£500 Raised for Sport Relief!

Thank you to all our families who donated to Sport Relief today Friday 21st March.

£500 Raised!

Sport Relief Friday 21st March

SCIENNES WIDER ACHIEVEMENT DAY

WHAT’S YOUR SPORT? – DRESS in SPORTS GEAR

WALK, CYCLE or RUN to SCHOOL

SUGGESTED DONATION £1.00

FRIDAY 21st MARCH

Friday is Sport Relief Day and we have invited pupils to dress in sports gear that reflects their sporting interests outwith school. There will be House Assemblies.

Big Dance Pledge 2014

Dancebase instructor Allan Irvine is currently teaching our Primary Seven pupils a dance with a Commonwealth theme. It will be performed in an Edinburgh city centre location, flash mob style, on Friday 16th May at 1pm. The dance will be performed simultaneously all over the world, forming part of the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme. We will soon be inviting P7 pupils who can attend to come along on the day and join in. The Big Dance Pledge is a biannual event funded by Scottish Ballet and the British Council and you can find out more about it on the Big Dance website.

You can learn the dance and practise it by following the tutorials in our Vimeo Video account 
or the YouTube videos on the P7 Class Page in the Big Dance tab.


Big Dance Pledge 2014 from Foundation for Community Dance on Vimeo.

Big Dance Music Track mp3

Silver Cross Country Medal for Lucia

Congratulations to Lucia in P7A who came First in five of the seven races she ran in the Wednesday Lothian Schools Cross Country League (only missing one of the eight races this season when she was at Lagganlia) and was awarded an individual 2nd place medal.

Lucia's mum, Rosemary Free, has been instrumental in involving so many of our pupils taking part in this competition, and it has had a dramatic effect on Sciennes' achievements in other running competitions, such as the EPSSA Cross Country event on Monday.

We all hope that Sciennes pupils will continue to take part in this event in the coming years, with more children joining in.

Lucia's mum congratulates all the pupils who have done so well over the weeks, with a great team spirit, and hopes the P6s will carry on with new P5s getting involved next year. For future reference, each of the 8 weeks in the competition counts for points, with four people needed for a team (earning 4 points each week) and points awarded for 1st-10th places: 10 points for 1st, 9 for 2nd and so on. So the more the merrier!

Very well done, Lucia!

Dragon Finder Prize Winning Writing for Lucy and Kirsty

P7A wrote fantastic poems and stories about amphibians and reptiles for the conservation and wildlife education group Froglife. Congratulations to P7 pupils Lucy and Kirsty who gained first and runner up prizes in their creative writing competition and so were invited to the launch of Froglife's Scottish Dragon Finder Project at Parliament on Wednesday evening 19th March. P7A's poem and story posters were on display and the class had really enjoyed exploring the Dragon Finder app on their iPads. Lucy was very confident reading aloud her poem to an assembled audience of conservationists, naturalists, MSPs and educators. Both girls will read aloud their winning entries at a future Assembly. Thank you very much to Lucy's dad and Kirsty's mum for accompanying and to Froglife's James Stead and Dr Vicky Ogilvie for their kind invitation.

Here are the winning poems:

Learn to love yourself for who you are

                   By Lucy Adair

I lie on my favourite branch, lazing in the sun,

I jump and play around the old oak tree having so much fun.

I swim in the lily pad pond till I'm tired to the bone,

I sometimes wonder to myself why I'm so alone.

I listen to the sweet songs of the birds in the trees,

I walk along the pebbly path, breathing in that early morning breeze.

I pounce onto my yummy morning breakfast, ready for my feast,

I look at myself in the river, and wonder why people think I'm such a beast.

I then think to myself a funny little thought,

I am who I want to be though I'm warty and short.

I climb up and up until I get to my usual sleeping spot,

I am now a frog who knows you should love yourself no matter what.

 and Kirsty's poem:

The Dragon Finder

by Kirsty Noble

I woke up early one chilly spring morning.

And left a note to my mum to give her some warning

I pulled on some trainers, t-shirts and shorts

And got out my net for catching creatures with warts.

I crept down the stairs and opened the door

I left my dog Rover sleeping on the floor.

I heard the birds chirping and singing their song

I knew when everyone woke up I would be long gone

I strolled to the pond way over the hill

I watched all the rabbits and named one Bill

When I got to the pond there was no one in sight

It was as still as if it was already night

I crouched next to to the water and looked at the frogs

I let down my net before it made it into the bog

It was caught up in the rope and it struggled to get free

I carefully manoeuvred it slowly back to me.

I untangled it and stroked it and gave it a pat

It let out a croak and I called it Matt

After a while I opened my hands and let it go

And took a final glimpse at it as it swam off

I breathed out a sigh and felt kind of sad

I decided to get home or mum would be mad

 

Kirsty and Lucy

Dragon Finders

Lucy reads her poem at the Scottish Parliament

Proud parents

Lovely prizes! Kirsty got a very smart froggy torch!

Five Cross Country Medals!

Unprecedented success for all our Sciennes runners at the Edinburgh Primary Schools Sports Association (EPSSA) Cross Country event in Inverleith Park on Monday 17th March. Tom came Second in the P7 Boys' Race, Lucia came Third and Bea Tenth in the P7 Girls' Race, Lawson came Fifth in the P6 Boys' Race and Cerys came Sixth in the P6 Girls' Race. The top ten placed runners in each race received a medal: more than we have ever achieved in the past. All twenty pupils ran fantastically well on a very challenging course and we were extremely proud of their excellent behaviour and sporting attitudes. A pleasure to escort! Special mention to Callum who still managed to come Twentieth, despite injury and illness! Almost all of our pupils received placings in a competition involving more than fifty city schools. Full results will be published here in due course.

Grateful thanks to Willie Jarvie, who coaches the Running Club with Dante's mum, as well as all the mums, dads, grandparents and siblings who came along to lend their support and cheer on all the pupils. Thank you to Mrs Beth Walker, our P.E. Specialist, who ran the event with Mr Willie French (HT and Chair of EPSSA), assisted by Mr Wallace and Mrs Nowell.

It was lovely to travel to the event with our friends at Preston Street and JGPS and we hope we can meet up with them again for some circuit training practice in the Meadows once the weather improves.

A Message from Mrs Beth Walker:

Thank you to all 56 schools who supported this event with their teams on Monday 17^th March 2014 at Inverleith Park.

 All runners competed well in windy conditions.

The winners of the City of Edinburgh Shields are listed below. The 40 medals were shared between 18 schools. What a great breadth of athletic talent in our City’s schools. 

Many thanks to school marshals and our super Active Schools Co-ordinators who supported this event.

Winners of the City of Edinburgh Shields

P6 Girls	Bruntsfield Primary School	30 points
P6 Boys	Buckstone Primary School	35 points
P7 Girls	St George’s School	30 points
P7 Boys	Erskine Stewart’s Melville School	18 points

A blue Nike waistcoat was lost at the event.  Please contact St Joseph’s Primary School on 0131 443 4591 if you have found the waistcoat.

A pink age 10 anorak was left behind at the event and is now at Meadowbank Sports Centre for uplift or can be returned via the internal mail.

 

Medals Galore!

Dream Team with Running Club Coach Willie Jarvie

Mrs Walker awarding Tom Second Place. (Joe, Emma, Adele and Lewis cheer him on.)

HT Willie French announces Lucia achieved Third Place. (Mark, Lawson, Ailsa, Adele and Cerys congratulate.)

Cerys achieves a medal winning Sixth Place

Lawson achieves Fifth Place for Team Sciennes

Bea achieves Tenth Place 

Tom on track and out in front. Thank you very much to Mr and Mrs Ireland for the photos.

Getting ready for the off, 70!

Happy band

Mr Wallace officiated at the event

This video of the event was posted online by The Edinburgh Reporter

Sport Relief 2014

On Friday 21st March we have invited pupils to dress in sports gear to celebrate their own achievements and to help raise money for Sport Relief.

Sadly, some children throughout the world have very little time to take part in sports or play games because they have to work to earn money for their families. Our pupils will learn more about this at House Assemblies on Friday. Money raised from Sport Relief will be used to help to make a difference in projects around the world, as shown in this video.

Thank you for your support.

Sport Relief and Wider Achievement Day

SCIENNES WIDER ACHIEVEMENT DAY

WHAT’S YOUR SPORT? – DRESS in SPORTS GEAR

WALK, CYCLE or RUN to SCHOOL

SUGGESTED DONATION £1.00

NEXT FRIDAY 21st MARCH

Next Friday is Sport Relief Day and we have invited pupils to dress in sports gear that reflects their sporting interests outwith school. There will be House Assemblies on Friday.

Can you learn the Sport Relief Song and Dance?

1 Friday’s come, let’s have fun,
It’s the nation’s favourite sports day.
Tie your shoes, time to move, 
Come on everyone! 

2 Run a mile, dance with style,
It’s the nation’s favourite sports day.
Cycle, swim, do your thing,
Come on everyone!
We can make a difference if we join the fun and games! 

Chorus
Kick to the left, back with a glide, 
Come on everybody do a deep-sea dive! 
Limbo forward, knees up high,
Do the hoola-hoola for the longest time! 
Kick to the left, back with a glide, 
Come on everybody do a deep-sea dive! 
Limbo forward, knees up high,
Do the hoola-hoola for the longest time! 

Bridge
Step it up, step it up, don’t stop!
Do your best, give it all you’ve got, 
Tell yourself you can go to the furthest Limit!
Work it out, work it out, let’s go! 
Push yourself from your head to toe, 
Take it up just a notch for a perfect Finish!

Pupil Council Bake Sale Fundraiser

Truly outstanding, confident and articulate presentations at P4-7 Assembly today from pupils representing three charities: Alzheimer Scotland, Cancer Research and WaterAid. All pupils have been asked to decide which one to raise funds for at the forthcoming whole school Pupil Council Bake Sale on Friday 28th March. It will be an enormously difficult decision because each group of pupils presented such persuasive reasons to vote for their particular charity. The voting takes place on Monday 17th March and a percentage of the money raised will be donated to each charity, depending on votes received. Thank you to the Pupil Council and to Ms Dodds who leads the group so effectively.

JGHS Pencil Case Appeal

Grateful thanks to JGHS pupils Izzie Burton and Molly Halligan who came to our P4-7 Assembly on Friday 14th March to give an excellent presentation and thank everyone for donating pencil cases to schools in KwaZulu Natal (Durban), South Africa. They told us how the links set up by former JGHS HT Mr Wallace over ten years ago have expanded, with 80 Sixth Year pupils visiting this year. Current HT Mr MacDonald has supported pupils in their fundraising efforts and Izzie and Molly invited P7 pupils to let them know of any ideas they had, hoping they will be able to visit some of our South African partner schools one day. Thank you, Izzie and Molly!

Izzie and Molly's Prezi Presentation

A letter to Sciennes from James Gillespie's High School

Thank you to everyone who took part in the appeal to collect pencil cases to take to South Africa. We managed to collect enough pencil cases to give one to every single child at the primary school.

Many packs of coloured pencils and pens were given to the teacher to use in class. 

The children at Charles Memorial Primary School were all thrilled! Many of them had no pencils or pens at all before we gave them some.

Each child was also given a brand new toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste.

We also took some toys and their favourite gift by far was pots of blowing bubbles.

They were all very excited to have visitors from Scotland.

Thank you very much for all of your help. 

Sciennes Parents’ Night? …..Some Advice from Fellow Parents

We hope you will enjoy coming to Parent Consultations and that it will help further the partnership between home and school for your child’s learning.  

You will have received an appointment time from the school. We suggest it is worth trying to arrive about fifteen minutes early. This will allow you to locate your child’s classroom and spend some time looking at their work before meeting your child's teacher in the Hall. You can of course visit the classroom after your appointment.  

Primary Seven pupils meet their teachers on the top landing and pupils have been invited to join the meeting with you. Please wait outside on the landing until called.

Do take time, if you can, to look at the displays around the school. Also the PTA will have refreshments for sale outside the Hall. There is a Book Fair in the Library and we hope you will find time to look in at the new kitchen in the G.P. (General Purpose) Room, opposite the Science Base.

We are also always looking to recruit parents to the School Council and its subgroups. More information on the School Council website.

Tuesday 25^th March 5-8pm

Thursday 27^th  March 4-7pm

School Council Communications Group

Thank you from the Eco Team!

The Eco Team and Mr Kearton would like to thank all the families who responded to their request to fill Rag Bags with unwanted clothes and textiles.

P7C Book Review Blog

P7C continue to add to their fantastic Book Review Blog at
http://bookreviewpass.blogspot.co.uk/
Read any good books on World Book Day? Pupils are welcome to give their own reviews to P7C and Ms French who will publish them for you to spread your recommendations.

Mayor Scott Opens P2A Cupcake Cafe

What a lovely event for the residents of Rainbow Gardens to have the Mayor open the new Cupcake Cafe.  Thank you to Mayor Scott for taking the time, in his busy schedule, to open the cafe for Miss Pearmain and her class.
More photographs and information about the event on the P2 Class Page.

More Chess Success!

On Saturday 27th January at WHEC Matthew, Jonathan, Stuart and Pere came Second in the Lothian Junior Championship Chess King's League. There were lots of other prize winning Sciennes players:

P5&U Ungraded

1. Aidan Davis 

P5&U Graded

2. Sergi Mackinlay Vich

P6/7 "Stars Barred" (graded <500)

2. Aryan Bhulanny 

 Congratulations to all!

Summary of Standards and Quality Improvement Plan (SQIP)

ECO Rag Bag Collection Wednesay 12th March

Having a Spring Clean? Sciennes Primary is holding a rag bag collection on Wednesday 12th March.

Our eco-group and Mr Kearton have created this short ad to promote rag bag recycling in school. We hope you like it!

This is a good opportunity to give your wardrobe a spring clean as the warmer weather approaches, and bring in any old, out grown or worn out clothes.

We can accept the following items:

• All men’s, ladies' and children’s clothing
• Paired shoes (tied together)
• Handbags, bags, ties & belts
• Household linen & towels

We cannot accept the following items:

• Duvets both synthetic and feathered
• Pillows & cushions
• Carpets & Rugs
• Soiled or wet clothing
• Uniforms & workwear
• Shredded or mutilated textile material
• Textile off cuts, yarns or threaded material

The more materials we can collect, the more funds we will raise for our school.

A bag will be sent home with each older sibling on or before Friday 7th March. If you need extra bags, please use plastic bags or sacks from home.

We are asking for bags to be filled and returned on Wednesday 12th March. We do not have space in school to store bags before they are uplifted, so PLEASE only return them on the 12th.

P2 iPad Teachers

P2A shared the skills they had learned from P7B with their P5A Buddies as part of a lovely session of activities for World Book Day.  They had a great time reading books and making a Pic Collage of their chosen characters. The P5s read an extract from the book they had brought in and P2s also read to their buddy.

More photographs of World Book Day on the Class Pages.

Euroquiz at City Chambers 2014

Very well done to our P6 Team who gained a highly respectable 43 out of a possible 60 points in the 2014 Euroquiz at City Chambers on Wednesday 5th March and had great fun. There was an exciting three way tie at the end between Stewart's Melville, St George's and Bruntsfield, with Bruntsfield taking first place. Congratulations to all! Thank you to Mrs Nowell for accompanying and to all the event organisers. More photographs on the P6 Class Page.

A competitive but friendly atmosphere, hosted by Trinity Primary Headteacher Jacqueline Scott.

Lord Provost Donald Wilson (former Computing Teacher and ICT Development Officer) addresses the teams.

Jacques, Charlie, Ben and Adele with the Lord Provost

Dance Division Easter Camp

Dance Division Easter Dance Camp 2014

Monday 7th April- Friday 11th April 2014

At Marchmont St Giles Church

9:30-3:30pm each day

£63 for full week or £14 per day

Early bird discount - 10% off full week price. Book before 28th March 2014.

Places are limited and places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis. So get it quick and book your place today!

Dance camps will include a variety of styles such as Street Dance, Cheerleading, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Contemporary and Own Choreography.

Camps will include dance activities, craft activities, as well as other related activities and participants will receive dance booklets to complete during the camp. There will be a performance at the end of the dance camp – a fun opportunity for the children to show off what they have learnt throughout the Camp.

The main focus of the Dance Camp is enjoyment and participation. The Dance Camp is suitable for all ages and levels and Camps will be tailored to the participants’ needs, demands and interests.

Suitable for all ages P1-P7 and all abilities. Camps are inclusive and fun!

Contact-  Dance Division LTD

cat@dancedivision.org.uk/ 07951017221

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