NSPCC ChildLine Workshops in P6

Grateful thanks to the excellent NSPCC ChildLine team for another biennial round of clear, relevant and perfectly pitched presentations - this time to P6 - on Thursday 26th May.

 

Sporting NSPCC stickers

Article 19

You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated.

Article 34

You have the right to be protected from abuse.

Day for Change £754 in total! (£377 matched by UK Gov)

The UK Government will match monies raised for Unicef's Day for Change, so that makes a grand total of £754!

Thank you!

£377 Raised for Unicef Day for Change!

Thank you very much to everyone who donated to Unicef's Day for Change on Friday 13th May. It took our P7s a long time to count all the loose change! An amazing total of £377 raised!

Morrison Construction Safety Assemblies

Sciennes Assemblies Safety Sam Morrison Construction 27.5.16 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 27th May Kirsty and Gary from Morrison Construction - who are building our new Dining Hall - gave an excellent presentation at both P1-3 and P4-7 Assemblies. They not only explained very clearly how to stay safe near a building site, they also described many of the jobs involved in the construction industry.

P7 House Captains congratulated pupils on recent achievements and Ammar revealed that the grand total for Unicef Day for Change was £377! It took P7s a long time to count all the loose change! Thank you to everyone who donated so generously.

We also wished,"Adios!" and said "Muchas, muchas gracias" to Ana Vidal, our final year Primary Bilingual Student from Madrid University.

Lots of love and best wishes to our wonderful Principal Teacher Shona Pearmain, who began her maternity leave today.

Article 19

You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated. 

A Rose By Any Other Name...

 "Education (SDG 4) underpins all of the other SDGs"

Reflecting on the Emergence of the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
A Call for Action in Scotland
May East (UNITAR Fellow)
Rehema M. White (University of St Andrews, Learning for Sustainability Scotland)

At Sciennes, we have found that children, particularly younger children, find the term "Global Goals" easier to begin to understand and have benefited from accessing the excellent "Tell Everyone" and "World's Largest Lesson" resources to help share the message. However, we will try to take note of the recently published document [see link below] which calls for use of the term "Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) rather than the term "Global Goals":

http://learningforsustainabilityscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ReflectionSDGsScotland_15April2016.pdf

NSPCC ChildLine Workshops in P7

Grateful thanks to the excellent NSPCC ChildLine team, including a retired Midlothian Headteacher, for clear, relevant and perfectly pitched presentations in P7 on Tuesday 24th May.

Article 19

You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated.

Article 34

You have the right to be protected from abuse.

P4-7 Assembly UN World Day for Cultural Diversity

Sciennes World Culture and Diversity P4-7 Assembly 20.5.16 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 20th May at our P4-7 Assembly we celebrated all the fabulous Language learning that has been happening at Sciennes, so ably led by Ms Bethan Owen, and thanked our three wonderful Language volunteers, Isabel, Sergio and Miguel, as well as our excellent final year Bilingual Primary Education student, Ana Vidal, from Madrid University.

We made suggestions for cultural activities that our children might get involved in over the weekend to celebrate UN World Day for Cultural Diversity on May 21st and were delighted to note so many of our children already take part in similar activities to the ones suggested.

We also looked forward to Sciennes Parent Council's exciting International Fair on SATURDAY 4th JUNE 12pm-3pm and found out more about the mysterious yarnbombing phenomenon, which has decorated our playground overnight!

Next week, each class will contribute to City of Edinburgh's 1+2 Twitter campaign and we used some examples of Tweets already happening this week, to give everyone ideas!

We started the day at 8am with a 'Walking Bus' and ended it at 12pm with an ECO Schools Clean Up Campaign. P6 pupils Laura and Arooj explained very clearly and confidently how these two events helped us make a difference in tackling Climate Change (Global Goal 13).

It was wonderful to welcome the team from Nourish Scotland to school on Thursday 19th May, who were gathering children's views about The Right to Food' for Tam Baillie, the Children and Young People's Commissioner.

Unfortunately we ran out of time to hear from our Sports Captains on the presentations they have created about Olympic Values and Fencing, and the Day for Change count is still ongoing! Another very busy week at Sciennes!

Article 30

The right to enjoy your own culture, practise your own religion and use your own language.

Unicef Day for Change P4-7 Assembly 13.5.16

Sciennes Unicef Day for Change P4-P7 Assembly 13.5.16 from Sciennes Primary School

On Friday 13th May at the P4-7 Assembly we reflected on our Rights Respecting Schools Level One Inspection on Wednesday 11th May. We celebrated achieving a Level One Award and all the positive feedback we received. We also thought about some of Unicef's recommendations for our next steps towards the Level Two Award. We thanked everyone for generously donating their loose change to Unicef on the 'Day for Change' and thought about what we could change to help us make sure everyone knows about children's rights - at Sciennes and in other countries.

P7 Captains took on the task of collecting and counting the loose change. There was so much that they will have to resume counting next week! Thank you very much to everyone who donated. P7 Captains told us about the crisis in Syria and how children's rights are being affected. The money raised today will help Unicef support Syrian refugee children.

Mr Howie showed a video 'If the world were 100 people' to continue to help us think about equal rights. P7 Captains congratulated pupils on recent achievements. Next week's assembly will be at 9.50am and will focus on CEC 1+2 Languages for World Diversity Day.

Article 42 All adults and children should know about the UNCRC
Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment. 

Article 22 The right to have help if you are a refugee

Rights Respecting Schools Inspection Wed 11th May

Article 42 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child: 
Governments must make the Convention known to children and adults.

Sciennes: A Rights Respecting School

Sciennes Primary began our journey towards Level 1 accreditation of Unicef's 'Rights Respecting Schools Award' in September 2015. We applied to be considered for the programme in October 2015 and were awarded a Level of Commitment Certificate soon after. The Timeline on this blog:

https://sciennesrrs.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html

documents our progress towards ensuring that everyone in our school community becomes aware of the Convention of the Rights of the Child and that we use it to underpin our values in embedding Rights Based Learning.

We will receive an inspection visit from Uncief's Rights Respecting Schools on Wednesday 11th May, aiming to achieve a Level One Award.

Day for Loose Change Friday 13th May

                            Message to schools from Michael Sheen, UK Unicef Ambassador


Day for Change is getting closer. On Friday 13th May we are asking for donations of loose change to raise money to help Unicef protect children affected by the conflict in Syria. Unicef Ambassador Michael Sheen, who recently visited a refugee camp in Lebanon, has a special message for you.


This year, the UK Government will double our Unicef Day for Change donation. Pupils can wear blue on Friday, if you wish.

Thank you.

NSPCC ChildLine P6 and P7 Workshops

ChildLine Schools Service 
P6 24th MAY and P7 26th MAY

The ChildLine Schools Service is a programme delivered by ChildLine staff and volunteers for every child in the UK in Years 5 /6 ( in England & Wales) and Primary 6/7 (in Scotland & Northern Ireland). ChildLine have been providing presentations and workshops for our P6 and P7 classes every two years since 2012, which complements City of Edinburgh's longstanding personal safety programmes "Keeping Myself Safe" and "Keeping Myself eSafe" in P6 and P7. Parents/Carers received an email about the ChildLine workshops before the Easter holiday.

They will be holding a stage assembly presentation and then a class-based workshop about keeping safe for each class in P6 and P7 on 24th and 26th May.

The ChildLine Schools Service aims to give children:

* An understanding of abuse in all its forms including bullying, and an ability to recognise the signs of abuse
* Knowledge of how to protect themselves from all forms of abuse
* An awareness of how to get help and sources of help, including ChildLine.

The ChildLine Schools Service has discussed with us the content of the assembly and workshop. We are confident that they are appropriate for primary school aged children. All presentations will be delivered in a child-friendly and sensitive style.

After taking part in the programme, children will be asked to give their feedback online with school staff present. The ChildLine Schools Service would also very much welcome your feedback. If you would like to share your thoughts, please go to www.nspcc.org.uk/parentsfeedback when your child has completed the programme.

Article 19

You have the right to be protected from being hurt or badly treated.

Article 34

You have the right to be protected from abuse.

World Day for Cultural Diversity 21st May

Do One Thing for Diversity and Inclusion

In 2011, a grassroots campaign ‘Do One Thing For Diversity and Inclusion’, celebrating the annual World Day for Cultural Diversity was launched by UNESCO and the UN Alliance of Civilizations.
By encouraging people and organizations from around the world to take concrete action to support diversity, the campaign aims:

• To raise awareness worldwide about the importance of intercultural dialogue, diversity and inclusion.
• To build a world community of individuals committed to support diversity with real and every day-life gestures.
• To combat polarization and stereotypes to improve understanding and cooperation among people from different cultures. 

On Friday 20th May we will share information with pupils at Assembly about our International Summer Fair on Saturday 4th June. We will also celebrate the tremendous progress in City of Edinburgh's 1+2 Languages at Sciennes this year, so ably led by our Languages Co-ordinator Bethan Owen, and thank our three Spanish support assistants - Primary Student Volunteer Language Assistant Initiative (FLO project): Manuel, Sergio and Isabel. We have also been extremely fortunate to host Erasmus Scholarship Spanish student Ana Vidal, final year Bilingual Primary Education Teacher from the Complutense University of Madrid.


Our P7 Sports Captains are preparing a presentation on Olympic and Paralympic values:

• respect – fair play; knowing one’s own limits; and taking care of one’s health and the environment
• excellence – how to give the best of oneself, on the field of play or in life; taking part; and progressing according to one’s own objectives
• friendship – how, through sport, to understand each other despite any differences

Article 2

You have the right to protection against discrimination.

Article 30

The right to enjoy your own culture, practise your own religion and use your own language.

Global Goals: end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice and inequality.

Unicef Day for Change Friday 13th May

UNICEF UK’s Day for Change 2016                                                 

Protecting children in emergencies

 

Dear Parent/ Carer

 

 

On Friday 13th May Sciennes will be supporting UNICEF UK’s Day for Change and we very much hope that you will join us in supporting this event. It is a great opportunity for our pupils to learn about and raise money for children in other parts of the world.

By donating loose change, we can help UNICEF protect children in danger around the world.Pupils may also wear blue, if you wish.

 

Why are we doing it?

Every year, UNICEF UK’s Day for Change focuses on a different theme. In 2016, Day for Change is all about protecting children caught in emergencies such as the Nepal earthquake and the Syria conflict.

 

UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. They work with families, local communities, partners and governments in more than 190 countries to help every child realise their full potential.
UNICEF supports children by providing protection, health care, nutrition and education.

 

To find out more information about UNICEF, please visit www.unicef.org.uk.

Unicef UK | Children's charity | For every child in danger www.unicef.org.uk Unicef is the world's leading organisation for children in over 190 countries. Make a donation and help us save children's lives across the world.

 

Thank you for your support.

 

Sciennes Senior Leadership Team

Unicef Day for Change 13th May

Please collect loose change and bring to school on Friday 13th May to support Unicef's 'Day for Change.' Thank you. Pupils can wear blue, if you wish.

Article 29 You have the right to education which develops your personality, respect for others’ rights and the environment.

Equal Rights Assembly P4-7 29.4.16

Sciennes P4-7 Equal Rights Assembly 29.4.16 from SciennesPS

Mr Howie led the P4-7 Equal Rights Assembly on Friday 29th April. He explored a definition of 'prejudice' with the pupils and asked them to consider how they can play a part in making sure everyone is included. P7 Sports Captains announced how well each House had done in our fantastic Swimathon this week, swimming the equivalent of Sciennes to Benmore! Sports Captains also congratulated pupils on recent achievements and Yash - who won both Racquet tournaments last year - presented the EPSSA Badminton trophy to this year's winner, Ellen. Well done to Erin who came runner up in both Badminton AND Tennis tournaments.

Article 2

You have the right to protection against discrimination.

Global Goals: end poverty, combat climate change and fight injustice and inequality.