the concert and for all their hard work in preparing pupils to sing in the P7 Choir. Thank you also to JGHS Headteacher Donald MacDonald for his kind invitation to cluster staff including Mrs Noble, Ms Gallagher, Ms French and Mrs Barker. We were as proud of our pupils as were the many parents and families who attended the event.

David The Champ!

Congratulations to Scottish Champion Boxer David in P7, seen here proudly sporting his medal. Well done for achieving this national award, David!

Wow! Record Breaking Christmas Fair

This year’s Christmas Fair raised a whopping £6,129! Thoroughly well organised and supported.  Grateful thanks to the Sciennes PTA and all volunteer helpers. A phenomenal total!

Party Season

Parties have been in full swing! Check out the Class Pages for some more photographs.
P2 had a special visitor at their party ....

Nelson Mandela 1918-2013

Thank You Sciennes Shoppers!

 

Thank you to the 111 supporters of Sciennes Primary School PTA who have raised an amazing  £1,148.19

just by shopping online with easyfundraising.org.uk. There are no catches and it's completely free to use.

It's really simple – just shop online via easyfundraising.org.uk with over 2,700 well known retailers like Amazon, Argos, M&S, eBay (and many more!) and whenever you buy something online, the retailer makes a donation to your chosen good cause.

It doesn't cost you a single penny extra.

Get started now –  http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/sciennessch

No one can see details of what you have purchased - or any of your personal details - only a running total of amounts raised. Friends and family could raise funds for Sciennes, too! If you join and then refer someone who joins, Sciennes PTA will receive a £5.00 donation automatically.

Thank you to all our Sciennes Shoppers!

P7C Book Review Blog

Ms French and P7C have set up a fantastic Book Review Blog. Well done to all the P4 and P5 pupils who have been sending them their book reviews. What a great way to share recommendations! More reviews are on their way  from Primary 6 in the next few days. We know you love to read over the holidays, so get ready to do some more reviews for P7 C in the New Year!

http://bookreviewpass.blogspot.co.uk/

Computer Xplorers: Scratch Hour of Code

President Obama, Apple and Microsoft are backing Hour of Code, which aims to get 5 million students in 33,000 classrooms around the world to learn at least one hour of computer science this week.

Lynne from Computer Xplorers gave each of our Primary Seven pupils an exciting session on using Scratch - programming software which can be downloaded for free. Next term she is running sessions on Kodu for Video Game Design in her After School Club - see WisePay in January.

Computer Xplorers Workshops for P7

Our friends at Computer Xplorers have kindly offered free workshops in Scratch to our three P7 classes this week in Hour of Code Week.

The Computer Xplorers After School Clubs are hugely popular - check out WisePay from 13th January 2014 for details of their exciting projects for next term.

The P1-P4 Computer Xplorers Club will run on Mondays 27th Jan - 24th Mar exploring Anithings Cartoon Creation. The P5-P7 Computer Xplorers Club will run on Tuesdays 28th Jan- 25th March exploring Kodu for Video Game Design.

Hour of Code Free Apps

Hour of Code Tutorials

“ I think everybody should learn how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think.”

 Steve Jobs

 

Light-Bot Free App in iTunes

or try the online version

Hopscotch Coding for Kids

Hopscotch Tutorial

 Daisy the Dinosaur

Computer programming for 5-8 year olds

 

 

Scratch is available for free as a download, though not for mobile devices yet.

Scratch  Christmas Card

Try the Scratch tutorial

 

Teach yourself code with Khan Academy

 

Take a step further with Code Academy. 

Sign up for a free account to advance to next levels.

The Hour of Code 9th-13th December

http://csedweek.org/

A Man Who Truly Believed and Achieved

“It always seems impossible until it's done.”

                                     Nelson Mandela

Rave Reviews for the Lyceum's "A Christmas Carol"

P3-P7 pupils visited the Lyceum Theatre on Friday 6th December to see their production of "A Christmas Carol" and were completely bowled over by the performance. Rave reviews from delighted pupils, parents and staff who thought it was expertly played and staged. A real winner!

"The best Lyceum Christmas Show ever"

"Christmas in a box'

"Spellbinding from start to finish"

"Perfectly pitched"

"Truly magical"

Thank you to all the parents who accompanied and to our Community Police Officers for escorting.