Safe and Happy Holiday

We wish all our families a safe and a happy summer holiday. We look forward to welcoming you back on Wednesday 15th August.

Fond Farewell to Primary Seven

Our current Primary Seven pupils will spend their last day at Sciennes on Friday 29th June. Mrs Noble will ring the bell to lead them out from the top floor while all the pupils line the stairwells to wave them off and wish them well at 12pm. The Leavers' Dance on Wednesday night was a terrific success. Thank you to local Delicatessen Haddow's for providing the amazing mobile barbecue unit. 100 served up with burger rolls, chips, a drink and a choc ice in 15 minutes! Thanks also to Mr Howie for compering the ceilidh dancing, Mr Hewitt for DJ disc spinning and to all the staff who set up tables outside and decorated the sheds. The photo booth was an added attraction. The Graduation Performance and Ceremony on Monday reflected all the hard work and creativity by P7 pupils and their teachers Mr Howie, Miss Phillips and Ms Ross. Particular thanks to Dance Division Instructor Cat Perry for choreography and filming. Thank you to Mr Howie for this joyful photograph of a fabulous year group

We wish you well, P7. Shine on and keep in contact. We'll miss you!

Sciennes' Really BIG Cycle

Thank you to all the families who took part in the Sciennes' Big Cycle to school on Wednesday 20th June. An amazing 327 children (half the school!) pedalled from King's Buildings to the playground. The sun shone and it was quite a spectacle, as can be seen from this video and photographs from Chris Hill.


Primary Five pupils from Sciennes Primary School also got the chance to try out the new cycle route from the King’s Buildings to the school, as part of Bike Week 2012.

They were accompanied by teachers (and keen cyclists themselves) Shona Pearmain, Iain Kearton, and Fiona Barker, Business Manager Angela Christie who arranged the events, as well as Lothian and Borders Police Cycle Cops PC Leon Malinowski and PC Andy Couillard.

P5 pupils have also enjoyed cycle training over the last few weeks, culminating in a cycle ride in the Meadows, as shown in this video from Chris Hill:

Sports Days in Fickle Weather - LATEST!

We are all hoping for sunshine on Wednesday at 9.30am for P1-P3 and at 1.45pm for P4-6 Sports Day on the Meadows. Forecast not looking good for Thursday and Friday so we have taken the decision to make hay while the sun shines on Wednesday rather than risk cancelling altogether. Thank you for your support.

Sciennes' iPad Pilot in Holyrood Press

Article by Paris Gourtsoyannis published in Holyrood Magazine June 11, 2012 and referring to Cabinet Secretary Mr Michael Russell's visit to Sciennes 16th May 2012.

Just months since its launch, a pilot placing iPads in classrooms is already having an impact.

Two classes at Sciennes Primary have got a new student, and the teachers are doing all they can to keep a lid on the excitement. In fact, there are over a dozen visitors in the classroom – school administrators, photographers, cameramen, journalists and Scottish Government staffers – but only one remembered to bring his iPad. The technophile Cabinet Secretary for Education, Michael Russell, is joining Sciennes pupils to see for himself how the school, which is participating in a pilot programme taking in 20 schools across ten local authorities, is putting the Apple tablets to use.


The students demonstrated how the devices let them receive and submit homework using email and blogs; collect their work using a school ‘wiki’ page; and access the complete digital collection of the City of Edinburgh Central Library over the internet. “I think it was obvious that they were deeply engaged in their learning, and that’s a key issue,” says Russell. “What we want to do is enhance the involvement in learning, enhance the challenging nature of learning, encourage young people to explore and find things out. I saw all of those things around me,” says Russell.


“I think we’ll learn a lot from [the pilot]; I think that can be useful to other schools. I was impressed and I thought it was going in the right direction.” Education Scotland will evaluate the pilots to establish what can be learned from the experience at schools like Sciennes Primary.


Russell states readily that there is “no resource identified” for a national roll-out of iPads in schools, however, he does say that it’s “not an impossibility in future times.” Asked what he hopes to have gleaned upon completion of the pilot programme, Russell adds: “Our goal is – if I may quote Robert Louis Stevenson – ‘to travel hopefully’, and if you travel hopefully, then eventually you will arrive. We need to learn how this works, to embed good practice, to see where the opportunities are, to identify any pitfalls, to recognise the involvement in Curriculum for Excellence that this gives, and also to begin to think about the issue of, ‘do we do this on a broader scale’. This is part of the process of thinking about how we would do it.” Education Scotland won’t be the only organisation examining the iPad trials closely.


Researchers from the University of Hull are conducting what they believe is the only independent academic research into what impact iPads in the classroom have on education, and will be collecting data from every participating school in Scotland. Kevin Burden, the director of postgraduate professional development in the Faculty of Education who is leading the project, hopes to publish an evaluation of the pilots by September. “One of the intentions is to try and draw up a framework with a list of recommendations for further investigations, and also in terms of rolling out a larger programme,” Burden says.


Even at this early stage, Burden reveals that the research is producing early signs that the devices are having an impact, increasing parental engagement with their child’s studies. “In those schools in the pilot that have let the devices go home, there are indicators of greater parental involvement,” he says. “We’ve done a baseline survey of parents, so that at the end of the project we can go back and ask them whether or not they’ve been more engaged, for example, in homework. In one of the surveys we conducted, one question was simply asked of them, do they think the device helps their children’s learning, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.” The way teachers approach a lesson is also being influenced by the presence of iPads in class, Burden suggests. “You can see some schools where teachers are using it to a limited extent: maybe as a replacement for what they’ve already got, for example, to use in a demonstration or to show something on the whiteboard. Other schools are moving to a more student-centred approach; Sciennes are very much an example of this. They’ve only been using [iPads in class] since about March, but they seem to have already embraced the idea that it’s a very much a student-centred device.


Creative elements are now far easier to incorporate into lessons, he adds: “In the past, if teachers wanted to do something creative such as make a movie, it was quite a complex operation.


I saw a lesson where students were making their own news stories using a simple app; they did the whole thing, outputted it, and were able to share it with the class at the end of the lesson, in a way that would have taken far more time previously, to the extent that the teacher just wouldn’t do it. That’s what I think is beginning to become the real game-changer.” While those involved in the pilot programmes are eager to share their enthusiasm, others have expressed their concerns about those being left out. Jenny Lang, education convener at Labour-led Aberdeen City Council, warned that without greater commitment from central government, devices in class could become the preserve of the wealthiest local authorities. “We can see that there may well be benefits, but what we don’t want is a two-tier education system where schools in more affluent areas are able to finance these projects,” said Lang. “That would be uppermost in our minds. It’s all very well the Scottish Government saying it’s keen to see these types of project, but we need to see finance coming from central government.”


Lang’s worries are echoed by Laurie O’Donnell, a former director of learning and technology at Learning & Teaching Scotland and one of the early architects of Scotland’s educational intranet, Glow. O’Donnell believes “We all learn better if we’re learning things we’re interested in, that motivate us, set at just exactly the right level for us – not too easy and not too difficult. Portable devices strike me as being very important in delivering that, getting to the point where every learner has an education customised to best meet their needs. The challenge is scaling it. The danger of portable devices is that it works in one class, or for one part of the school, or for one age group within the school – how do you scale it across the whole system and how do you sustain it? If we think portable devices help children to learn better, then surely we get to the point where we say, ‘That’s something that everyone should have access to?’”

Russell calls on local education chiefs to embrace the opportunities available. “What we need to be doing together is moving this forward, and that’s what I’ll try and do.”

Sciennes Big Cycle

We are celebrating Bike Week with a cycle to school day on Wednesday 20^th June. We would like to exceed last year’s total of 300. In addition we are organising a cycling bus which will start from King’s Buildings, moving down Mayfield Road, (using the new bike corridor), probably turning left into Sciennes House Place and then onto Sciennes Road. The estimated time of departure is 8.25. We hope as many families as possible will be ready to feed in from the side streets as we pass. Lothian and Borders Police have been made aware of our plans and the only stipulation is that we must stop at all red lights. They are very kindly sending along two of their cycling policemen to accompany us.

Miss Bevan and Ms Christie

Sports Day Postponed Friday 15th June

Regrettably, Sports Day on Friday 15th June was postponed for a second time. Families were informed by email on Thursday due to the forecast for heavy rain. We are all hoping for sunshine on Friday 22nd June for P1-P7.

JGHS Transition Festival Monday 18th June

JGHS pupils will travel by coach to Meggetland on Monday 18th June to participate in a full day of activities with fellow P7 pupils from each of our cluster primary schools - James Gillespie's Primary, Tollcross, Preston Street and Royal Mile. Pupils should bring a snack, drink, packed lunch, comfortable sports clothes and suncream, contained in a bag they can carry between the various activity stations. Thank you to Mr Jonathan Wallace for all his hard work in organising the event.

There is a parents' evening on Monday 18th June at JGHS at 7.00pm.

Boroughuir Transition Festival is also at Meggetland on Tuesday 19th June and pupils should make their own way there.

Pupils should make their own way to school on Tuesday 19th, Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st June by 8.20am for the three day transition visit. Class lists will be posted on the windows at Reception and S6 pupils will carry signs to gather each class together before entering the Hall together.

There will be a dress rehearsal on Monday 25th June in the morning then parents and carers are invited to the Graduation Show at 1.45pm- 3.00pm in the Hall. Please note that due to space restrictions only two tickets are available per child.

Mr Howie's Amazing Online Virtual Tour of Sciennes

CLICK HERE

http://www.sciennesprimaryschool.co.uk/

Forrest Howie has created this wonderful virtual tour of our school to commemorate its 120th Anniversary. Click on any of the images to see each location as a 360 degree virtual tour. Double click to view full screen. The tour can also be accessed from a button beside our Guestbook and from the Links section in the main menu on the left.

Welcome to Sciennes! And great job, Mr Howie!

Memories Form Closed

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our online memories. The online form has now closed and the iBook will be released in instalments. Mary Turner Thomson is finalising the first chapter for publication for the iPad - "Introduction and The Victorian Era." Details to follow on the school website. The original draft will still be accessible but can no longer be edited.

What will the iBook look like?

 

Grateful thanks to our sponsor: The Big Lottery Fund through City of Edinburgh Council's "Growing Confidence" project.

Sciennes 120th Anniversary Celebrations

Sciennes 120th Birthday from Sciennes Primary School on Vimeo.

Thank you to Mrs Barker for these stunning photographs and slideshow which really capture the day's events on Friday 1st June 2012.

What a Party!

Thank you to all the families, pupils and staff for a magnificent celebration of Sciennes' 120th Anniversary on Friday 1st June. A huge amount of planning and organisation ensured the day was a wonderful success. It was an exciting start for the children as they arrived to see parents had strung their bunting from early morning. An army of parents generously baked and iced cupcakes for each of our 640 pupils and Mr John Reid, our Service Support Officer, built a fabulous perspex tiered cake stand. Callum Stark's mum had a baking blister from dedicated creaming! Each pupil had an ice pole to enjoy during a whole school playtime in a playground specially extended for the day by the street closure. Thank you to parent Claire Wheeler from the Sciennes School Council Communications Group for suggesting and arranging the street closure. Azfar was presented with a remote control car at Assembly for his winning school motto "Believe. Achieve" and all staff sported House coloured t-shirts bearing the new motto. These are available to buy for Sports Day for Grange, Lauder, Sienna and Tantallon Houses . Azfar unveiled the new school plaque with Secretary Mrs Ann Atkinson and her grandson, Charlie. The sun shone as forecast and it was wonderful to see so many families enjoying picnics together. Haddows Delicatessen provided a delicious buffet lunch for Sciennes' staff which we were also able to share with families. Mrs Watson's husband's band kicked off the party in style and Mr Howie made a splendid DJ with carefully selected songs from time periods throughout the history of the school. A whole school community team effort, but particular thanks to Ms Shona Pearmain and Ms Angela Christie for co-ordinating the memorable event and to Mrs Noble for putting into place and overseeing the entire project. Photographs of the day will be shared in due course.

Each year group has contributed to a timeline display in the Hall. The timeline is narrated here by Sergi P2 (Victorians) Sophie P3 (1920s), Sanaa, Rameen and Lewis P7 (1940s) Finn and Sophie P4 (1960s) Danny and Kirsty P5 (The Noughties) Amelie, Lucy and Sam P1 (The Present) and Eden P6 (The Future).





1 from Sciennes Primary School on Vimeo.

Sciennes' Birthday Song

Fabulous, creative model birthday cakes are adorning the school and everyone has been learning our special Anniversary song. The street will be closed from 7am on Friday and thank you to all the parents who have volunteered to string and display the children's bunting.  At Assemblies Azfar in P4C will be presented with a prize for his winning motto "Believe. Achieve." Look for Miss Mackintosh and Ms McGhee's fabulous wider achievement display - view it from the opposite stairwell to get the full effect of the pupils' photographs spelling out our new motto. 

Former staff have been invited to an informal reunion on Thursday 31st May 6-8pm in the Hall.

We look forward to welcoming current families and younger siblings to our celebration family picnic on Friday 1st June at 12pm. ...and the weather forecast is looking good!

In the year of 1892

Our school first opened its doors

And the girls and boys from all around

They arrived in hordes and hordes

CHORUS

Aim high – let your ambitions fly

Always be the best you can be

Believe. Achieve in all you do

And happy you will be

From slates and chalks and inks and nibs

To whiteboards, computers and pens.

You never know what your future will bring

But friends will still be friends.

CHORUS

Our school it is a happy one

For kids and adults too

And so it will continue

As each person begins anew

Words by Mrs Ford

Music by Mrs McVicker

Interscholastics at Meadowbank 28th May

Elena P6 receives silver medal for 80m sprint

Elena with event organiser Mrs Beth Walker

Well done to all our P6 and P7 athletes who competed today in the EPPSA (Edinburgh Primary Schools Sports Association) Interscholastics at Meadowbank. 30 P6 and P7 pupils took part in relay, cricket ball throw, 600m, 150m, 80m, high jump and long jump events. We moved position in the stands a couple of times to enjoy the glorious sunshine but also to cover up in the shade. Thanks very much to Mrs Sally Nowell for accompanying and to Flora's mum and dad and Jack's mum who came along to lend their support. It was good to see Mr Wallace and Miss Logan and very well done to Mrs Beth Walker, our PE Specialist, for co-ordinating the entire event for the city. Pupils achieved many healthy fourth place positions, in the heat and up against strong competition from the 40 schools who took part. P6 boys made the semi finals of the relay and P6 girls did very well to reach the finals of the relay. Congratulations are in order for P6 pupil Elena Santoyo-Brown who gained a silver medal for the 80m sprint event.

More photographs on the P6 and P7 pages Class Pages>Primary Six and Primary Seven published soon.

PTA Summer Fair Volunteers Welcome

Sciennes School Council Communications Group has produced an online form for volunteering at the PTA Summer Fair on Saturday 9th June. 

Dads, mums and carers are needed to volunteer for the Sciennes PTA Fair - we have an online form to make it easy to sign up. Please click on this link to see all the different ways you can get involved. Any amount of time, however small, will be very much appreciated.

The link is http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5C3DNFT

Thank you.

Dozen Decades Picnic in the Playground Friday 1st June 12pm

We are very much looking forward to the 1^st June 120th Celebration Family Picnic and do hope for sunshine. You should have received a separate email with a timetable for the day. Please note that the picnic is for current pupils, parents/ carers and younger siblings. Unfortunately we do not have space to include older siblings. Wonderful to see all the model birthday cakes arriving already. Final day due day is Monday when competition winners will be judged in each class.

P5B Bake Sale

Congratulations to Anna, Grace, Lily, Eva, Rosie, Isla and Megan from P5B who raised a spectacular £179 for Marie Curie Cancer Research.

Cabinet Secretary Michael Russell at Sciennes

It was a pleasure to welcome Mr Michael Russell (Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning) and Jim Eadie (Edinburgh Southern MSP) to Sciennes on Wednesday 16th May to announce a national project examining best practice in using tablet computers and mobile devices for learning and how they can be introduced in schools on a wider scale. Mr Russell was warm and relaxed in his manner and gracious with his time. We were all impressed by the attention he gave to our P6 and P5 pupils. Thank you to Bruce Crawford, Chair of the Sciennes School Council, David McKee Senior ICT Development Officer, Karen Prophet Education Manager (with remit for Technologies), Derek Robertson National Adviser Emerging Technologies Education Scotland and Mary Turner Thomson, Sciennes' parent and author, for attending.


In a classroom crowded with P6 and some P5 pupils, school administrators, Scottish Government officials and journalists, Michael Russell, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, saw students Amir and Mixie deliver a presentation on the history of games consoles, using iPad apps and including a video produced on the device.

“There are a number of pilots already underway around the country, including the use of iPads here at Sciennes. I have asked Education Scotland for recommendations on how we can realise the benefits of mobile technology for all learners in Scotland, including ensuring how we get the best possible value for our schools, and whether national guidance is needed for the sector,” said Russell.

In two of the Sciennes' pilot classes, Ms French's and Mrs Barker's students get to keep the iPads throughout the day, taking them home to complete assignments. In other classes, particularly Miss Gaffney's and Mrs Watson's,  pupils are using the devices only in school.

Students at Sciennes showed visiting adults not only their astounding ease with technology that most of their elders have yet to get to grips with, but also the ways the technology is being used to enrich the learning experience. Classes have set up their own ‘wiki’ pages to share information and research; can be set work by their teacher in a blog format, and return it for correction; and can use a variety of free educational applications. Over the school’s wifi network, the students also have free access to the digital collection of the City of Edinburgh Libraries, introduced to Sciennes by Susan Varga.

The pilot raises a variety of interesting questions – not least whether the technology can  improve education outcomes. As well as the recommendations Education Scotland will compile, research is being conducted by Apple and by Hull University to try and establish the impact of such pilots. The pilot also raises issues of cost – both of the hardware and software involved – as well as safety questions relating to unsupervised access to the internet. However, the enthusiasm of the pupils and staff at Sciennes for the devices was self-evident.

What is also clear is that an iPad in every Scottish state school pupil’s book bag is not on the immediate horizon. The Scottish Government is conscious of the cost that would entail, and Russell confirmed that there is currently no budget to purchase iPads for students across Scotland.

However, the Cabinet Secretary declared himself to be “excited” by what he saw at Sciennes and said the Scottish pilots offer a unique learning experience around how technology can be better put to use in the classroom.

“I want Scottish school pupils to be both connected and collaborative and I want to see digital technology being used purposefully both in and out of school,” said Russell. “The range of mobile devices that are now available and the promise of what they can bring to teaching and learning is very exciting and something that must be embraced. I want to drive forward a culture change in Scottish education and ensure new technologies can be embedded into learning. This is an exciting time to be at school, and we must ensure that the potential for technology to aid learning in Scottish schools is maximised.”
by Paris Gourtsoyannis
Photographs with acknowledgement to Stewart Attwood The Herald, David Bremner The Scotsman and The Evening News. Thank you to Seonag MacKinnon, Education Correspondent for BBC Scotland.


Mr Russell commented kindly about his visit on his Blipfoto site and took the photograph below using an iPad:

"This morning I visited Sciennes Primary in Edinburgh to see the Primary 5 & 6 iPad Pilot Class.

It was a fantastic visit to a school with real enthusiasm and strong educational leadership visible at every level. The children themselves were immersed in deep and connected learning and their teachers are dedicated and committed to getting the best every day.

I think Education Scotland and the country is going to learn a lot from these pilots in various places, using various technologies. And much joyful learning is already taking place."

 

The Daily What - iPads for Learning

P6 Pupils Win Tag Rugby Competition!

Congratulations to P6 pupils Amaya, Sam, Eimear, Alex H, Elena, Jude, Hector, Murdo, Esther, Iqbal, Danny and Struan who won the inaugural EPSSA (Edinburgh Primary Schools Sports Association) Tag Rugby competition on Monday 14th May at Murrayfield. Many thanks to Mr Jonathan Wallace (our Active Sports Co-ordinator) and Rory (Tag Rugby Sports Development Offficer) for accompanying and helping select the team, along with our PE Specialist Mrs Beth Walker who also helped co-ordinate the event. Not only did the pupils win, but they also showed fantastic sporting attitudes. A genuine credit to themselves and the school.

Bea Wins Silver Medal for Fencing

Congratulations to Bea in P6A, sporting a silver medal won in a recent fencing competition.