New House and Sports Captains

Congratulations to our new P7 House and Sports Captains who were introduced at the P4-7 Assembly on Friday 10th October.

We were pleased to welcome back Joe Alves from ChangeWorks who gave a presentation on Waste Reduction with a particular focus on Litter. Miss Gallagher, P3 Class Teacher, is our new Eco Leader and she was introduced at Assembly. The Eco Group will meet with her after the October holiday. Joe was accompanied by Jackie McNeil, a former Sciennes parent, and it was great to hear news of her son Andrew's football career in New Zealand. (Andrew visited Sciennes a few years ago with his teammate Ian Murray when they both played for Hibs.)

Joe Alves, ChangeWorks

Joe Alves, ChangeWorks

We wished a fond farewell to P7 pupil Callum Figgis who returns to Australia this weekend with his family and all gave our very best wishes to Mrs Watson as she begins her maternity leave.

Mrs Watson

Monday 20th October is an Inservice day for staff and we look forward to welcoming back pupils on TUESDAY 21st OCTOBER.

Sciennes P4-7 Assembly 10.10.14 from SciennesPS

Happy holidays, everyone!

Sciennes Primary Journey through JASS at P7 Conference

Sciennes Primary Journey through JASS at P7 Conference

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Children & Families

On 25 September 86 P7 pupils from Sciennes Primary took part in a Junior Award Scheme Scotland (JASS)-themed conference. Pupils can achieve a Bronze JASS award in P6 and each year they are introduced to the Silver award at a special event.

Pupils got to experience each of the four elements of the award scheme at the conference:

• Get Active, Stay Active – a Dance workshop led by Dance Division.
• Me and My World – ChangeWorks led an interactive Waste Reduction workshop using online voting tools.
• My Interests – pupils made minestrone soup and garlic bread in our new kitchen.
• Adventure  – pupils discussed their forthcoming week’s residential at the Lagganlia Centre for Outdoor Learning.

Pupils also took part in a planning workshop, in which they used iPads to plan how to complete 12 hours of activities in each of the four elements to achieve a Silver award.

Jonathan Wallace, James Gillespie’s High School Cluster Active Schools Co-ordinator, helps us to introduce and support the JASS programme in P6 and P7. He is in an ideal position to continue to support the pupils when they aim for a Gold JASS award in S1 and S2 at JGHS.

Sciennes and Tollcross were part of the initial pilot for JASS a number of years ago. Last year, we began working with

• Ian Forder from JASS
• software developer Steve Moore
• the Digital Learning Team
• Alice Brown, Headteacher at Tollcross Primary
• Barry Hewitt from Outdoor Learning
•  Claire Cooper from Drummond HIgh School

to help develop an online version of the programme called ‘eJASS’. eJASS will be piloted at Sciennes and Tollcross later in the term.

Joan Alexander from JASS attended our P7 conference and provided an exciting demo of eJASS, as well as lots of ideas for celebrating pupils’ wider achievements.

Find out more about Sciennes Primary’s JASS work on their JASS website.

Edinburgh 20mph plans a "trailblazer for cities across Europe"

Edinburgh 20mph plans a "trailblazer for cities across Europe"

Kids and parents from Sciennes Primary School took to the streets to help raise awareness of the Council's ongoing 20mph consultation.

National pedestrian charity Living Streets teamed up with Transport Convener Councillor Lesley Hinds, Vice Convener Councillor Adam McVey and children and parents from Sciennes Primary School to encourage participation in the Council's consultation on rolling out 20mph speed limits across the Capital.

Sciennes Primary School is in the city’s south side, which became a 20mph zone under a pilot in March 2013.
Visiting the school, Living Streets Chief Executive Joe Irvin, hailed the Council's 20mph vision as a trailblazer for cities across Europe.
He said: "A city-wide 20 mph scheme will help secure Edinburgh’s place as one of the most walkable, liveable cities in Europe.
"To really appreciate Edinburgh, you have to be on foot. Everyone should find walking safer and easier with lower speed limits - but especially children, parents with buggies and more vulnerable pedestrians. I urge everyone to respond to the Council’s survey."
Cllr Hinds said: "I’m thrilled that Living Streets are backing our drive to bring about a culture change in Edinburgh as far as speed limits are concerned. We want to make sure as many people as possible have had the chance to comment on the proposals and we’ve been absolutely delighted with the number of responses submitted already – approaching 2,000 at the latest count!
"Lower speeds in residential areas and shopping streets are not just good for safety and environmental reasons. Slower traffic makes streets more attractive to residents, pedestrians, cyclists and children, improves the environment for business and enhances quality of life."
Alison Noble, Head Teacher of Sciennes Primary School, said: "As a school community we were really supportive of the pilot programme idea for South Edinburgh and I’m pleased to report that there has been an increase in the number of parents walking with their children or allowing them to cycle to school."
To complete the 20mph consultation, please go to www.edinburgh.gov.uk/20mph. The final date to have your say is Friday 17 October 2014.

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. In each class there will be an opportunity for you to leave some comments and feedback on your child's learning, as part of his/her Personal Learning Planning. 

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. You can of course visit the classroom after your appointment.

Do take time, if you can, to look at the displays around the school. Also the Parent Council 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 Sensory Room on the Ground Floor near the School Office. 

Primary Seven pupils meet their teachers on the top landing and pupils have been invited to join the meeting with you. Pupils' trays will be available on the landing outside your child's classroom. Please look through your child's learning and wait on the landing until called.

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

Tues 7^th  October 5-8pm 

Thurs 9^th October 4-7pm

Sciennes Parent Council Communications Group

P1 Registration for Catchment Pupils

Register for a P1 place if your child is 4 years old by 28th February 2015 and due to start school in August 2015. Sciennes will be enrolling its new intake of P1s on THURSDAY 13th NOVEMBER 2014 9.00am-11.30am or 1.30pm-4.00pm.

Further information here: http://sciennesenrol.blogspot.co.uk/

Please note the City of Edinburgh Open Day for families to visit their catchment school is Wednesday 5^th November and we will welcome visitors from 9.30am – 11.30am and 1.30pm – 3.00pm.

P3 Foodbank Harvest Appeal

Thank you to Ms Pearmain for organising and leading the P1-3 and P4-7 Assemblies on Friday 3rd October and to all the families who contributed so generously to the P3 Harvest Appeal. More photographs on the P3 Class Page.

Harvest Assembly was fantastic at Sciennes Primary School, mostly due to the brilliant Enterprise project the P3s ran.  They decided what they could offer and which group their skills best suited.  Then they carried out their roles.  Between them they inspired the whole school to make a staggering collection of food for the charity Foodbank.  We were delighted that Margaret Cochrane from Foodbank could come and see our collection and talk to us at Assembly.

Below is just a taste of the day.

Thank you P3s & well done!

 Ms Pearmain

P7 @ Lagganlia 2014

 MORE PHOTOGRAPHS ON OUR P7 at LAGGANLIA BLOG

What a wonderful week at Lagganlia with a top notch team of pupils and staff, in glorious sunshine! As well as being very determined to take on every challenge, our pupils were also exceptionally responsible and terrific company. It was great to watch friendships develop and grow between the children and we really feel our P7 team has been firmly established.

We are indebted to Ian Ross, Andy Toop and all the staff at Lagganlia 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. Certificates with hand written comments from each instructor will be carefully stored at school for pupils' JASS folders. All pupils who took part this week will also receive the 'Adventure' certificate; one quarter of the way towards full Silver award accreditation.

The Sciennes staff sustained the 24/5 duty by working very closely as a team. The P7 teachers are a strong and talented unit who prepared the pupils extremely well for their adventurous residential course. Mr Forrest Howie is an accomplished camp leader who inspired all the pupils to try their very best and took many stunning photographs. Mrs Fiona Barker is also a highly experienced camp leader, well accustomed to making everything run smoothly and efficiently. We really struggled with very slow - frequently non-existent - connection speeds and extremely limited mobile signal yet Mrs Barker was particularly relentless in her efforts to post to our blog. Seasoned top camper, Ms Fiona Sellar, was also high profile with all nine groups day and night, ensuring everyone had a memorable experience. It was wonderful to have Ms Anstruther accompany the group and she made sure that any pupils missing home were reassured and happy, busily engaged in evening activities. It was particularly special for her to work with her former P1 class again. We were delighted to be accompanied by Pupil Support Assistant Miss Rachel Inglis (a former Outdoor Education Instructor herself) and Mrs Brenda Ellis (our Office Receptionist) who both thoroughly enjoyed supporting the pupils day and night. We were fortunate to have Mr Iain Kearton drop in to visit us on Wednesday evening and were pleased to hear how well he and his family have settled in their new home, not far from Lagganlia. Mr Jonathan Wallace, Active Sports Co-ordinator for JGHS Cluster, thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all the children better, which will benefit all those who continue to work with him next year at James Gillespie's High School. All staff gave exceptionally high levels of care and attention to the pupils.

Thank you also to Mrs Noble and Ms Christie who had an even busier week than usual! And to Mrs Nowell who ensured that the pupils who remained at school 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 look forward to building on the success of this week throughout the final year at Sciennes. Well done, Primary Seven! All Lagganlia Champions! Ms Gallagher

Group One - Andy

Group Two - Rafa

Group Three - Martin

Group Four - Annie

Group Five - Jess

Group Six - Jude

Group Seven- Gordon

Group Eight - Huw

Group Nine - Simon

Kirsty P6C Pedal for Scotland 2014

A big thank you to all of you who so generously supported Kirsty Johnson (P6a) on the recent Pedal for Scotland Glasgow to Edinburgh ride. With your help, online and offline she has raised an astounding £1,200 for Parkinsons UK. After an early scare when her gears stopped working, Kirsty made up for lost time: her parents Andy and Jackie saw very little of her until the finish where she waited so that the family could cross the line together. Thanks again to everyone at Sciennes who sponsored her.

Sciennes Diary Updated

Our School Diary has been updated with key events throughout the year. Families were issued with an Event Planner Overview at the start of term, but we ask that you refer to the School Diary as the most current point of reference. We will endeavour to maintain it as a Master Calendar as much we can, so please be aware that existing dates and times may change and check it regularly.

The Diary can be accessed using the 'DIARY' buttons on the school website. To view the calendar full screen, click on the Google Calendar in the bottom right hand corner.

or use the following address to access our calendar in any web browser
https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=angela.christie%40sciennes.edin.sch.uk&ctz=Europe/London

Alternatively, you can subscribe to the calendar to access it on your own computer, tablet or smartphone. Use the following address to download an iCalendar file and add our calendar to your own calendar:

https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/angela.christie%40sciennes.edin.sch.uk/public/basic.ics

Use the following address to access our calendar from other applications. You can copy and paste this into any feed reader.

https://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/angela.christie%40sciennes.edin.sch.uk/public/basic

New Eco Reps

Congratulations to our new Eco Reps who were elected by their classmates. P3 pupils will again be working together on a separate Eco project throughout the year, so only P4-P7 Eco Reps will be involved in the Eco meetings. Miss Gallagher, P3 Class Teacher,  will meet with new and old reps after the October holiday. Ms Christie and Ms Gallagher will also support the work of the Eco Committee and everyone looks forward to maintaining and building on all the excellent work undertaken by the group.

New reps 2014-2015
P4 Lucy, Alice, Calum
P5 Lucy, Eric, Ryan
P6 Peigidh, Jane, Sadie
P7 Theo, Sahaj, Alexander

Reps from 2013-2014
P4 Evelyn, Sarah, Lyla
P5 Rose, Sophie, Laiba
P6 Theo, Ava, Jessica
P7 Dylan, Eva, Iona

City of Edinburgh Term Dates

Download Term Dates

City of Edinburgh Council's Term Dates pages offer iCalendar file downloads (third on the list of file downloads), which can be imported to your calendar software to integrate instantly with your own calendar on your smartphone, tablet or computer.

www.edinburgh.gov.uk/termdates

Newly Elected Pupil Council Reps and JRSOs

Congratulations to our newly elected Pupil Council Representatives. Thank you to Mrs Sally Nowell, Presiding Officer, for sharing her recent experience of taking part in the Referendum count and also explaining the Pupil Council election process at both Assemblies. Mrs Noble and Ms Christie will take the Pupil Council to visit Cramond Primary School's new playground to help them get ideas for developing our own playground.

P4 Stewart, Caspar, Manu

P5 Chloe, Sergi, Sam

P6 Matilda, Alex, Laiba

P7 Erin, Mahmoud, Kate

 Congratulations to our new P6 Junior Road Safety Officers, Aidan, Morgan and Kirsty and thank you to Sam Moody who gave engaging presentations on Tram Safety at both Assemblies. Thank you to the pupil volunteers who assisted and to staff volunteers Miss Mackintosh and Ms French. Well done, Toby, for remembering all seven rules!

JRSOs website

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Sciennes P7 Junior Award Scheme Scotland (JASS) Conference

On Thursday 25th September we held our annual P7 Conference, designed to welcome pupils to Primary Seven and to challenge them to make the most of the many opportunities available throughout the year. This year the theme centred on the Junior Award Scheme Scotland (JASS) wider achievement programme. More information and photographs on the P7 Class Page.

Sciennes Cycle to School Day Friday 26th September

 

Come and join us at King's Buildings at 8.20 or join us en route. We cycle along the "quality bike corridor and turn off at Sciennes House Place to arrive before the bell at 8.50.

Active Travel at Sciennes